In high school, Jacob Roseburrough had a passion for math and art.

By the time he was college-bound, he decided to channel his creative energy and data-driven mindset into marketing.

The Kansas City native left his home to attend Missouri State.

Roseburrough was debating between two universities, but ultimately selected Missouri State because of its College of Business and affordability.

“I loved the marketing program because you get a little taste of everything. Whether you plan on staying in the marketing field post-grad or not, the curriculum helps you build a strong foundational understanding of every moving piece that drives a business. I look back and I’m thankful for having the opportunity to take courses like business statistics, finance, and operations management because it helped me develop a holistic perspective, which I now find extremely important to have.” Roseburrough said.

He evolved as a student.

“I look back and I’m thankful for having the opportunity to take courses like business statistics, finance, and operations management because it helped me develop a holistic perspective, which I now find extremely important to have.”

“Early on I was more interested with the creativity behind advertising. As I progressed, I was more interested into marketing research and data analysis,” Roseburrough said.

While on campus, he was involved in the Ad Team and was the director of website development.

Missouri State’s Ad Team is renowned. It has won nine national and international competitions in the last 10 years.

Real-life experience

Ad Team is a for-credit, selective course for students interested in pursuing careers in the marketing field. Each semester the team partners with a new business or organization to create a complete marketing campaign.

When Roseburrough was in college, the group worked on a business development program called Create Here.

The Create Here program is part of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks’ Growth in the Rural Ozarks initiative. It was designed to promote economic growth and development in the rural communities of Aurora, Sarcoxie, Buffalo and Marshfield.

Missouri State’s Advertising Team acted as a full-service marketing agency and developed marketing assets for both initiatives, including the Create Here website. The website highlights what each community has to offer entrepreneurs and encourages them to start businesses in those towns.

It was real-world learning experience working with clients, understanding their needs and executing the mission of the program.

“Joining the Ad Team helped my professional growth immensely. I was able to take the coding knowledge I learned from an online bootcamp in the previous semester and use it towards a real-world project. This propelled my learning and I have now completed over 10 online courses in programming, data analysis, and digital marketing since spring 2019,” he said.

Roseburrough graduated in May 2019 and quickly landed a job in early June.

His next steps

Today, he works for NorthPoint Development, a fast-growing commercial real estate developer in Kansas City.  Since its inception in 2012, it has raised $7.1 billion in capital and developed or managed 81 million square feet of industrial space. NorthPoint is an umbrella for seven companies including where he works, Beyond Self Storage.

Roseburrough is their digital marketing manager.

“We currently have 20 facilities across the country, and we will soon be expanding to over 100 locations. For my position I manage SEO and Pay-Per-Click advertising. I also create UX/UI design mock-ups, develop landing pages, and perform marketing and data analysis tasks. I have loved every second of working at NorthPoint. The people and culture are incredible, it’s like we’re one big family. I am very grateful to have this opportunity.” Roseburrough said.

Early on, he realized the importance of digital marketing and decided to pursue additional classes in computer science. His goal is to continue to nurture those skills.

“Getting a degree is like riding a bike with training wheels,” Roseburrough said. “Once you understand the concepts from the classroom, it’s on you to take the training wheels off the bike and take your learning to the next level.”