MARK WHITE
Assistant District Attorney in Ouachita Parish
MICHAEL WILKES
Assistant Vice President in Lending and Business Development for Century Next Bank.
Mark White is an Assistant District Attorney in Ouachita Parish working for District Attorney Steve Tew. He was born and raised right in Monroe, and graduated high school from Ouachita Christian. Mark then went on to get a degree in Business Management from ULM, where he was a member of the baseball team from 2004-2006 and the football team that “beat Bama” in 2007. He received his law degree from Southern University Law School in Baton Rouge, while also take classes at LSU’s Law School. From there, Mark worked five years as an Assistant District Attorney for District Attorney Hillar Moore. During that time he met his now wife, Kelsi Crain White, also a former Warhawk, while they were both in town for a ULM football game. The two later married in July 2016, and two years later decided to move back to Monroe to be closer to their families and start a family of their own. Mark’s proudest moment to date is when he became a father to a beautiful baby girl, Auldyn Elizabeth White, on March 13, 2019. BL: What is your advice to recent graduates? Mark: Don’t expect a high paying managerial job that requires little work straight out of school. Too many times I see people my age
Michael Wilkes is an Assistant Vice President in Lending and Business Development for Century Next Bank. He has been married to his wife, Stephanie, for over 10 years, and has two great children, Evan and Emily. Michael has been in banking for over 10 years. In the last couple of years, he has become a Certified Community Bank Compliance Officer and a Notary after passing Louisiana’s notoriously difficult exam. Michael’s family attends First Baptist Church of West Monroe, where he serves as a Deacon and as a member of the Finance Committee. This past year, Michael won the 2018 Bernard Heflin Ambassador of the Year Award from the Monroe Chamber of Commerce. He serves on the boards of Keep Ouachita Parish Beautiful and the Louisiana Purchase Zoological Society. Michael has been involved with the United Way of Northeast Louisiana’s Read.Learn.Succeed program and the Dollars and Sense Reality Fair for high school students. He also serves on the United Way’s 2019 Campaign Cabinet Team. BL: What is your motivation? Michael: Two things: My faith and family. I TRY to live my life as Christ has directed me to live it. I don’t always live up to that standard, but that is my goal. At the same time, I want
and younger that are coming out of school and expecting a cush job with great pay simply because they got a degree. That’s the first way to lose the respect of seasoned and experienced workers that you will likely be working with and need assistance from. You need to be prepared to work hard and earn the respect of others. In time, when you get that top tier job, you will have earned it, and the respect that comes with it. BL: What was your first job? Mark: Well, I applied at Brookshires to be a bag boy, and they didn’t hire me. I’m still a little bitter! I went on to work at the Baskin Robbins that was in the convenient store that my dad owned, but I was eating all of the profits, so I went to work for a landscaping company with one of my football coaches. I learned the true meaning of hard work that summer. BL: What do you hope to accomplish by 50? Mark: By age 50, I would like to be as close to debt free as possible! I would like to have multiple streams of income and be vested in the LDAA state retirement system. I would like to be in a position, possibly a Judge, where I could have continued impact on our youth and the future of our community.
my family to be proud of how I conduct my business and personal life. That goes for my parents and family who helped raise me and for my wife and kids whom I come home to every night. There is a quote from Abraham Lincoln that influences how I live in the community and how I want my family to feel. Lincoln said, “I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live, so that his place will be proud of him.” BL: Tell us something about you most people don’t know? Michael: For almost 30 years, I have lived with depression and anxiety. In the early years, I never would have imagined I could have the life I have today. Along the way, I’ve learned to not let depression define me. Unfortunately, there is a stigma that exists around those who live with depression, as if it is a taboo subject. Different areas of my career have required me to attend and participate in public events frequently. I am proof that you can live with depression and anxiety and still be successful in your job and life. I’m thankful the good Lord has made me the man I am today, and I want to provide solace to those who are in the same boat as me: you are not alone, and we can achieve great things. WWW.BAYOULIFEMAG.COM | SEPTEMBER 2019 93