One week before MSF classes began, Jacob Shealy started a business, which grew from nothing to a multi-million-dollar company over the next 9 months.

As Jacob describes the company, ProcurePoint Partners “is an elite team of sales professionals that consumer brands can hire to help them scale into large retail.” The company connects clients’ brands with retail buyers, merchants, and category managers at retailers like Ace Hardware, Costco, Home Depot, Nordstrom, and Crate & Barrel. It also develops white-label deals through which large retailers privately brand clients’ product lines.

Balancing work and school is nothing new for Jacob, who launched a successful agricultural business while still in high school, supplying customers from South Carolina (his home state) to Maryland. In college at Clemson University—where he earned a degree in financial management and economics—Jacob leveraged his experience in launching and scaling a product line to join a fledgling retail products broker, whose annual revenue he helped increase from $250,000 to $3 million in 2 years.

Why would a successful businessperson feel the need for more business education? “I think business is all about your network and good relationships,” Jacob says. “I sought to expand my network and technical skills through the Owen courses. Given my background in startup environments prior to the MSF, I never had technical training from a large company or even a corporate job, so this program exposed me to more sophisticated finance and business techniques.”

The program also helped Jacob build and manage a diversified portfolio of stocks, index funds, and real estate. Now, he says, “I can appropriately assess new investment opportunities. I am also working to acquire a medical device business with partners I met during a trip to Mexico.”

Networking trips to meet alumni in various cities—New York, Charlotte, and Chicago—were among Jacob’s favorite parts of the MSF experience. “I was able to spend a few days with new friends from the program,” he says, “and meet successful alumni to build my network.” Jacob credits one of those MSF alums—who co-founded a successful AI company—with mentoring him and helping him to grow his business.

“The experience I had here broadened my horizons, both personally and professionally,” Jacob says. “I am now looking to travel the country to strengthen my network, not only in the real estate industry, but within the Vanderbilt Business community.”

Fun Fact: When he was 17, Jacob started his first business on family land that King George III of England had granted to his ancestors.  

I never had technical training from a large company or even a corporate job, so this program exposed me to more sophisticated finance and business techniques.