I’m not sure why I accepted the out-of-the-blue email request to have a cup of coffee a few years back.
My only regret today is that the invite, from entrepreneur and networker extraordinaire Jack Killion, didn’t come sooner — that I didn’t get to spend more time listening to one of the most impactful people I’ve ever met.
Jack was really something. He had two degrees — one from Yale University, one from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He served in the Army. Worked at McKinsey. Bred, trained and raced horses. Started two publications. And did enough in the business world as an entrepreneur to have been invited — twice — to gatherings at the White House.
Of course, he didn’t mention any of this to me when he asked me to have breakfast at the Swiss Chalet in Morristown, his unofficial office.
Jack was intrigued by the news site I helped found, and simply wanted to know … how could he help?
No strings attached. No requests in return. No quid pro quo.
I was skeptical at first — a career in journalism makes you think that way. I quickly learned Jack Killion was the real deal. Nothing made him happier than simply connecting with people — and connecting people.
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Jack wrote two incredible books:
- “Network: All the time, everywhere and with everyone”
- “Done That. Been There: Lessons I’ve Learned”
Both are must-reads. Consider them the modern-day business equivalent of “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”
The first talks about how every minute of the day should be spent meeting people — and how every encounter could be the first step to a great moment in your personal or professional life. The second details how he put all that into play during his career.
Both teach this: Never approach any relationship thinking about how it could help you — figure out how you can help the other person. (Try it: It changes the dynamic.)
Jack was never concerned about whether he would benefit from his efforts. His goal was to show others how to pay it forward, creating a better world in the process.
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I got a note in the mail earlier this year. It was from Judy Chapman, Jack’s high school sweetheart and wife of more than 60 years. She is the founder of Garden State Woman — and as selfless as Jack.
Their son, Jonathan Killion, is cut from the same cloth.
I was skeptical at first — a career in journalism makes you think that way. I quickly learned Jack Killion was the real deal. Nothing made him happier than simply connecting with people — and connecting people.
Together, they help keep Jack’s spirit alive with the Jack Killion Entrepreneurial Scholarship. Overseen by Garden State Woman, it awarded another $4,000 in scholarships recently. (For more information and to donate to the fund, click here.)
I chuckled when I read the application. It reads like a meeting with Jack:
- Describe your passion for being an entrepreneur.
- Describe your entrepreneurial efforts to date, what opportunity have you identified that needs to be addressed and how do your efforts address the opportunity?
- Pertaining to your entrepreneurial efforts, what have been your biggest challenges and biggest achievements?
- What is the most important lesson you have learned since becoming an entrepreneur?
- How do you anticipate college helping in your entrepreneurial journey?
There’s nothing Jack would have enjoyed more than to help any person through any one of these questions.
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All journalists have the same basic need: To get information.
For years, that was the end goal of almost every conversation I had.
It has been different for me since I met Jack.
I’m now the one holding breakfast meetings with people I don’t know.
I’m the one asking to hear their stories.
And I’m the one trying to figure out: How can I help?
At one particular coffee shop, I realized I had the ability to make a business connection that could have a big impact for both sides of the connection. So, I did.
Both parties were grateful. Both wanted to thank me.
I politely declined: Jack Killion deserved the credit.
My hope — and Jack’s hope — is that one day both of those people will pay it forward.
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Jack Killion passed away in the fall of 2021.
He was 84 — with more energy and vigor than people half his age.
I hesitantly went to his wake. Not because I didn’t want to honor a man that so reminded me of my own late father — but because I didn’t want to inject myself into the personal lives of others in their time of grief.
I’m glad I went.
I quickly learned that everyone there — from family to longtime friends to casual acquaintances — had a reverence for Jack. We spent a few hours sharing stories. And networking.
Jack would have loved it.
May his spirit live forever.
New Jersey needs more people like Jack Killion.
