Keep calm, John Resig ‘01 to deliver May 16 Shoemaker address

Entrepreneur, actor and philanthropist John Resig ‘01 will be the featured guest for the 2024 edition of Hanover College’s Shoemaker Speaker Series. He is co-founder and chief executive officer of Chive Media Group and co-founder and president of Atmosphere.

Resig was a double major in English literature and theatre at Hanover. After graduation, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting and writing. In August 2008, he was cast in the pilot episode of HBO’s “True Blood.” He played the role of Deputy Kevin Ellis for seven seasons on the hit series.

Resig also co-founded theCHIVE in 2008 with his brother, Leo Resig. He operated as both lead editor and director of marketing. The siblings built an eCommerce website in 2009, The Chivery, on a then-emerging platform, Shopify. The two companies pioneered digital media’s first content-to-commerce model. The Chivery has earned more than $600 million since its inception and spun off major brands, including actor/comedian Bill Murray’s golf line, William Murray Golf.

The siblings established Chive Charities in 2012, a 501c3 dedicated to helping varied causes, as well as veterans and first responders. To date, Chive Charities has donated more than $22 million to more than 500 worthy recipients in the U.S. and Canada.

In 2015, the Resigs recognized that content in America’s “third space,” the places between home and work, was largely broken. The duo created an audio-optional streaming channel for bars and restaurants, Chive TV, which became an instant hit. In 2019, the brothers launched Atmosphere, the world’s first connected TV platform designed for outside the living room. Atmosphere houses 50 channels in 61,000 venues and reaches more than 130 million unique visitors each month. In February 2023, Atmosphere received a valuation of $1 billion.

Resig will speak on Hanover’s campus at 7 p.m., Thursday, May 16, in the Science Center. John Riddick, professor and executive director of the Hanover College Business Scholars Program, will serve as host for the conversation.

Admission is open to the public, free of charge. A pre-event reception will be held from 6:30-7 p.m.

The Shoemaker Speaker Series, started in 2022, was established to feature on-campus conversations with prominent voices on business, leadership and innovation. The program, part of Hanover’s expanding entrepreneurial network, is made possible through the generosity of John Shoemaker ’64 and his wife, Donna.