Alumnus Shawn Johnson leverages on-campus support to find success

Sometimes, it takes a village to help discover the right path …

Shawn Johnson ’19, ’21 reached a crossroads while attending Lynn University. During this pivotal time, Johnson worked 30 hours per week off-campus while pursuing a B.A. in multimedia journalism. So when Taryn Hamill, director of enrollment management at Lynn, approached him one day and said:

“Hey Shawn, I think you should start spending more time on campus and less time working at Chick-fil-A …”

Johnson took heed, refocused, and began leveraging an incredible amount of support from Lynn faculty and staff.

These new opportunities challenged him on a personal level and helped him flesh out his talents and discover an unexpected career path.

A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Johnson developed a natural love for sports while rooting for the Alabama Crimson Tide football team. Growing up with his mother, all he wanted to do was become a sportscaster and do play-by-plays for national games.

“I didn’t know what it would take to become a sportscaster,” said Johnson. “But as I got older, I realized I was blessed with the ability to write.”

When Johnson started touring different college campuses to find a home away from home, David Jaffe, former dean of the College of International Communication at Lynn—now known as the College of Communication and Design—recruited Johnson with a strong pitch:

“Sportscasting is great, Shawn, but I guarantee our journalism program will get you there or at least help you find what is right for you.”

Johnson recalls Jaffe expanding his pitch to showcase how Johnson could become a well-rounded communicator through broadcasting opportunities with iPulse—Lynn’s student-run news program—which also offered the chance to podcast and hone his writing and public speaking skills. After Johnson joined Lynn, he recognized that the skills he learned in the classroom could apply to different aspects of his life.

Even though Johnson grew up in a stable family environment with his mother and sibling, his father unfortunately passed away when he was young.

“That was a unique aspect of my life that also played a role in my education,” said Johnson. “It’s always been me and my mom throughout most of my life. Coming into Lynn and having great male role models like Stefano Papaleo, Gary Carlin, Martin Phillips, and Gareth Fowles was a huge help to me.”

Gareth Fowles, vice president for Enrollment and University Advancement, was fascinated that Johnson had been homeschooled through high school. This prompted a series of meetings with Johnson to talk about why he chose Lynn, which ultimately led to the creation of a landing page designed to help non-traditional home-schooled students navigate the collegiate landscape at Lynn.

Hamill, known for her wealth of knowledge around the university, also assisted with Johnson’s leadership development. “Taryn challenged me and helped me come out of my shell at first,” said Johnson. “After leaving Chick-fil-A, I worked with her on many internal projects, including campus visit tours. It helped build my confidence as a spokesperson for the university.”

Johnson began to invest time in the university as a student admission ambassador. He also branched out and took part in valuable internships.

Barbara Cambia, executive director for Career and Alumni Connections, helped him secure a role with Comic Cure. This local comedy club brings local organizations together to raise money for specific causes. Stefanie Powers, associate dean and associate professor for the College of Communication, and Gary Carlin, associate professor, helped Johnson garner a position with the Wick Theatre—charged with developing plans to engage younger audiences and help boost ticket sales.

“Those two internships provided unique experiences that taught me invaluable lessons,” said Johnson. “The comedy club taught me that I wasn’t very good at social media, and the Wick Theatre helped me recognize that the entertainment industry may not be where I belong.”

Johnson was not an advertisement and public relations management student. Nevertheless, Powers and Carlin challenged him to take a Pulse Agency course. In this workshop class, students are assigned job titles and function in those roles as part of the Pulse Agency—a branch of Lynn’s iPulse program—and produce strategic and creative campaigns for real-world clients.

At the time Johnson took the course, the client for the semester was NextEra Energy, the parent company of Florida Power & Light (FPL). NextEra Energy visited the class and spoke on the company’s culture, brand standards and overall perception.

“Getting to work through that semester, we developed campaigns to help NextEra push a sustainability message,” said Johnson. “The company was looking for our ideas. They wanted us to show our creativity with advertisements, flyers—the possibilities were endless.”

Johnson’s group did not receive “best campaign” honors in the class; however, Johnson had the opportunity to interact with members of the NextEra Energy team, building relationships that allowed him to familiarize himself with the company’s culture. An opportunity that would pay off in the near future.

Johnson earned his bachelor’s degree in multimedia journalism and an MBA in business administration a few years later. He even worked at Lynn for the Admission team, thanks to the relationships he forged with faculty and staff. During this time, Johnson knew the time had come to branch out and finally use all the lessons and tools he learned at Lynn through internships and course studies.

“I never really envisioned myself as someone who would work in the energy realm or the electricity industry,” said Johnson. “But when the opportunity to work for FPL came up, I took advantage of all the things I learned from the Pulse Agency class—all the course interactions with staff members who visited us to talk about my understanding of the company and its culture.”

Needless to say, Johnson got the job. He now works as a communications specialist and spokesperson for FPL. He attends events across the state to discuss how the company is improving its customers’ service reliability.

“I can’t thank Stephanie Powers, Martin Phillips, Gary Carlin, and the rest of the faculty and staff members who helped me succeed at Lynn,” said Johnson. “They will be the first to tell you, I was not the most outspoken or extroverted person in the world. But they challenged me and brought it out of me. That’s certainly helped me in my role with FPL.”

Now, as an established professional, Johnson looks to offer students the same support system and advice he once received at Lynn.

“Take those internships, embrace every opportunity,” said Johnson. “Sometimes students expect they’ll learn everything they need in class, but there’s so much beyond that—professors can connect you to the right people in the right places. Work on being an active, hands-on learner and develop first-hand how you fit into your desired field of profession. We all have a place.”