On Oct. 30, 2025, Winona State University’s College of Business took over the Somsen Hall Engagement Center and hosted an event titled “Evening with an Entrepreneur.” The event featured CEO and Winona State alumni Tyrre Burks, an experienced entrepreneur and owner of the sports business company, Players Health. Winona State students and faculty had the opportunity to hear Burks’ story, engage in a Q&A session and learn from an experienced businessperson.
Born and raised in Chicago, Burks grew up with a strong love of sports. He loved all athletics, from football to soccer to hockey, and went on to play football for Winona State and the Canadian Football League. Sports were a safe place for Burks, but as he grew up, he realized that there were a lot of issues regarding athlete safety in sports. His belief that sports should be safe and accessible for everyone inspired him to start Players Health, an organization dedicated to helping young athletes be and feel as safe as possible.
Players Health is now one of the top ten providers of insurance for youth sports, but Burks explained that he experienced a lot of failures while building his company before he saw successes. He spoke to future businesspeople in the Engagement Center and reassured them that mistakes were a part of the business process, but they also weren’t the only important part of the process of building a company. Burks shared some helpful advice with students and faculty to help them understand the things they will experience if/when starting a business.
“You’re going to make mistakes. You’re going to grow. You’re going to succeed.” Burks said. “Take it all in stride. See it as a journey. There are no destinations.”
In addition to mentioning making mistakes in the business world, Burks also talked to audience members about imposter syndrome, something that many people fear they will experience when starting a business. Burks assured them that that was normal, and something that he experiences regularly.
“Theres not a day that goes by where I don’t have imposter syndrome… This is just rare for me to be in a role that I’m in, and I don’t have a lot of comparison. I can’t look around and go ‘I’m doing the right thing.’ I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing, I’m just doing my best,” Burks said. “And it’s hard because you’re constantly questioning whether you’re doing the right thing, and there’s nothing that I can measure whether I’m doing it right or not, I just have to learn.”
Burks explained that being passionate about his company and their mission helps him to defeat the imposter syndrome he feels. He recommended that future businesspeople figure out what lights them up in order to figure out what they want to do with their company.
“You have to be passionate about what you do, and it has to be something that actually lights you up,” Burks said. “You have to feel like you’re giving something back to the world when you do it.”
One way that Burks gives back to the world is by speaking about his experience to audiences like students and faculty at Winona State. Freshman Halie Uhl was among audience members at Evening with an Entrepreneur and commented on how hearing Burks’ story was helpful as someone who is considering going into entrepreneurship.
“He shared authentically what kind of led up to him being successful now, but he shared a lot of ups and downs and he didn’t sugar coat [his story],” Uhl said. “He answered the questions very authentically and showed the hardships that people are going to face when starting a business because it’s not going to be perfect, so I thought that was very helpful.”
Through Players Health, Burks works to make a difference in the world of athletics. Players Health has significantly helped sports organizations, from youth to collegiate, become safer for athletes. Not only does Burks focus on making a difference in athletics, but he does so by speaking at events like Evening with an Entrepreneur and sharing lessons and skills with fellow and future businesspeople.
