Philly Happening is proud to announce the inaugural list of top 10 Philadelphia Movers & Shakers of 2016!
Philadelphia’s Movers & Shakers were nominated by readers and selected by Philly Happening and its Publishers at Happenings Media.
Over the course of the month, we will be shining a spotlight on each one of the amazing people who made the list.
Last week, we spotlighted Javier Suarez, Advisory Board Member at PHLDiversity, the Multicultural Division of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau. So far this week we’ve profiled Ashley George, Leasing Manager at How Properties in Chestnut Hill and Colleen Kelly Howard, Executive Director of Girls on the Run Philadelphia.
The next mover and shaker we’d like to honor is Antoine Johnson, owner and operator of House of Talent PA, a talent management and public relations company. Johnson started his company 10 years ago and is still inspired by his clients every day.
Johnson gave us some insight into his exciting life as a Philadelphia mover and shaker:
PH: What town do you live in?
AJ: I live in Center City, Philadelphia.
PH: Where did you attend school?
AJ: Villanova University.
PH: What motivates you every morning?
AJ: Making my clients happy motivates me every morning. The idea that my work makes a person smile makes me very happy.
PH: What would you say is your idea of a perfect day?
AJ: These days the perfect day would be on a massage table and drinking tequila on the rocks.
PH: Who inspires you?
AJ: My clients inspire me. Seeing them wanting to win inspires me to work hard for them.
PH: How did you decide to go into your profession?
AJ: I love working with people. I have the ability to make people comfortable and trust me with their brand. I’ve always been into the fashion, celeb world, so PR just came naturally.
PH: Which achievement are you most proud of?
AJ: I most proud of my agency. It’s 10 years old and I did it with hard work and my own finances.
PH: What has been the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome?
AJ: The biggest challenge was getting people to respect me. I owned the agency at such a young age and people didn’t trust that I could do the job. Things are completely different now and I’m blessed.
PH: What is the biggest accomplishment that you’d like to achieve over the next 5 years?
AJ: Over the next 5 years I want to be retired!!!
PH: How do you think your friends & coworkers would describe you?
AJ: My friends would describe me as an unapologetic, a go getter who has the interest of others at hand. They would say that I’m hard working and self-motivated. More importantly, they would say that I hate to lose.
PH: You can take a time machine back to visit yourself 10 years ago. What advice would you give?
AJ: Get paid up front… LOL!
PH: Same question 10 years in the future.
AJ: I would tell myself, “You needed this vacation/time off. Now what’s the next fun project?”
