Georgia Southern alumnus asks students ‘what do they want in life’

April 17, 2012

In just twenty years, one Georgia Southern University alumnus has grown three multi-million companies. J.T. Marburger, CEO of Insignia Promotions and successful entrepreneur, returned to his Alma Mater and shared words of inspiration to Georgia Southern business students. Jim Williams, the Chair of the Advisory Council for the Center for Entrepreneurial Learning and Leadership, hosted Marburger during his entrepreneurship class on April 10. Instead of focusing solely on his business, Marburger shared experiences to help the students determine their desires in life.

“One of the things I want to leave with you today is what do you really want?” Marburger said. “I think a lot of people never take the time to think about what they really want in life.” Marburger started out his career working for a large company as a pharmaceutical representative, but quickly learned he did not enjoy that career path.

In 1990, he was then given the opportunity to join his mother’s firm, Incentive Marketing, a corporate promotions company. After a few struggling years, he built the business from $200,000 to $3 million dollar revenue. Marburger then decided he needed change. “I think in a world of entrepreneurship you cannot stand still,” said Marburger. “If you don’t like the environment of constantly changing business, it’s probably not the best route for you to go.”

Marburger started his own business and found himself working long hard hours. An entrepreneur works long hours and usually every day of the week, according to Marburger. “It’s hard,” he said. “Not getting paid for all the hours you put in can really bother a person.” He quickly learned every growing business does not always make money, which was another difficult truth to swallow.

Marburger experienced a difficult time in his life during these years, but when reading an article in the London Times he realized something. The article discussed how other countries find it difficult to understand American’s optimism. “I never thought about it,” Marburger said. “No matter how bad it is, Americans always have a grain of hope. So I thought…why  not?”

Marburger found motivation in uncertainty. “Although there are many possibilities of what can go wrong, people still need to stay positive,” Marburger said. “People can sense the unknown of the future, but they must look at it as motivation.”

Through his experiences, Marburger advised the students to work not only as entrepreneurs, but also as technicians and managers to be successful. According to Marburger, knowing every day will bring conflict and having an attitude with optimism will help entrepreneurs achieve great things. “Know and follow your dreams,” Marburger said.

Marburger continuing to follow his dreams right now. His company, Insignia Promotions is focused on providing environmentally friendly merchandise to corporate clients. He is currently working on providing players and fans of the 2012 World Cup with shirts and other merchandise from recycled material. Marburger believes in the next 10 to 15 years, the world will be making things from trash instead of natural resources.

“I didn’t talk a lot about my business today because I didn’t want to,” Marburger said. “I wanted to give you experiences of an entrepreneur and explain what you can take away with you.”

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