- Alumni and Friends
Alumni Spotlight - Jon Robert and Michala Beck
Even though A&M Texarkana alumni Jon Robert and Michala Beck had crossed paths since PreK, it wasn’t until Jon Robert’s high school awards assembly when they truly connected. “There was a group of us going to eat together and I invited him to come,” Michala shared. “We talked every single day after.”
Before graduating from Pleasant Grove High School in 2014, Jon Robert toured several area colleges, saving A&M Texarkana for last. “Everyone was just so friendly there. They were so helpful and inviting and I thought, ‘This is going to be the place for me.’ Plus, it’s in my hometown.”
Michala followed a year later after her own graduation from Pleasant Grove. “I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but I wanted to figure it out,” she shared. “All the decisions just lined up for me, and it helped me figure out what I wanted to do.”
They became Student Ambassadors, representing the school at various events. “I’m thankful for the ambassador program, because we were able to really interact with the outside world,” Michala expressed. “There were such good connections within the program,” Jon Robert added. “At that age, you’re not always wanting to go talk to businesspeople. I’m thankful now, especially in our career, because today, some of them are clients,” Michala shared.
Both had big career aspirations and decided to explore them through majoring in business administration. “I was always entrepreneur-y,” Jon Robert shared. “I decided to major in general business. I ended up starting my own business before I even graduated.”
Jon Robert was always adventurous. An army recruiter showed him how his interests could transform into opportunities and experiences through the National Guard. “I’ve always been patriotic and had respect for people that serve. Whenever that opportunity came along for me personally, it was hard to turn it down.”
Shortly after signing up and while still a student, he was deployed to Africa for nine months. “The kids didn’t have shoes or clean water. They didn’t have anything. They were happy whenever we gave them a bottle of water and an MRE,” Jon Robert shared. “It shaped me because it allowed me to appreciate the things we have in life.”
When he returned to the states in November of 2017, he purchased property that had once been family land. “It looked like a tornado had touched down,” Michala expressed. “Every single day, after his deployment, he was going through the rubble piece by piece.” Jon Robert added. “It took a year and a half. I would be out there in the rain, sunshine, whatever it was. It didn’t matter.”
Jon Robert also continued his education, taking online classes, night classes, and day classes to catch up after deployment. “Sometimes I’d change clothes in my truck. If it started raining, I would just have a towel and change the clothes to dry off and go to school,” he shared. “Whenever I got done, I’d change back into the wet clothes and go back to work.”
Finally, he was able to open the doors to his first business…while still a college student. “I finished my last semester while I was already open. It made college super easy at the end, because I had to develop a business plan for class. ‘Gotcha. You want the address?’” Michala added. “It helped him, because he actually got to use what he learned.”
Michala hustled through high school and college, waitressing, nannying, dog sitting, and working at one of the local country clubs. “I worked every single hour of every single day doing as many hustles as I could while going to school,” she shared. “I met a lot of businesspeople at the country club and ended up finding my first employer there.”
Michala was very close with her paternal grandmother who made a steady living in insurance sales. “I always respected her. Her husband passed away when my dad was in high school, so she had to support five sons, and she was such an inspiration. She was the reason I got into insurance. Whenever the opportunity presented itself, I knew it was God.”
Today, Michala is the owner and agent of Beck and Company, Legacy Insurance Group. “We’re an independent insurance agency, so we shop all the markets for you. We do commercial, life, personal, and health is expanding in 2027. We do it all essentially.”
In the beginning stages of building her business, Michala worked days and nights, putting 9 to 5 to shame. “My biggest driver in starting this business was my faith and my family. When I started, I was up here until 2 in the morning and woke up at 4:30. I needed to refocus my life on God’s will and my family. Now, I’m hiring my first employee and getting more help and finally I can say, ‘Okay, this is why I did it.’”
Jon Robert’s company is JR’s Building Supplies. “I’m the owner, and whatever the business needs is my job. I’m the forklift operator, the accountant. You just name the day. Whenever I was in the military, you just go into the needs of the Army. So, I’m the into the needs of JR’s Building Supplies while I’m there.”
The company does investment real estate, house flips, and manages rental properties, along with its exhaustive business supplies store front. “We have 51 rentals now and a few flips going, plus building a new building to relocate my store.”
Along with building their own businesses, the Becks are also building their family with two-year-old son, Jaxson.“Success before becoming parents meant more financial success. Now, we want him to be smart, have proper care. It’s seeing him grow up, healthy and happy, and giving him the best life,” Jon Robert shared. “Just the American dream,” Michala added. “We finally made it to the American dream.”
The couple remains grateful for the relationships and connections cultivated through their time at A&M Texarkana.“Texarkana is such a good place to raise a family,” Michala expressed. “The grass is only greener where you water it. So, we watered our grass our whole lives here. Thank God for A&M Texarkana and the connections. If we had gone to a different school, there’s no way we would be where we are today.”