Michael Z. Johnson
I have spent my career building relationships, finding opportunities others miss, bringing the right people together, and turning difficult problems into meaningful results. I am less interested in a title than I am in what can happen when the right people connect.
More than a résumé.
My career has crossed entrepreneurship, strategic sales, business development, leadership, public safety and security, and community service. The common thread has always been people: earning trust, understanding the problem, and creating value that lasts beyond the transaction.
Build the Relationship
I believe the best business is built when people trust one another enough to have candid conversations, solve the real problem, and do what they say they will do.
Find the Opportunity
I am at my best connecting capabilities, customers, people, and ideas that may not have been connected before — and turning that connection into something valuable.
Own the Outcome
Titles matter less to me than accountability. Whether as an entrepreneur, sales leader, strategic account professional, or nonprofit founder, I believe in taking responsibility for the result.
The work tells the story.
I have had the opportunity to build a business, sell complex technology, work with enterprise and public-sector customers, develop strategic opportunities, and create something entirely different through Help After Disaster.
Entrepreneurship to enterprise.
My career has included business ownership, branch leadership, strategic accounts, complex sales, and business development. I enjoy situations where success requires more than simply selling a product — it requires understanding the customer, aligning people internally, and finding a path forward.
Help After Disaster
I founded Help After Disaster to serve communities following natural disasters with free meals and practical support. It has become one of the most meaningful things I have ever built and an important part of how I think about leadership, service, and impact.
I would rather let others say it.
A résumé can tell you where someone worked. Sometimes a handwritten note or an unexpected message says much more about how they showed up while they were there.
A note I kept.
A handwritten card from a former CEO. Some messages are worth holding onto.
A message that mattered.
I received this message from Shawn Terry while letting colleagues know I was moving on. I have included it because it reflects the relationships I value most.
Read the message →Maybe there is something worth talking about.
I am not interested in collecting contacts for the sake of collecting contacts. But if you believe knowing one another could create value for both of us — professionally, personally, or somewhere in between — I would enjoy the conversation.
If you want a broader sense of who I am, what I care about, and what I spend my time on, my social channels are here as well.