Kent was raised in western Washington State. He attended Western Washington University, majoring in drama, and California State College at Northridge, studying with the American Management Association certification program. He served two tours of duty in Vietnam.
Kent spent 15 years in the management of automobile dealerships for JT Enterprises, a holding company that owned 10 to 15 luxury car dealerships around the country. He managed four of the dealerships as Vice President/General Manager, including Beverly Hills Porsche Audi, Motor Sports LTD of Monterey, BMW of Monterey and a large Southern California Volkswagen dealership.
Kent was a top producer at Fox and Carskadon as well as being the assistant manager of the Carmel offices for five years. In 1993 he took over the management of both of Fox and Carskadon's Carmel locations. During his tenure as managing broker, Kent and the Fox management team started Fox Mortgage and made Carmel the top producing location in the Fox Mortgage group. When Fox and Carskadon was purchased by Coldwell Banker in early 1995, Kent joined The Mitchell Group, now Sotheby's International Realty, as the co-managing broker with Rhenda Miller. He is currently Vice President/Managing Broker.
Kent was President of the Monterey County Association of Realtors in 1995-1996, a Director of the California Association of Realtors and was Realtor of the Year in 1994. In his 25 years on the Monterey Peninsula he has been active in many civic and business organizations and sat on the Board of Directors of Meals on Wheels of the Monterey Peninsula.
