Today we’d like to introduce you to Antonio Futch.
Hi Antonio, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
My father was known to some as a hustler, and to some a businessman. He lived what many would consider a controversial lifestyle, as a black man traveling in and out of the country, driving new cars, tailored suits, and a cell phone, back during that time. With the plans of expanding the new family business, he knew after meeting my mother, he should be able to build the legacy he dreamed of.
She went on to pursue a career in finance, which was halted when I was born in the late 1980s, in Memphis, TN. In my early years, I was fortunate to attend some great public schools in Memphis. This good fortune soon changed, as home life became tumultuous. By middle school, we were going house to house, and in most of the neighborhoods, there were not many things for kids to do. We didn’t have many resources and we didn’t see many opportunities for something new, but like most kids we were impressionable, and we had lots of influences.
As I understood life, most people were just getting by the best way they knew how. I had a lot of influences, none more influential than those members of the neighborhood who were always between jobs and available. Most of our parents, were not classified as highly educated, and a portion of those that were, had not been exposed to high-paying careers, so they worked alongside their peers in the community restaurants, the local warehouses, and other low-wage jobs. Under these conditions, our parents worked multiple jobs, and often many of the neighborhood children would pile into someone’s house for hours just playing GoldenEye until we were too sleepy to keep up with whose turn it was.
Unsupervised teens with free time, fueled with untutored inconsistent influences, have never been good for anyone.
By my sophomore year, I had been to six schools. It wasn’t long before my friends were going missing, some in juvenile detentions, with the best hopes of being transferred to an adult facility, others to various cemeteries across the city. Eventually, I found myself facing a similar fate. I was blessed and fortunate enough to have some out-of-state family, who was willing to take me in. A new environment brought a lot of new things including new friends – and more importantly exposure to new opportunities that life had to offer.
I would later go back and forth over the next couple of years graduating from Memphis City Schools. Soon after, I joined some of my peers in the workforce and quickly realized my current situation was not getting me any closer to being able to access some of the opportunities I had been exposed to. I often thought about the friends I had made, how they would spend their weekends and the places they could be going. I thought about the colleges they spoke about, the jobs and companies they wanted to work at. One day, After a long shift at the warehouse, and standing in line to clock out, I thought about the opportunities that I could see nearby. I wanted to do something new.
I left for The United States Marine Corps fourteen days later. I went on to earn the rank of Sergeant of Marines. During this time, I would learn to see myself as not who I was, but who I could be. Through meeting with men and women from all over the world, I would come to learn about all the possibilities that existed beyond what I had been exposed to. Discipline and dedication became my guide over the next couple of years. By year two, I knew I wanted to go back home and help every teen be the best version of themselves they could be. The way I would do that was through exposure. I started my journey towards education.
Over the next few years, I would host several classes, attempting to teach teens anything I had learned. My time training in the Marines would amplify my adaptability skills, and cultivate a learning experience far beyond what I could imagine. These skills allowed me to launch a successful side hustle in security. Soon after I received a life-changing call. An opportunity to operate my security business at what I considered, a higher level. I took my business on the road, with several national recording artists, including Academy Award-winning Juicy J, Wiz Khalifa, Travis Scott and more.
I learned about the music industry and made a change in management. With the support of Juicy J, and the guidance of one the best men and managers in the industry, King Ray. I went on to create opportunities for young artists to learn and advance in the music industry at the national level. Placing teens from all over the country on national tours with major national touring acts. As time went on, my family grew and it went from an “I”, to a “we.” and I began to see the sunset on my military career. I decided to connect with the youth in the most direct way I knew how.
After serving my country proudly for over a decade and earning my graduate degree from Christian Brothers University, I taught my first class at a middle school in Frayser. Formal training with some of the city’s best educational leaders , alongside life experiences allowed me to grow in the educational field and have the honor of teaching Memphis’s youth, various subject matter. I had the pleasure of working with some of the best educators, in some of the most trying times in this nation. “We’ve been in the educational trenches all over this city. And we are still here, in the trenches with our children. Their future is not just their responsibility.
It’s our responsibility, and we must prepare them for it. We must do it for the future.” On this journey, I met some amazing people who would give me opportunities that I could continue to share with the youth. Opportunities such as Got Munchies, and the Teen Food Truck Owners Program, Catherine Evans at DreamFest and the Dreamer’s Workshop Initiative, Grant Wells, with Akahse and the digital library for African American history, and Kenneth Herron from Herron & Associates Business and Tax Services, were people right here every day changing lives, serving their community. I just wanted to bring them all together, so I could send all the teens I engaged with to one place.
As a father and educator, I knew how important it was to have information accessible, in a convenient place. With the help of some very special people including reading interventionist, Jalencia Jeans, that place is now known as the Teen Expo. The place where teens and dreams meet. Every chance we get we are connecting a teen with an opportunity. The Teen Expo is an online database for teens to connect with various opportunities to support their future. Some of them are paid, some of them are worth academic credit, some of them create lifelong relationships, and all of them are life-changing.
Outside of Fatherhood and The Teen Expo, my days are spent consulting with business owners about opportunities and options to grow their businesses.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Like many children in our city, my family had little income, and I lived in socially disorganized neighborhoods with failing neighborhood schools. I was exposed to violence and conflicts, surrounded by drug and substance abuse, with little to no economic opportunities.
By no direct fault of my own, as a child, I was subjected to these conditions. It’s the same conditions that many children are currently facing now.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I spend my days planning for the future. As a serial entrepreneur, I wear many hats. In real estate, I’m a property manager, and I teach others how to access and manage real estate. In entertainment, I’m a road manager, who supports performing artists and I teach others how to get in and understand the music business. In the classroom, I’m an educator and I teach youth liberation through formal education.
In business, I’m a consultant and I teach business owners how to start and grow businesses. I’ve been privileged to support various individuals in improving their lives, generationally through economic growth, and increasing social mobility. Depending on who you talk to, I could be anyone, and every single one is Mr. Futch, and Mr. Futch is just sharing what was shared with him; every possible opportunity available. That’s what I’m most proud of, the ability to be able to share these opportunities, opportunities for teens to change the trajectory of their path, through camps, apprenticeships, workshops, networks, resources, and civic engagement.
At any given moment, at any event, you may see me out with a clipboard taking information, registering someone to vote, or discussing restoring voting rights. Some have called me a”civic engineer”, no matter what I’m doing, I do it with the help of the community and we share it through The Teen Expo.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
This city is beautiful, with some of the most amazing people in this world. There is no place like Memphis, TN. Our city has a unique history, and I’m excited to be a part of the Black Memphis Film that will be bringing this history to life for everyone to see. Despite everything and anything that we go through, Memphis comes together, and we bounce back.
From the yellow fever epidemic to electing the first black leaders to the highest offices of the city and county. We are trendsetters, trailblazers, survivors, and much more. We are “The Grind City.” What I like most about our city is our resilience. It’s the same thing that makes you laugh, that will make you cry. So many of the problems that we are facing are reflected in our systemic practices and our policy-making; grounded in ideas and traditions of the past.
What I like least about our city is how we treat our youth. As a city, we have not done enough to support a positive future for many of our youth. The youth are the future. We have made more progress in identifying juvenile crime, rather than preventing it. We have to put more intentional effort into ensuring that our community, especially the youth is informed and able to get civically involved. Democracy is fragile, and our livelihood is at stake, if we don’t make the necessary changes.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theteenexpo.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/misterfutch/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/misterfutch?mibextid=D4KYlr
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniofutch/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/MisterFutch_?t=T-bZCB1_c6mXyOoZpkHNuA&s=01
