Chapter Invisible Welcomes Bro. Johnny Campbell
Brother Johnny Laurence Campbell (Fall ‘89), 51, of Clermont, entered Chapter Invisible on Wednesday, September 29, 2021 at Orlando Health South Lake Hospital, Clermont. A native of Indianapolis, IN, he was the son of Bertha Mae Campbell and Johnny Lawrence McNeal, born on Tuesday, May 26, 1970. He was a graduate of George Washington High School, Indianapolis. While in high school, he joined the ROTC and became an officer. He continued his education at Indiana University-Bloomington and became a proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi and an accomplished track and field athlete; he subsequently earned his Bachelor’s degree.
After graduating, Johnny became roommates with his childhood friend for several years. He played semi-pro football for a couple of years. Eventually, Johnny settled down in Carol Stream, IL where he spent much of his adult life. He continued perfecting his professional speaker’s career as a member of Toastmaster International where he earned the designation of Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) on the road to becoming an Accredited Speaker (AS) in 2006. Johnny was a keynote speaker, author, and founder of Rise-Up and Win International, an organization that helps people developmental readiness skills so they can Embrace Change and turn their Products and Services into Profits.
Johnny was the Past-President of the National Speaker Association for the state of Illinois and an Accredited Speaker (designation presented by Toastmaster International, held by less than 100 professional speakers in the world for excellence in public speaking). Johnny was also a TEDx speaker with his talk called “How an Enemy Can Improve Your Life” and the author of "The Agent of Change" which details how to get people to embrace change without losing their mind or bank account.
Johnny provided groups with programs that would help them improve their performance, so they can provide a higher level of service to their teams, clients, customers, and communities. He has countless speaking and educational videos on multiple social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
Before joining Toastmasters, Johnny gained his change and sales expertise in the insurance industry where he worked as a corporate trainer and participated in leading hundreds of people through multiple corporate downsizings and mergers. Based on Johnny’s business results, experiences, and ability to help clients transition through their challenges and succeed both in businesses and life, he came up with the brand name "The Transition Man”. While meticulously building his career as a professional speaker, Johnny developed and nurtured his brand name and became known Johnny “The Transition Man” Campbell.
Johnny made his debut in TV & Radio. He was selected for Wordsmith of the Year and Toastmaster Hall of Fame. He has 20+ years of speaking experience and he is a published author of 6 books.
In 2013, Johnny proposed to his wife, Kimberly Chester Campbell, and relocated to Winter Garden, FL. In 2014, Johnny and Kimberly moved to Clermont, FL, they were united in marriage in 2015. He established and maintained close contact and developed personal and professional relationships. He subsequently created another brand name for himself, “Topwater Johnny”. He produced countless videos of himself fishing, using lures that he either bought, designed or was given to fish for bass using a specific fishing technique where he kept the lure on the surface of the lake’s water rather than below the surface or at the bottom of the lake. He was meticulous in recording his videos, posting them on social media and educating viewers.
Johnny was not only a well-respected and accomplished entrepreneur, but he was a friend to many both near and far. His selflessness and charismatic personality touched the lives of people he knew for many years and those he only met for a few minutes. He had a smile that lit up the room, a presence that captured your attention right away, and a brilliant mind. He was genuine, one of a kind, incomparable. Employees at establishments Johnny frequented around town reacted to him like a celebrity – Winn-Dixie, The UPS Store, the National Training Center, the FedEx store, and Bo’s Boys Bar-B-Q, just to name a few. He was treated like a celebrity at many Toastmaster events, too. He will always be remembered as someone who made people laugh, smile, and feel good about themselves and helped others with all his heart. That was what he loved to do. Johnny was an outstanding, hardworking, supportive, and extremely loving husband.
He leaves to cherish his memories: devoted wife of 5 years, Kimberly Chester Campbell; mother, Bertha Mae Campbell-Allen; brothers, William (Maryann) Allen, Leon Allen, Antoine (Keirra) Allen; sister, Tiffany Allen; godparents, Arthur and Exxie Temple; parents-in-law, Edward L. and Ethel Chester; brother-in-law, Edward J. (Lisa) Chester; sister-in-law, Michelle Chester; best friend, Fred; and a host of aunts, uncles, nieces, including, Janeen Rowlinson, Jessica (Nikki) Liles, Natalie Chester; nephew, Kaleb Chester, great-nephew, Urijah Rowlinson; other relatives and close friends.
