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Meet Chakeia Johnson

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Meet Chakeia Johnson

March 30, 2022
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Sed ut perspiciatis unde.

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We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chakeia Johnson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Chakeia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

I hope my legacy will revolve around care, love, and unity for my family and community. In all of my adventures I focus on bringing people together. To do this in a way that takes into consideration a myriad of personalities, backgrounds, expectations, and even uncertainties is an intricate dynamic. I truly care about people so I make myself see things from a variety of angles. This takes time, patience and understanding. The time it takes is an investment into humanity. I submerge myself in new places and around new people so I can learn how and why they think the way that they do. Understanding people helps create even better events. And great events leave an impression. That impression, the feeling of joy when an event is done right is my goal everytime.

I believe in what I do because I get to connect people together who might not have tried to get to know each other. I love creating experiences for the community through event coordination. The euphoria I have over a well planned event is how I know I am acting in my calling. I hope all others will believe in their abilities and follow their passion. When you walk inside your gift you know it is right by the doors that open and those you purposefully walk through leading you to success.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Chakeia Johnson and I am the owner of Keia J. Events. Currently, I help coordinate two festivals in Phoenix, Arizona. I also plan weddings and smaller events for most occasions. Since childhood I have enjoyed planning events. I got into my industry early planning activities with the University of Louisville as a Diversity Chair and modeling for various companies in the Kentuckiana area. I fell in love with most of the major events I would promote. Working these events exposed me to the people power it takes to make a large scale event happen. The operational elements such as the hiring process, building stages, sounds systems, lighting, plus the entertainment all facinate me! I see them all as equally important to the experience of a show or production. Being able to motivate a team, find the right artistic talent, and bring all the supportive elements together to make an event happen takes finesse. You want to work with someone that knows how to get the job done and when it’s all over you can go out and celebrate. Understanding people sets me apart from most. Some people are all fun, no work or all work, no play. I am balanced and put all I have learned into my events.

When I am not doing events I am raising two little all stars. We have a homeschool program, the Arizona Multicultural Homeschool Alliance (www.weloveamha.org), that centers around bringing children together to discover their similarieties and explore their uniquenesses. These littles get together to create cultural booths for festivals and aspire to create their own kids fest to celebrate what they have learned about each other!

Growing up I took Michael Jackson’s, “We are the World,” Sly and the Family Stone’s, “Everyday People.” and Whitney Houston’s, “Greatest Love of All” to heart. Partially, I am a product of their love and energy. I work dilligently through events to create a world that promotes the essence of these songs.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

With the recent pandemic I had to switch gears rapidly. I was rocking and rolling in 2019 with events. I had just planned an event with the City of Phoenix, finished organizing a class reunion and I coordinated a wedding abroad in New Orleans complete with a full second line brass band and all the Louisanna flair. I was hot! Then like that Covid tried to stop everything.

However, I threw myself into what was the newest way for us to stay connected, virtual events. The two major festivals I was committed to both pivoted to virtual platforms. They had the support of dignitaries, local artists, performers, businesses, and the community. With the pandemic came the learning of new skills revolving around technology. Streaming, graphics, videography, and lighting were much more relevant skills that needed to be used. Lucky for me I had the foresight to dabble in these areas and was able to acclimate quickly to the needs to make the virtual events a success.

Even recently, after hoping to go back live, the Arizona Matsuri made the decision to pivot from a live platform to a virtual platform. This called for quick decision making and action. When the surge of Covid-19 hit the press in January I immediately called an emergency executive team meeting. It was paramount to gain team input through a focused conversation. This was no easy task. People are passionate about their feelings regarding Covid and it was important to keep the group centered on what was best for the community. It was reported that for a population of 100,000 people 334 deaths could occur. So after much discussion we concluded our event could be a superspreader leading to over 150 deaths based on our event attendance of 50,000 people or more. Therefore we switched our platform to virtual for the best of all involved. Communicating effectively was a must! Immediate action items included a press release, communication to all of our vendors, canceling or renegotiating contracts, and informing the rest of our team. All of this had to happen seamlessly.

It is this type of skill and care, quick thinking, availability, and flexibility that is needed in a leader and teammate for a major event. It is what I look for in those I work with and who I am when working an event.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

What has helped me build my reputation in the community is consistency. I show up! And when I show up I have my work boots on to get down and dirty. I do not play about the success of any event no matter the size. Most importantly, people know I care about them. And if they don’t know, they do before we are done.

My love has grown in interviewing partcipants of festivals. This is a positive from the pandemic. Taking the time to understand why artists create is critical because it helps you understand what their level of committment is to their craft. And if they are genuinely committed to their art, then usually they are genuinely committed to its display of excellence for our community event.

Getting to know the guests of the events and those involved in making it happen sets me apart from most. There are not many like me who genuinely want to break bread with you, hear your story, and celebrate how you bring it to life. I take the time to seek the good in the world and I share the stories of those who are its ambassadors.

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Image Credits
Chakeia Johnson- Keia J. Photography Vanessa Soto- Vanessa Soto Photography Dana Gibbons- Dana Gibbons Photography

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