When Tammy Johnson arrived in Cleveland 35 years ago, she enrolled at Cleveland State Community College and was a student worker in the President’s Office and a switchboard operator.
At night, she worked scrubbing parking lots for a fast food restaurant to make extra money.
Leading by example and demonstrating that no task is too small, years later she would lead Habitat for Humanity of Cleveland for more than seven years as the chief executive officer building it into an award-winning organization.
Johnson says that her time at Cleveland State and these jobs refined her and prepared her for the eventual role at Habitat.
“At Cleveland State, the people that I worked for always expected a lot out of me, and I appreciated that," she said. "I learned that the attention to detail is important.”
After graduating from Cleveland State, Johnson transferred to Lee University where she worked full time on campus and earned a bachelor’s degree in business.
Working almost five years in the office at Caldwell Paving, Johnson learned about the construction world.
“I understand how crazy construction is," she said "You’re subject to weather; you’re subject to sub-contractors; you’re subject to supplies. Every week something changes.”
All of these experiences and positions prepared Johnson to lead Habitat, but her background as a child helped her understand the needs and reality of their clients.
“I grew up very poor; there were times when we went without food; there were times when we got food out of dumpsters; there were times when we didn’t have heat," Johnson said. "We had hand-me-down clothes that many times were too big, and I would be made fun of. When someone comes to me and says that they need help, my first question is ‘Are you ready for the help?’ We have donors and people who invest their hard-earned money, and people who invest their time. I want to know that people are investing in somebody who is ready to make a change in their life.”
The vetting process for Habitat is thorough and can take a year for approval and longer to get into a home.
The clients are required to give sweat equity hours and work on the construction site along with the volunteers. “I love that we require something of the people we serve; we give a hand-up not a hand-out. That energizes me,” Johnson said.
“My philosophy can be summed up in four words — be nice to people," she said. "It’s easy — be nice to the customers, be nice to each other, be nice to the families, be nice to the board members, be nice to the community, just be nice.”
Johnson will remain on staff at Habitat until June to help provide a stable transition for David Gray who recently started as the new CEO.
She will join her husband who relocated to Birmingham, Alabama, last fall and transition to the role of a consultant, expanding Leaders Edge, a training program she developed for identifying values, problem solving and goal setting for businesses and organizations.
“When I came to Habitat in October 2017, we had $20,000 in the bank, not enough to make payroll,” Johnson said. “Now, we have $1.2 million cash in hand and $1.2 million in an endowment. We retired almost $500,000 in debt, and we’ve won awards at the state level for the last four years. I feel very strong and confident that I can help small businesses and organizations look for ways to improve.”
Giving advice to a young worker, Johnson said, “In your 20s, take your time. You’ll learn what you like, what you don’t like. Take the menial tasks and learn how to do things that aren’t fun. Maybe you have to get dirty. Strengthen your perseverance muscle. Now, when I drive through that fast food restaurant, I still remember scrubbing the parking lots. Those jobs were good for me; all those little jobs help you do the big things in life.”
