Where Are They Now?
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Greg Robey '78
For this installment of “Where Are They Now” we caught up with Greg Robey ’78. While an undergraduate, Greg was extremely active representing TN Beta in important campus organizations. He was the IFC delegate for the chapter from 1975 to 1977, serving as Secretary Treasurer in 1976. In 1977 he was elected to the Order of Omega, an organization that recognizes leaders from all fraternities and served as President of that organization in 1978.
We sat down with Greg to see what he is doing and to ask him what impact SigEp has had on his life.
Q: What is your fondest memory of belonging to SigEp at Memphis State University?
It’s hard to pick one memory, but trading in my pledge pin to become an active member was definitely at the top of the list. Being a SigEp pledge in 1973 was a challenging and humbling experience. Some of my favorite memories were playing basketball with the brothers in the “pit,” going to the Memphis State football and basketball games with my brothers, competing against the other fraternities in intramurals, and of course, the weekend parties. Our parties were pretty spirited and, as the IFC rep, it sometimes required some communication with Dean Carson. Fortunately he had a doctorate in diplomacy and was very supportive of our fraternity.
Q: How did SigEp contribute to what you do today?
When I joined SigEp I learned pretty quickly how to work with others. Since everyone had to contribute to the fraternity, we all learned how to take responsibility for our respective positions and develop the leadership skills needed to get the job done. Those skills served me very well throughout my business career with FedEx. You also had to know your audience and learn how to communicate in the chapter meetings. These experiences taught me a great deal on how to communicate in the business world.
Q: Where do you currently live and what keeps you busy these days?
I am currently living in Charlotte, NC and stay busy enjoying my family, my church, and my work. One of these days I’d like to add a little more golf into the schedule. I am currently launching two new photo-related companies with my partner that are designed to help people preserve and protect their photo related memories. There are two parts to any photo memory: 1) the image and 2) the memory of why you took the photograph. We are focused on helping you preserve both.
The first company we started, called LifeLens Imaging™ (www.lifelensimaging.com), is solving the problem of converting analog photos into a digital format. We are developing a national network of labs that will service all Walgreens stores and allow consumers to take their shoeboxes of photos and slides to Walgreens to be preserved. We are currently servicing the Walgreens stores in the Charlotte, NC area and plan to expand to 135 more stores in North and South Carolina after the holidays and then to all 8,000 stores nationwide by 2017.
The second company we launched, called MemoryMemo™ (www.memorymemo.com), is designed to address the problem of capturing the memory of why you took the photo in the first place. MemoryMemo™ is a free digital photography app for smartphones and computer desktops that creates the world’s first “intelligent photo.” MemoryMemo™, and its online companion MWorld™ (https://mworld.memorymemo.com/) a community-sharing portal for desktop computer users, employs a patent pending technology to collect and store the complete memory associated with an image. Imagine having the ability to capture that hilarious comment made by your SigEp brother 30 seconds ago!
Q: How has your life changed since graduating from MSU from a personal standpoint? E.g. marriage, kids, highpoints in personal life, etc.
I have been married for 30 year to my wife, Stephenie, and we have two sons, Michael, 28 and Nathan. 27. Both sons are college graduates with fulltime jobs, so I am very proud of both of them.
I worked for FedEx for 23 years in a variety of sales and business development roles in the US, Canada and Eastern Europe. With FedEx, we moved from Memphis to Sacramento, CA, Frankfurt Germany, Dallas, TX, and back to Memphis. I left FedEx in 2001 as their Managing Director, Business Development to join a company called DataSafe in Boston as their VP of Sales. For a year I commuted to work from Memphis each week (I love Boston but hate the winters). After a year of living on the road, I joined USA Gifts Direct as their COO. In 2004 I joined AmeriGas as their VP of Sales Operations and moved to Philadelphia, PA. AmeriGas is the largest propane company in the US servicing over 2 million customers. I enjoyed working for them until 2011 when I began my current projects. In 2013 my wife and I moved to Charlotte, NC. We love living in Charlotte but their barbeque doesn’t come close to Memphis.
One thing that has stayed consistent over the years is my close relationship with my SigEp brothers. I regularly get together with my brothers when I travel to Memphis. Every once in while we even get away for a fishing trip on the Spring River in AR. These guys have been, and will always be, an important part of my life. Go Tigers!