Frank Maguire had about 400 community members, University administrators, faculty members and students laughing, clapping, singing and even holding hands during different parts of his talk Friday afternoon in the Union Ballroom.

Maguire, co-founder of shipping giant Federal Express, strayed from the podium Friday, only using it as an occasional arm rest or to read one of several poems, as he talked with audience members in a “one-on-one conversation” about the essentials of entrepreneurship: passion, attitude, leadership and character.

Maguire was the keynote speaker for this year’s Sebo Lecture Series in Entrepreneurship. The luncheon-lecture event was sponsored by University Board of Trustees member Bob Sebo and his wife Karen as part of a multi-year effort to support the newly-created entrepreneurship program on campus. Last year’s event featured Bowling Green native Scott Hamilton and the dedication of BGSU’s entrepreneurship program partly in his name.

Anyone can have a dream and even enough money to start a company, Maguire said Friday, but it’s passion that produces realities.

“My job and mission in life as I travel around this great world of ours is connecting the head with the heart of entrepreneurship,” he said. “A lot of people don’t like to talk about passion, it makes them nervous. But that’s the future — how passionate are you?”

But entrepreneurship is far from easy, he warned audience members, especially addressing students with an interest in the business world.

He learned a lot from his experiences leading up to the founding of FedEx, which was almost a fluke, he said.

Working in the mail room at ABC Radio Network starting at the age of 18, Maguire was noticed by an acquaintance who soon became president of the network and named Maguire, with no broadcast qualifications, head of program development for the news network.

After a stint as director of marketing and public relations programs for American Airlines, Maguire moved on to Kentucky Fried Chicken and became a vice president when KFC was the fastest growing company on the New York Stock Exchange.

He was fired from KFC though in an effort from the new CEO, he said, to make a point about his power in the company to an aging Colonel Sanders.

It was during this employment lull that Maguire got the call from Fred Smith, a Vietnam War veteran who would change his life. Smith couldn’t find a job after the war and wanted Maguire to help him start a company based out of Memphis, Tenn. They met at a Holiday Inn to discuss the business plan: shipping checks overnight.

Their business began April 17, 1973 but soon evolved from check shipment to packages, processing a mere 16 packages on their first day in business.

Finding investors to help fund their $52 million start-up venture wasn’t easy, Maguire said.

“We couldn’t get lucky if we were in a women’s prison with a handful of pardons,” he said, to a roar of laughter. “They thought we were crazy and so what happened was we got to the point where we got discouraged.”

But he didn’t give up, he said; Smith wouldn’t let him. And he remembers that determination when things don’t go his way today.

“I don’t have a good day every day as a matter of fact,” he said.

And on those bad days when he’s stuck in traffic and missed a flight, he sings. And he always sings the same song, he said: “This Little Light of Mine.”

It reminds him of the potential he has, he told the audience after leading them in the chorus.

“There’s a light in each one of you and it’s bigger than you ever thought and it’s on your side,” he said. “Turn on your light. You can do it, regardless of your circumstances.”

For University senior Matt Ruhlin, the lecture complimented what he’s learned this semester in one of the entrepreneurial courses now offered on campus. Ruhlin was part of the four-member team that took first place Friday in a business plan competition for the course. His team created the prototype of a Hummer- RV.

“In a lot of ways, what he touched on in his speech we learned on a practical level,” he said. “New ideas require new leaders. It was very motivational.”

Even older entrepreneurs like Melvin and Joy Hyman were touched by Maguire’s talk. The husband and wife duo own a hearing and speech center in Toledo. Melvin is a professor emeritus at the University and was chair of the Speech and Hearing Clinic in the Department of Communication Disorders for 37 years.

“He was right on target,” Joy said. “I think you have to feel that, you have to have that passion. If it starts in your heart then it doesn’t get boring and you love what you’re doing.” Editor’s Note: For more information about the University’s entrepreneurship program, contact Brent Nicholson, director of Entrepreneurship Academic Programs at: 419-372-8236; [email protected].