Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcus Cox
Hi Marcus, 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?
So, as it turns out, I have always worked in the hospitality and tourism industry. I just didn’t know that was what you called it. My first job was at The Children’s Museum of Memphis. I worked there from high school through college. I loved it. Interacting with families from all over the world was so much fun. It was also the beginning of my understanding that my world could be larger than the small Memphis community I grew up in.
While pursuing my professional acting career. I did what most actors do and waited tables. That parlayed into leadership and eventually 5-6 years of management in the restaurant industry. After going back into full time theatre work. I had the amazing opportunity to work communications and outreach with Memphis’ professional theatre company, Playhouse on the Square. While working there I began a close working relationship with the Memphis Conventions and Visitors Bureau (Memphis Tourism). Our partnership lead to many activations elevating the theatre, Overton Square, the area the theatre resided, and the city as a whole. The theatre and the district, with numerous professional performing arts institutions, became a regional travel destination. I am proud of the work I did in that space to have the Overton Square entertainment area recognized as Memphis’ official theatre district.
Working closely with Memphis Tourism while at the theatre caught the eye of the bureau’s leadership and I was recruited to lead the hospitality training nonprofit Welcome to Memphis. I often joke that I have lived many lives. The great part is that all of those experiences have led me to the opportunity I have now. I am grateful. The work I get to do now, supporting the people who are in the positions I held not too long ago has been so fulfilling.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
When you want to make God laugh… tell him your plans. Of course there have been obstacles. Lots of them. But I am a person of faith. I believe all things are done according to God’s grace. He has kept me through all that has come before me and my family. Every day I have and every obstacle I encounter I give to God. It took me a long time to figure that out. I held on to things when it was obviously time for me to let them go. I probably missed out on opportunities and other blessings as well. But, I truly feel that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. So, no regrets.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Welcome to Memphis is a subsidiary to Memphis Tourism. We specialize in training, supporting, and recognizing the hospitality and tourism industry in Memphis and Shelby County. Day to day, I am focused on how our organization can support our industry. From the guest-facing employee to our industry owners, managers, and supervisors, I look for new and inventive ways to train employees and support leadership in their work sharing Memphis culture with the world.
This past year, we have created programs to address the opportunities facing our industry regarding the recruitment, training, and retention of employees in the hospitality industry. After listening sessions with owners and HR Professionals and focus groups with selected groups and demographics most likely to pursue jobs in hotels, restaurants, and attractions. We have created initiatives to attract a new workforce to our industry in Memphis. Over the past year, Welcome to Memphis has created a marketing campaign in the city focusing on the people that make our industry go and are the true ambassadors to the city. We have hosted job fairs bringing job creators to where potential hires are rather than expecting them to find the work themselves. We have also worked to bring attention to the career-building opportunities jobs in this industry offer.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
The hospitality industry was the first workforce affected by the Covid shutdown. In one week, a huge swath of folk who depended on wages in hotel, restaurant, other service jobs had nothing. Left to their own devices many of those talented service folk found work in other fields. Many of them went back to school. They learned that the skills they had perfected in hotels and restaurants were transferable to a multitude of other careers. So, they left the industry.
In this “new world” on the other side of COVID. Operators made a poor calculation. They assumed that all those workers pre-COVID would just return. They did not. So, now we must adjust. Welcome to Memphis has been working to encourage operators, managers, and owners to recruit new folk. Take special attention to truly train them not just on the job. But, to ensure that company culture matches what you put in a mission statement. As well as take the necessary time to find how their skills will transfer into our industry. Instead of trying to force a square peg into a round hole… make the hole larger!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.welcometomemphis.org
- Instagram: welcometo901
- Facebook: welcometo901
- Twitter: welcometo901
