[3] Burrell was born in Chicago, where his father owned a tavern and his mother worked for a beauty parlor.
[4] He switched high schools to avoid being near "the wrong crowd" and it was in the second one that a teacher encouraged him to look into the field of advertising.
Burrell was "the first black person to work in a Chicago advertising agency.
[5] In 1999 he sold 49% of his firm to fund expansion,[7] and subsequently stepped aside, becoming chairman emeritus of the agency; Burrell was later inducted into the American Advertising Federation Hall of Fame.
Burrell has donated to and benefitted from Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind since being diagnosed with macular degeneration.