We recently connected with Cherene Johnson and have shared our conversation below.
Cherene, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, let’s start with a hypothetical – what would you change about the educational system?
I think the challenge with the educational system is the false reality of the success outcomes. Higher education has a sense of false advertisement. False hope. As young adults, people are told primarily to go to college, find a trade, go to the military etc. College is the most common path of choice, yet this is the path that does not often offer proper support, but in exchange pressure and failure. When a new student arrives, they are quickly forced to pick a path/major. How would one know exactly what they want to pursue if they’ve not career pathed for it before? This forces students to pick educational paths recommended by their parents, or paths that “pay the most”. As a result, this decision steals the passion out of a fulfilling career. I am an example of this exact scenario. I am first generation American. My parents are West Indian, born in Jamaica and raised in Birmingham, England. It was extremely important for me to attend college, get an education and choose a career that would pay well. I wanted to change my lifestyle through gaining substantive finances, which is something I lacked growing up. Thankfully, my parents did not make me choose a specific educational path, however they heavily influenced the decision of attending college versus entrepreneurship. I selected “biology” as my career in hopes to one day become a pharmacist. I was not properly groomed for such a major. I had zero internships provided to me, I had to create my own. I had zero counselors showing me what a career in biology or pharmacy could look like. I had zero teachers sit with me to help identify my strengths and natural born talents. I was not ready for the real world. Upon graduation, I accumulated a load of debt from student loans and did not have one job lined up that aligned with my major to support my career. I became frustrated as I applied for science positions in research and development, labs and more, to only receive rejection letter after rejection letter due to lack of experience and/or certifications in the field. I found myself working at a local hotel part time for one year as a front desk clerk, making $8/hr. I felt embarrassed, like a failure and lost not knowing how I would get back on track. Had I learned what I know now about my talents, I would have never selected a major in the science field. The areas I would change about the educational system are 1) Support from academic staff 2) Experience through internships or special projects assigned by the school 3) Strength Finders assessments and other self-development assessments
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I grew up in Fresno California and moved to Atlanta, GA. in 2005, one year after graduating from college. At that time, I heard Atlanta was a growing city and there were tons of success stories of minorities and women having awesome opportunities to advance their careers. My first few jobs in Atlanta were at call centers making roughly $10/hr. From there I quickly progressed through several roles in various organizations and discovered that I really enjoy meeting new people and teaching people strategies on how to be more efficient on calls with their customers. Solving problems quickly with a smile. I was soon promoted to training and instructor roles and that’s where I started my career in the learning and development space. For 2o years+ I worked in this space from government agencies, to utility companies, colleges, and even a luxury automotive brand. I learned how to create curriculum, train the material, capture my audience and coach leaders. I realized that it didn’t matter the industry type, I was good at creating a path forward, for people through program design and cultivation. These skills led me to get several L&D certifications in human development assessments such as DiSC, Situational Leadership, Strengths Finders, and Design Thinking. Along this career path, I was also building a life of stability. I was the first in my family to purchase a home at the age of 27, making just $10/hr. I was determined to stop paying rent and to try and invest in owning something I could call my own. In 2009 I purchased my home and it sparked something else in me….Two years later I decided to purchase another home. This time making $12/hr. I wanted to see what it was like to be a landlord. Before I knew it, I had two properties under my belt.
In 2012 I met my now husband. We married in 2014 and I moved in with him creating a second rental opportunity for my portfolio.
Alongside of my corporate professional career I became passionate about real estate. I would watch HGTV religiously and drive around neighborhoods looking for opportunities. I started growing my family and realized that my bandwidth to manage multiple properties while working at the number one luxury automotive brand in the world (as the head of leadership development) began to weigh on me . I decided to take a break from real estate which was discouraging and I felt as though I was neglecting my “entrepreneur” side. I feared it would be gone forever with my new life. After a 5 year hiatus and having two kids under 5, I experienced yet another change. During COVID, my company went through cuts and layoffs. I was fortunate to have been offered a voluntary separation package. As I mulled over my decision heavily, I told my husband that I wanted to take a chance and bet on myself. I resigned from my job after nearly 8 years.
I knew this was my time to get back into real estate and apply everything I learned for the past 12 years with buying, selling and investing in residential real estate. I began to search again but this time found myself looking at commercial buildings. My husband is a great visionary, and just when I thought that was too big of a goal he showed me the possibilities of what commercial real estate could bring.
Currently, I work 100% for myself in residential and commercial real estate. I choose to develop in underdeveloped areas and force appreciation with renovations of my properties. Ownership is amazing! Seeing the transformations come to life is motivating and inspiring. The biggest lesson I have learned is to not limit myself. Timing is everything and though I took a 5 year break, I am playing on a much larger scale now. I’ve also learned that networking and building relationships is key. These are the same communication skills I gathered in my corporate career. It has landed us off market deals and lucrative negotiations to the table.
I am most proud to be a full time entrepreneur and mother, happily providing for my kids everyday. Cooking breakfast, packing lunches cooking dinners and making real estate deals happen all while they’re in daycare…it’s quite amazing. I have complete flexibility over my schedule and that brings me true joy.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Resiliency is my middle name. One thing I did not mention during my corporate career is being laid off 3 times. Literally 3 separate times from 3 different companies. Companies I had build time and a reputation with. Each time was shocking and it stung horribly. I had grown to a place in my corporate career that I was so dependent on my paychecks to live that these layoffs were major blows. Each time I cried, dusted the mud off and continued to strive for better. God truly blessed me with better positions and greater visibility with each new position. At one point ,I recall asking my parents for money and even collecting food from a food shelter just to survive the week. I always knew that I would get past it. I am so grateful to have landed in this space and I make it a point to be a good steward over the opportunities I’ve been given today.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
A lesson that I am currently unlearning in this business is that I’m not in corporate. The corporate rules no longer apply,. Gone are the days of precise and concise emails. Being overly customer driven and patient. In this business you have to move with speed. You have to pick up the phone to get what you want. You have to follow up one million times because money is on the line. You have to be assertive and inquisitive. My husband is teaching me this everyday and it is so uncomfortable, but I am seeing that results do truly come faster. This is a people business not an email etiquette business. I’m generally a nice person and will always be, so I need to get out of my head about “sla” (service level agreement) protocols and just pick up the phone to get done what I need done. 
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bsjentllc.com
Image Credits
Candid Frames Photography