(This week The Columbian-Progress spotlights Mack Grubbs Chevrolet Sales Manager Otis Smith.)
Q: When and where were you born?
A: I was born July 9, 1989, in Tylertown.
Q: Where did you attend school?
A: I went to Salem High School in Tylertown. I also spent one year at Southwest Mississippi Community College.
Q: Where do you work? Tell us about your job/company.
A: I am the sales manager at Mack Grubbs Chevrolet. I oversee the GM store and handle the used car department. I oversee sales, assist with financing, help appraise, oversee delivering and ordering vehicles and help build customer bases.
Q: What led you to your profession?
A: Basically, I’m just a huge talker. I know a lot of people and have been in sales basically since I’ve been able to work from retail sales on up. People say I’m a convincer, so that’s why I got into it. I just have a heartbeat for it.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your job?
A: I like assisting people and just have a drive for sales.
Q: What is the most challenging aspect of your job?
A: The most challenging part of my job is actually taking lunch breaks on time. In sales you never know when you’ll get to take a lunch break.
Q: What is the most important lesson you have learned in your career?
A: The most important lesson I would say is dealing with respect. You have to give it to earn it. Being respectful has taught me a ton. With sales I have to respect the customers if I want them to respect me and open up to me, so I can help them get what they need.
Q: When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: I wanted to be a professional musician. I actually still play music now.
Q: What was your first job?
A: I worked at Fred’s Discount Store in Tylertown. That was my first real job, but my first summer job was laying bricks before I was 16.
Q: Who is the person who has been most influential in your life?
A: I would say the most influential person has been my wife, Ashley. At times I wanted to give up and throw in the towel, she pushed me to go forward and made me not give up. She’s a medical assistant at Columbia Pediatrics & Family Practice.
Q: Do you have children?
A: I have two daughters. Lyric is 6 and Melody is soon to be 2.
Q: If you could have anything for your last meal on earth, what would it be?
A: Pizza from the Franklinton Fair. I love pepperoni pizza with extra cheese.
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
A: I would say Nashville to listen to a lot of great music.
Q: What hobbies do you like to do in your spare time?
A: Most of time is spent playing music. I play the piano, the organ and the bass. I do studio recording. I love fishing, too. Those two things are about the only things I get time to do besides work.
Q: What do you enjoy about Columbia and Marion County?
A: The people here are extra friendly. I’ve been working here for five years, and people here are basically family. I grew up and live in Walthall County, but (Marion County) is a family-oriented county.
Q: If you could have lunch with anyone from your life or history, who would it be and why?
A: This may sound crazy, but I would want to have lunch with Bill Gates. I would want to get him to break down how he was so successful in life.
Q: If you didn’t have to worry about money, what would you do all day?
A: Play my bass (guitar)and fish.
Q: What moment in your life has had the biggest impact on who you are today?
A: I would say when my daughter was born. When she was born, I had to realize all the playing and foolishness needed to be put aside because I was a father now. It made me want to do everything I can to show them the true aspects of life and not let them go down the same road I went down.
Q: What is one thing you want to do that you’ve never tried?
A: I want to go skydiving because it would be a major adrenaline rush.
Q: Using one word for each, what are your top three morals?
A: Respectfulness is definitely No. 1, then free-hearted and easygoing.
Q: How would you like to be remembered?
A: I want to be remembered as a person who had big dreams that was always chasing them and never gave up.
— Joshua Campbell
Pictured Above: Mack Grubbs Chevrolet Sales Manager Otis Smith poses with a 2019 GMC Denali, just one of the wide variety of trucks and cars at the Columbia dealership. Smith said he’s always had a heartbeat for sales. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
