If there’s one thing Penn State is known for, it’s the university’s expansive network of talented alumni. From actors to artists, sports champions, and more, Nittany Lions across the globe are credited for their postgrad success and achievements.

There’s no greater example than business owner Greg Woodman, a Class of 1983 Penn State graduate. Woodman is well known in the Penn State community for his student-run business in the early 1980s, in which he produced and sold dozens of unique Penn State novelty items and merchandise.

Today, Woodman has translated his entrepreneurial experience fostered at Penn State into the real world by becoming the CEO of a local, booming business in State College. Woodman went on to teach a course at Penn State and recently overcame a heart attack while running a half marathon this past summer. His story showcases the unique success that Penn State sets up for its students and the resiliency that can only be a product of the Happy Valley region. 

During his time at Penn State, Woodman described how, despite the success he found beyond graduation, he was not the best student on paper. Instead, Woodman focused his time and energy on his student-run business, Happy Valley Promotions, where he produced and sold Penn State novelty items from greeting cards to life-sized cutouts. Teaming up with fellow classmates, Woodman used what he was learning in his business classes to create and run his own company on campus. 

“I was doing Penn State novelties, t-shirts, posters, and the ‘Are You A Penn Stater Guide Book.’ Since I was a college student and was in classes about creativity and product development, I would team up with my fellow classmates and create products,” Woodman said. “So I was blending in a real-life student business, relationships with professors, and a curriculum that I could hand-pick. I really loved it.”

Despite the success Woodman experienced while selling products to fellow Penn Staters, being a student entrepreneur during his time at Penn State came with its downsides. While student entrepreneurs today are praised for being “girlbosses” or “hustlers,” Woodman’s business ambitions weren’t always viewed in a positive light.

“I was sort of a real-life student entrepreneur before student entrepreneurship was cool. It was kind of a freak novelty back in the late 70s or early 80s, now it’s a glorified curriculum here,” Woodman said. “Back then it was like, ‘Who is the oddball hucking t-shirts at Beaver Stadium on the weekends?’ Now, you’re celebrated as an innovative young student. We were just the goofballs back then.”

Despite labels as the Happy Valley goofballs, Woodman and his crew were learning business skills hands-on, in and out of the classroom. Every Penn State greeting card or life-size football poster sold provided Woodman with a solid foundation of entrepreneurial experience, which he built off of in his career after graduation. 

Today, Woodman is the CEO of Affinity Connections, a fundraising-driven organization that connects customers with their passions or “affinities.” He works with local, esteemed organizations, such as Penn State alumni groups, Meals on Wheels, and the Mount Nittany Conservancy to raise awareness and funds for each group.

While he isn’t selling greeting cards or gag gifts, the work Woodman does at Affinity Connections is similar to his previous student business. Both Affinity Connection and Happy Valley Promotions dealt with the business of providing for alumni and tapping into the school pride and affection there is for Penn State. Woodman’s history selling gadgets and merchandise helped him craft this business and successfully continue to provide for alumni today. 

“My experience of selling things to alumni is what I did in college,” Woodman said. “In college, I learned that it is special feelings and emotions that are very important to people, and they will want to wear the badge of what is meaningful to them. I am really into people connecting with their affinity, and something they value that is important to them. We amplify their stories and accentuate the positive.” 

Woodman’s involvement in the Penn State community doesn’t end with his company’s connection with alumni. In his spare time, Woodman teaches Engineering 310: Entrepreneurial Leadership at University Park.

Despite the word engineering used to describe the class, students don’t need a background in physics or calculus to complete the course. The curriculum revolves around the mechanics of entrepreneurship and ways students can enhance their leadership skills. Woodman’s experience teaching the class has been a fulfilling one, and it allows him to connect with and prepare students for their careers after Penn State.

“I teach the class as if everyone in the class is already an entrepreneur. They are already in the business of themselves,” Woodman said. “So I look at myself as a consultant and a guide to my students, as I’m helping them figure things out and discover what’s important to them and what their values are. It’s really a fun 12 to 15 weeks we spend together and keep in touch with most of them after graduation and hear from them all the time.”

His course is available for all students, no matter the major, to take in person at University Park.

Woodman’s story is not only inspiring due to his blazing passion for Dear Old State both inside and outside the classroom but also for his recent life-saving story. While running a half-marathon this past summer, Woodman went into heart failure and was thankfully saved by a group of nurses also running the race. Woodman expresses his gratitude toward those women who saved his life and sustained him until the paramedics arrived and how the event has completely altered his overall outlook on life. 

“For an out-of-hospital heart attack, you only have a 9% chance of living, so I feel tremendously blessed and lucky,” Woodman said. “I feel like I got a shot here to make a larger impact and sort of ‘pay-it-forward’. I think I became a better teacher, more vulnerable, and I feel a little more intensity to serve. I feel like every day is Thanksgiving — a lot more gratitude and consciousness about our time being finite.”

Working with the nurses who saved his life, Woodman and the group are creating a non-profit to raise funds and promote proper CPR and cardiac knowledge across Pennsylvania. Woodman is dedicated to diving “heart-first” into sparking change and seeking out ways to improve awareness surrounding cardiac health. His ability to make lemonade out of life’s lemons showcases the distinctive resiliency typically found in Penn State alumni.

Woodman’s love and loyalty to the Penn State community is infectious, as continues to provide for and work with students on and off campus. A prime example of Penn State excellence, Woodman is a model reminder of the grit and determination that can only be products of Happy Valley.