The journey of an entrepreneur is often a wild one. There’s usually lots of bumps on the road, lots of distracting new sights to see, and an endless plethora of exciting opportunities to capture.
Jed Morley, the CEO of the merchant processing company, Platinum Payment Systems, went through quite a few twists and turns in order to end up where he is today.
From doing backbreaking work in Alaska, serving his God faithfully in Argentina, selling and developing homes and buildings as a real estate broker, and finally, now, he’s the CEO of a highly respected and flourishingly payment processing company in his home state!
Down below, Jed Morley has graciously shared his unique beginnings and inspiring story:
Jed Morley’s Early Beginnings | Passion & Hard Work
Jed Morley’s early beginnings started out with a lot of hard work. “I’m the kind of guy that would hike up a mountain just to ski down it,” he said, reminiscing about old childhood memories where he had actually hiked up mountains (several times a day at that!) in order to be able to ski, which was something he was very passionate about at the time.
“But even then, I think I didn’t know what hard work and passion really meant until I went to Alaska to become a logger,” Jed goes on to explain. “I met some of the most hard-working men out there. It was a dangerous job, I was only 18, straight out of high school and all that. So, it was definitely not easy for me. But it did me a lot of good to be able to see that level of commitment at such a young age. So, I can’t be anything but grateful for the experience.”
Jed didn’t stop his travels there, however. Not long after, he moved to Argentina to serve as a missionary for his church. There, in a country rich with unknown culture and people, he picked up a completely new language and learned to grow to love the people around him.
Two years later, he took all of his newfound knowledge and moved back to his home state, where he finished secondary schooling by attending the Utah Valley State College and then the University of Phoenix — all while overseeing and managing some business of his own!
“I dipped my toes in a variety of businesses and industries while still in college,” he explained. “But, I did eventually settle into real estate. During that time, I must have sold hundreds of both new and existing homes. And built many more — from subdivisions, charter schools, hotels, even national credit buildings.”
And he didn’t completely step away from it even after finding new pursuits. At least, according to this interview, where he states that he still owns “several tracts of land and a property management company.”
But this was definitely the point of his life where Jed Morley shifted his focus into the payment processing industry. “I was offered an opportunity to get involved with Platinum Payment Systems, and I took it,” he said. “As a real estate broker, I saw, first-hand, how businesses worked. They all run on payments. Every single one. And, as soon as that became clear to me? Well, there was no way I was going to turn that opportunity away.”
Over A Decade with Platinum Payment Systems
And Jed stayed true to this promise. He and his partners put together a team whose unique backgrounds and skill sets meshed together to create an environment that invited a change from the usual payment processing offerings out in the market at the time.
“We wanted to make it so that our clients would be our partners. And, more importantly, we wanted to make payments a more exciting part of their business. One that they can be involved in and set up just the way that they need,” he says, when talking about the philosophy that drove (and continues to drive) them through the years.
He goes on to say that their goal as a company is to “continue pushing the boundaries of what is possible in their space” and that, beyond anything else, what they want is to make sure that their “partners and clients are more than successful.”
To this end, Platinum Payment Systems has seen a lot of innovation over the years. A trend that Jed Morley and his team intend to continue, especially with the dramatic shifts in the payments industry brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.
“COVID-19 has changed a lot of things in the payments industry. To adjust to this, we’re looking to scale our efforts and grow further than ever before. It’s something that I, and my team, are very excited about.”
He specifically mentions that they are working on improvements in their mobile payments processing, as well as more streamlined processes to provide an experience that will allow them to serve their customers better than they ever have before.
“I see us in the perfect place for a great run,” he says to finish off. And it’s something that I wholeheartedly agree with! Jed Morley’s journey—and with him, Platinum Payment Systems—from this point on is sure to be a fun one to watch.
