Dr. Marcus Collins

I wish I had the answer to that, but I'll tell you a little bit about who I am. I'm a product of Detroit. Now, I always start that way because I feel like Detroit was very influential in how I made sense of the world, how I framed the world. Being a city that is predominantly Black, but living in a world that straddled the fence of both.

I mean, I was a swimmer growing up, which wasn't a ton of Black folks swimming. So I lived in two different worlds at the same time. And having a city like Detroit as the backdrop just always created unique frames for me. It's a big city, but never thought of like as a New York and L.A. or even a Chicago. It was a tough city, but never thought of as sort of as gritty as I don't know.

I mean, I was a swimmer growing up, which wasn't a ton of Black folks swimming. So I lived in two different worlds at the same time. And having a city like Detroit as the backdrop just always created unique frames for me. It's a big city, but never thought of like as a New York and L.A. or even a Chicago. It was a tough city, but never thought of as sort of as gritty as I don't know.

I mean, I was a swimmer growing up, which wasn't a ton of Black folks swimming. So I lived in two different worlds at the same time. And having a city like Detroit as the backdrop just always created unique frames for me. It's a big city, but never thought of like as a New York and L.A. or even a Chicago. It was a tough city, but never thought of as sort of as gritty as I don't know.

I don't want to. I don't want to be disparaging of another city, but I was always sort of in the middle. And because of that, there's always a chip on the city's shoulder. And I feel like everybody from the city sort of bears that. And I think that that sort of disposition followed me not only as an adolescent coming of age, but as a college student coming out of college, starting a company.

I don't want to. I don't want to be disparaging of another city, but I was always sort of in the middle. And because of that, there's always a chip on the city's shoulder. And I feel like everybody from the city sort of bears that. And I think that that sort of disposition followed me not only as an adolescent coming of age, but as a college student coming out of college, starting a company.

I don't want to. I don't want to be disparaging of another city, but I was always sort of in the middle. And because of that, there's always a chip on the city's shoulder. And I feel like everybody from the city sort of bears that. And I think that that sort of disposition followed me not only as an adolescent coming of age, but as a college student coming out of college, starting a company.

a music company, much to the chagrin of my parents, to going back to school to get an MBA, to having the audacity to say, I think I can work at Apple, you know, to on the surface and see like I had the credentials to be there, then to then go run digital strategy for Beyonce, then to then go into advertising and then to then be a professor, then to then write a book, like all these things.

a music company, much to the chagrin of my parents, to going back to school to get an MBA, to having the audacity to say, I think I can work at Apple, you know, to on the surface and see like I had the credentials to be there, then to then go run digital strategy for Beyonce, then to then go into advertising and then to then be a professor, then to then write a book, like all these things.

a music company, much to the chagrin of my parents, to going back to school to get an MBA, to having the audacity to say, I think I can work at Apple, you know, to on the surface and see like I had the credentials to be there, then to then go run digital strategy for Beyonce, then to then go into advertising and then to then be a professor, then to then write a book, like all these things.

It just felt like, you know, no one thought that I could do those things, which made me feel like, oh, well, let me show you what's up.

It just felt like, you know, no one thought that I could do those things, which made me feel like, oh, well, let me show you what's up.

It just felt like, you know, no one thought that I could do those things, which made me feel like, oh, well, let me show you what's up.

It was because people didn't think I could. And I think maybe a part of it, maybe I didn't know if I could. I've always hoped for and wanted the most of myself. I wouldn't say more of myself. I'd say the most of myself. I mean, if you asked me when I was in high school, I was going to be the fifth member of Boyz II Men. And I thought that that was possible. I thought it was legit possible. And my

It was because people didn't think I could. And I think maybe a part of it, maybe I didn't know if I could. I've always hoped for and wanted the most of myself. I wouldn't say more of myself. I'd say the most of myself. I mean, if you asked me when I was in high school, I was going to be the fifth member of Boyz II Men. And I thought that that was possible. I thought it was legit possible. And my

It was because people didn't think I could. And I think maybe a part of it, maybe I didn't know if I could. I've always hoped for and wanted the most of myself. I wouldn't say more of myself. I'd say the most of myself. I mean, if you asked me when I was in high school, I was going to be the fifth member of Boyz II Men. And I thought that that was possible. I thought it was legit possible. And my

parents, particularly my mother, was like, yo, you better go to school to be an engineer, fam. This music delusion you have in your mind, that's not happening for you. You're going to do this thing because it was logical. And I guess a part of me felt like, well, why should I abide by what is logical?

parents, particularly my mother, was like, yo, you better go to school to be an engineer, fam. This music delusion you have in your mind, that's not happening for you. You're going to do this thing because it was logical. And I guess a part of me felt like, well, why should I abide by what is logical?

parents, particularly my mother, was like, yo, you better go to school to be an engineer, fam. This music delusion you have in your mind, that's not happening for you. You're going to do this thing because it was logical. And I guess a part of me felt like, well, why should I abide by what is logical?

And I think that my because is that because people doubted me, and maybe even I doubted myself, I wanted to... It wasn't about showing them that I could do it, but it was about proving to myself that I could do it, I suppose.