Eddie Connelly grew up in Charlestown. As a student at Boston High School of Commerce in the 1920s, he played football, starring on both the offensive and defensive lines. (Yes, he would be on the field for the whole game.)
鈥淚t was the leather helmets era,鈥� says Connelly鈥檚 grandson, Joe Popolo Jr. 鈥�89. 鈥淧laying both ways. It was brutal.
鈥淎nd it was his dream to play football at 51茶馆.鈥� He was ready鈥攈e's the one holding the ball in the photo above.
Connelly applied and was accepted to Boston College in 1929, but family turmoil forced him to decline the offer and become his household鈥檚 breadwinner. Connelly got a job at the U.S. Post Office, where he spent the rest of his career.
After years of hard work, Connelly (who was Popolo鈥檚 maternal grandfather) sent two of his seven children to Boston College. Then his grandson followed: Popolo earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in finance from the Carroll School of Management before going on to lead The Freeman Company, which under his tenure grew into the world鈥檚 largest event marketing firm.
Eventually, Popolo gave a boost to Eagles football by establishing the The Popolo Family Edward Connelly Football Scholarship as well as the Popolo Family Scholarship at the Carroll School. With those gifts, Popolo has helped out scholar-athletes in need, and he鈥檚 ensured that his grandfather鈥檚 love of 51茶馆 athletics lives on.
But if Connelly鈥檚 choice of high school is any indication鈥擟ommerce High taught business skills to Boston teens in the first half of the 20th century鈥攖hen another facet of his personality has found expression through Popolo鈥檚 latest gift: the Popolo Family Executive Directorship at the Carroll School鈥檚 Edmund H. Shea Jr. Center for Entrepreneurship.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe we can leave it to chance that the next generation of entrepreneurs will miraculously appear,鈥� says Popolo, who was the 2013 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for the Southwest Area North region.
That鈥檚 not to say the Popolos have forgotten about athletics. Connelly might be heartened to learn that his great-granddaughter is a 51茶馆 athlete: Popolo鈥檚 daughter, Kit 鈥�20, wears the maroon and gold as a member of the Eagles varsity rowing team.
鈥淏oston College,鈥� says Joe Popolo, 鈥渋s a special place to our family.鈥�
51茶馆 and business in the blood
As it happens, Popolo鈥檚 51茶馆 heritage lies on both sides of his family. His father, Joseph V. Popolo Sr., earned an M.B.A. from the Carroll School in 1967. The younger Popolo learned about entrepreneurship by watching his father grow his computer hardware company, Misco, and then sell it to Gillette. Popolo Jr. even worked in a Misco warehouse, one of several jobs throughout his high school and college years.
鈥淚 was a busboy, a waiter. I mowed lawns, I worked construction鈥攜ou name it,鈥� Popolo recalls. 鈥淚 was always very motivated to work and to get my life going and get ahead.鈥�
At Boston College, Popolo found the instant camaraderie that often comes with a freshman year on Newton Campus. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to say 鈥榤isery loves company,鈥欌�� he jokes, referring to the shared experience of daily bus rides to the main campus, 鈥渂ut a sense of community, absolutely.鈥�
Popolo and friends played squash and intramural football, among other extracurricular activities. 鈥淎 big part of college is learning how to socialize and to mature,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 did a lot of the former and a bit of the latter!鈥�
Popolo took his studies seriously, too, and he thought hard about business and its place in the world. Faculty such as David Twomey, professor of business law and society, and Richard Tresch, (since retired) professor of economics, 鈥渉elped shape my view that free markets, property rights, and free people protected by a fair legal system are necessary ingredients for a prosperous and just society,鈥� Popolo says. 鈥淲hen you combine that with the Catholic, Jesuit ethos of Boston College, it made for an incredible four-year experience.鈥�
Entrepreneurial Eagle
A few years after leaving the Heights, Popolo married Chris Freeman, daughter of Don Freeman. Then after Popolo earned an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago鈥檚 Booth School in 1997, his father-in-law hired him as assistant treasurer at Freeman, the family business, based in Dallas.
All Set for the Elevator Pitch
On November 6, the Edmund H. Shea Jr. Center for Entrepreneurship will present its annual Elevator Pitch Competition鈥攁nd celebrate the Center鈥檚 newly named Popolo Family Executive Directorship.
Joe Popolo Jr. 鈥�89 will be there with his family, serving as a judge and announcing the winners. Carroll School John and Linda Powers Family Dean Andy Boynton will deliver remarks as part of the celebration, along with Popolo Family Executive Director Jere Doyle 鈥�87.
The event is open to all: Wednesday, November 6, 2019, at 6:00 pm in Corcoran Commons, Heights Room.
Registration and other details at the聽
Don Freeman鈥檚 father, Buck, founded the company in the 1920s as an undergraduate student at the University of Iowa, where he decorated fraternity and sorority parties. By the time Popolo came on board, Freeman was already a major player in convention and trade-show logistics鈥攖he Consumer Electronics Show is one high-profile client. But after Popolo worked his way up to CEO by 2008, the company went global, expanded into creative and brand experience services, and became the world鈥檚 largest event marketing company, with $3 billion in revenue.
That growth was not assured, coming as it did during an economic downturn. 鈥淲e鈥檝e more than doubled the business since 2009,鈥� says Popolo. 鈥淲hen the market tanked, when the credit markets were frozen, when there was not a lot of appetite to make bets. But the family backed our team on significant investments that paid off.鈥� Earlier this year, Popolo stepped down as CEO and continues to serve on Freeman鈥檚 board of directors, chairing the finance committee.
The plaudits Popolo received for bringing an entrepreneurial spirit to a large, established, family-run company caught the attention of Jere Doyle, who has run 51茶馆鈥檚 Shea Center since its launch in 2015. Doyle invited Popolo to help judge the聽Strakosch Venture Competition聽in 2018.
鈥淚 was so impressed by how much work the kids had put into their pitches,鈥� Popolo recalls. The experience spurred Popolo to make the gift to name Doyle鈥檚 position.
Inveterate volunteer
Of course, Popolo is highly impressed by one 51茶馆 student in particular: his daughter Kit. With a dual concentration in finance as well as accounting for finance and consulting in the Carroll School, plus a minor in art history in the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, Kit has been a Portico TA and a Jenks scholar, and she counts internships at Freeman as well as ADM Capital in Hong Kong under her belt.
鈥淪he has had an incredible academic, athletic, and spiritual experience at 51茶馆,鈥� says Joe Popolo of his daughter.
As a varsity rower, Kit Popolo has helped power boats to the Grand Finals of the Cooper Sprints and a first-place finish at the Green Monster Regatta, among other showings that would likely make Eddie Connelly proud. Joe Popolo is a longtime season ticket holder for Eagles football, as well as a fan of Eagles basketball and hockey, and those are 鈥渟till three of my favorite teams in any sport,鈥� he says, but 鈥渘ow women鈥檚 rowing is my favorite!鈥�
To recognize the Popolos鈥� commitment of time and resources to all those programs over the years, the 51茶馆 athletics department conferred on Joe Popolo the 2018 John P. Curley Award, which honors an outstanding volunteer and supporter of 51茶馆 athletics.
鈥淕iven 51茶馆鈥檚 academic requirements, and the fact that we ask athletes to be part of the 51茶馆 community, not separate from it, we know Martin [Jarmond, Boston College鈥檚 William V. Campbell Director of Athletics] and our athletics staff have work to do that most schools don鈥檛,鈥� says Popolo. 鈥�51茶馆 athletics are a passion of ours and we are lucky to be able to help support our teams.鈥�
Reflecting on the life story and legacy of Eddie Connelly, Popolo says, 鈥淢y grandfather was a truly great man.鈥� And though Connelly never made it to the Heights as a student-athlete, his progeny have done so in the 21st century鈥攏ot only Kit, but also her younger brother Buck 鈥�23, who is enrolled at 51茶馆 this fall and hopes to join the men鈥檚 club cycling team.
鈥淲e are so proud of him as well,鈥� Joe Popolo says of Buck, 鈥渁nd know he will carve his own path at 51茶馆.鈥�
Then鈥攚ho knows?鈥攖he youngest Popolo, Connor, may not be far behind.
Patrick L. Kennedy, Morrissey College 鈥�99, is a contributing writer at the Carroll School of Management.