George Burrell is a Serial Entrepreneur

Over his desk in his new office, there’s a tapa cloth from Papua New Guinea. George Burrell bought it in a small village and carried it out of the jungle before boarding a bush plane. That was in 1962. “When I thought I was going to retire and maybe do some consulting, I put a cutline on my business card that said ‘Been there, done that,’” Burrell says. “I’ve been able to travel the world; I’ve seen most of this country, and I’ve done every element of business. I’ve loved it all.”

For nearly 60 years, Burrell has made it his business to help companies thrive. He helped create an automated airline reservation system and developed data center management systems. He worked as a director of marketing at a gas and oil company and, most recently, worked as the vice president and business development officer at a firm in Dallas. There, he helped oversee mergers and acquisitions.

“I worked for Clint Murchison, owner of the Dallas Cowboys,” Burrell says. “I spent about 10 years troubleshooting some of his businesses that were experiencing financial difficulties. When people asked my two daughters ‘What does your dad do?’ they wouldn’t have any idea. Both girls ended up working with me at one time or another.”

In the early 2000s, his company purchased Ozark Mountaineer magazine and subsequently turned it over to one of its investors. In 2014, he and his wife, Connie, bought property in Branson. In July 2019, they permanently moved to the area.

He says he tried retirement, but inevitably he and his body hated sitting still. So instead of doing nothing, Burrell took six decades of business knowledge and put it to use by helping small business owners figure out what’s next. As a business development advisor for Kingsley Group, Burrell serves as a matchmaker, helping people find the right partners, buyers or investors for their business. What’s amusing is that at the age of 80, Burrell says he’s still figuring out what he wants to do next, or what he wants to do when he grows up.

“I’m learning that I don’t know it all,” he says. “When you see how people do things differently than you’ve been doing them, it’s helpful. I’m meeting people, learning this area and how to live on their terms, not mine. This is a new place, so it’s a new experience. I’m having a lot of fun.”