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I Used To Be ... And Now I'm ...: From The U.S. Marine Corps To A Career Consultant
Indigo Johnson transfers lessons learned from the Marine Corps into her business modeland practices. She helps clients focus on mission, not the issues.
by Mary Welch
October 23, 2007
Indigo Johnson had a wonderful childhood but lacked a little self-confidence. Even though she
knew she was supposed to go to college, she didn't really think she'd succeed, so "in a panic" she
went down "military row" in her hometown in Aurora, Ill., looking for a post-secondary education
plan.
"I took the Air Force test, but I knew that wasn't me. But next door had this cute Marine
Corps recruiter."
Behind that next door was the start of a long path toward self-esteem and a career road that
included the Marines, beauty school (on a scholarship) and now an entrepreneur, as CEO of Careers
in Transition, a human resourcesfirm that provides performance consulting to help employees become
multiskilled and more productive.
Back in high school, Johnson's mother never told she was pretty, and she believed, "I was
funny looking. You know, the kid with a big face, big teeth, big hands – awkward. I was just one of
those girls that had to grow into her looks. Now I realize if you're not equal to the others,
you're better. But I was voted best dressed. I knew fashion was my thing."
Which brings us back to the Marine Corps in 1982. "They had the best outfit, and I looked
good in it," she says. "It seemed logical that this was a match, so I signed up."
Reality soon took over. "I soon realized that the [dress] the uniform wasn't what they wore
every day. I didn't sign up to wear camouflage! I said I wanted to go into communications, so my
job was field radio operator. That's not what I thought communications was. I thought it'd be
working at a radio station. In the Marines it meant calling air strikes in the middle of a field
with snakes. It was horrible! Eventually I transferred to public affairs, and I found my voice. I
realized my talents involved writing, relationships and people."
After a year, Johnson married and had a child. "As they say, the Marines don't issue
babies-they issue you a rifle and camies, no baby. It was a long time ago, but the Marines treated
you like you were dishonoring the Corps by getting pregnant." She left in 1983 with an honorable
discharge.
Ever so stylish, she got a scholarship to beauty school and then on to a local community
college. Problem was, she still missed the Marines. She signed up with the Reserves while attending
school fulltime and graduated with an associate's degree in applied arts in journalism/
communications in 1987 and went on to pursue a bachelor's in radio and television from Southern
Illinois University.
While a reservist, she was selected to attend an armed services public affairs school (an
"awesome" career move), but it would have required her to re-enlist for active duty and quit
college.
"I was so close to acquiring my degree – something no one in my family had ever gotten. As
much as I loved the Corps, I didn't want to be enlisted personnel, and with my degree I could have
been an officer. But the Marines didn't see the big picture. If I could have finished my degree, I
would have enlisted and I would have been in the Marines, maybe still to this day. But it was an
either-or decision, and a hard one. But I had a son, and I wanted my degree."
She graduated from college in 1988 and moved to South Carolina. She had her heart set on
being a television reporter, but self-esteem issues held her back. Eventually she had a cable show
and starting blossoming. "I wanted to be like Phil Donohue. Oprah hadn't taken off, and CNN was
just starting. I wanted to be on a real news show, not just the one station in Buford, S.C."
She earned her master's in human resources in 1992, the same year she moved with her husband
to Atlanta and began working at the DeVry Institute of Technology as a career adviser.
"Ninety percent of what I did was helping people transition from [one] career into another,"
she says. "That's when downsizing was hot, and I helped them deal with the change and going on to
the next step."
In 1995 she struck out on her own as a career consultant and two years later made it official
by incorporating her business. "I'm a thinker. I have to read and study to get ahead. I am a great
networker, and I like people and I'm interested in them. That has opened many doors. I used to
believe that things wouldn't work, and at 43 I don't believe that. I think it's about doing what I
want to do, being more authentic. I'm doing more what I like doing and less what I don't like. And
it's cost me friends."
Today she has a number of clients including the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, Clark Atlanta University and H.J. Russell & Co. She is a
member of the Governor's Small Business Mentoring program, with UPS as her mentor. "It's really
helped me a lot. I knew how to get in the door. I just didn't know how to close the deal. I was
more interested in being the person's friend and developing a relationship than closing the sale.
Now I'm more into sales."
She has penned a book, "Play by the Unwritten Rules," aimed at women. "We don't know the
rules, so we don't understand the game. Guys do, and I learned that from the Marines."
She's thankful for her experience in the Marines. "The Marines are like a fraternity. I'm
still committed to it. I tend to dress like a man, in clothes that restrain you, and I like ties
and ascots. I have a strong personality. The Marine Corps is still in me, and I've transferred what
I've learned into my business practices and model. For instance, we partner with organizations to
help them focus on their mission instead of HR issues."
Among those lessons learned from the Marines are intestinal fortitude, ("Never give up on
what your gut tells you is the right thing"), character ("Who I am drives what I say and do, which
are inseparable and consistent with one another"), confidence, discipline and rising to the
occasion. "Owning a business means self-direction and determination. I have to keep moving forward,
even when I'm exhausted, which takes the discipline that I acquired in the Corps."
Although her Tucker-based Careers in Transition has celebrated its tenth anniversary, she
still hasn't given up her dream of a career in television. "I'm still waiting to be discovered, and
I will."
I said I wanted to go into communications, so my job was field radio operator. That¹s not
what I thought communications was. I thought it¹d be working at a radio station. In the Marines it
meant calling air strikes in the middle of a field with snakes.
