Marques Whitmire was an easy individual to admire with his ambitious attitude that complimented his down-to-earth attitude. I met Marques at the Sheraton hotel of downtown Atlanta through my cousin, Reggie Scott, where they both were at on a business trip. Marques overheard our, my cousin and I, conversation about college and what I planned to do with my future and immediately joined in and gave his own insight. The interesting thing was that Marques had an MBA in Marketing which is something I aspire to do. He told me things to work at to get better and had all the answers to every single one of my questions. Although I had only met Marques once before my interview, he made it feel as if I had been around him fifty times. So, I chose none other than Marques Whitmire to interview. I called upon Marques for an interview and he agreed. Although Marques was a very busy man, he fit me into his schedule. He was in Atlanta on a business trip for the Honda Battle of the Bands and he arranged an interview for October 17th at two p.m. at Starbucks. I wanted to give a good impression so I was at Starbucks fifteen minutes before two shortly before Marques arrived. Marques walked in as if he had just left a business meeting. He was wearing a black suit, white shirt, black dress shoes, purple tie, and a pair of Calvin Klein spectacles that gave him a look that was hard to top. When I saw him, that’s what I imagined myself to be in a couple years. We both greeted each other. We got up and ordered caramel frappes and immediately got this interview started. “When did your love for writing begin,” I asked him. Marques begin to tell me that his love for writing didn’t just start. Marques stated sarcastically, “I think I was born to write. I learned to write before I learned to walk.” After saying this, I couldn’t do anything but laugh, which lightened the mood up a whole lot and made me feel even more comfortable. He told me that people would pay him in high school to write papers for them. He didn’t mind, he was getting paid for something he loved to do. Marques said that he blew the writing part of the graduation test out the water and made a perfect score on it. This wasn’t very hard to believe knowing that he graduated number three in his high school graduating class. “Do you still have love for writing?” I asked him. Marques stated that his love for writing is still there, but it needs polishing up a bit. Marques stated, “Writing is like learning how to walk. Once you learn how to walk you never forget. That’s something I never hope to lose because it’s so important in today’s time. Writing is everywhere and is key to success.” I went on to ask him, “Does your current job require a lot of writing?” Marques said, “My job now doesn’t require a whole lot of writing, but the writing that I have to do is critical. I have to transform information from graphs into word form. This writing has to be almost perfect because this writing is used at meetings and also used by my boss. Besides this, my job doesn’t require a lot of writing. My job is mostly knowing and comprehending graphs.” This made me feel a whole lot better about my career choice. I’d rather look at graphs than write any day. “So what are your most memorable writing moments,” I asked. When asking Marques about his most memorable writing moments, it took him a while to think about it because he had so many. After a few minutes of thinking, Marques stated, “The scholarship essays for Grad School.” He said that these scholarships were limited and only the best got them. He said you almost had to write perfect essays to receive these scholarships. Marques said with a sense of certainty, “The only thing I remember is that I was in a lot of debt from undergraduate school and I didn’t want to be in even more after Grad school.” He applied for two scholarships. The Bright Futures Scholarship would pay full tuition and it required four essays and the Mastery Charter Scholarship paid ninety percent of tuition and it required two essays. After weeks and weeks of hard work on these essays the deadline was finally there and it was all or nothing and he turned them in. After a month waiting, he got a call from the committee of The Bright Futures Scholarship informing him on the scholarship he had received. Marques said with a sense of accomplishment, “You can do anything you put your mind to.” After this, I moved to the next topic of schooling and questions about his job. “Where did you obtain your college degrees from Marques,” I asked anxiously. “I obtained a bachelors in Business from the University of North Caroline at Charlotte and an MBA from Belk College of Business. College was the best years of my life, cherish them.” Marques stated. I replied, “Will do,” with a smirk on my face. Nearing the end of the interview I state, “Just a few more questions Marques! What is your position at your job? What would you change about your career?” Marques answered these questions without any hesitation. Marques is the Business Manager of Urban Sports and Entertainment Group. He went on to say, “My job requires a lot of traveling which means I’m away from my family a good bit. This hard having a newborn baby girl and a three-year old son. Being with my family more often is the only thing I would change. Besides this, I love my career.”
“Where are you headed after you leave Atlanta, Marques?” I asked. Marques replied, “Home.” Marques began to smile because he was filled with joy and anxious to see his family. This interview accomplished everything I wanted it to and more. Mr. Marques Whitmire not only let me interview him, but he also let me build a relationship with him that feels like family. Before Marques left Starbucks he told me, “Never give up on your dreams.” This still sticks with me until this day.