Whitfield Goes "Inside The Leader's Studio"
February 25, 2007

Over the course of his career, Bobcats President and Chief Operating Officer Fred Whitfield has dealt with media scrutiny. He’s been behind the podium at intense press conferences, heard tough inquisitive questions and more often than not, fires off a quick response.

But when Megan Edwards, a seventh grader from South Charlotte Middle School asked him his least favorite word in the English language last week, Whitfield was briefly puzzled.

“That’s a tough question,” Whitfield, who finally chose the contraction can’t, said. “No one’s asked me that before.”

Whitfield was a panel guest for “Inside the Leader’s Studio” at the school, which was an adaptation of the “Inside the Actor’s Studio” television show hosted on Bravo. Debra Miller, who also teaches language arts and has experience in newspapers, conjured up the idea to help the students learn about area leaders’ backgrounds.

The class began prepping for the day-long interview session back in November. They were asked to define and pick leader, prepare a letter and once the guest was confirmed, come up with a series of pertinent questions framed around each guest’s biographical background.

Both First Lady Laura Bush and Duke Head Basketball Coach Mike Krzyzewski sent personalized responses, but had prior commitments and were unable to attend. The students settled for Dr. Ruth Perez (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' Chief Academic Officer), Sue Myrick (U.S House of Representatives for the 9th Congressional District and former Charlotte Mayor), Tonya Bendickson (WBTV news anchor), Luther Fincher (Charlotte Fire Chief) and Molly Barker (Girls on the Run founder).

Whitfield saw his 30-minute interview as a chance to reach out to impressionable students and convey that he was in a similar scenario to where they’re at now.

“I hope it makes them realize I grew up in North Carolina just like they are doing and that I had huge dreams to hopefully get to a point where I am today,” Whitfield, who talked about living in the same neighborhood at former NBA great Bob McAdoo, said. “I hope it will make them realize they are very talented and very smart, that if they study hard and go after their goals, they can achieve anything.”

Whitfield spoke about his scholastic background and emphasized education as a viable tool in the corporate world. He attributed his law degree from Campbell University in Buies Creek as a powerful bargaining chip with he negotiated contracts for some of the world’s elite athlete as a sports agent for SFX.

He went into detail about his relationship both professionally and personally with Michael Jordan, Bobcats minority owner and managing member of basketball operations. Whitfield also touched on about the daily challenges in overseeing a NBA organization, how the stock market affects attendance figures and his infatuation with NASCAR and jazz music.

“There were challenging questions, but they were real life questions” Whitfield said. “I was just glad to share a little bit of my knowledge and some of my experiences. Hopefully, I can help at least one of the kids in the room to achieve one of their goals.”