Speaking

Marquis Parker has a passion for sharing his own story of starting out in a small rural town in Virginia with little guidance about how to properly chart his educational and career paths and, through sheer focus, determination, and hard work, grew to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees from some of the world’s top academic institutions (Princeton, Stanford, and UVA) and work for highly-reputed employers (McKinsey & Company, Aon Corporation, and Accenture) during his professional career. It was far from an easy journey and, having faced many bumps in the road, he uses his experiences to offer actionable advice on how others can map out their own paths to success in a much smoother manner.

In addition, Marquis uses his 3 Pillars of Success™ to communicate what he considers his key success factors to optimizing one’s development, career, and personal/professional relationships. The components of this framework are based on his takeaways from his triumphs, as well as his mistakes, throughout his life and career. Surprisingly, he embraces his failures as much as his achievements and sees both as sources of learning and growth. With this as a foundation, Marquis aims to inspire his audiences his set stretch goals for themselves and truly believe that they can achieve those goals.

A speaking engagement with Marquis is a combination of sharing, insights, reflections, and, most important of all, fun, as evidenced by these testimonials following a recent presentation at Indiana University’s Kelley Living Learning Center:

“Marquis’s program helped our students develop an individual plan to leverage their own skills and passions in pursuit of their career goals. His presentation and individual conversations with students have left a lasting mark on our community; our students talk every day about what they learned from Marquis and how they’re applying it in the classroom and their lives.”
    JoAnne Namy
    Indiana University
    Kelley Living Learning Center

“Marquis Parker combined engaging storytelling and refreshing candor to deliver an amazing program for our students. His program provided valuable advice that will help our students succeed personally, academically and professionally.”
    Adam Herman
    Indiana University, PhD student, Class of 2016
    Kelley Living Learning Center

“I was just sending this email to send my thanks for coming to the university, out of the 4 presentations I have seen so far yours definitely blew it out of the water and was the best by far. I learned a lot from listening to you and i feel like some of the things you shared will stick with me for a while…Thanks again Marquis, hope to see you again sometime.”
John Mathias
Indiana University, Class of 2015

“Going into your presentation I was not sure who you were or what your presentation would be like but I am so happy I decided to go. It’s hard for me to imagine you were once a shy and very studious boy because you commanded the room with your charismatic personality and no one could divert their attention away from you. I really loved how your presentation was mainly about focusing on yourself and setting up goals, whether they be short term or very long term. I always hear of teamwork, teamwork, teamwork, but sometimes we need to take a step back and look at who we are and who we, as an individual, want to become.”
Betsy Paul
Indiana University, Class of 2015

“I thought your presentation was awesome, and thank you very much for coming. You really opened my eyes to things I haven’t even thought about. I didn’t even think or consider going to grad school after I graduate, but now I really want to. Your life story was really cool to listen to…I really appreciate you coming to talk to us.”
Tyler Wood
Indiana University, Class of 2015

“We all loved your presentation, and how you gave up your time to have dinner with us the night before. I cannot express in words how hearing your presentation and getting a chance to talk to you in person has impacted me and the rest of the students in the KLLC. Your story is really inspiring and has helped us not lose focus on what is important both in school and in life outside of it.”
Winston Huang
Indiana University, Class of 2015

“I just wanted to send you an email to tell you how much I appreciated you coming to speak to me and my peers about your life and experiences. Your stories really had an impact on me; I thought they were really inspiring (as well as funny!) and they appealed to me because I want to be in your position one day and be able to speak to freshman about my own experiences. I think the students here would benefit greatly if more people like yourself came to talk to us. I know I, for one, greatly appreciated it.”
Sarah Kozemchak
Indiana University, Class of 2015

For additional information or to book Marquis for a speaking engagement, please visit the Contact page and submit a message.

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Sample video clips