{"id":1307,"date":"2025-12-22T09:00:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T09:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/?p=1307"},"modified":"2025-12-16T21:31:37","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T21:31:37","slug":"building-future-ethan-starkey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/2025\/12\/22\/building-future-ethan-starkey\/","title":{"rendered":"Building a Future"},"content":{"rendered":"
For Ethan Starkey, a proud Mason County native and first-generation college student, the path to Marshall University was anything but certain.<\/p>\n

\"Ethan<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up in Mason County, college just didn\u2019t feel like something that was talked about often or seen as realistic for many students,\u201d Ethan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings began to shift when I transferred schools and started surrounding myself with students who were goal-oriented and driven. It made me believe college\u2014and more\u2014was possible for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

That shift in mindset set Ethan on a bold journey. As a high school student, he spotted pallets of merchandise outside a liquidation store on Route 60 and saw an opportunity. With no roadmap and little guidance, he began buying, selling, and reinvesting. Those early yard sales and Facebook Marketplace transactions became the foundation of his first business venture\u2014and the profits helped support his family and fund his education.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like a lightbulb moment,\u201d Ethan said. \u201cI didn\u2019t have resources, but I had grit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMarshall changed the entire trajectory of my life. Professors didn\u2019t just teach; they truly cared. They helped me believe in myself.<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t- Ethan Starkey<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

That grit carried him to Marshall, where he earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in management and marketing in 2023 and immediately entered the Master of Business Administration<\/a> (MBA) program. Ethan completed his final coursework through a study abroad program in Italy this summer and participated in Marshall\u2019s Winter Commencement Ceremony.<\/p>\n

Along the way, he\u2019s expanded his entrepreneurial footprint, launching multiple businesses including a Great Clips franchise and an insurance agency, all while weathering personal challenges like the loss of his home to a fire and his father\u2019s time in the ICU.<\/p>\n

\"Ethan<\/p>\n

Since completing his MBA over the summer, Ethan has expanded his insurance agency, Starkey Insurance Group, to offer services in West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were times I wanted to quit,\u201d Ethan admitted. \u201cBut my past became fuel. I reminded myself why I started, who I was doing this for, and how many people believed in me. That helped me push through, even on the hardest days.\u201d<\/p>\n

He credits much of his growth to the Marshall community. Professors like Amanda Meadows, Rex McClure, Tate Uday, and Susan Lanham went beyond teaching coursework to provide encouragement, mentorship and compassion in times of need.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarshall changed the entire trajectory of my life,\u201d Ethan said. \u201cProfessors didn\u2019t just teach; they truly cared. They helped me believe in myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ethan<\/p>\n

One of his most transformative experiences came through the study abroad program in Italy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was life-changing,\u201d Ethan said. \u201cIt reminded me that the world is much bigger than where we start\u2014and that we should dream accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inspired by President Brad D. Smith\u2019s journey from small-town beginnings to global leadership, Ethan says he hopes to follow a similar path: building successful businesses while giving back to the university that believed in him.<\/p>\n

\n\tMarshall took a chance on me, and that belief made all the difference.<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t- Ethan Starkey<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

\u201cProfessionally, I want to keep growing my businesses and creating opportunities for others,\u201d he said. \u201cBut long term, I\u2019d love to mentor, teach, or serve at Marshall in some capacity. It would be a dream to help the next generation of students who feel like the odds are against them.\u201d<\/p>\n

As he looks ahead, Ethan carries with him the same determination that first sparked along Route 60.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d tell my younger self, \u2018Don\u2019t stop,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cEven when no one understands what you\u2019re doing\u2014keep going. One day, it\u2019ll make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

And for Ethan, it has.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarshall means belonging, growth and pride,\u201d Ethan said. \u201cIt\u2019s more than just a school. It\u2019s a place where people believe in each other. Marshall took a chance on me, and that belief made all the difference.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Ethan Starkey, a proud Mason County native and first-generation college student, the path to Marshall University was anything but certain. \u201cGrowing up in Mason County, college just didn\u2019t feel like something that was talked about often or seen as realistic for many students,\u201d Ethan said. \u201cThings began to shift when I transferred schools and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":198,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-moments"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/198"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1307"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1540,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1307\/revisions\/1540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}