Good Neighbor Podcast South Charlotte
Bringing Together Local Businesses and Neighbors of South Charlotte.
Good Neighbor Podcast South Charlotte
Ep. # 118 The Electrician Who Lights Up Lives, Not Just Homes
From living in a tent to running a thriving electrical business with seven trucks on the road, Johnathon Brown's life story exemplifies the power of resilience, mentorship, and unwavering faith. This emotionally charged conversation reveals how a 13-year-old boy from a broken home found his calling when a kind church member offered him work and guidance in the electrical trade – what Johnathon calls "a hand up versus a handout."
Growing up homeless after his parents' divorce due to his father's alcoholism and abuse, Johnathon worked 80-90 hour weeks during summers as a teenager, earning money to help keep his family afloat while learning valuable skills. His journey took him through residential construction, power company work, commercial projects, and factory maintenance before he launched Johnathon Brown Electric in 2008. With his wife supporting the household for the first three years as he reinvested every penny back into the business, Jonathan built a company founded on principles of integrity, excellence, and genuine care for customers.
What stands out about Johnathon's approach is his deeply personal customer service philosophy: "Treat every customer the way you would expect someone to treat your mother." This simple but powerful principle guides his team as they handle everything from changing lightbulbs for elderly clients to complete house rewiring projects. Even more moving is Johnathon's commitment to breaking what he calls "generational curses" – creating stability for his wife and children while mentoring young people with "determination, grit, and drive" to build successful careers in the electrical trade. His story reminds us that with the right support and mindset, our most challenging beginnings can become the foundation for extraordinary success.
Discover how you can transform your home's lighting or solve electrical problems by calling Johnathon Brown Electric at 704-936-8990 or visiting johnathonbrownelectric.com.
Johnathon Brown Electric
Johnathon Brown
722 Corporate Boulevard, Suite 102 Rock Hill, SC 29732
(704) 936-8990
Jbelectric@jbe-llc.com
Johnathonbrownelectric.com
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Regina Lee.
Speaker 2:Good morning everyone, and welcome to another episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast. My favorite thing to do is talk with local business owners and get to know a little bit about them and what they do, and today we have with us Johnathan Brown. He is the owner of Johnathan Brown Electric, based out of Fort Mill. Welcome, jonathan.
Speaker 3:Good morning.
Speaker 2:How are you?
Speaker 3:Doing well. It's a pleasure to be here with you.
Speaker 2:Yes, and I was saying, I noticed a real southern accent. Where are you from?
Speaker 3:Well, like I said, I'm a tried and true southern boy from the good old state of South Carolina. Now, mind you, I was born in Kentucky, but that's only as the result that that's where my parents were passing through at the time. I decided to join this world, but I was raised my whole life in South Carolina.
Speaker 2:Oh boy, so I have this visual. They're in the car and she goes OK, baby's coming.
Speaker 3:Something, something about like that. They were up there, I think, doing a trip for something, and my dad, I think, at the time was doing some work in that area, and then just happened to be where I decided I was going to join this world, and so they made it to the hospital, stayed there for a little bit and then back to South Carolina with me, and I've been in this area my whole life.
Speaker 2:That is amazing. Well, you got to see the growth and everything going on here. Well, I saw on your website you have been in the electrical business 22 years and you're a pretty young man, so tell us your journey. How did you get into this? Why, and now owning and operating your own business?
Speaker 3:That's kind of a long story but as I try and tell folks, I'll break it as simple and as short as I can. With it. It's a little bit of a hardship story. So, to start from a young age, I started in this business when I was 13. Before that, to go in a little bit of it, my mother and my father, when I was very young, ended up getting a divorce and separating. My father was an avid drinker and an alcoholic and quite abusive. My mother took care of us three children and she was on her own with us. We were homeless in a park for six months, living in a tent out of the back of a station wagon for three months, and we bounced around from place to place to place, trying to find a place to settle and stay, though she never gave up on us and we never gave up on her.
Speaker 3:and we held with it. We settled down in a small town and we went to church there and, as I like to say, there was a nice old man at that church who gave me a hand up in life versus a handout and at 13 years old he come and said hey, son, because he kind of heard about the story and what was going on, and he said why don't you come work with me on the summer and on the weekends when you're not doing anything?
Speaker 3:he says, I'll teach you a little bit and I'll pay you. And of course, at that time I was like okay, so I went to work and started learning the electrical trade at that time at 13 years old, working with him, and, uh, probably during the summer, I was working 80 90 hours a week with him. Uh, he was giving me a little bit of money I'd get about $300, and I'd take that home and that helped pay the bills, keep the roof over our head and feed the family. And that's where I got my teeth cut in the industry and how I started in this. And, as I like to say, it was just a glorious path from God, who laid it before me and said son, here it is, this is what you're going to do and this is where you need to go.
Speaker 3:That hand up in life started me down a career path that I had no idea would develop to where it is today and what I have From there. I worked with him, went through new construction residential, went from there doing that to working for the power company for a while, worked in the power plants doing lineman work, went over to commercial industrial work, did maintenance in a factory, learned a lot of different areas and industries and finally settled and learned into the service industry, which is what my business primarily works on is the service electrical. So I got my business primarily works on as the service electrical. So I got my teeth cut into a lot of places and had a lot of growth and information and a lot of unbelievably good teachers along the way. So about 2008, I got married to my beautiful wife, who is well beyond what I should have got, but I was a real good salesman so I managed to get that one done. But I managed to get married and move in with her in Fort Mill, south Carolina.
Speaker 3:I was working for a company about that time, as you know the housing market kind of tanked, some of the work kind of dried up and where I was working just got a little rough. I had started doing maintenance in a factory at that time and at the point I was working there they had told me that when I got done building this huge piece of machinery that they needed me doing that. They may most likely lay me off, and while I'd made a choice at that time, I wanted to do something more with my life and I wanted to do something great and and create something that was going to be, uh, more beneficial than than just what I'm doing. So I told my wife it's like I really think I want to start my own company and I want to go down this journey. And the awesome, amazing woman she is says well, if that's what you think and you really want to, then I'm right here with you. So she took by my side on it. I went and took all the tests, got the business stuff set up, got everything situated and was working pretty much running the business on the weekends for the first little bit. At the end of that job they said, yep, here's your slip.
Speaker 3:So they laid me off and I rolled from there straight on into my own work and for the first three years of running that business I never got to take a dime home. I've invested everything back into it and, by the good grace of God, my beautiful wife an amazing woman that she is stuck me and and she, um, she basically covered the house for the first three years and then now, here we are, 14 years later. She doesn't have to work, she does, she works for me, but she doesn't have to, in a sense. And, um, we, we've made it to where we're okay and doing pretty good. I've grown from just me personally in the truck riding around doing to now I have almost seven trucks on the road working and quite a few people with me. Growing and training and leading young men into a new age in life is what I like to say.
Speaker 2:Wow, what a story. I mean that's one of the best I've ever heard, and I think what I love is how aware you are of, you know, the mentorship and the guidance from that man. I have to ask you are you still in touch with the man that helped you?
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, yes, and no, five to seven men at that church who really took me under their wing, which is why I'm a firm believer in having a good relationship, a good church and good people, because those relationships mean more to people than you'll ever know and some of the things you do and you help people with, you don't understand how it affects them later in life. One of the ladies who worked for me Michelle she's my prime lady who answers the phones. Her and her husband were my youth leaders and they did so much for me and took care of me in ways I can't even begin to express. And then, later in life, I'm now able to return the favor and she works for me full time and I take really good care of her because, as I tell her everybody, she's my, she's my shining star.
Speaker 3:Um, oh yeah, yeah, without Michelle, I probably wouldn't be where I am today. Uh, I've told her before. I said, if she ever goes to leave me, you will leave me with me around your ankle, screaming and yelling the whole way out the door. No, please don't.
Speaker 2:I love this story, just the people that believed in you and you paying it forward. So you know it sounds like you also mentor the people that work for you, because I noticed on your website you know you have certified folks, so I assume there's different levels of people on your team.
Speaker 3:Yes, ma'am. So part of what we do. We have different layers of technicians helpers, technicians, lead electricians so part of what we do is we'll gather guys that are young, as I like to say, if I can find a young man who's got some determination, some grit and some drive in him because you can't teach those things, those things you either have or you don't have If you give me a young man like that, I'll teach him the rest and help develop him to where he can have a chance in life to do something. Because in the trades industry a lot of people don't realize. But this is an amazing industry. You can get into and you can actually become something from nothing. This is the quintessential American dream and the side of it.
Speaker 3:Because I don't have a college education, I had some time. I went to college and tried for a semester or two, but there's a long story behind all those that didn't work out. But the industry of which I work in you don't need a college degree. Now it doesn't mean you aren't educated, because by all means this field requires a tremendous amount of education. But, as I like it, it was Mark Twain that said I'd never let my schooling get in the way of my education. So education is a daily journey that you learn as you go through, and I teach these young men some of those philosophies that every day you get up is a new journey and it's a new time to learn more and gather that info.
Speaker 3:So we go through different training processes with them and there is some schooling stuff that I send them to and help them along with, to get them their certifications, get them to a point where they are qualified to be doing this work in a degree on their own not necessarily licensed on their own, not necessarily licensed. That's a different uh class in a sense there, but they're certified to work with me and under me, under our uh, our license and and do what they're doing. Uh, and the biggest thing that I always tell them is like you have to remember one thing You're never going to know it all, but there's always a person in which you can rely on the call, and that's me If you got questions, because while I am not the smartest man in the world, I've seen a lot, been through a lot If you were on a job and you get lost, you make one phone call, gentlemen, and I will be there and we'll make something happen and we'll get this right.
Speaker 2:That's amazing. So describe your personal philosophy when it comes to running the business, from a customer service aspect to building your team.
Speaker 3:So the philosophy in sense in that, as far as customer service, is that we want to provide the top notch best service we can for customers. I try and treat every person the same way. I would expect someone to treat my mother, the woman who cared for me, never gave up on me and never quit the same respect and regard that I would hold for her and expect others to treat her if they were going to her house is the way I expect me and every one of the people who work for me to treat every customer we have. It's just because I believe in being upfront and being as transparent and as honest as you can while you're working. It makes life a lot better for them, for us, so that's one of the things.
Speaker 3:I think that's the philosophy I try to embed into my guys when they're working is always remember honesty and integrity is first in everything you do. Make sure you're communicating well and make sure you're treating those people the same way you would expect someone to treat your mother. Um, that's just my basic philosophy and in the general sides of it, and usually, if you bring it up in that manner, most of these young guys will gather that and they understand, um. After that it's. It's doing what's best that we can for the customer at the time, trying to find the most economical and correct solution for them. There's a lot of ways to do this work and some of that is going to be involved in taking different options and different variations of the work and figuring out what works for the customer and their budget and their plan and making it come together in one full swoop of a plan and making it where it's safe and right. As I try and tell most of my people I said, my number one goal is your safety. If we can't be safe.
Speaker 3:We're not going to do it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you're in a very dangerous business so you have to be careful. So tell us about what services you guys do offer. I see it's residential and commercial, but are there small jobs? You'll take big jobs. Tell us the scope.
Speaker 3:We get that a lot. They say, well, what do you do? And I say, well, we'll do everything from as simplistic as changing a light bulb and I know that sounds funny, but I have a lot of elderly customers that are in their 80s and 90s and getting on a ladder to change a light bulb is not within their realm. They're not going to do it, it's too risky, and we'll come in and assist and help with that to as large and as complex as a total house rewire. So I've been down the road where we go in and we start off with a small thing and come out to completely rewire in the house, because that's what they ended up wanting to do.
Speaker 3:One of the prime sources that we do is we go into a lot of older houses and we'll update the lighting. Because you go into a lot of these older houses, they had very little light in the room. You go into houses newer. Now you have a lot more recessed lights, other lighting, it's just brighter, it's it's it feels bigger and it feels cleaner. Um, a lot of the older houses, you had just one little, one little spot on the ceiling in the center of the room and well, that was great at the time, and now things change and you want more light. We can specialize in coming in and doing that with as minimal damage as possible and getting you this whole new lighting dynamic in the home and just making it a beautiful, comfortable, exciting, new new area for you.
Speaker 3:We do that in the kitchens with other cabinet lighting. We do that in the living rooms, dining rooms, dens with just recessed lighting. If you want to put a TV on the wall and hide the wires, we help with that. We do all those little kind of things there. Floodlights with just recessed lighting. If you wanna put a TV on the wall and hide the wires, we help with that. We do all those little kind of things there. Flood lights outside so you can get safely from your car to the house. We help you with security lighting that does all that. So we do a lot of those things.
Speaker 3:In the commercial industry we do commercial service. So if you're running a business, let's say a hair salon I've done this for many of them and you go in there and they're constantly tripping breakers, we'll come in, figure out what the issue is, give you the best options to resolve it and keep you up and running as a business, because unfortunately in business, any downtime that's major cost, and if you're constantly blowing power because you don't have the right setup, that's revenue loss for you. We're here to help you solve that, so you don't have to sit there and constantly be concerned with that. So these are some of the options and the things that we try and do for people.
Speaker 2:Well, I love that. You're an amazing man and I can tell I bet your employees and team just are very proud to work with you. What are you most proud of?
Speaker 3:Most proud of. There's a lot of things that I'm proud of. I'd say the biggest one is probably my wife and my three beautiful children, the fact that I get to stand here today as a man who is taking care of his family, providing for him. I got three beautiful children who, who will never know the the pains and the horrors that I went through as a child and I didn't carry those forward and I didn't have to. That would probably be one of the biggest things I'd say I'm proud of is is, I'd say, breaking those generational curses that typically pass down with people who come from a background like I do, being able to stand here and tell you, through the good grace of God and through the sources in which there are of him, you don't have to carry that forward. There are options and there are changes out there for you. That would be my first thing.
Speaker 3:My next one, I'd say, is probably my brother, my younger brother, who lived through all that with me. I got him up here, moved him in with me when I lived in Charlotte and now he stands as a strong young man with a wife and a child, who runs his own business, an accounting firm. I was rough on him, teaching him and raising him from a young age to where we are now, and he's developed into a mighty strong and good young man himself. And it makes me unbelievably proud to look back and say that we made it out. You know, we got on the other side of that one. We didn't stay in that curse of the generations of what we dealt with.
Speaker 2:Well, you have yeah amazing story. I love your faith and devotion to family and your team. So how can our listeners find Jonathan Brown Electric? Give us some info.
Speaker 3:You can reach us at our phone number, which is 704-936-8990. You can also log on to JohnathanBrownElectric. com and just to get that one correct, it is J-O-H-N-A-T-H-O-N. Brown Electric and you can find us on the website. Send in a request there. We're always happy to help and serve and you'll get to talk to our lovely Michelle who is, like I said, a bright, shining star out there for us. She is your first line of contact and I promise you she is the just most amazing woman you'll ever get a chance to talk to well, she must be super proud of you.
Speaker 3:Well, I tell you, I'm awful proud of her and. I'm glad to have her with me and as part of my team.
Speaker 2:Well, it has been an amazing pleasure to get to know you, Johnathan. I hope to meet you in person one day and I really thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 3:It was a pleasure too. I thank you for this opportunity, um, and this, this gift of being on your show. It's an amazing show and and I appreciate all that you do for the community and doing this kind of stuff. So thank you.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPSouthCharlotte. com. That's GNPSouthCharlotte. com, or call 980-351-5719.