13 minute read
Marcus Johnson: The Man Behind Jazz & FLO Wine
Marcus Johnson
s an independent Billboard-ranked musician, producer, owner of a music label, Three Keys Music, and NAACP Image Award nominee, International Jazz Keyboardist/Pianist, Marcus Johnson has emerged as one of the young lions of the music world. Johnson’s unique self-taught style of piano play has earned him distinction amongst his peers, praise within the media and accolades across the music industry. And now, he continues his quest for success in the business world with his lifestyle branding company, FLO Brands, LLC.™
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Ambi’ance Magazine had the pleasure to catch up with this young man and enjoy a heart-to-heart, unconventional interview! We were able to pin him down between his engagements, travels and business meetings. Our two hour interview (yes, two hours) were filled with fire alarms going off in his office building, securing business deals, parenting his then five month old daughter, Chase and friendly conversations about life. A master of multi-tasking, not once did his humbling spirit waver as he was able to attend to these matters and keep the conversation going at a very interesting, yet relaxing FLO!
Ambi’ance: Marcus, thank you very much for granting Ambi’ance Magazine this interview. I know that you are extremely busy and I don’t want to take up a lot of your time. I did my research prior to talking with you and you have such an accomplished background, that I don’t know what to ask you first! So, let’s just start with the basics, the things not published about you: name, DOB, address, phone number, social security number and place of birth!
Marcus: (laughter) I was born in Columbus, OH in 1971 at Grant Hospital. My father was a professor at Ohio State University.
Ambi’ance: So you come from a family of educators?
Marcus: I really do. I mean not just a background of educators, but an educated bunch of siblings. All but one of my sisters and brothers are either doctors or lawyers. That’s six of us and the other one got into a program at Harvard Business School, but her husband’s wellness center where he was an OB/GYN was going so well that she actually ended up turning it down. So, yeah, we are very and I hate to use the word, ‘accomplished’, but we did study hard, I will say that.
Ambi’ance: Don’t apologize for that. It’s a good thing. It shows the endless possibilities when you apply yourself.
Marcus: I mean there are possibilities if you apply yourself, there are possibilities if you persevere, there are possibilities if you have faith, there are possibilities if you do your best, dare to dream and if you recognize that your children are not your friends until they get older and yet there is still full respect.
Ambi’ance: Very true and a great way to look at life.
Marcus: A mentor of mine, Edward Hall, told me many years ago, that Ziggy Zeigler quoted, “If you want to be successful, help as many other people that you can.” We don’t build relationships anymore. Money does count, but relationships are what matter. You have to be an active participant in society. When you are there are so many things that can happen and these are the things that are not taught.
Ambi’ance: Are you the only musician in your family?
Marcus: Yes
Ambi’ance: How was that accepted?
Marcus: (laughing)
Ambi’ance: You know we’ve talked earlier about your parents and sibling’s backgrounds. You also share these backgrounds, but you’ve decided to make your career in music.
Marcus: Well you know the thing about it is of course, my family was like most families. They were fearful of my going into music having a law degree and the main thing is that it goes back to that community way of thinking, “What does that look like? You are a Georgetown lawyer and a MBA. What are you doing music for?” I do this because it is what I love to do and I am going to make a business out of it. Even the people at Georgetown questioned me. I never did an on-campus interview with the business school or the law school because I knew what I was going to do. When they called me in at both schools during my last semester of my program and asked me what I was doing, I told them I was an entrepreneur. I had al-
ready released two CDs was in the Top 20’s Billboard all while still in my mother’s basement. That is what I was doing and I was starting my own company. They said, “We can’t use this for our statistics.” I said, “I don’t give *@$% about your statistics, this is what I am going to do with MY life and MY education.
Ambi’ance: Definitely, it IS your life!
Marcus: Exactly
Ambi’ance: Did you play music in school like in high school?
Marcus: Yes, I was in the jazz band in high school. I started playing music when I was fourteen; the first year I played I won the All-County Soloist Award and would win it every year afterwards. Then I was the All-County Piano Player and finally the AllState Jazz Piano Player.
Ambi’ance: All this talent and no one in the family playing music.
Marcus: Well, my mother played piano before having a stroke my senior year of high school. She played classical piano.
Ambi’ance: Music just came naturally to you.
Marcus: Yes and reading music is not my forte!
Ambi’ance: Really and who writes for you?
Marcus: No. I mean you just put it all in the computer. I write all of my music, but composing and writing are two different things.
Ambi’ance: Modern technology at its best and the things you find out during an interview!
Marcus: I “What does that look like? You are a mean I can write a chord chart, Georgetown lawyer and a MBA. What are but I don’t have you doing music for?” I do this because it is to write out what I love to do and I am going to make a each individual note. I can play business out of it. it for people, they get it and you go from there. If they need to write it down they can do it. Ambi’ance: Great, just a natural gift! Now how did you get into the wine business? You know the list of African Americans doing this is very very short outside of you now. By the way, it is excellent! I had a glass of both the other night at Acoustic’s. Marcus: Aww, thank you! I’m really glad you liked it! Ambi’ance: I am waiting for it to come on the shelves so that I can add it to my rack. Marcus: Great! We will be on the shelves in Atlanta at Total Wine and More within the next week to week and a half. Ambi’ance: Great! I’ll get an extra one for you to sign when you’re back in the area. Marcus: Sure! No problem that’s a deal. When Sean Parker and
MP3.com came on the scene in the decision makers. You decide the 2004, it hit the music industry like type of laundry detergent, what we a catastrophic torpedo. It exposed are eating for dinner, where we are the industry, the copyright laws and going, all of those things on a mass the holes in it. Some of the compa- scale. nies were consolI write all of my music, but composing and idating and some writing are two different things. artists were let go. If you were one of the ones successful you were not just making money on your music, you had to have a brand. I saw my checks going further down and I recognized it as macroeconomics. We then started the FLO Lifestyle CD using FLO as the acronym for “For Lovers Only”. We put out the CD for that and I recognized that it was just not something I wanted to brand. For Lovers Only was an urban adult, grown and sexy thing. I sat down and asked, ‘What is my idea?” We then turned it into ‘For the Love Of”, which could mean for the love of anything and everything. I hurried and trademarked it because I knew this could be my billion dollar idea! We had an exclusive with Circuit City and at one retail of Circuit City we broke into the top all across the board immediately after we stocked it! One of the CDs was #13, another was #7 and the other was #3 on the Billboard charts! Everyone was asking where that came from! That was very successful for us and validated my idea. It wasn’t until I began to see the revenue from those tens of thousands of sales in that short period of time that I decided that this was not for me and not what I had anticipated, but I recognized that I had a brand and I had the supporters. Women would support me tremendously and they drank wine! You guys are Ambi’ance: (laughing)
Marcus: (laughing) well, you do! So why not go on experience and realize that women were my target audience. They would come to see me play and when they see a brother trying to do something positive, they buy the wine just to show their support. So while I was at a CD release party, I went to the vineyard and asked if they did private label wine and was told that they did. That was in February and by that May we were sponsoring the Arlington, VA and North Carolina Jazz Fest. We got a hit to put our stuff on the shelves of Super Value Stores, but that automatically took us out of the realm of VA winery because they couldn’t fill the capacity of the orders. So I took the head of sales from the vineyard and we put together a business plan and pitched it to companies. FLO Wine! It’s a jazz lover’s wine because the thought is that jazz lovers come in a mixture of Black, Asians, and Whites …a nice blend, just like wine!
Ambi’ance: Do you drink it?
Marcus: Yeah, I mean yeah, very much, a little too much! (Laughter) I took two bottles with me on the Capital City Jazz Cruise and during my set I converse with the audience and I introduced the wine and thanked all of the retailers that were carrying it. Afterwards,
a lady walked up to me and said that I was doing a great job, but that her store wasn’t mentioned. I later found that this was an Executive with Walmart. She later put a deal together for me in DC, Maryland, VA and Delaware. Who would have thought that the Executive of Walmart would be a sister on the Capital City Jazz Cruise and like wine? In less than two years Walmart will be opening five more stores in these areas who will also be carrying FLO Wine! Another validation.
Ambi’ance: Is that the baby I hear?
Marcus: Yes! That’s Chase, she’s five months old!
Ambi’ance: Aww! Then that brings me to another question. With all that you have done in your career and life, does being a brand new father to Chase increase your drive or purpose?
Marcus: I get that question all of the time. I look at it as another point that I focus on. Everything is still the same, just an additional focus. I still do business hard. I have changed some of my travel a little when I can. But we have invested in a great nanny who is full-time and that allows us to do what we need to do and I don’t feel guilty about that.
Ambi’ance: When this is all over, what do you want Chase to remember about you?
Marcus: That I cared. That I genuinely cared for her and was there when she needed me the most. I hope that she remembers that I gave her the skills to self-empower, to do her own thing. If she wants to be a ballerina, which she has her beautiful ballerina outfit on today and looking incredible, then do it. If she decides to be a veterinarian, do it. I hope she just does the best she can. I hope to have tons of money for her to live the lifestyle she wants, I don’t care, I can’t take this crap with me, but she needs the tools to be able to manage it if she wants it. I just want her to live out her purpose whatever that may be and remember that is what I taught her, to live her purpose!
When Sean Parker and MP3.com came on the scene in 2004, it hit the music industry like a catastrophic torpedo. It exposed the industry, the copyright laws and the holes in it.
Ambi’ance: That’s what it’s all about.
Marcus: Exactly
Ambi’ance: I saw somewhere that you were a radio host!
Marcus: Yes, I had a Top 10 radio show on the jazz station 105.9 in DC. I got up at 3 a.m. and by 5 a.m. I was saying, “Smooth Jazz, 105.9, this is Marcus Johnson along with Jacqui Allen and you were just listening to Kenny G…
Ambi’ance: You have shared the stage with some of my all-time favorites and the best jazz artists of our time, Will Downing, Gerald Albright, Kim Meadows, Najee, Maysa, Kem, Miles Jaye, B. B. King to name a few. Big question, who’s your favorite?
Marcus: (laughing) Aww man, ummm Gerald Albright, Najee, Maysa and countless others! I look at it as a great jam session!! That’s how I play. It’s what I do, have a great jam session!
Ambi’ance: Marcus, I love your spirit, your stage presence and your music. I am glad that I took the opportunity to introduce myself and schedule this interview.
Marcus: Likewise. Where else can you sit down and have a refreshing two hour interview with a fire alarm, business calls, babies and never missing a beat talking life? (Laughter) I mean really?
Ambi’ance: (laughing) that’s messed up, but you know I wouldn’t have traded it for the world, Marcus…except that I now have to go through all of this tape and find my interview!
Marcus: (laughter) Good luck!
Ambi’ance: What do you want our readers to know about Marcus Johnson?
Marcus: The main thing is like the old song from Sesame Street? Anything I can do you can do better! They sang, “Anything you can do I can do better”, but I say that if I can do it so can you. Dream the biggest dream and put a plan together and do it! The reason I do so much is because of what my mother taught me. She used to say that life is not a dress rehearsal, this @$*% is real! When you finally get to the point where you’re ready to leave this world, can you honestly say that you lived life the right way? Not how much money you have or the size of your house, but did you live life right? Did you help someone besides yourself? Were you a participant or an observer? I want to be able to say that I did everything I wanted and was placed here to do. I have traveled all over the world. I have dated the beautiful and the not so beautiful. I have played on stage with some of the best and some not so good. I have had success in business and I have had significant challenges and all that has done was increased my faith that with a purpose, a true dream, perseverance and hard work, it could be done. If I have all of that, and have done that, then I have lived a successful and full life!
Ambi’ance: On that note, enough said! Much love and continued success
Marcus: Likewise
For more information on Marcus Johnson please visit:
www.likemarcusjohnson.com
www.likeflowine.com