- Support for this program was provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

- Hello, this is John Harmon, founder President, CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey.

Thank you for tuning in to Pathway to Success.

Today's guest is a, a homegrown hero in my, from my perspective, I speak no other than Mr. Kevin Johnson from Hamilton, New Jersey right outside of Trenton.

Kevin, welcome to Pathway to Success.

- Thanks John.

I'm truly grateful for the invite.

I'm finally happy.

Over the last couple years we were able to, you know, get our schedules together and make this happen.

So I really wanna say thank you for this, for this opportunity.

- So let's start with a little bit about your upbringing - From Hamilton, New Jersey.

Went to Hamilton West, single family household, the youngest, and, you know, just always looked at working hard man and, and you know, growing up, you know, sports was the, was the thing that everyone did.

And I became, you know, extremely, extremely good at football.

And, you know, that's something that always guided me along the way.

But, you know, single parent, you know, hardworking was poor, didn't have very much how many siblings were there in the household?

It was, it was, it was four of us total, but a lot of friends I had growing up, either dead in jail, it was tough.

But one of the things that I always tried to focus on was, was trying to be positive.

You know, what was my future gonna be?

And just a group of guys just always tried to stick together and look for a brighter deck.

When did you start playing football?

I started playing football at age seven.

Coaches always said I had a lot of potential.

I think in the ninth grade, which was, I think it was a life changing event.

I was watching this TV show on ESPN called Up Close.

And at the time Dion Sanders was, was everyone's role model, everyone's hero.

I think when Dion said that, you know, if drugs and alcohol was good for you, they would give it to you in school.

And I think at that point it made me stay away from drugs and alcohol and, you know, I'm always, you know, blessed and fortunate to say I've never drank or smoked a day in my life because that was a life changing, you know, event that I heard and that really propelled me to go on to do the things I was able to do.

- I mean, it's such a simple yet profound statement by one of our iconic sports figures who's really still doing great things today.

But was there anyone a little closer to you that you would consider a mentor or someone who gave you inspiration?

- Had some high school coaches who were just there, state troopers, one guy named was Carlton Crawford.

He would actually, you know, take me to work out after school.

And a guy who just always kept his thumb on me.

And it was just profound how, you know, he always said, you, you know, you got it, you got a great skillset.

And he stayed with me.

He was definitely one of the most in inspirational guys who I knew growing up.

And I just started seeing myself develop.

I started to, you know, be around more positive people.

And I think, you know, I always tell people, if you show me five of your friends, I'll show you who you are.

- You graduate Hamilton and then you somehow end up at Syracuse.

How, how did that happen?

- Syracuse is a top 10 school and Syracuse just made all the sense.

'cause again, my family was from New Jersey.

The, the trip was three and a half to four hours.

So it gave my family an opportunity to come see me play.

- And so your mother, let's talk about her a little bit.

How, how, how did she keep it all together?

- It was tough.

I mean, you know, you know, growing up, you know, especially a young, a young son who, who was always curious, she always would, would remind me that if you make your bed hard, you're gonna lay in it.

And she, you know, one thing I can guarantee, I was gonna have a nice home-cooked meal at night and my clothes was gonna be cleaned, you know, the next day to go to school.

So, you know, and I never wanted to disappoint my mom.

Yeah.

And that was the thing that, that always drove me to do the right thing.

She kept supporting me and, you know, everything I tried to do was making sure that I made my mom proud and, you know, so she was my driving force to, you know, the goal was, is hey, I wanna buy my mom a house one day.

And that's what drove me to continue to do the right things.

- So what is a typical day like for a college athlete?

- It's rough.

It, it, I mean, it's, it's a, it's a 24 hour job.

I think, you know, for me leaving high school, you know, I was, I was one of the high, most highly recruited player coming outta New Jersey.

One, like top five in the country.

So my mentality was I was going to school for one year and I was going to the league, but I had a rude awakening.

So literally when you go to college, you know, if you're going for all the right reasons is school, football, sleep.

And my, my freshman year, I happened to go to school the same year as a guy named Donovan McNabb.

So, you know, literally he and I sat next to each other for five straight years and literally wake up early in the morning, go to class, go to lift weights, go to football practice, and you do it again.

- So when did you realize, I mean, truly realize that you had potential to, to in fact go to - The NFL?

You know, again, I come into college as the top five, top 10 recruiter guy around the country.

And I didn't get my first rep in practice until six weeks.

So I'm sitting on one knee, I'm saying, nah, this is not what I signed up for this, this ain't going to cut it.

I was, again, I'm watching college football, watching pro football, I'm going to the pros.

After my freshman year, we, we go into spring ball and we go into, you know, fall training camp and Coach Pascal at the time said, we gonna start Donovan.

But after the third series, kj, we gonna give you a chance to go in there and see what you got.

So third down on the third series, I'm buttoning my chin strap.

I'm saying, alright, it's time for me to get, you know, go out there and get, get my game on.

Donovan hits Marvin Harrison Hall of Famer for a 65 yard touchdown.

Wow.

And I never got a chance to play sat on the sideline as a red shirt freshman.

Being a, a talented, I thought at the time, backing quarterback.

So you have a very talented guy coming into college as a top five recruit in the country.

Never got an opportunity to play.

And I had, and I think that was a moment in my life that really was, was transformed me into who I am today.

Because I kept working hard.

I kept being a great teammate, I kept helping him out for what he was seeing on the field.

But I always told him, if you get hurt, you not getting your job back.

I literally set the bench, John for three straight years.

I didn't even get one rep. And one of my best friends still today in college was Marvin Harrison.

At the end of the third year, Marvel was getting ready to go to the, to the pros.

He said, kj man, you can catch.

Why don't you move the wide receiver?

And Marv said, listen, I'm gonna teach you everything.

And we started to grind and we started to work while he prepared, you know, for the pros.

So I started one year at college football and I ended up being drafted the 32nd overall pick the following year.

So that taught me what work ethic, perseverance, and never quitting would do for a person.

As you just stay on your grind and you continue to pursue, you know, - Excellence.

What was draft night like when you got drafted to the NFL?

- It was crazy, John.

So, so the weeks leading up to the draft, you know, they, they, they had me in all the mock drafts going in the first round.

So I visited the Dallas Cowboys, sat down and met with Jerry Jones.

I visited the Miami Dolphins, I visited Atlanta Falcons and at the time Miami was, I mean Dallas was selecting number 22, Miami was selecting 25 and no, Miami was selecting 25, Dallas, 22 and Atlanta was like number 30.

So I felt I was going one of those three places, had great conversations and so I just felt very secure.

But again, you don't know night before the draft, obviously you can't sleep because you're saying, okay, tomorrow night I'm gonna wind up in a city that I'd never really been to.

And so it was crazy.

So the day of the draft, I get a call, you know, at pick 15 by the Seattle Seahawks and the coach said, Hey Kevin, how are you?

He's, how would you like to be the next Seattle?

You know, Seahawk wide receiver.

I said, coach, it'll be phenomenal.

Seattle, get up to the draft to the to the podium.

Never heard from him again.

I'm like, damn, you just told me he was gonna draft me.

So, so then I get a call from the Dallas Cowboys and at the time Leon let, had just got suspended.

So my phone ring, I see us at Dallas area code and a coach called me and Hey Kevin, we wanted to draft you but we gotta go D-line because you know, Leon let, has just been suspended.

So check that off the box.

Then I get a call from the Miami Dolphins, Miami say, Hey Kevin, if you there at 25, we gonna select you.

And this was picked on 23 so you're thinking somebody's gonna trade up to get you.

And I'm like, alright, well maybe I'm - Going.

So excuse me, are you home?

- Yes, I'm home at the time John.

Okay at the time, listen to me.

So I'm home at the time.

So Miami picks, they don't pick me.

So at the time I got all these people at my house, yes, nervous.

And so I told 'em I'm going outside.

So literally John, I get in my truck and I leave and I go to my buddy's house and he was my college roommate, he played for the Eagle.

So I go to his condo down in Mount Laurel so nobody can find me.

My phone's ringing, my mom's calling me, you know, at the time my wife, now she's calling me at the time she was my girlfriend.

She's calling me saying, where are you at?

I'm not answering my phone.

So I get a call from the Atlanta Falcons and they say, yo, I can't believe you fell to us at number 30.

They get up to the podium, they don't select me.

I'm like, you got to be kidding me.

So at the time, so at Donovan gets picked, the NFL draft was in New York City.

So Donovan's in a limousine on a turnpike going back to Philly.

And Donovan said, you okay?

They got one pick left.

We trying to trade up with Denver right now to select you.

So Eagles tried to trade up from, from pick 34 to the last pick of the first round because I'm on the phone with Donovan right now.

He said, yo, we going, we going to do this thing in Philly.

He said, Eagle's trying to trade up to draft you.

I said, man, I just heard from three teams, man, I don't believe nothing, but I, I sort of believe him 'cause he's in a limousine right now driving back to Philly.

So the Denver Broncos is up to pick.

So they picked Al Wilson at the time.

So the first round is over.

So I'm pissed off.

I'm sitting here thinking I was supposed to go all from pick 17.

So then I get a call from Cleveland.

So I answer the phone is Dwight Clark, the general manager.

So I'm like, hello?

He said, KJ - Sounds like get a little attitude - John, I am so upset man.

So I said hello.

He said, kj, this, this Dwight Clark.

He said, how would you like to come with to Cleveland and play with Tim Couch?

I said, yeah man, whatever man, whatever.

He said, what are you talking about?

I said, DC call 'em DC DC I done heard from four different teams.

They said they were select, he said, nah, we just gave our card in.

So I'm sitting there with my college roommate and Ma Laurel.

So we watching TV and that's when they said my name and I talked to the head coach.

So I end up going the 32nd overall pick the first pick of the second round.

But you talking about, you know, the ebbs and flows of of draft day.

It, it was tough man.

It was really tough.

- So listen, this has been a great conversation.

We'll take a break now on Pathway to Success.

We'll be back in a moment.

- For more information, please visit our website.

- Welcome back to Pathway to Success.

You've had, you've had your, your time in the league.

And share with us a little bit about the various teams that you played for over the number of years you played and then you know, the next phase of your life post NFLI - Started, like I said, with the Cleveland Browns, then I went to the Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lines I think in 1999, that's when I met, you know, Trone, Troy.

Vincent.

Troy was the, was the icon.

Troy was, Troy was the ultimate professional.

Troy's whole mindset was kj, now you're in the pros.

Now you gotta start thinking about your transition outta the league.

And, and if anyone ever met Troy, Troy is always about business.

He was always a hundred percent, he was always too focused and like Troy loosened up.

But every time I would talk to Troy and you know, I used to always pick his brain and Troy always had his mind set on, on, on higher goals and, and big dreams.

And now he's the senior vice president of the National Football League and really the second in charge of pro football.

So I call him big bro.

So what I used to do, if I would, if I would go into a community, if I would buy three condos or three townhouses, the rule of thumb was if you buy three, you sell two, you will own one outright.

So I would go buy six and I would sell, you know, four and I would own two.

So that was sort of my transition and say, okay, when a game of football ends for me, I would have something to fall back on.

But Troy was a huge inspiration for me as, as once I entered the National football league.

- Troy Vincent is a consummate professional, an another local guy, Trenton Hamilton, two neighboring towns.

You also talked about meeting - Bill Ford.

My last season before when I got injured, I played for the Detroit Lions.

We're playing back in Cleveland.

Third play of the game, I'm starting, I come in motion pop my Achilles.

So I have my surgery, I go down to Birmingham, Alabama, coming back to Detroit to do my therapy.

That's what my first interaction with Mr. Ford was.

Mr. Ford, he hurts his ankle playing hockey with his son.

So now you got Mr. Ford and you got me in the same training room and we just start to really talk and just have a great conversation, you know, over, you know, weeks.

And so you just had the chance to ask a billionaire, someone who, who has the Ford last name and the history of the brand, you know, how do you do it?

And he just gave me a lot of pro, you know, a lot of information, a lot of profound statements he's made that I actually utilized in my walk going forward.

What was your first major business endeavor?

I really didn't know what I wanted to do.

So while I was Birmingham, Alabama, my physical therapist, his name was Kevin Wilkes and he heard me just talking about, alright, you know, if this thing is over, you know, what am I going to do?

And I really felt that one of my gifts was I always can teach the game of football and I love working out because that's what I've done my whole life.

I said, you know what wouldn't be a bad thing to do is open up a, a health club.

And he said, well listen, if you open up a health club, kj, just make sure it is medically based.

I said, what you talking about?

He said, what we're seeing is the future of fitness is gonna be medically based.

'cause people don't want to be big and strong like professional athletes.

They just wanna live longer.

So that was a profound statement there.

So when I came back to New Jersey, I started to realize at the time now I got three kids and my wife was holding it down while I played my NFL career.

Now it's time for me to step back into the fold.

So I came back to New Jersey, I started talking to different medical facilities and the first group I met with was St. Francis Medical Center with their president, CEO, Jerry Jablonski.

And I explained to him saying, Hey, hey Jerry, what I'm hearing from guys who are really connected in fitness and wellness is that hospitals and health clubs at some level gonna come together.

And he really started saying that those were some of the things that he was seeing.

So Jerry and I started talking, we started to put together some plans, and then we had the big, you know, real estate bus in 2008.

Warren Buffett had this great line when like he said, you gotta be a fireman when everyone else is running out, you gotta be running in.

So I started to really understand real estate and hone my skills.

So I went to every seminar, I read every book, and I started talking to a lot of professionals who, who was involved with real estate.

So Jerry and I continued to talk and at that point we're in a heart of recession, 2008, 2009.

So I said, I'm gonna buy some property.

So I bought 32 acres of land in Bordentown.

The, the, the number one thing when you buy real estate they say is location, location.

And at that time, Bordentown was located right off the turnpike.

It had, it intersected with 2 95, the turnpike one 30 and 2 0 6.

One of the things I've always was taught is you can't be scared jump and you figure it out in the air.

Because remember I go back to my days in Syracuse, I face so much adversity and I always felt work ethic.

You work hard, you do the right thing, you surround yourself with quality people and you know, you know things will come to fruition and you will, you'll have success.

So in 2010 when no one was developing, you saw a guy with limited real estate experience, limited exposure and commercial real estate was developing in Bordentown.

And that's really what started my, my real estate career.

- Now Kevin, could you just maybe summarize your, your business portfolio?

- I own 120,000 square foot health club.

I have roughly 300 apartments.

I have probably about 300,000 square feet of office space.

I own several retail strips and centers.

I own a a cube smart self storage part owner of a health club in, in Florida.

I have a lot of land throughout the country.

So yeah, I have a a pretty sizable portfolio.

- Well I'm, I'm telling you that this is a kind of an unreal success story, but the other part that I I really appreciate, appreciated was you sharing about your family and the relationship.

This is a lady you met in high school and you guys worked together.

She did her part, you did your part and now you're, you're one and now you're building this, this business enterprise.

Now you recently acquired her an auto dealership.

Talk about that.

- So again, real quick, my wife man, she, she definitely holds it down and I think one of the best parts about the chemistry of what we have is she's in a foxhole with me.

I work with my wife every day.

She, she goes to the health club, she comes to the business.

So she, she's a vital part of it.

Like you said John.

So last year a opportunity, well two years ago a opportunity, I heard through the, through the grapevine that a dealership may come available and it was Lucas Ford that was becoming available.

I started talking to people and another chamber member, Randall West.

And at the time he worked for Ford through a minority program.

And I was able to finally connect with Hat Lucas who owned Lucas Ford and said, Hey, I hear you're interested in a dealership.

And he said, would you like to meet?

So I actually jumped on a plane that night and I drove down to his house in Jupiter, Florida.

And we first, that was our first conversation and over the next year or so, we kept having conversations and I was able to purchase the dealership last June.

- Now you're part of the Ford family.

How does it feel the owner dealership?

- It's great, John.

I mean, when you, when you look at it from a, being a a a black dealer, I say it that way, in the state of New Jersey, Philadelphia, Delaware, you have two black dealers because what happens is it's a secret society.

When these dealerships come available, a lot of these guys know each other.

So before they even hit the market, they're being sold.

It's been phenomenal.

My my boys love it.

They're in their everyday learning, put a great team together.

So it's, it's something that, you know, we can look at from a legacy standpoint.

Whenever you can work with your family and they can see the grind and being first generation to sort of create some wealth, that means a lot because you're teaching them work ethic to be able to, you know, tell 'em you gotta grind every day.

Nobody's gonna give you nothing in this world.

And I think that's one of the things that young people need to understand and understand extremely quickly that no one owes you anything.

You gotta go out there and grind and you gotta go out there and go through the process.

And if you don't go out there and give it everything you got, you ain't going to succeed.

And, but no one wants to talk about the process.

Everyone wants to show you the results of the process, but no one wants to show you that heartache and pain.

The, the ebbs and flows, the good and the bad nos that you go to knocking on people door.

They saying no, but I'm telling you that's a part of the grind and if you not willing to do that, it ain't gonna work.

- So are you saying business is just like sports, you gotta prepare yourself physically, mentally to be successful?

- Absolutely.

I think it's actually harder than sports because the thing about sports, you know the rules, I'm gonna try to hurt you, you gonna try to hurt me?

Game on business is you see guys in suit and ties, they shake your hand and soon as you turn around they got a knife trying to get you.

So that's why you have to study.

You have to, you know, hone your skills.

You gotta surround yourself with quality people.

- No, I, I love all those examples.

Can you connect your success back to the community?

Are there any programs or initiatives that, that you're doing that support community activities?

- So I always gather these young guys around and I talk to 'em guys who are going to high school guys who are in college.

We did a lot of training with athletes.

We trained a lot of guys who went to college on scholarships, pro athletes, guys who are leaving pro football now.

I stay on the phone with guys and they say, kj, how did you do this?

What was your thought process when you were starting your business?

And so those are the mentorships in the small groups that, you know, we have along the way to help guys and, and young adults as they, as they have goals and dreams as they move forward.

- So what can we expect from KJ Enterprises of the next five years?

- John?

You know what man?

It's just, it's just continue to grind, continue to try to be a, a resource to people.

You gotta start with an idea, write it down on paper and really, you know, I'm big on a calendar.

I always tell people to put a calendar right next to your bed when you go to bed at night and it's like 30 or 31 days before you put the head on a pillow at night.

Look at that calendar.

Did I make a withdrawal and do I have a deposit?

Deposits are I maximize the day?

I did everything possible to give myself a chance.

If I took a withdrawal, I took my foot off the gas, I didn't maximize the moment.

And if you look at that calendar at the end of the month and you have more D's on it than W's, you going to have a chance.

But if you taking your foot off the gas, you not doing the right things and you not honing your skills on your grind, reading and research, you ain't gonna make it, bro.

I'm on and upwards.

I'm trying to work hard, continue to grind, teach my boys, teach these younger guys and we going, we going, we going, we gonna do big things.

- So Kevin, I I just want to thank you for taking the time to join us today.

- John, as always man, I appreciate you and everything you doing - And same to you my friend.

Wishing you and your family continued success and to our viewing audience, thank you so much for tuning in to Pathway to Success.

Today's message is success is there for the taking.

We just heard a very inspirational story from Kevin Johnson who played in the NFL for seven years and has now moved on to have a number of very successful business enterprises.

And he underscored the, the importance of having relationships with people that could open doors for him, people who could vows for him, people who could substantiate his credibility.

No one is successful by themselves.

It was Nelson Mandela who said that it seems difficult in the beginning until it's done.

So my word to you, those who are desiring to start a business, those who are desiring to have a partnership, to do something big, you can do it.

So today's message is to encourage you, not withstanding to TMO and the shifting of the ground that we're all experiencing.

Success is still possible.

If you want it bad enough, get together, work together, and win together.

- Support for this program was provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.