Edited John Thomas Story

OXFORD, Miss. – Journalism majors at the University of Mississippi had a special opportunity to interview an interesting alum of the 1985 graduating class. John B Thomas, a Chicago native,  and not only a former Rebel but a decorated professional who has done everything but write a book on what it means to have success after college, shared the inner and outer workings of exactly what it is that he does, and how he got started.

“My partner and I had $500 to our name.” Mr. Thomas said. “We decided to let it take us as far as we could.” For a short while he talked of his parents his humble beginnings in the journalism business. His dad, who John credits for inspiring him to pursue the career that he did, graduated from Northwestern University in the field of Journalism as well.

“My father inspired me to pursue a career in writing” John exclaims. “Communications were always an influence in our house and I developed an interest in the field.”

Upon graduating himself, Mr. John Smith and a partner combined efforts to begin a startup project newspaper that would go on to be called the “Oxford Times.” The newspaper featured a different style of news story in which that the stories would sometimes be incorporated with the advertisement and stretch the length of the entire page giving it the feel of a magazine.  It was one of the few ways the young men could structure their paper to differentiate from the leading paper of the time known as the Oxford Eagle. 

After a while, the decision to charge for the output of the Oxford Eagle became the duo’s undoing. Mr. Smith credited the experience with being the perfect start point for his current endeavors.

“Biting off more than we could chew probably ended up being the biggest lesson I could’ve learned. Mr. Thomas said. “I’m only in my current position because I had learned back then not to be afraid to deal with things outside my area of expertise.”

That detail made more sense when Mr. Thomas went on explaining his position in the Abbot Corporation (founded in 1888) where a lot of America’s leading healthcare products are produced. The position he currently holds in the company, which produced $38. 9 billion in sales last year, has everything to do with financial trends and changes in the company, requiring Mr. Thomas to pour over countless figures and analyze what can be done to increase stock price, maintain investor relations, and keep the company in good standing. Obviously John graduated in Journalism and stated that he knew nothing about numbers whatsoever, but also wasn’t afraid to take the job as so many of his co-workers with similar experience were. Earning his MBA at Lake Forest Graduate School didn’t hurt either added John. Mr. Smith’s track record includes 25+ years of work for Meredith Co, work with Budget, Better Homes & Gardens Magazine, Mallinckrodt and more.