Our People

John Knight Smith is a Vice President in Global Corporate Services and manages the New York-based Publishing & Creative Services team. Mr. Smith began with the firm in 1998 as a part-time consultant in the Document Production department. In 1999, he joined the firm to support the department’s overnight operations. Over the years, Mr. Smith has held many roles within the team. Mr. Smith manages a team of creative professionals with expertise in graphic design, brand management, geographic mapping, package design, corporate presentations, conference support, audio/visual services and technical training development.

Prior to joining Blackstone, Mr. Smith ran an independent graphic design and marketing business. His work included creating graphic designs for up-and-coming musicians and other creatives, developing direct marketing campaigns for small businesses and supporting the fundraising efforts of not-for-profits. Before that, Mr. Smith was with the Marketing Education Group of Epsilon Data Management. As the External Training Coordinator, Mr. Smith managed logistics for a series of cross-industry merchant education conferences which were hosted in over 15 cities a year across the continental United States and Canada.

Prior to that, and while attending NYU’s College of Business and Public Administration as a Marketing and International Business major, Mr. Smith also worked as the Office Manager for MicroEdge, a tech start-up which developed grant tracking database software for grant-giving organizations.