John A. McGivern | Topeka Business Hall of Fame
When you grow up with 10 brothers and sisters, you learn a lot of interesting life lessons. You learn that family always comes first. You learn that everyone has a job to do. And you learn that sometimes you must figure out how to solve your own problems.These lessons would serve John McGivern well as he built a successful career leading the family painting business. His work is now recognized with his induction into the Junior Achievement of Kansas Topeka Business Hall of Fame.
As the third oldest of 11 children, John also learned how to make his own mark as the third-generation leader of a family business. Throughout high school and college, he worked part time for his father, Jack McGivern, as a warehouse laborer and painter’s helper.
“I was at the bottom of the food chain,” John said. “I swept floors, cleaned up the warehouse, stocked shelves, made job-site deliveries and did any odd jobs thrown my way.”
With a father who was an entrepreneur and a mother who managed a small army at home with love and grace, John understood that you get out of life what you put into it.
“My mother was the greatest mom to ever walk this earth,” John said. “She was a saint. She ran a tight ship. Our house was always spotless. She even used to iron and fold our underwear. On Saturday mornings, the bell would ring at 7 a.m. and I knew I had one hour to eat, dress and get out of the house for the day because it was cleaning day for my sisters and mother.”
John counts himself lucky to have been raised in a home with two loving parents who were strong in faith and demanding but fair — traits he hoped to incorporate into his own family someday.
John and his wife, Sheila, met during their sophomore year of high school, got married between John’s junior and senior year of college and will celebrate 44 years of marriage in May.
“I sat behind Sheila in English class and used to pull her hair,” John said. “I guess that got her attention because we have been together ever since.”
When he graduated from Washburn University with his business degree in 1983, he walked through the doors of the family business that following Monday, dressed in his slacks and a collared shirt, ready to go to work as a college graduate.
“When I asked Dad where my office was, he said ‘Follow me.’ I followed him right back to the warehouse. He pointed around and said, ‘Here is your office, son.’ At the time, I was a little miffed, but I figured out pretty quickly that Dad knew what he was doing,” John said.
John’s father understood from personal experience that leadership is not given, it is earned. So, John began earning his right to lead. He traveled to Dallas to work on some large convention and hotel projects. From there, it was months spent on job sites throughout Texas, Louisiana and Florida. All told, John spent three years on the road, working under the supervision of others and coming home to see his wife whenever possible.
“I wasn’t very happy about being away from home so much during that time,” John said. “But while I was at those job sites, I realized that Dad was doing me a favor. He got me out from under his supervision while I learned the business from others. I learned to solve my own problems and make my own decisions.”
Then in the late 1980s, after John had earned his stripes on the road, it was time to come back home and finally find that office he had been searching for. Under the tutelage of his father and future business partner, Steve Beier, John learned the art of bidding, estimating, marketing and other administrative functions.
“When I got back into town, I wasn’t green anymore. Dad and Steve loosened the reins and allowed me to make mistakes so I could learn from them. They weren’t overbearing, but if I needed help, all I needed to do was ask,” John said.
John began taking on more responsibility and gradually shifting into a significant leadership role, eventually partnering with Steve and purchasing the company in 1999.
“As soon as we bought the company, Dad never second guessed anything that we did,” John said. “He still came into the office every day, not to manage us, but simply because he had spent so much of his life there, it felt like home to him.”
New ownership brought new ways of doing business at the company. Instead of writing the estimates, project management reports and administrative records on a Big Chief tablet with a pencil, those functions were now processed by computers running sophisticated software programs to make estimating, billing and accounting more efficient.
Increased efficiency meant more time dedicated to bidding new projects and growing the business. Known for its specialized industrial, commercial and high-end residential projects, J.F. McGivern, Inc. has taken on many notable local projects including the Great Overland Station, the State Capitol Building Restoration Project, Security Benefit and Federal Home Loan Bank.
“The Capitol building restoration was one of my favorite projects because of the history aspect. The work involved a lot of decorative painting that allowed us to really showcase our painting expertise, artistry and professionalism we bring to every job,” John said.
Even though he is proud to have continued the legacy of a company built on a reputation of providing customers with the highest quality work and the best customer service, John’s greatest satisfaction as a business owner is knowing his employees are thriving.
“It all comes down to treating people right, both customers and employees. If you do the right thing and treat people with kindness and respect, you earn their loyalty. It’s that simple,” John said.
John stepped down as president of J.F. McGivern in 2022 and officially retired at the end of 2025.Just as his father never expected him to join the family business, John didn’t push either of his children in that direction either.
“I grew up in the contractor business. It wasn’t always my ‘dream,’ but it enabled me to live my dreams,” John said. “I always told both my kids that they could be whatever they wanted to be and that Sheila and I would support them in their endeavors.”
They took that advice to heart. John and Sheila’s daughter, Dr. Gena Hendrickson, is an orthodontist and co-owner of Wilson and Hendrickson Orthodontics, and their son, Dr. Benton McGivern, is an internal medicine hospitalist at Stormont Vail Regional Hospital.
While neither of his children chose to join the family business, John is extremely proud of them for following their own dreams.
In business, John carried on the legacy started by his grandfather in 1946 and continued by his father. John’s selection as a laureate in this year’s Junior Achievement of Kansas Topeka Business Hall of Fame has created another type of family legacy: His father, Jack McGivern, joined the Hall of Fame in 2014.
“When Junior Achievement informed me that I was being given this honor, I couldn’t believe it,” John said. “I look at this list of current and past laureates and am humbled and grateful to see my name included.”
As John enters the next phase of life, he and Sheila are looking forward to spending a lot more time on the golf course, traveling, volunteering, staying involved in the community, continuing the tradition of Sunday family dinners, spoiling their six grandchildren and hanging out with Bailey, the goldendoodle who runs the house.
