Name: Korey Johnson
Position/Where: Histology technician for Barnes-Jewish Hospital
Career Highlights:
In my professional career, I enjoy helping new employees understand and get a firm grasp on our histology department. I started at Barnes-Jewish Hospital when I was 16 years-old in the dietary department. From the dietary department, I worked my way up through several additional departments before starting my current career as a histotechnician.
As a histotechnician, I prepare human body tissue for examination by doctors and other medical professionals. I take my role extremely seriously because I help doctors better diagnose patient biopsies. Although I am behind the scenes and never in direct contact with patient’s, their care and a quick turnaround is my main priority.
I’ve been at Barnes since 1997 with the exception of two years I worked in labs in West St. Louis County.
When I’m not working, I’m passionately running my non-profit organization, The Korey Johnson Foundation. One of my career highlights is getting my letters of non-profit incorporation in 2014. Other highlights include co-producing and working with nationally recognized storyteller Bobby Norfolk in the mini docu-series, “Autism Talks” and having it air on a local television channel. “Autism Talks” is a series where my team and I interview and get a closer look into the lives of parents of children living with a disability. Our goal is to raise additional funds to produce more interviews and give more parents a platform to share their experiences.
Education:
Indiana University
Histotechnology in 2000-2001
Personal: Family, church, fraternity or sorority affiliations
Kingland Financial and What About Us-an African-American male mentoring program.
St. Louis Connection:
St. Louis native, graduate of North County Technical High School
Journey to success:
It kind of landed on me. I was working in data entry in Surgical Pathology at Barnes Jewish Hospital and a position opened in histology, which is part of the department. I transferred in and was just intrigued by all of the different testing and stuff they had going on. I was enrolling in Ranken Tehnical at the time to do industrial maintenance when Barnes-Jewish Hospital decided to send me to Indiana University at no cost to me.
There is so much opportunity right now, when people get into histology, you can go anywhere in the country to get a job. If you have a minimum of an associate’s or a bachelor’s degree, you can get into any diagnostic laboratory and make a good sum of money.
In 2010, I can remember overhearing a group of people criticize youths. They were complaining about how horrible our young people are. That year it seemed like I heard similar statements from several different groups of people over and over again. I didn’t want to join their conversation; I wanted to change the conversation. That’s when I decided to be a part of the solution. The first thing I thought to do was to invest in the education of young men and women, so I decided to collect school supplies.
Five years later, [through the foundation] I’ve helped more than 1,500 students get a fresh start to their school year with a new book bag and supplies. Giving away supplies was only an aspect of how I wanted to help. I also thought it was important to actually teach our youth about philanthropy. So, I incorporated a give/get component. I wanted recipients to understand that compassion is key in everything we do.
I organized a back-to-school skating party called Can Skate, where admission is five non-perishable food items. In exchange, students can skate for free and receive those essential school supplies. So far, we have collected and distributed more than 10,000 non-perishable food items for area shelters and other non-profit organizations.
From there, I created another program that aims is to help young people think about and grasp important life lessons through the game of billiards. The Providing Opportunities Otherwise Lost or P.O.O.L is an eight-month program where youths ages six to 18 learn how to play billiards while applying life lessons on respect, determination, responsibility and more.
The best part about all of this is that 10 years ago I never imagined I would be here. But believing in myself, encouragement from others and a burning desire to help others made the difference. Plus, as a father of two, with one on the way, I wanted to be an example for my children.
For my son, who is living with autism and shares my name, I wanted The Korey Johnson Foundation to be a place where he could be himself in a safe and loving environment and a place of employment for him when he is of age.
My journey to success has everything to do with the fact that I understand that I must be the difference. I must do my part to change the conversation about the state of our boys and girls and not contribute to negativity. The best thing is that my faith and work align with the mission that God has instilled in me to do. Although, I’m a work in progress, I must keep going.
