Jacques Review

JACQUES REVIEW would like to welcome Steven Lamour to the Spotlight. This interview series features in-depth conversations with interviewees of various backgrounds and occupations. It provides a look into the planning and unique personal career journeys of each individual. It even offers small glimpses into their private lives. The finished product hopes to convey that every story matters, is worth hearing, and has a great deal of significance to the mosaic called humanity.

I met Steven between 2001 – 2009. During some part of that period, his father was the pastor of my church. I have very fond memories of his parents. His father always struck me as an eloquent speaker and deep thinker. I still consider him to be one of the best manuscript Haitian preachers I have ever heard. In fact, I use to wish that I was capable of writing French with as much mastery as he displayed.

His mother assisted the church as the director of the choir. She was always very kind and bubbly. Together, they invested a good deal of time affirming me as a speaker and Bible teacher. I didn’t get to spend much time with Steven because he was mostly away at school. But we maintained a good rapport that allowed us to connect later.

Steven is of Haitian descent but he was born in the U.S. “I was born and raised in the county of Kings, Brooklyn, NY.” He has never been to Haiti but he would like to visit. I’ve always thought of Steven as being an only child but I was wrong. He said, “Lol, I’m not an only child. I have an older brother named Arthur. He might be the most interesting man in the world. I grew up wanting to be like my brother. He’s the reason why I started to play sports.”

How would you describe your parents’ contribution to who you are today?

I strongly believe that my parents were the perfect parents for me. My mom is my moral compass. She’s my first call. When I have to make a decision I generally call my mom to talk to her first. It’s funny my mom isn’t one that talks a lot but we talk all the time. My pops that’s my number 1 fan. He is a very intelligent, caring, and happy guy. I think I’m the perfect blend of both of my parents’ personalities.

How tall are you? I’ve always had the impression that you played ball due to your height. Played any basketball in school? How good are you?

I’m 6’2. I used to play basketball in high school. I no longer play. I coach a church league basketball team. I was a decent basketball player. I was being recruited by a couple of D2 schools, and I had one little D1 school interested in me, but that all fell through. After a series of arguments with my coach. He told some scouts that I was uncoachable, and that was the end of things for me.

Well, let me give you the back story. So my Junior year in high school a few people from my school were going to visit a college in California. I told my coach about it from the beginning of the season. As the season went on one of the games got rescheduled for the time I was supposed to go on the trip. My coach didn’t want me to go, but I went anyway. I had the time of my life. When I got back to campus, Coach was furious. He benched me.

It was fine at first because I was playing with the second team and I was still keeping and still getting my numbers. I was averaging 10 points, 8 rebounds and 1.5 steals every game. Eventually, I worked my way back into the starting lineup and I thought things between him and I were good. So, one day we are playing a rivalry game against one of our sister schools. I was ready for that game, I had some personal scores I needed to settle against some of the guys on that team. They beat us by 3 points, 2 weeks before and I was sick with the flu.

But anyways before we went to the game Coach threw me on the bench bus and was mad at me for some reason. I was mad. I worked my way back to the starting lineup. But it put a battery in my back. I came off the bench and I was on fire. I scored 11 points in 3 minutes. I was feeling like it was going
to be a career-high night. Toward the end of the second quarter, I made a call to switch our defense from a 2-3 zone to a 1-2-2 zone.

Coach was furious when I modified the defensive system in the middle of the game. He sat me down the rest of the game and we ended up losing by 8. I was furious. After the game, everybody was asking me if I was hurt and how come I didn’t finish the game. I got back to my dorm room and didn’t even sleep that night. I was so mad. We had practice the next day and I didn’t want to go. I was playing football and the coach came into the gym and called the team to the meeting room.

We were going to talk about the game the night before. I really didn’t want to. Then Coach gave me an ultimatum. He told me if I didn’t come into the room for the meeting I would be suspended the next game. You have to remember I’m from Brooklyn. We don’t do threats well. So I shouted back you can’t suspend me because I quit. It was wild. We legit didn’t talk to each other for months. He told scouts I was uncoachable.

Once I got that brand of uncoachable that was it. The recruiting calls stopped. It was insane because we were 11-3 at the time. We were going to make some noise that year in the league. But I went back home and trained with my brother, worked on the jump shot, and came back shooting 3’s. The goal was to take my senior year, rebuild my image, and just hoop. Over the summer, coach and I settled our differences and we were planning to have a good senior year. We get back to campus and then school was going through financial problems and there was no basketball season.

I was crushed. I really believe that we would of won our league that year. We only played three games that year. But bringing the story full circle we play our rival school again. I had a career night, 29 points, 11 rebound, 4 steals, and 2 blocks. That was the last time I played organized ball. In graduate school, I tried to make a comeback to basketball but I just couldn’t get into gear. I didn’t have the timing anymore.

It sounds like there needs to be a movie on this. I would watch it! As I’ve stated in the introduction, your father is a pastor. Did you ever think about becoming one?

That’s definitely the most common question I’ve been asked in my whole life. Honestly, I’ve never put any serious thought into being a pastor. I’ll be honest with you, I don’t think pastoring is for me. It’s too political. Funny, because I’ve got like two degrees in political science, worked on Capitol Hill, worked at a lobbying firm, and on political campaigns, but the church is way too political for me. I also don’t think that pastors are compensated enough for all the work they do.

The only thing I’ve really wanted to become in life was a businessman. I have a hustler’s mentality. In middle school, I was selling baseball cards and candy. I’ve always had some sort of business or some way to generate money. I’ve always wanted to be in business. To be honest I’ve always wanted to be the Business.

I’ve heard a few of your sermons. What is your role at your home church? Any future plans for a degree in theology?

I’m a Deacon at my church. Previously held a few positions in the church from Social Media Director, Young Adult Ministries Director, and Growth Group Coordinator. I’ve taken a step back from church ministry leadership. I needed a break. Church was starting to feel like a job. There was a point where I literally spent more time doing church work than doing my 9 to 5. But I think it’s all a part of my journey toward answering the question “Why Am I Here on this Earth.”

Nipsey said find your purpose or you’re just wasting air. Lately, I’ve been trying to figure out new ministries that I can start on my own. I don’t see myself pursuing a theology degree in the near future. I don’t want to be a Pastor. I’ll probably continue to speak. It’s been fun. I like to connect with people. I just want to talk and share my experiences. Hopefully, it can inspire somebody and help them to make a change in their life.

Why are you still in the church?

To be honest, this is a question I wrestle with all the time. I go to church because of fellowship. I go to church to be a member of a community of like-minded people who can help me progress in my life
path. I go to church because I can speak. I believe that teaching individuals who wish to follow Jesus what it truly means to live a life like Jesus is also part of my earthly mission.

It’s tough because I’m not good at it and sometimes feel like a hypocrite. But I think that a part of my story is showing people that even if they are not perfect, Jesus loves them and they can still make a difference.

What made you choose political science? What course did you enjoy the most?

I chose political science because I loved all my civics and government classes in high school. I wanted to be a lawyer and my advisor told me to take political science. At some point after college, I decided to be a professor so I enrolled in a political science master’s program at Suffolk University. My favorite class was a legislation and lobbying class. It was cool. We had guest lecturers come to speak to our class.

My graduate school was across the street from the Massechutes Statehouse so we had elected officials and lobbyists come talk to our class all the time. I actually worked at a Lobbying firm for a bit.

When I looked at your academic profile, I too imagine that law school was the trajectory. What was studying life like? What is one piece of advice you would give?

My study life was terrible. I used to study in the middle of the night right before a test. It makes no sense because I did really well in school. I was in honor societies and finished with a high GPA. My single piece of advice would be to not be like me. In graduate school, I developed better study habits because of the volume of information. I learned how to take notes and make the material my own. I would literally reteach myself the lessons.

That’s a great piece of advice. Did you stay on campus? Did you eat out often? What was your favorite dish during your college years?

In college, I lived in the dorms with my cousin Stanley. Shout out to Stan. The best years of my life. Stan was the barber so everybody was always in our room. We used to go to Ihop and Steak n Shake if that counts as eating out. We were college kids in the middle of nowhere in Michigan. There wasn’t much eating out to do. My favorite dish in college and in life is Pizza. I can eat pizza all day, every day. I eat pizza at least once a week.

So you stayed fresh the entire time. I would have gotten a shape-up every week. You also completed a MAR at Sports Management Worldwide. That makes for a unique and yet complimentary set of degrees you got going there. Why did you go for the MAR?

I’ll be honest, I don’t even know what a MAR is. I took a course with Sports Management Worldwide because the next phase of my career is to be a sports agent. They offer a program where you take a course and get their agent program. I’m currently in the program. Hopefully, in the next two years, I’ll be a certified MLB and NBA agent.

You may not be done with degrees yet. I can’t help but ask if you have any plans for a doctorate.

No, there aren’t any plans for a doctorate. If I were to get a doctorate it would be in political science. I would love to go teach political science at an HBCU. I really want a doctorate degree so my friends can call me Doc.

Ha! Nothing wrong with that, black man! Before getting to your current role as an analyst, I want to bring up your time as a Traveling Chief of Staff. Who was it for? How was that experience?

Traveling Chief of Staff, often known as the Body Man. I worked with LaRuby May when she ran for City Council. It was an open seated vacated by the death of the legendary Marion Barry “Mayor for life”. It was crazy and fun. We were caught in the middle of a shootout in the hood on my first week on the job. I did everything from managing volunteers and campaign staff. I worked on press release. l led the volunteer door-to-door canvassing operation. My main responsibility was to be with the candidate everywhere she went.

Marion Barry was the second and fourth mayor of the District of Columbia from 1979 to 1991 and 1995 to 1999.

It was basically a 24-hour job with no time off. I used to field work calls at 11:30 at night talking to campaign staff. If I recall properly, she won her race by 79 votes. But, as a result of that experience, I started a political consulting firm. That was even crazier. I got caught up in a few riots; firearms were drawn on me; people tried to rob me. We won a few elections. I don’t miss that life.

What do you do as a financial analyst? Do you love your job? What advice would you give to someone who wants to be a financial analyst?

I’m new to the field but In the simplest terms, I play with numbers all day. I work on this 15 billion dollar transit improvement program. I look at invoices and spreadsheets all day. I don’t love my job. I’ve never been the type to love a job. I don’t own the business. Work has always been just work to me. It’s just a means to fund a lifestyle and my next money-making operation. I know at the end of the day I’m just a number. I could be replaced at any time.

Honestly, if you want to be a financial analyst you have to be good with excel. If you are good with excel the financial world is yours for the taking.

Where would you like to head next in your career?

Forward! I’ve got a few more career moves before I leave this earth. I’m going to be launching a sports agency in a few years. I also want to coach a high school basketball team. Ultimately, I’m looking to leave corporate America and just do consulting.

Of All the places you’ve gone on vacation to, which one is your favorite? Why?

Honestly, anywhere in Mexico. I love Mexico! I remember when I was in college I went to a Mexico vs Venezuela soccer match. I was the only black person in the stadium. I wore a Mexico jersey and the people embraced me with open arms. They gave me free food and bought me and my friend drinks. It was Phenomenal! After that, I loved Mexico and Mexicans forever.

But most recently I was in Cancun and had a blast. I got to be in a different environment with friends having fun ATVing and zip lining was amazing. But most importantly there were tacos. I love tacos. I’ve never had a taco and have not been happy.

What is something you enjoy doing that most people don’t know about you?

I read a lot of books. When I’m not wasting my time on the internet looking at memes, I’m probably in the house reading a book. I like to read a lot of political books. I think I have at least 10 books on the Trump presidency.

You host a podcast. What is it called and what is it about? Where can we find it?

Yes, I host a podcast with my friend Jeremy. The name of the podcast is “ Views From The Black Pew”. We sat on the podcast idea for at least 3 years before we dropped an episode. We were initially going to call it the Educated Struggle. But we began to brainstorm and we wanted to promote positivity and progress. So we initially thought about doing something where we looked at the world from the lens of two young adults brought up in the church.

As we were brainstorming we came up with Black Pew and it just felt right.

You can listen to Views from the Black Pew on Apple Podcast, Spotify, & Audible.

You know the Black Pew, that place where you explore the dark corners of your mind, to dig deep into
the questions you’ve always had, but didn’t know how to put into words. What we wanted to do was business as the vehicle to help people to improve their lives. We interview entrepreneurs, thought leaders, authors, CEO’s and more to learn about their stories and what strategies our audience can use in their everyday lives. We’ve taken a break but we are coming out with more content soon.

I see the podcast as a form of ministry where we reach people where they are at and give them stuff while helping them be better humans.

What is the last book you read that you would recommend and why?

The last book I read and would recommend is Tuesday with Morrie by Mitch Albom. I think this book should be required reading for life. It’s very thought-provoking and makes you think about what’s really important in life. The book deals a lot about death, embracing that one day you will die; it will help you live a better life.

Image via Amazon.

Are there any projects and/or organizations that you are involved with that you would like the community to be made aware of?

There isn’t anything that I could think of at the moment. The stuff I’m working on isn’t ready to be talked about yet.

Steven Lamour, pleasure to have you.