SoJ Web Report | May 13, 2010
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| Courtesy photo |
| T.J. Sullivan’s IDS assignment led to his joining a fraternity, an experience that led to his speaking career. He’s now CEO of a speakers’ bureau. |
“My first beat assignment was to report on the fraternity and sorority community, which I knew nothing about,” he says now. “By chance, a new fraternity was starting on campus that semester, and in the process of reporting on it, I got sucked in. Turned out, I loved it. I went on to work for that fraternity after college, and that led to my speaking career.”
He’s now CEO and vice president at Campuspeak, a “blue collar” — as he puts it — speakers’ bureau based in Aurora, Colo. The bureau specializes in less-famous-but-better-attuned presenters on topics ranging from sexual assault prevention and healthy choices regarding alcohol to social justice and effective student organization leadership.
Sullivan himself has spoken to about 2 million students in all 50 states, although he’s now a part-timer on the speaking circuit. He also produces an award-winning blog and is hard at work on a book for college student leaders that he hopes to self-publish in 2010. And, he reports, he and partner Scott Strong recently adopted their second child.
Sullivan says he misses journalism “intensely” sometimes, but he points out that his journalism school days at IU still have meaning to him every day.
“I felt like a total traitor forsaking a true journalism career,” he says, “but honestly, this path would never have occurred to me were it not for my beat assignment at the IDS.”
He sees something of himself in some of his employees, too.
“Many of my best hires have been journalism majors who went a different direction,” he comments. “There’s something about the ethic one learns in journalism that translates beautifully into the world of the entrepreneur.”
Reported by Russell Jackson BA’83, who is based in West Hollywood, Calif.
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