Local 661 member Donnie Johnson’s story sounds like a Hollywood movie. You wouldn’t know it from his youthful demeanor, but Donnie didn’t become a Carpenter until ten years ago when he was 54 years old. Before that he was traveling the world as Eddie Murphy’s personal assistant and as he puts it, “this body was well preserved.”
Because of this, he welcomed the challenges of entering the trade relatively later in life. “I’m able to sustain the grueling schedule of construction…I was ready for this.”
Donnie is currently working on the Intuit Dome which he calls, “one of the most fantastic arenas the world has yet to see.” He marvels at the camaraderie he witnesses on the jobsite every day, and he loves working alongside other men and women who love their job.
“If you want to work for a company that has a strong Union, that has strong support, great benefits, great opportunity to learn, great opportunity for promotion, great opportunity for growth and being around real solid human beings, carpentry is the perfect trade for you.”
He is a member of the African American Task Force – a Council-wide committee dedicated to recruiting and retaining African American members. Donnie takes every opportunity to tell other African Americans about how the Union has changed his life. He is super active on social media sharing his day-to-day life through Instagram and YouTube videos and he has written two books. Along the way, he also became a Pastor and a motivational speaker. Donnie credits carpentry with giving him the focus to accomplish all of this and he looks forward to exploring even more new horizons within construction. “I want to put another ten more years in, on the safety side of construction. I think that that would be really cool for me to do!” Donnie is a Carpenter who is always ready for his close up!
Click here to watch Brother Johnson’s story.