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Class Guests & Industry Experts

From Hope Student to CEO: Branding & Networking Success

From Hope Student to CEO: Branding & Networking Success

Johnny Montanez sharing his success story with today’s Hope High Life Skills students.

Today’s class guest was Johnny Montanez,

former Hope Life Skills student, 2010 Hope High graduate, and presently the CEO of Coin Theory Media Group, a United States based multimedia production company, specializes in producing Cinematic Commercial Content for business owners across the North American region including Canada and Mexico.

Today’s host was Elliott Burrell,

aspiring music and film producer.

Elliott Burrell (red sweatshirt) welcomes Johnny Montanez back to Hope High School and the Life Skills class prior to the beginning of today’s class.

Elliott introduces Johnny to his classmates to begin today’s class.

Following Elliott’s introduction, Innocent Byiringiro leads the procession of students introducing themselves and welcoming Johnny back to Hope Life Skills.

Johnny begins his story from his Providence Washington Park neighborhood to his personal brand building journey and networking of hip hop stars, film producers, fashion designers, entrepreneurs, millionaire business people, and DOCTORS.

We cannot let where we come from define who we can be! 

I’m from Washington Park in Providence, a neighborhood that’s similar to the neighborhood many of you are from.   I want more.  I want success.   Sure, it’s hard.   I’ve had setback and failures.  But, that didn’t stop me from becoming the successful person I want to be and, believe to my core, I can be”  Johnny said.

ONE plus ONE equals SIX!   This is the math of networking. 

Every successful, good person I network with knows other successful people who I can get introduced to!!!!   My network is critical to my success.  And, my personal brand, how people perceive me, affects who will network with me.  Successful, well connected, smart, good people are the people I network with.  These are the kinds of people who open doors of opportunities to become the successful business person I aspire to be.

Johnny speaks about making tough choices about the people in your network. “Some of the people you’re hanging out with actually hurt your chances of being successful. You’ve got to say at some point ‘I’ve got to stop hanging out with them if I want to become the successful person I dream about being’. “

Josiah Diaz exchanges business cards with Johnny during the networking session of today’s class.

Katelyn Tavarez also exchanges business cards with Johnny to add him to her network of successful, well connected people.

Johnny posted his mobile number for students to connect with him. “Thank you, Johnny!”

 

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BEHIND THE program

Hi, I'm  Stephen

As an educator and businessman who has spent 23+ years implementing life skills education in Providence public schools, I believe every student possesses untapped intelligence that, when paired with the right skills and mindset, enables them to navigate challenges, create opportunities, and build futures that once seemed out of reach.

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