Jamil White: Beyond Numbers

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By Karla Amador 

Jamil White is the Corporate Controller at DTI Management; a ticketing services company that helps ticket brokers sell their tickets on online platforms, such as StubHub. The company is full of millennials. Jamil is one of the oldest, at 34, and manages a team of six, who he motivates to get excited within their roles.

He is also an empowerment and motivational speaker. Jamil engages with his audiences by projecting catchphrases and using unique acronyms in his presentations.

“I like to teach by using acronyms because acronyms are words that people remember,” said White.

In his workshop, Live Your Dream and Become a STAR, he gives each attendee a star and requests that they place a picture of themselves in the star. S.T.A.R.R. is an acronym for Start Tasks Revise Repeat. Jamil goes H.A.R.D. for powerful speaking: Have your audience in mind. Articulate your views. Respect your audience. Disregard your mistakes.

“Because the only person who knows who made a mistake is you,” he said.

His hope is to connect with young people by giving them information in a way they can relate to. In other words, to understand his message in a way they can receive.

“My hope is to capture and connect with millennials, instead of them hearing the corporate mantra,” he explained.

When Jamil began climbing the corporate ladder, he noticed a high turnover rate, yet he didn’t believe that there was no reason for a person to get fired.

He truly believed, and explained to former bosses, the value in giving people a chance.  White believed his team members were STARS.

“As a young Black man, I was told so much that there were many detractors in Corporate America,” he said.

He inspires millennials to own their career, and he offers his acronyms to young people, so they can use them for their own benefit.

It may not be easy for millennials to find eight-hour day jobs, but there is no need to use fear tactics to motivate them.

“That’s the old way of thinking. As a manager, I like to communicate with my team in a way that allows them to feel the importance in what they do in their roles as STARS,” said Jamil.