Last week I read Afro Sheen, the autobiography of George E. Johnson, founder of Johnson Products Company (JPC). I learned about Johnson last month when he died and I read the Wall Street Journal’s write-up of his life (see here). The article intrigued me and reminded me of John H. Johnson (no relation), another Chicago entrepreneur who had a dramatic influence on Black culture over many decades. John H. Johnson’s autobiography (see here) was one of my favorite reads in 2024 and really solidified for me the power and influence of media companies that serve niches.

George E. Johnson’s autobiography is full of stories about encountering and overcoming challenges, and one key personality trait that I picked up on was Johnson’s ability and desire to self-educate. He didn’t have much formal education; he dropped out of high school. But his desire to succeed and lift himself out of poverty fueled an insatiable desire to learn his way out of problems and learn new things just for fun. Two vivid examples from the book stuck with me.

Johnson was notoriously afraid of flying. He had to fly for business, but he hated it. He decided that the best way to overcome his fear of flying was to learn how to fly a plane. Learning to fly forced him to learn the principles of aviation. Once he understood why certain things happen to airplanes, his fear of flying was cured. He even took things to the next level and bought a single-engine plane so he could fly himself for business and pleasure.

Johnson recognized early on that marketing directly to the Black community was difficult. But when color televisions became popular in the 1960s, Johnson saw an opportunity. Not only did he learn how television advertising worked, he took it further. He recognized that advertising on shows that didn’t serve his target customer didn’t make sense. Wanting to make sure his ads spoke directly to his target customer, he decided to create a TV special that his customers would love. In 1969, …& Beautiful aired. It featured Redd Foxx, Della Reese, Wilt Chamberlain, and others. Johnson had learned television advertising and television production.

…& Beautiful led to Johnson meeting Don Cornelius, then a disc jockey at a local Chicago radio station. The two partnered on a new TV concept called Soul Train, which became a multi-decade television success and skyrocketed the sales of JPC products nationwide. Johnson was an advertiser on Soul Train and owned 50% of the show at one time (read the book to find out how generous he was to Cornelius). Through Soul Train, Johnson learned about syndication. CBS, ABC, and NBC turned the show down, but Johnson purchased airtime on independent stations in nine markets with large Black populations. The result was that Johnson and his team set the stage for Soul Train to become the first nationally syndicated television show. Johnson learned the business of TV and used it to supercharge JPC’s marketing efforts and sales.

Johnson’s life is a great rags-to-riches story. Its through line is continual self-education and drive by someone who refused to be defined by his starting position in life.