John Jacobs is a co-founder of the popular lifestyle brand Life is Good. Before graduating with an English degree in 1990, Jacobs, along with his brother Bert, went on a cross-country road trip from Los Angeles to Boston. While traveling, the two brothers brainstormed about starting a business allowing them to be creative. They soon founded a T-shirt, and the brothers traveled the East Coast in their van, selling their shirts to college students.
In 1994, the Jacobs brothers decided they wanted to create art that inspired people to celebrate all the good in the world and landed on the message: “Life is Good.” They sold out of T-shirts at their first street fair in Cambridge and, after three years, reached $1 million in sales. Today, Life is Good is a $100 million company that positively impacts over 1 million kids annually through the Life is Good Kids Foundation. Through its signature Playmakers Program, the foundation helps more than 1 million children overcome the impact of poverty, violence, and illness each year.
In May 2020, Jacobs provided a message of resilience and optimism to UMass Amherst's Class of 2020.