The drive from Flint, Michigan through the blistering sun of oven baked Nevada desert was a daring journey for a motivated young man destined to fulfill his dream as a filmmaker in Hollywood.
Only to discover during his journey that the Honda didn’t have air condition, instead blowing hot air from the overheated engine, Omar McGee kept pushing along to subsequently arrive in Beverly Hills where he’d spend days and nights sleeping in that car.
McGee was once an aspiring hoops star, but figured out it was not the best career choice.
A graduate of Flint Northwestern High School that produced NBA players Glenn Rice, Morris Peterson and Trent Tucker, NBA referee Courtney Kirkland and two-time heavyweight champion Chris Byrd offered a blueprint for athletic success, but McGee chose another path.
The cousin of former USC greats Pam and Paula McGee and former Laker JaVale McGee presented the bloodlines essential for the hardwood if pursued, but he wanted to create his own story.
And if the first chapter is any indication of what might the future hold for the now 45-year old, the horizon is burning as bright that Nevada sun.
He altered the narrative of Flint, an underserved poor urban community introduced to the nation by a crippling water crisis that only afforded athletes a way out of its poverty grip, by attending Howard University and eventually achieving success as a filmmaker producing acclaimed documentary Flint Town Kids which earned rave reviews.
Flint Town Kids is documentary depicting the African American dark side of Flint, much of what inspired Omar McGee to become the person he is today.
He learned from the hardships and shortcomings of others, many within his own family to desire a better way of life, one that if he commits, would allow for him to carve out on his own success.
“I was born into the car industry, my father has a collision shop in Flint Michigan. When I was coming up I learned the business from him but I just wasn’t interested in Buicks, Chevys or Toyotas so I went to Howard University for film and went into the film industry and did well but my morals and values did not agree with the things that was going on in Hollywood,” McGee explained to Inglewood Today.
Initially he found a way to give back by founding Executive Preparatory Academy of Finance in 2013 which closed in 2018, but sent more than 200 students to college. Now he is getting back to what he really loves which is cars.
Posh Luxury Imports is currently demanding most of his attention these days.
While more than 40 percent of Black business have closed during the coronavirus pandemic, McGee has taken the bold initiative to expand his luxury car dealership which specialize in exotic vehicles.
“It’s a high end luxury car line, we deal with everything from Rolls Royce to Maserati.”
McGee is the only Black-owned exotic vehicle sales and rental dealership in the nation’s second-largest city.
He credits his father Arthur McGee as his role model and most responsible for the person that he has become.
McGee frequently returns home to Flint on a regular basis and has plans on converting his father’s 58-year old shop into a dealership.
“This has been an easy transition for me because I already had the answers to the test,” he added. “When I moved to L.A. and I saw Bentleys, Rolls Royce and Mercedes Benz that attracted me even more.”
