PPB April 2016

Patterson stumbled into the

promotional products industry

almost 20 years ago after a layoff

from a corporate job. “I looked

for another job while I was sell-

ing promotional products for the

first three to four years. But then

I went to a GAPPP (Georgia

Association of Promotional

Products Professionals) expo and

realized ‘I can do this,’” he says.

Though his business,

Grayson, Georgia-based Total

Promotions Group, was small, it

provided for him, his two grown

children, Shirsten and Justin, and

his wife, Judith Tope, and it con-

tinues to provide for them in their

retirement. Patterson recently

moved most of his remaining

business to Tucker, Georgia-based

distributor Eagle Recognition

(UPIC: Caras), but will remain

the salesman of record for one of

his former customers.

“I’ve just been so blessed. I’ve

had a wonderful life,” Patterson

says. “I still have two legs that

work relatively well and Judith

hasn’t changed the locks, so I’m a

MANY PEOPLE SEE RETIREMENT as a chance to slow down, relax and

maybe hit more golf balls after all those years of bringing home a paycheck. John

Patterson, on the other hand, is one of those rare people who, in his retirement,

can still run circles around people half his age. A longtime triathlete, skier and

adventurer, Patterson, 73, views retirement as the time to explore the world, and

help those with physical challenges do it with him.

TOTAL PROMOTIONS GROUP, INC. PRESIDENT JOHN W. PATTERSON, MAS,

GLIDES INTO RETIREMENT

By Julie Richie

NEXT ADVENTURE:

EXTREME EDITION

John Patterson and his wife, Judith,

enjoy a day of skiing in 2013

12 •

PPB

• APRIL 2016

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