John A. Addison, Jr.

---

John A. Addison, JR was born in July 1957, in Covington, Georgia to John and Ruth Addison. He spent his early life in the Newton County, GA⁸ area and attended: EL Ficquett Elementary School 1963 - 1970, RL Cousin Middle School 1970 - 1972, and Newton County High School 1972 - 1975.

Addison is the CEO of Addison Leadership Group and the former Co-Chief executive officer of Addison Leadership Group, Inc¹⁰, founded in 2015. He speaks globally¹⁶ and is active on several boards. Addison currently serves on the Primerica Board of Directors¹ and is the [Chairman] of Primerica Distribution. Addison is also a member of the Board of Directors for LegalShield⁵, and the National Monuments Foundation⁴.

Addison began his career with A.L. Williams, a financial services company, as a Business|Systems Analyst Business Systems Analyst in 1982. Addison was promoted quickly, eventually becoming president of the company in 1995. By this time, A.L. Williams had become Primerica. From 2000-2015 he served as co-CEO of Primerica with Rick Williams. In 2008, during the US economic downturn, Addison spearheaded the separation of Primerica from Citigroup3 Citigroup, one of the largest banking companies in North America. During the banking crisis of that era; due to government bailouts financial institutions received, Addison and Williams wanted to distance the company from those events. This was both to ensure Primerica’s security and to build confidence within their sales force and with their customers. Two years later, when Addison and Williams rang the bell for Primerica's Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the stock exchange in 2010, it went down in history as one of the most successful IPOs in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

Addison and his co-CEO Rick Williams are credited with the company's continued success.

________________________________

PRIMERICA

A.L. Williams was founded in 1977. [1984, A.L. Williams had become the leading writer of individual] life insurance in the United States.

A.L. Williams Agency was purchased by Primerica Corporation in 1990. In 1991, A.L. Williams took the name Primerica Financial Services, now just known as Primerica.

In 1995, Addison was named President of Primerica¹ and was responsible for all the company's marketing programs and initiatives.

In 2000, John and Rick Williams became Co-CEOs¹. Rick had been the Chief Financial Officer of Primerica for over a decade. During the 1990s John and Rick had forged a true business partnership and friendship.

From 2000–2006, Primerica had a period of extended growth in the business. John and Rick were particularly proud of the growth of incomes to the Independent SalesForce.

By the fall of 2006, Citigroup had a significant corporate evolution and John and Rick began the process of separating Primerica from Citi. There were many starts-stops and dead-ends in the next four years. However, after a mighty struggle that tested their endurance, John and Rick rang the bell of the New York Stock Exchange on April 1, 2010.⁶

Today, Primerica has more than 130,000 insurance licensed representatives, with an additional 25,000 licensed in securities. As of Dec 2017, Primerica insures approximately five million lives and boasts two million client investment accounts.⁷

______________________________________

Early Life

      	Addison was born to John and Ruth Addison. In hisbook, he lists his mother as a primary influence on his character from a young age. He spent his first few years of life in Newton County, GA. Addison recalls one particular day out grocery shopping with his mother. As they made their way to pay for their items, young Addison noticed an African American woman standing ahead of them in line. Addison says he was four or five at the time, so it would have been 1961 or 1962. At that time, in Newton County Georgia, it was expected that African American people would move out of the way of white shoppers in line at the grocery store.

Addison recalls vividly, The local cashier saying to the women ahead of them in line, “Ma’am you need to step out of line and let this lady in.” Ruth Addison Immediately reached out to the woman and placed her hand on her shoulder and said “ No, no, no you were ahead of me.” she then replied to the cashier “I don’t want to hear that, we don’t do that.” That brief exchange of words had a lasting influence on Addison. Addison remarks after recalling the story “I watched that women pay for her groceries, and as she left the store it seemed to me that she stood at least two inches taller.” Addison grew up in the Newton County, GA area and attended: EL Ficquett Elementary School 1963 - 1970, RL Cousin Middle School 1970 - 1972, and Newton County High School 1972 - 1975

Higher Education

After High School, Addison attended Emory at Oxford University 1975-1977 and obtained an Associate of Arts degree. In the fall of 1977, Addison started his journey toward his Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Georgia⁹. He graduated Cum Laude in 1979. ¹⁵

Career

Shortly after graduation, Addison took a job at Life of Georgia where he met his wife. Loveanne Bowles and John Addison Jr were married on May 29th, 1982. From 1983–1988, Addison attended Georgia State University in pursuit of his Master of Business Administration. During this time, Addison was hired as a business systems analyst at what became Primerica. Over the course of the next decades, Addison rose into leadership positions which culminated in his position as Co-CEO³.

In 2015, after retirement, Addison founded Addison Leadership Group, INC and partnered with SUCCESS magazine as their Leadership Editor. In 2016, Addison published his first book, Real Leadership: 9 Simple Practices for Leading and Living with Purpose. The book was a Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestseller. Today, Addison travels as a keynote speaker and serves on the board of directors for Junior Achievement, The National Monuments Foundation, Legalshield, and Primerica.

Family

       	Coy & Edith Addison (Paternal Grandparents)
       	John & Belle Dalton (Maternal Grandparents)
               John & Ruth Addison, Senior (parents)
       	Loveanne Addison (wife)
       	Kyle Addison (son) and Di Wu (Daughter In Law)
       	Tyler Addison (son) and Emily (Daughter In Law)

Professional Career

       	Life of Georgia 1980-1982
       	Primerica 1982-2015
       	Leadership Editor of Success Magazine 2015-201614
       	CEO & Founder of Addison Leadership Group, INC 2015 - Present

Board of Director Positions

       	Primerica 2009 - Present
       	LegalShield 2015 - Present
       	National Monuments Foundation 2015 - Present
               Junior Achievement of Northeast Georgia
               Executive Committee Board of Advisors 2018 - Present
               Direct Selling Association 2000 - 2005
               The Georgia Conservancy 2000 - 2003
               Gwinnett County Chamber of Commerce 1997

Awards

Northeast Georgia Business Hall of Fame – 2018¹¹ Silver Circle – University of Georgia Athletic Association^{12 15} Member Gridiron Secret Society – Bannockburn Award Winner Illumination Award – Heroes for Humanity – 2003 Harland Stonecipher Award for Entrepreneurial Vision - 2016¹³

References

^{1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14}

^{15 16}

This article "John A. Addison, Jr." is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:John A. Addison, Jr.. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

---