Thomas finished with a Bachelor Arts degree in journalism and finished second in his class. While in college Thomas worked for the Daily Mississippian writing and reporting stories. One of the first most impressive things Thomas did when he graduated was to form his own newspaper/magazine The Oxford Times.
"We were both too young to know what we were really getting ourselves into," said Thomas.
Thomas helped his partner with the newspaper for a year before going in another direction. Thomas has worked for many different magazines and business like Meredith Corp.; Metropolitan HOme, Better Homes & Garden, and Malinkckrodt. Today he is the vice president of Abbott.
Abbott is a diverse health care company that brought in 38.9 billion sales. Thomas is responsible for driving, maintaining and protecting the reputation and market value of Abbott. Thomas thinks reputation is very important and he makes sure his staff at Abbott reputation prestige.
"Brand is the promise that you make, reputation is when you live up to that promise." This quote by David Ogilvy is one of his favorites. JOhn Thomas made it very clear that reputation is a key component to having a successful career.
He also shared with the students lots of advice and words of wisdom like good writing still matters, always be a reporter, don't forget the inverted pyramid, get in their face, trust your gut, be a critical thinker and be connected and network just to name a few.
Toward the end of class Thomas answered questions from the students, here he shard advice to aspiring journalism students.
He stressed that a clear focus is important, and to start making a name for themselves, build up thier portfolios, complete internships and avoid stressing oneself.
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