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Driven by his own storied background in the automotive industry and passion to fill a void in reaching communities of color with automotive communications, in July 1995, Randi Payton founded the first national media company dedicated to educating ethnic minorities about the auto industry, its products, and services. Payton’s vision established the core of his company’s mission – to provide the multicultural marketplace and the auto industry with up-to-date automotive news and to foster diversity in the industry’s workforce, advertising, communications, and philanthropy. As a result, today, Payton is president and CEO of On Wheels, Incorporated, and the nation’s only multi-media automotive communications company for African American, Latino, and Asian consumers.

The company’s first publication, African American On Wheels (AAOW), launched 13 years ago as a bi-monthly magazine. Today, AAOW boasts a circulation of 750,000 and continues to grow. Among its achievements, AAOW was the first major automotive magazine to establish a Web site, launching what is now www.onwheelsinc.com, in its first year. Significantly, AAOW was the first minority media publication to attract luxury advertisements with its first issue featuring support from Jaguar, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. AAOW was also the first minority-owned publication to distribute nationally in minority newspapers and mainstream dailies, including The Washington Post, The Detroit Free Press, The New York Daily News, and the Miami Herald.

Through On Wheels, Inc., Payton has also established the Urban Wheel Awards. Now in its twelfth year, the event has become the automotive industry’s most significant diversity award. Sponsors and participants include an impressive list of domestic and imported automakers and a growing number of financial and media companies. The event celebrates the growing diversity in the auto industry and recognizes individuals that have fostered its growth. Payton was again ahead of the time when he launched Latinos On Wheels (LOW) in 2001 with a quarterly circulation of 500,000 in 37 Latino newspapers nationally. LOW was re-launched in June 2006, along with Asians On Wheels at 137,000 circulation. Both publications serve second and third generation ethnic Americans who primarily read and speak English and buy more new vehicles, a growing demographic the industry had not yet tapped into at the inception of the publications.

In April 2006, Payton was honored by Folio magazine as “Top 40 Industry Influencers,” shaping the magazine business. In recognition of his many efforts, that same year, he also received the National Media Corner Stone Award from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Enterprise Office. On Wheels, Inc. was also honored as one of DiversityBusiness.com’s top minority-owned businesses. With this growing list of honors and his commitment to community and industry education through the nonprofit arm of the company, the Edward Davis Education Foundation – named for the first African-American to receive a new car franchise in the United States – Payton continues a innovative legacy in multicultural business development.