Name: Marcus Troy
Profession: Tastemaker
Age: 30-Something
One Word That Describes You: Passionate
Marcus Troy , creator of The Marcus Troy Experience, is an ageless wonder with a keen sense of style and a taste for the burgeoning cultures that populate the globe. The site, which features his exclusive suggestions and tips, is geared toward a male perspective and interests those who love gadgets, music, food, fashion, and more.
Originally starting a e-zine with a friend on the eve of the third dot-com boom in 2004, Troy branched off to start his own Web log. “I was inspired by sharing,” Marcus told BE Modern Man exclusively when speaking on why he joined the competitive world of blogging. “I love to share ideas, concepts, products and good things with my peers and the people.” Admitting that there haven’t been too many obstacles outside of himself, he has truly crafted his own lane where his words have immense value. “It’s a really humbling thing to hear people who follow me say, ‘We follow your life, we feel like we are a part of it.”
A particular man full of savvy, Troy is living the ideal dream of today’s digital content creator. Setting his own hours from his Montreal home, the man who is “only as old or as young as he deems it,” receives heaps of swag from clothing to albums with everyone hanging on to his every word. “I am a cultural participant who likes to do cool things with cool people,” he says. “I use different platforms in media to share these experiences. Depending on who you are talking to, I wear many hats.” But with all the sensationalism taken out of the job of being an online curator of culture — how can one be successful, you ask?
In addition to showcasing stylish coats and boots, his site gets an estimated 140,000 unique monthly visits. Brands such as Nike, Converse, and others now pay for his etiquette and tastemakers’ aplomb. But Troy doesn’t believe that there is one defining tenet in the DNA of black men over other races. “A black man in Africa versus a black man in Paris all have a different experience with the color of their skin,” says Troy. “I believe all troubled or persecuted cultures are built a little different based on experiences. I don’t think we as a majority group are where we could be as a culture or as a race.”
The man with many hats happens to chef up quite a bit of content on the regular. With eight posts a day from different areas in M
ontreal to being a consultant for Puma, Troy’s digital collaborations have made him “accessible” to millions looking to know what’s next and what’s now. “I always try to be inclusive, not exclusive,” said Troy to The Wall Street Journal‘s Speakeasy section in 2012. “I share my taste with the world and a blog is how I do that.” Creating original content means utilizing the best stuff in one’s imagination to develop something that resonates with the rest of the World Wide Web. For Troy, this skill is an art form that has imbued his trade with numerous successes.
On the next page, read how Marcus Troy cracks through the noise of being a role model for other digitally minded youth…
Yet, for every Marcus Troy or Necole Bitchie,
there are a host of people and digital destinations who aren’t able to crack through the noise. This leaves potential strong role models like Troy and his ilk without a means to connect to those who could use the influence. We asked the tastemaker just what he does to break through the static and make an impact among his peers. “I try to live in a world where I work on the work,” he says. “I try to stay positive and lead by example of what you can do if you focus on the work. It is all I can do for now.”That positivity is what we hope becomes infectious and contagious among the black populace. Instead of championing our successes outside the typical stereotype, Troy believes that we’re not celebrated as much for other reasons. “We are not celebrated because we don’t own the right channels or outlets to celebrate us,” he suggests. “We don’t have the power and that is just how it is for now. A lot of us have decided to live up to the negative stereotypes. We need to repair our imagination, [and] it has not happened as of yet.”
A man who feels at home in the urban jungle or on Main Street, Troy believes that being a BE Modern Man is “not about color, religion, or creed.” He says rather eloquently that “being a BE Modern Man is about accepting the responsibility we have as men and being in control of what we put out into the universe. Realizing that being free is of the mind and we can go anywhere our minds takes us… especially into modernism.”
Troy, a man who prides himself on forging relationships and being ahead of the trends, earned his reputation through savviness, skill, and studying his craft. From hitting all the new stores once he steps foot into a new area to positioning himself to get first look at the hottest brands before anyone else, he represents the imaginative awesomeness that we as a people have that proves our normal is truly extraordinary.
We at Black Enterprise salute you, Marcus Troy! Your mission of providing tastefully curated selections and offering them to trend seekers frames us in an enthusiastic light, and is meant to be celebrated and appreciated.
Be sure to follow the latest and greatest from Marcus Troy (and @blackenterprise!) on Twitter.