Capturing the Stories Behind the Titles
Geordy Johnson, CEO of Johnson Development Associates
Q: What was your first job, and what did you buy with your first dollar?
My first official job was as a grease monkey at the Morgan Corp. shop during high school summers. I pressure-washed all the machines that came in, took belly pans off the equipment with an air gun for fluid changes, ran a bobcat and dump truck, and cleaned up any fluid spills in the shop. It was a dirty but fun job for a teenager.
I went out to lunch every day with the mechanics and bought my meals — on Fridays we always went to the Clock for burgers — but I saved the rest of the money.
Q: If you weren’t CEO of JDA, where else in the company would you work, and why?
I would be on the finance team and work on debt financing. I like building relationships with our bank partners and thinking about the most efficient way to capitalize projects.
Q: OTO Development’s late CEO Corry Oakes loved to ask “What can we do better?” With that in mind, what skill do you still hope to master?
There are a number of skills that are critical to be successful in business and life. However, if I had to pick one skill that I would strive to master, it would be communication. Effective communication is the key to building enduring relationships, guiding business strategy, and motivating team members. However, I have many areas for improvement!
Q: What’s something about you that we wouldn’t learn from your resume?
I love riding a bicycle. I enjoyed riding as a kid, road biking as an adult, mountain biking in more recent years, and now my favorite type of riding is wherever my son, Dean, wants to go. I find cycling freeing, and I like the focus of riding a bike and enjoying the place you are in the present moment.
Todd Turner, CEO of OTO Development
Q: What was your first job, and what did you buy with your first dollar?
My first real summer job was as a laborer on a construction site, where we were demolishing and reconstructing an old office building in downtown Roanoke.
I used my first paycheck to buy a kit so I could build myself a new fly rod.
Q: If you weren’t CEO of OTO Development, where else in the company would you work, and why?
I would work in the kitchen at Coconut Charlie’s Beach Bar & Grill, because I love to cook seafood, and I have a few awesome recipes that I would love to try for a large audience. I would be very interested in seeing the coordination at work in a high-volume commercial kitchen.
Q: OTO Development’s late CEO Corry Oakes loved to ask “What can we do better?” With that in mind, what skill do you still hope to master?
I need to try to become an omni-tasker like Corry was. I will always be amazed at how he could handle so much, all at once.
Q: What’s something about you that we wouldn’t learn from your resume?
You might not get that I am an avid — my wife would say “obsessive” — fly fisherman and fly tier.
Jason Bynum, CEO of American Credit Acceptance
Q: What was your first job, and what did you buy with your first dollar?
When I was 14, I worked at a driving range. During the week, I worked the cash register after school and on the weekends, I cut grass. If you know anything about Georgia in the summer, you know cutting grass is tough, especially when it’s a six-hour assignment.
I can’t remember how I spent my first dollar but I’m sure it was on something golf related.
Q: If you weren’t CEO of American Credit Acceptance, where else in the company would you work, and why?
I really enjoy selling the benefits of ACA so if I wasn’t CEO, I’d have a job where I could do that. That could be on our sales team, in our capital markets group as we interact with bond investors, or as part of our talent acquisition team to sell potential candidates to come on board and join the ACA team.
Q: OTO Development’s late CEO Corry Oakes loved to ask “What can we do better?” With that in mind, what skill do you still hope to master? 
I’d like to improve at pretty much every skill that exists. If I had to choose just one, it’d be communication. Whether I’m in a setting where I’m talking to one or two people, speaking in front of over 1,000 people, or in a business meeting trying to bring on a new partner, communication is really important. So, I’d choose that, but there are many things I’d like to get better at, too.
Q: What’s something about you that we wouldn’t learn from your resume?
I love to fly fish. I enjoy fly fishing because it takes you to really beautiful places, whether it’s the mountains of North Carolina, Montana, the coast of Charleston, or somewhere else, and gives you an activity to do at the same time.