Je Caryous Johnson

About me:

At fourteen, teachers, counselors and other school officials told I’m Ready Founder and CEO Je’Caryous Johnson that he should learn a trade. After all, he’d failed a school competency exam and showed little interest in school.
“It’s not that I couldn’t do the work,” Je’Caryous said. “It just didn’t hold my attention.”
As it turns out, school just didn’t spark Je’Caryous’s creative side. Always one to take the negative and make it positive, Je’Caryous took another exam, just to prove he could do the work. He passed with flying colors, then focused on finding his niche.
He found it on the stage.
“I wrote my first play in high school. Nothing major, just dabbled in something that interested me. But when I got to college, I decided to try and do more than just write a play. I wanted to actually produce one,” he said.
He produced Heaven’s Child, a moving account of the life of Emmett Till. The play was a huge success and he decided to take his show on the road.
“I was so pumped. I poured all my family’s money into that show. I was beyond broke so I borrowed over $500,000 from family members. I ended up losing it all,” he said.
But Je’Caryous knew one important thing – he could never know success if he didn’t know failure. So he learned from his mistakes and went back to the drawing board. A chance meeting with author Michael Baisden turned into an offer of a lifetime, when Je’Caryous asked - and Baisden agreed - to make Baisden’s blockbuster novel, Men Cry in the Dark, into a play.
“I didn’t know if Michael would go for it, but I knew I’d never know unless I asked. So when he agreed to it, I told Gary (my partner), this is the chance we’ve been waiting on. We’ll just have to figure out how to make this a success.”
And they did just that.
Today, Je’Caryous is making his mark in the entertainment arena, becoming one of the most sought-after playwrights in the industry. In fact, he was recently named a NAACP 2006 Trailblazer winner, honoring his work on the stage. Je’Caryous has taken his talents one step further by penning his first novel, Men, Money & Gold Diggers, based on the stage play by the same title. The much-sought after book is already receiving rave reviews.
Je’Caryous has the background to back up all his ventures. Besides being an accomplished playwright and author, he’s an actor who has performed in over 50 productions, including drama and musical theater.
Since he’s always been an overachiever, it’s no surprise that there are also plans to venture into movies. Je’Caryous is also hard at work planning the I’m Ready School of the Arts, a training ground for aspiring actors, producers and screenwriters. As Je’Caryous hits the road to promote his book and play, he can’t help but count his blessings. After all, he’s come a long way from the day a talent scout tried to recruit him to appear on Sesame Street – an offer he turned down because he was too shy.
“That was a great opportunity, but one that I missed out on. So, I had to realize that I had to make my own opportunity. And I’ve spent my life doing just that,” Johnson said.