“Challenge yourself. Never be satisfied with good when you can be great.” Those are the words that Jamie Myers, St. Joseph Class of 1976, lives by. And it all started in Tim Robertson’s Math class. Jamie was good in Math, but good wasn’t enough for Mr. Robertson’s standards. He wanted Jamie to be great, so he challenged him with harder and harder problems to solve. That was the start of a lifetime of Jamie striving to be better than good.
Jamie was one of four sons of Jim and Ceale Myers, three of whom attended St. Joseph High School. The family moved to the Detroit area, but Jamie stayed in Cleveland to attend John Carroll University. He became a CPA and worked at KPMG for 10 years.
As the story goes, Jamie and Josie visited San Diego one Christmas season, where they saw a nativity scene in sand on the beach. Wondering why they stayed in the cold when they could live in this lovely weather, they moved to southern California without hesitation and have never looked back. Jamie and Josie continue to live there today and fondly refer to this “epiphany” as their own “nativity story.”
Josie and Jamie met in the Detroit area at a church youth group event and will be married for 40 years next year. They have three sons: Nicholas, his wife Alexandra, and granddaughter Sophia live in Glasgow as Nicholas finishes his Ph.D. at the University of Glasgow; Zak, who was teaching at Cathedral Catholic High School (San Diego) at his untimely passing and his wife Megan; and Joshua, their special needs blessing who lives with Jamie and Josie. Their commitment to a faith-based education played out in their sons’ education, who all attended Catholic schools through college.
For 10 years at KPMG, Jamie was drawn to focusing on growing small businesses rather than the big companies. Why? Because they were a challenge and an opportunity to grow them from good to great. “Struggles involve learning and creating solutions to problems,” Jamie says, which is why he’s drawn to them. He believes the school of hard knocks is the best place to learn — looking at what matters and then making sound decisions.
But his biggest challenge was yet ahead of him. He heard that a small company needed some big help, and he responded by becoming controller of a small company at the time named Petco. He was promoted to CFO and ultimately was CEO for 12 years. During that time, he took that “small company” from good to great by growing them from less than $100 million in revenue to $4 billion in his 28-year career.
When asked why he was so successful growing good to great, he says, with a smile on his face, “People want the best for their pets. They spend money on them. People are very emotional when it comes to their pets.” All he did was offer the best solutions to people for their pets.
As an executive who embraces servant leadership, he treated staff with respect and created win-win scenarios. While luck plays a part in situations, it’s relationships that make a difference, in treating people as you would like to be treated and giving them meaningful work. “Good things come to those who work hard, “says Jamie, and he certainly demonstrates that statement.
But Jamie is not the only family member embracing service. Josie was an RN before raising their children. To this day, Josie’s “kind and caring” philosophy permeates her life. She embraces many of the same principles as Jamie and is highly motivated by supporting education for others so that they, too, can reach their full potential, believing students should have a chance to be their personal best.
Jamie reengaged with VASJ when interim president Rich Osborne reached out to him for a gift to the Keeping our Promises Campaign. He was immediately interested. His leadership gift of $500,000 was an important initial gift to the campaign and was a joint decision by Jamie and Josie. But the reasons are inspiring. He believes that students today are aspiring for the same things that previous students did. The student body may look different from an all-boys school, but the students want a faith-based education to enrich their lives and to be taught character, responsibility and other necessary virtues to be successful. They’re making a choice to come to VASJ because they want a better life and to be the best possible version of themselves.
He has lived his life trying to make a difference. He likes the new administrative team VASJ has in place and looks forward to their gaining traction and fulfilling their vision. And with his gift — and the goals of the campaign — they will be realized.
To donors who are thinking (or not thinking) about giving a gift to the campaign, Jamie’s advice is to “support the young folks who have made a choice to go to VASJ.” Many are making a sacrifice to go here, and your gift will help future generations to achieve their goals and have the ability to be successful. “We can make a difference in helping people make a better life,” he says.
Jamie and Josie made their largest philanthropic gift to VASJ’s campaign because they want to make a life-changing investment in Catholic education, an education that stretched Jamie and challenged him to be his best “you.” He wants students to have the same opportunity he had.
His advice to the students: “Follow your passion. Challenge yourself. Good is the enemy of great. Don’t settle; you can achieve. Seek out opportunities. Keeps your eyes wide open. Learn good things and do good deeds.” Truly words of wisdom.
If Jamie’s life is successful, it’s because he followed his own advice.