When Eugene Whitney talks about work, young men listen. That’s what happened Monday night as the owner of Firehouse Subs in the Walmart Strip Mall gave members of the Black Tie Guys sandwiches, drinks, and valuable lessons that fed their ambitions.
Standing behind the counter of his restaurant, Whitney welcomed the group of young men from Tab-N-Action’s Black Tie Guys mentoring program as he gave them a hands-on session about business, responsibility, and service and passed out $10 for correct answers to his questions.
He shared not just his success story but the hard work and heart that built it.
Whitney, one of the area’s most successful Black businessmen, guided the boys through the basics of running a business.
He turned his talk into a teachable moment when he called up Noa Litton, a 4.0 student at Roy Shelling Elementary, to play cashier in a mock sales exercise. With patience and humor, Whitney showed him how, take an order, punch in the codes, and work the register.
Litton surprised everyone by asking the customer, “Would you like to order anything else?” Whitney laughed and said, “You’re ready to be hired.”
As the boys watched, Whitney used every question and interaction as a teaching moment.
“What’s one place in a business that must be clean?” he asked. When one young man quickly answered, “The bathroom,” Whitney handed him a $10 bill.
He reminded them, “Whatever job you get, no matter how small, do it well. Let your work speak for you.” He went to each boy and asked, “If I hired you and asked you to make a sandwich, would you do it?” Another was asked, “If I asked you to clean up a mess, would you do it?” He encouraged boys to develop a work ethic in which they do whatever they can and do it well.
He said, rather than focusing on how much the job will pay, he encouraged those who are beginning to get their foot in the door and show by their work ethic that they are worth more, much more, than they are being paid.
That message wasn’t just talk.
Whitney shared his humble beginnings — selling greens, mowing yards, and even cleaning up after funerals to earn extra cash. “I had a work ethic even as a kid,” he said. “If there was work to do, I’d do it.”
Through his nonprofit, “Gene’s Caring Hands,” Whitney has donated thousands of dollars to charities, youth programs, and the homeless.
In 2004, he anonymously purchased 172 hotel rooms for storm victims and fed them at his restaurant. He’s also distributed bicycles to children and helped countless families in crisis.
Even this week, he is offering free meals to all veterans on Veterans Day.
The Black Tie Guys are currently studying the “route to wealth,” having recently visited Tulsa’s historic Black Wall Street. Their curriculum covers the basics of money management, investing, and understanding value — lessons that align perfectly with Whitney’s philosophy of hard work and service.
Whitney gave every young man a high-five before they left, reminding them that success begins with character.
The Black Tie Guys mentoring program, sponsored by Tab-N-Action, Inc., which received a major boost in 2023 through a grant from the Ouachita Parish Police Jury, championed by Juror Michael Thompson.
For more information about the program, visit theblacktieguys.com.
