An Interview with Anthony McBride

Due to my doing we started the interview late, but it did not distract from the intention of discussing who Dr. Anthony McBride is and learning some details about his story. Anthony kept it cool by wearing an EVOS printed hat representing the brand. As we began the process we spoke about his childhood and family structure. Three children born in New York and four in North Carolina, before making their way to Pennsylvania. Always one to have a ball instead of a book, Anthony looked up to his older siblings as making the impossible, possible. Read about his journey.

Pamela: How many startups have you been involved in?

Anthony: I’ve been involved with 6-7 startups.  One of the startups we sold and dissolved the company. Most of them are in full operation while some are in the production phase.  I’m exploring building a corporation with several umbrella companies. Some of the companies will allow me to get involved in producing and creating plays and shows. Two of the startups EVOS and 6piTTch are moving in some exciting directions. 

Pamela: This may not be a fair question, because you have so many startups and businesses you are involved in, but, which do you consider the most successful and why? 

Anthony: All are successful as far as steps we are taken. We aren’t fully there yet, but we are striving and working to reach their full potential. I am happy with what’s going on with EVOS and 6piTTch. I think we are taking steps, and both are moving towards where I would like to see them go.

Pamela: You write, you teach and you played basketball. What are the most valuable lessons you can share?

Anthony: Speaking of basketball, I do shoot around. I’m not doing anything formal right now. My company, 6piTTch, keeps me involved as far as tournaments and other sports related activities. In terms of playing any kind of formal ball, no, I play half court pick-up games. As far as the other things, writing and teaching, has always been important to me to show representation in the literacy world. I’m big on promoting literacy for all but especially our youth. I was recently asked by Wilkinsburg City Council member Sabrina Gibson to do a reading on June 10, at the Wilkinsburg Public Library of one of my recent co-author children’s book. Anything that promotes literacy I want to be involved with because it’s our responsibility. As far as teaching goes, that’s another huge responsibility. Spiderman has a saying “with great power, comes great responsibility.” That’s the way I look at it when I teach. I believe when you are given power to educate, I take that seriously; to educate students so they can be future leaders. Basketball has always been a joy for me. It has opened a lot of doors for me. It will always be a part of who I am. The valuable lessons I’ve learned from all of them have helped mold who I am today.

Pamela: I know grandma has a picture of you at college. Living in New York, coming to Pittsburgh then going away to college. How scary was the transition?

Anthony: For me, it was a scary thing. Wow, I’m going to college, I couldn’t believe it. A kid from an urban community, I had never flown before. And now I am headed to Boston Massachusetts, that was scary. As for the idea of going to college, no one in my family at that time attended or completed a four-year college degree. My sister Pat was attending Allegheny Community College and it wasn’t a division 1 school, so I did not know what to expect. Honestly, I thought I would go have some fun and then I would be coming right back home soon not at my own well. I didn’t think I was fully ready to go to college. Prior to going to school in Boston I went to a two-year junior college in upstate New York.  From Pittsburgh it was drivable, so my dad used to drive me. Financially, it was an uphill battle because of our financial means and the lack of overall resources. For me, that was scary. I had to figure out how to get food and pay for daily needs every college student needs. Hilbert College was the name of the school, and it really helped me because it was a catholic school. Going from a public school and to a catholic school, prepared me to take education seriously. I always tell people; it was a flip of the yellow pages. Nobody recruited me so I flipped through the yellow pages and landed at Hilbert College. After it all happened it made sense. It took me back to New York and from there a lot of great things happened to a kid who never thought he would end up in college. That’s how I ended up taking that flight to Boston. I earned a scholarship to play basketball at Northeastern University.  I was recruited by hundreds of schools but chose Northeastern. 

Pamela: I didn’t realize Hilbert was a catholic college and it was not a division 1.

Anthony: At that time Hilbert was a division 3 school. It’s now a division 2 school.  I didn’t get earn a basketball scholarship I walked on. The coach thought I was a decent player and offered me a scholarship for the second semester of school. I was paying for school with the help of my parent’s small contributions, loans, and grants. Receiving that scholarship was a huge relief to go to school and not have to count on my parents that I knew couldn’t help pay my college tuition. Imagine attending college knowing at any moment you could be sent home due to financial aid concerns or academically not feeling prepared. 

Pamela: You ended up being in the hall of fame as the leading scorer.

Anthony: Yes, and what’s exciting is my record will never be broken. As I mentioned previously, Hilbert was a two-year college. I scored over 1,000 points, grabbed close to 600 rebounds, and dished out close to 300 assists. The scoring record will never be broken because Hilbert transitioned into a four-year division 2 college. That means my record will stand and will be something I can go back to later in life to share with my grandkids as my name stays enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

Pamela: I think that’s commendable, it makes the work that much more sweeter.

Anthony: Yes. Another thing I’m very proud of is going back to my community and bringing two guys back to college with me. I got those guys out of our neighborhood, Tim Freeman, and Anthony Watson. I was able to help put in the word to my college coach about them both and just like that they completed all the admissions work and were accepted to college. Now Tim is a college graduate and is a founder of an elementary school.  Anthony aka Tony I believe is working in construction. They both were talented student-athletes.

Pamela: When you can do that and they can acknowledge it, making a difference in one person's life as that’s what you hope you can do. Making a difference in multiple lives, it’s a beautiful thing. Do you have any regrets or missed opportunities?

Anthony: Not really. I try not to live my life based on regrets or missed opportunities. Those just come with life. For me, it’s been about growth and timing. If you feel you have missed opportunities or have regrets, please know that things come with growth and timing. I think everyone has those as part of their development and growth.

Pamela: You joined a fraternity. I know that’s kind of a sacred process. Can you talk about that? In what ways has the affiliation added to your life?

Anthony: Spring 2017, was a difficult bittersweet time in my life. I was trying to cross those burning sands of the greatest fraternity in all the land. I was teaching 5-6 courses at the same time and obtaining lots of information within several weekends was a challenge. It took a lot of time away from me. It was all day long. It was a humbling experience. Alpha men typically do not give excuses, but it was a difficult time for me trying to get through the process while teaching what is called an overload of courses. One thing about Alpha Phi Alpha, it’s a fraternity that matched my values and beliefs, so it was a perfect match. Everything I’ve been growing to become coincided with the mission of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, Inc. The fraternity is all about developing leaders. promoting brotherhood and fostering academic excellence, while providing services and advocacy for our communities.  Who would not want to be a part of that? At the time I was serving as a Big Brother for” The Big Brother and Sister organization”. I did that for 6 to 7 years. The kid at the time I was mentoring is now in college and doing well. What I really enjoy about the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, Inc is the brotherhood, networking and its aims and motto. We are all about manly deeds, scholarship, and love for all mankind. The motto is first of all, servants of all and we shall transcend all. Becoming an Alpha man has helped lift me even more to where I want to go.

Pamela: You were already living the motto, you were already doing the work. What is your current level of participation?

Anthony: Of course, I am a member that is financially stable in terms of national membership fees. In terms of Alpha work, I’m not involved in any chapter right now, but I am still serving, leading, and meeting the Alpha way in daily tasks. I have not selected a chapter at this stage because I’m trying to determine where I will be living. Currently, I am living in a rural community that does not have a chapter, but Chicago and Pittsburgh chapters have been on my radar.  I think it’s a good thing to be a part of a chapter, so I hope to make a final decision soon. In the meantime, I will continue to do Alpha work in my overall work and life walks.

Pamela: That adds to your legacy of excellence. You began your career with Allegheny County and spearheaded several programs. Did you consider those entrepreneurial?

Anthony: One thing about Allegheny County I enjoyed was being representative and reflecting the communities, families, and youth we served. I was able to relate, but also act as a change agent and inspiration to them. I was very fortunate to be one of the very first school-based probation officers in Allegheny County. I helped pave the way for that program. Allegheny County became one of the largest school-based programs in Pennsylvania. Later in my career I earned the opportunity to run a probation department. I was asked to oversee the department, but also innovative programs. I call those programs my baby. A lot of departments didn’t have the responsibilities I was tasked with but were unique in their own ways. One of the programs I oversaw was called: Youth Match for 10–15-year-olds, first time offenders. Little babies that commit minor offenses, so this program served as an intervention and prevention program in one. One of our kids, through the contacts we were able to establish, helped us arrange for one of our students to throw out the first pitch at the Pirate game. Imagine a kid from Manchester, attending a Pirate game and being selected to throw that first baseball pitch.  I hope and pray that the kid is doing well. It was an excellent program. Getting kids involved, taking them to different events, giving and providing them more exposure, taking them to stuff that maybe their parents couldn’t afford to take them to, helping them pay for memberships and taking them to all kinds of events was beautiful to see and experience. One of the overall goals was to help keep them out of trouble and get them opportunities their communities could offer to them with the hopes that they stay connected which likely would prevent them from committing any more delinquent acts.  I developed and built a team of workers who owned and believed in what we were trying to do. I give much respect to them. They made it a success in those kids’ lives.

I was asked to oversee an experience at the time called “Education Specialist”. This experience later served as a best practice process and won state program of the year and is viewed in high hopes throughout the state of Pennsylvania.  The concept: thousands of delinquent youths who commit enough crimes or are chronic offenders are sent away to institutions. And to many that could mean justice to them, but at the backend some things get left behind in terms of their educational transition. When these kids are sent away their educational records slowly follow them to the institution and vice versa when they return to the community and educational home schools. This slow delay of sending and receiving their educational records caused them to get behind on

their current grade level and schoolwork. The education specialist’s goal was to keep them on the same grade level and to make sure their schoolwork followed them in a timely fashion so when they went to the institution and left the institution their records go with them. This helped keep them in their same grade level and eventually stay on track to graduate with their original class. We established a smooth and timely electronic process that helped solve the transfers of records but also established joint ownership, and effective communication with all the key stakeholders.

Pamela: That’s good. I want to ask of the programs you started, how many are still operating? Do you know who took over?

Anthony: I don’t know the current Supervisor, but two of the staff are still there. And I believe one of them still wears the wristband we gave to every kid who successfully completed the process. The wristband reads a quote I came up with which reads “Education is one of the main ingredients for fostering change”. This outstanding process is still in existence.

Pamela: Are you doing any consulting work with Allegheny County?

Anthony: Not with Allegheny County. However, I stay current with the juvenile justice system and probation. One of the probation departments in the state of Illinois heard me speak at an event about how we should implement behavior modification programs for youth. The same way a parent would if a kid got an A or honor roll. I would suspect a parent would reward that kid. Take them to dinner, maybe buy them their favorite pair of sneakers. I started a gold slip program. It’s a store where if kids do well at home, school and in the community, they earn a gold slip and at the end of the month I would open the store and they would go shopping. I approached the communities I was working in and asked organizations, stores, barbers, hair salons etc, if they could donate items such as bikes, belts, wallets, watches, candy, free haircuts, and other items. I didn’t have many candy items because when some kids get juiced up on candy it’s hard to slow them down. I was very thankful to all for being so kind.  I will have to follow up with that county in Illinois to see if they are still implementing the gold slip program.

Pamela: Do you consider your work as primarily entrepreneurial?

Anthony: For me, I try to do everything from an entrepreneurial standpoint. There’s business in everything. I look at it from a visionary perspective. I look at it that way. I like building these entrepreneurial trees where students are not necessarily hanging off the trees, but they are out in the world being successful as Police Officers, FBI Agents, US Marshals, DEA’s, I even have a few lawyers and PHD students. That’s the kind of stuff that makes me feel pretty good. Those are the rewards of teaching, just like in probation work, the kids that turn out to be a chef or a social worker, tell you it’s all worth the challenges that come with the career.  

Pamela: That’s a great thing. Listening to this, it’s milestone after milestone. Like you said, it’s growth. Making progress in those areas that have really taken shape as far as the trajectory of your life. Really, if you want to speak from a biblical standpoint, the work that God has set aside for you to do. As a Professor, you have these flexibilities with your job, the things you’re able to do with your down time as well as paralleling what you do as a Professor. How do all these different things add to your “person” portfolio?

Anthony: It’s just building blocks. Everything I’ve learned goes back to being kind to people and working to fulfill the needs of individuals. I’m always doing assessments in my head and saying this needs to be implemented, maybe this needs to happen. I’m a big thinker and I like being around people who are big thinkers. I like being in that type of atmosphere. Everything I’ve learned has helped mold who I continue to become and how I continue to share with others. It all comes down to understanding people.  I am a believer that all people have value no matter the race, socioeconomic status, gender, etc, everybody has value. I think that’s the way I’ve always looked at teaching, running the probation department and some of the other things I’ve done, looking at everyone as having value.

Pamela: Human resources, everybody has value. Maybe not necessarily in a certain organization, just being able to make those transitions, as an asset. This question is built and may be kind of redundant. In everything that you have done and understanding success is a journey, there really isn’t this end goal, it’s all of these building blocks. I think I know the answer to this: Do you consider yourself a success and why?

Anthony: Success is a continuation process that grows with effort.  I see things as success but also understand setbacks will happen. It’s all part of the journey. I consider myself lucky, blessed and always humble. Again, success comes with continued growth and small steps towards achieving goals. I guess when it’s all done, I can say something was successful.  Until it’s done, I will continue to keep reaching for it. 

Pamela: I’m sure grandad and grandma, coming from grandma being a sharecropper and I guess grandad was the same. The many things they have gone through in their relationship that could have potentially affected their children in different ways, but still having the self determination, I’m going to set goals and I’m going to achieve them regardless of my environment is commendable. I’m sure they both, just as I’m sure when grandad drove you to college, I’m sure that was probably one of the greatest moments of his life because to my knowledge, if I recall correctly grandad did not finish high school. Grandma went back and got her GED. To have children that have done what you have done, that’s a reflection of their parenting and a reflection of your eldest siblings' work that you took note of; can you tell me about your biggest mistake and how you recovered?

Anthony: I think mistakes are something that are supposed to happen. You must live with the mistakes you make while trying not to make the same mistakes. I try to live with the mistakes I’ve made over my journey because everything will not be perfect. Every stage, every step, there’s going to be some mistakes. However, don’t let those mistakes outweigh where you want to go. It’s the same thing I tell prisoners when I go speak to them in prison. There are some mistakes you can’t overcome. But you still have value in terms of what you do now. Poor choices and poor decisions happen, what do you do now? Maybe I will say more in my memoir later down the road.

Pamela: So, you plan to write a book?

Anthony: Yes.  My story needs to be shared in more detail later down the road.

Pamela: Yes. It’s funny you say you plan to write a book. In talking to Aunt Mary, she said she plans to ask you to write it. I think that speaks to how at least one of your siblings looks at you as you have become the lead. No pun intended as setting the tone, keeping the bar high. For family members coming in after the work you’ve made and all of your siblings made as the structure is important. It’s important to recognize and understand perspective for where you were, where you are and where you are going. Obviously, writing a book is an exclamation point to a long, sought out and achieved career. We can close with if there is anything you hold dear, as a life motto? Anything that you feel as that last valuable tidbit? People will understand you differently and that is always the goal when interviewing a person, by adding more depth. Anything you want to share beyond being asked a million questions?

Anthony:  I believe you must give back and push people in the right direction so they can realize their potential and growth. For me, all my experiences and everything I’ve been through, have been about timing.  It’s not a rushing game so people know things happen with timing, a little luck and with prayer and patience. You can be anything you want to be, but you cannot lose sight of your blessings and the responsibilities that come with it.  You must at least try to give back, point people in the right direction. You can’t keep stuff in. We weren’t sent here to sit on our butts. I encourage people to keep striving. 

The interview went on to talk about Anthony’s experience in Russia. The current climate with what happened with Professional Athlete, Brittney Griner, and her experience. Anthony spent time in Russia doing a speaking engagement. Although he does not expect to go back, the travel experience and lessons add to his story and maybe one day we all will read about it in the book he plans to write.

I thanked Anthony for his time. Before we ended, I went back to the first question to probe into one of Anthony’s businesses, Big Game Apparel. The story is lengthy and we will speak about it at a later date. Anthony’s company 6piTTch it one to watch. Showcasing clothing, media and events, you can sign up, purchase or participate in activities wherever they are held.

We did not discuss Anthony’s writing. As an interviewer, it’s my responsibility to cover all aspects of the interviewee. Anthony has written several books. His first book titled, Willie the Whiskers, superhero Shaheena and now co-authoring several books with Jeremy McCool, Anthony McBride certainly keeps his plate full. To purchase the books Anthony has co-authored, go to the website: McCoolMcBride Books.