Customers look at merchandise in Texas State senior lecturer Kevin Jetton’s booth, Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022, at Bussey’s Flea Market. Kevin Jetton co-owns and runs the booth with his wife, Yolie Jetton.

Kevin Jetton, an information technology (IT) lecturer of 36 years, has built a powerful community at Texas State. Aside from relentless lesson planning five days a week, Kevin Jetton spends his weekends at Bussey’s Flea Market in Schertz, Texas, with his wife selling a variety of second-hand stuffed toys, vintage collectibles, action figures, dolls, keychains and more.
Kevin Jetton co-owns the toys and collectibles booth with his wife, Yolie Jetton who outsources, researches and prices the materials independently. Kevin Jetton cleans and organizes the product as well as vends the products to the public. Running the booth takes teamwork, as Kevin Jetton works it on Saturdays, and Yolie Jetton takes over half the day on Sundays.
“I started it to support my wife,” Kevin Jetton said. “Not everyone knows about the other world of flea market toys and collectibles, but they all know and see the benefit from flea market experiences.”
Kevin Jetton began teaching management information systems night classes at Southwest Texas State University in 1986. He pursued professional IT banking as his day job, and now teaches IT and systems & quantitative methods classes full-time at the McCoy College of Business Administration.
In the 80s, as Kevin Jetton was pursuing his teaching career, he helped Yolie Jetton run pop-up jewelry and knick-knack booths in Corpus Christi and Castroville, Texas, as well as along the San Antonio River Walk and at the King William Festival during Fiesta. They would also set up shop at the San Antonio Coliseum and local craftsmen and second-hand shows during weekends. This started Kevin Jetton’s second-hand selling experience.
Yolie Jetton first started selling crafts she made in various pop-up booth events, then began selling jewelry as Kevin helped her set up, sell and clean up. She held a garage sale and made $800 selling various secondhand goods, giving her the idea to pursue that market for profit.
“I used to enjoy making crafts and would set up at craft shows, but I got bored with making multiples of the same items,” Yolie Jetton said. “Although that was a lot of work, I was hooked. I thought it would be so cool to go out and find more stuff to sell, and the fun began.”
The Jettons toured various locations throughout central and south Texas for their seasonal and old market day shows while both working full-time jobs during the week. Before securing a permanent booth, they did multiple pop-up shops around central Texas, as well as managed various booths at Bussey’s every weekend.
Their names remained on a waiting list for their own spot at Bussey’s for seven years before receiving a long-awaited call while they were outsourcing at a trade show.
“We were at a trade show taking a break and randomly received a call from Bussey’s asking us if we wanted the booth in a yes or no fashion,” Kevin Jetton said. “I’m really happy I saw my phone was ringing because if I didn’t pick up, they would call the next person down the list.”
With the desire to create an original shop feel in the booth, as opposed to a typical vendor atmosphere, Yolie Jetton painted the walls pink and bought cohesive shelving units. Kevin Jetton organized the merchandise into categories after his wife labeled every product by description and price.
Kevin Jetton is also in charge of picking music, so he is constantly thinking about what songs to play in his vendor booth. His love for music transfers into his classroom lectures.
“I love music and connecting it to the main idea of my lessons,” Kevin Jetton said. “There are countless band and song references throughout the semester wherein the lyrics or chorus connects to the material at hand.”
Dancing to the beat in front of a class, or in concert, he frequents many rock concerts throughout the year. He recently attended a Def Leppard show and used their song “Pour Some Sugar on Me” to describe the traffic light system of business.
“I got the nickname ‘dorky’ in class,” Kevin Jetton said. “I always figure if I’m not having fun, they’re not having fun. Every class is my showtime production to me so I always try to have a happy positive attitude.”
Through his Zoom classes and advising Information Technology Students of America (ITSA), Kevin Jetton prioritizes forming relations and creating engaging content. According to Sujata Duwal, a Texas State alumnus and the former vice president of ITSA, Kevin Jetton regularly checks up on his ITSA members and keeps communication for all his students open at all times.
Kevin Jetton incorporates props and even dresses up for classes. He showed up to his IT course dressed as a security guard because the lesson was on cyber security.
“He has such a good vibe and energy that is truly infectious. He makes sure we genuinely enjoy what we are learning, even online,” Duwal said. “ITSA was a lot of work but I can truly say he really focused on our growth as well as our daily activities for the club. He goes above average professors and genuinely cares about us. [He] is very influential.”
Kevin Jetton was nominated for the 2022 Presidential Award for Excellence in Service for helping students reach their fullest potential, providing mentorship and creating a positive atmosphere both inside and outside of the classroom.
“I transferred in fall 2020 my senior year and was very nervous about how late it was in the year for me to join anything or make connections. I formed a connection with him in ITSA and felt in my few short semesters with him were very influential,” Duwal said. “I felt that was the least I could do after the positive impact he left on me. I did not hesitate giving him the letter of recommendation because he truly deserves it.”
Kevin Jetton serves his Texas State community by facilitating a positive environment for his students and ITSA club while also building connections in the flea market.
“I love teaching because it keeps you young forever and there’s never a dull moment,” Kevin Jetton said. “I also love running into so many Bobcat alumni, current students, their parents and staff at the flea market. I’m always excited to be around people.”
Bussey’s Flea Market is located at 18738 I-35, Schertz, TX 78154. For more information, visit https://www.busseysfm.com/.