Uwonda Carter was an entertainment phenomenon by herself. The transactional attorney who advises clients on both business and entertainment is licensed to practice in Georgia and New York. Carter was named Entertainment Lawyer of the year by BESLA and is a founding member and former vice president of the Black Women in Entertainment Law Foundation. The Georgia State University College of Law graduate recently announced that she is joining fellow entertainment attorney Donald Woodard to create the powerhouse firm, Carter + Woodard.
What was the motivation to partner with another attorney at this point in your career?
Donald and I were both similarly situated in that we both had a number of high-profile clients that we were working around the clock to service but neither of us were in a position to accept new A-list or emerging clients without more staffing. So, that reason coupled with our yearslong professional relationship and the cultural timing were the reasons that I decided that starting Carter Woodard was the right move for me.
You’ve been responsible for closing some of the biggest endorsement deals on record for hip hop acts and commercial brands over the past 10 years. Can you share a couple of examples that your agency is most proud of closing?
Black talent is normally pigeonholed into doing urban-centric brand deals and there is nothing wrong with that, but when Black talent is courted for more mainstream brands, that is big, not only for the talent but for everyone involved in the deal, myself — and our firm — included, so I am proud of all the strategic partnerships that we have negotiated but the two that stand out for me, are Lil Yachty’s Target ad and Metro Boomin’s Gap ad, because they were the first mainstream campaigns that I was involved in and they were both featured on a mainstream platform, which happened to the respective Grammy Award shows. Since then, I have had the privilege to negotiate major brand deals for Kelly Rowland, Lil Baby, and of course, more for Metro Boomin and Lil Yachty.
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