Antonio “Tony” Johnson is a former Navy hospital corpsman and surgical technologist, a doctoral student in occupational therapy, and the founder of BRITE CC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping military veterans navigate VA disability benefits, social security, education, career transitions, and entrepreneurship. He served 12 years on active duty including two deployments to the Middle East aboard the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman. He is also developing a mobile app as a veteran resource hub, a podcast called Silent Warriors focused on homeless veterans, and plans to open wellness therapy clinics serving the veteran community.
Host: Richard Lowe | Guest: Antonio Johnson
Conversation Transcript
Richard: What’s your story?
Tony: My name’s Antonio Johnson, but you can call me Tony. I’m 36 years old, originally from Tifton, Georgia, a really small town in South Georgia. Pretty much grew up there my entire life. Around 16, I moved to Alaska, a small village called Galena with a population of maybe a hundred people, right on the bank of the Yukon River. I lived there about two years with my mother, and she still lives there. It was a transition in life to get a different exposure. As I was becoming more of a man going into adulthood, she wanted me to see something different, and that kind of started my journey.
I joined the US Navy from there. About 12 years active duty. I was a combat medic, hospital corpsman, and my primary duty was surgical. I was a surgical technologist. Any surgery you could think of, I’ve most likely scrubbed or assisted. Laminectomies, spinal cases, C-sections, facial reconstruction, oral surgery, dental implants, breast implants, penile implants. The list goes on. That was my passion the entire time.
I deployed twice on the CVN-75, the Harry S. Truman. It’s an aircraft carrier, typically about 4,000 to 5,000 people before deployment. It can get up to about 9,000 on a deployment depending on who’s with you. I served in the Middle East during Operation Enduring Freedom. The first deployment was about 9 or 10 months, the second about 8 or 9. Very long time just being out to sea and experiencing what the Navy really had to offer.
I ended my time in Beaufort, South Carolina. Spent about four years there. It was a smaller, less operation-heavy duty station, so I got back into my clinical skills. That all ended in 2019. From ’09 to 2019 was active duty, and then I had a little reserve time after that.
Richard: And then COVID came along. Ruined everything.
Tony: Yeah. Getting out of the Navy, my plan did not play out the way I intended. Like most people, I was going to finish my bachelor’s degree and go to school to be a dentist. In the Navy they considered us a tooth fairy. I wanted to be in oral surgery, make people smile and feel happy. Then COVID hit.
I was able to get a job. I explored some dental fields out here in California. I live in San Diego. But it wasn’t the same feeling. Being in the Navy gave me structure and community. As soon as I got to the civilian world, especially private practice, all of that went out the window.
From Scheduling Assistant to Clinic Director
Tony: I wound up getting a job at a pediatric therapy clinic, and this really started the transition to where I am now. I finished my bachelor’s in healthcare administration. Pediatric therapy was something I’d never been exposed to in the military.
I have three teenagers, 15, 14, and 13. My youngest is my son, who’s diagnosed with autism. I’ll bring this back full circle. Getting a job at a pediatric therapy clinic, one of the big areas they focus on is children diagnosed with autism: occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy.
I got to do the basic things, schedule appointments, look over documentation, integrate with new and existing clients. And I solely built my way up through this organization over three years. From 2019 to 2022, I went from scheduling assistant to scheduling manager to operations specialist to director of the entire clinic. I was next to the CEO, helping run things from billing, operations, and hiring, using the skills I learned in the military and my education. Along the way I went back to grad school and got my master’s in healthcare administration. It kind of helped me along the way, applying what I learned to real life scenarios, and it paid off.
Then I came to a point where I questioned what I was really going to do next. I got that same feeling I had when I was leaving the service, but it happened much quicker. The service took 11 years to get that feeling. This job, I felt it in three. I was like, I gotta do something different.
Choosing Occupational Therapy Over Dentistry
Tony: Dentistry is a passion of mine. But being exposed to pediatric therapy and kids diagnosed with autism and all kinds of other conditions had a more significant impact on me on the inside. I felt like my skills and what I had to offer were going to be underutilized because I was going to focus on one thing, and that’s enhancing the smile.
I made a really big life decision to not go to dental school and actually apply to occupational therapy school for a doctorate. I got accepted. Two years in, nine months left, and then I’ll have my doctorate in occupational therapy.
Richard: What does that give you?
Tony: It allows me to focus on a more holistic way of therapy. Most people hear “occupational” and think of work, a job. That fits in the scope, that’s one of the areas. But it really highlights eight domains of human activity. There are ADLs, basic activities of daily living: brushing your teeth, getting dressed, feeding yourself, having sex. The basic functions. Then IADLs, instrumental activities of daily living, things you do out in the community: walking your dog, taking care of kids, paying bills. Then sleep, education, work, social participation, fun and leisure.
With that scope of practice, I can apply a more holistic approach to people’s conditions. Whether you have COPD, osteoarthritis, you’ve dealt with a stroke, depression, amputation, whatever the case may be, being able to help individuals in need. It’s not just a career shift for me but a personal shift. Still keeping that military way of providing care and helping others, just broader and not as Western medicine focused as what I’ve already been taught.
Richard: My wife had COPD and asthma. Could definitely have used an occupational therapist like you. Unfortunately I had to go it alone. She passed away about 17 years ago. Smoking, COPD, and asthma don’t go together.
Tony: They do not go well together at all.
Richard: She had a collapsed lung for a while. It’s not minor.
Tony: It’s a lot bigger than what the mass population has an understanding of. How important our lungs are, and when you have something like COPD, something simple as high humidity or hot temperatures can really have a major impact on how you function. Being more educated about it, sharing more with the public, and really paying attention to your body and knowing preventive ways to minimize symptoms is very, very important. Occupational therapy really opened my mind and exposed me to more ways I could provide assistance to the general population.
BRITE CC: A Nonprofit for Veterans
Richard: Do you run your own practice, or will you be?
Tony: Yes, I will be running my own practice. I’m definitely big into entrepreneurship. BRITE CC is my nonprofit organization. It stands for Brilliant, Reliable, Innovative, Transparent, Efficient Clinical Care. Right now I’m in phase one, the nonprofit version.
I assist military veterans whether they’re active duty or have been discharged for years. Thirty days or thirty years, doesn’t matter. I help them with processing out, filing disability claims, getting social security benefits, getting back into college, helping them find a career path, helping them create a business. I took all the skills and education and knowledge I had and thought, why don’t I create an organization where I can help veterans just like me achieve their goals.
Richard: When I was operations director at Trader Joe’s, I learned to hire vets. I hired a bunch of ex-special forces and ex-marines. Some were on active duty. They’d appear for a few months and come back, and they never talked about what they did. My boss wasn’t thrilled with that. I don’t know why. Finally I challenged him and said, “Am I in charge of hiring or not?” He said yeah. “Good. Get out of my way and let me hire who I want.”
These guys and gals were super competent. They got things done. I watched them tear apart my computer room and put it back together. My boss was terrified because we kept it live and running while tearing it apart, lifting it up on big balloons. I’d highly recommend anybody listening to consider hiring vets and military people. You’re going to get quality work.
I found them much better than hiring civilians in many ways. Not that there aren’t good civilians, but the vets had the discipline and the attitude. It wasn’t even “how high,” it was just “jump, okay.”
Tony: No, it was just, “got it done.”
Richard: My father and grandfather were both vets. My dad was in the Air Force. My grandfather was in the Navy. He was captured on Corregidor in World War Two, marched through Manila, and spent four years in a Japanese POW camp. I wrote a memoir about his experience called Behind the Wire.
He came out different. When I met him in the seventies, people said he’s weird, don’t go near him, he’ll snap at you. I wanted to know my grandfather. Everybody said don’t talk to him. I talked to him. He was fine. A little weird, but fine.
I said I want to write your story. So I took his journal, did interviews of him. I was only 17, so I did the best I could. I wrote a little book. And I got to know my grandfather, and what I found out was, he went through a lot. He can be as weird as he wants. I’ve never had somebody swinging a machete at me or had my friend’s head cut off in front of me. I cannot judge his weirdness.
Tony: Yeah, when you think about what being a prisoner of war is truly like. My wife used to be a SERE instructor. What they do is prepare pilots, marines, Navy SEALs in case they become prisoners of war, how to survive and last the test of time so they can come back home. Just hearing about her training and watching some of the things she went through, it’s a lot. It’s truly a lot to be in a foreign land, considered an enemy, under intense life stress, just trying to make it day by day hoping you’ll get back home. Like you said, entitlement to be weird, 100%.
Richard: He could be as weird as he wanted. He’s long passed away. But he could be as curmudgeonly as he wanted. I was fine with him after that because I knew the story. And that is probably what started the germ of me becoming a ghostwriter, learning people’s stories and what’s behind them. It’s one of the reasons I started this podcast, learning people’s stories. It’s very interesting to find out why a person acts the way they do and why they’ve got the beliefs they have, whether they’re mine or not. This is America. You’re entitled to your own beliefs, whatever they are. Left, right, center, straight up, straight down. Just tell me what your beliefs are. I’m not going to get insulted that your beliefs aren’t mine.
Tony: That’s what I love about this country.
The App and Silent Warriors
Tony: BRITE is more in depth than just the nonprofit. I got into app design and developed a mobile app about nine or ten months ago. I took the concept from social media, LinkedIn, and the VA. What I designed is a resource hub.
What I realized is most veterans lack the knowledge of how the system works. They know there’s compensation, benefits, healthcare, but they don’t know how to get started, how to access it, or the lingo. So I designed the app to provide information. I’ve got scholarships for dependents and veterans. I have a program to help veterans with negative discharges walk through the steps of getting their DD-214 changed so they can get their benefits, which is big right now. I have a program to help homeless veterans get into the system, get resources, and get active care.
The biggest thing is it’s a community hub. Unlike Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn, everybody on there is a veteran, a dependent, or part of this community. Having a network of people just like you enhances your ability to achieve goals and overcome challenges. I wanted to take this community that I felt is a little different from the rest of society. We go in like society, we come out completely different. What’s one way to help people overcome some of the things they deal with? Give them a close community of people just like them.
There’s also a podcast I’m developing called Silent Warriors by BRITE CC. It focuses on homeless veterans. I do research, find new programs, find statistics, break stigmas and stereotypes about mental health conditions like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, PTSD, and alcoholism. I’ve actually gone out in San Diego and interviewed homeless veterans for them to tell their stories.
The whole concept is bringing homeless veterans back to the community and breaking the stigma of them versus us. I feel like one of the big issues with homelessness is segregation from society. They’re in their own space. Allowing them to tell their stories, letting the world see the true rawness behind what someone goes through from a war perspective or from serving, and how that can change them. Just changing the stigma.
Richard: That’s very important. I know veterans go through a lot, just from my experiences, and none of them were homeless. But they’d been through trauma, and sometimes you had to be careful around certain subjects. People need help. I’m glad you’re helping them.
Tony: It’s my drive now to help not just veterans but dependents, even individuals who support the veteran community. That’s just as big a job. It brings its own form of PTSD. When you listen to people’s stories over and over, you develop PTSD, depression, you absorb that energy. I want to make sure there’s a place for everybody who supports this military lifestyle. There should be a home outside where you can get resources, understand how to process and move forward, because that’s only one part of our lives. We should be able to close that chapter and accomplish bigger things and not let those prior experiences hold us back.
Richard: If only it were that easy.
Tony: If only it were that easy.
Phase Two: Wellness Therapy Clinics
Tony: Phase two is Wellness Therapy by BRITE CC. It’ll be a therapy clinic. The first brick and mortar will be in San Diego, most likely my community of Lemon Grove. Then I’ll look to expand with hubs in Georgia, Alaska, wherever I can put them where veterans can get a more therapeutic experience with the conditions they’re dealing with. Not pushing medications. I’m talking pottery, arts and crafts, journaling, 3D printing, VR, open communication in group settings, nature walks. Whatever that person feels they need to re-engage and feel whole. That’s my whole approach.
Richard: In a couple of years we’ll have another podcast and you’ll be on stage 200, open nationwide, getting millions in federal funding. No more homeless veterans. You’re going big time.
Tony: If I could make all that happen, I would do it tomorrow.
Richard: I think you can. You just have to do it. And it sounds like you’re doing it.
Tony: Step by step. I realize being an entrepreneur, it takes years to build the brand. BRITE CC is not just a nonprofit, not just wellness therapy, not just an app. It’s a brand. It’s meant to be a light and a beacon for veterans, for entrepreneurs who feel like they’re lost. I want to be that hope to let people know, just like you, I’m an average person. I don’t come from a rich background. I don’t have a bunch of money. I just took my resources and invested in myself, and it’s paying off.
Get Rid of the Box
Richard: People say about stepping out of your box. My question is, why do you have a box in the first place? Get rid of the box. Don’t step out of it, get rid of it.
Tony: I love that. My philosophy is never being settled with goals. Rearrange the list. As soon as I hit that peak point and achieved what I thought was impossible, I go back and create a whole new set of goals. Something I never thought I could even fathom. That keeps my drive going. I don’t get settled and content. I created a nonprofit. All right, let’s create an app. Did that. Let’s create an LLC. Did that. Let’s do some public speaking. Just taking that box and throwing it away.
Richard: Be willing to fail. That’s how children learn to walk. They fall over. If you don’t let them fall, they don’t become as strong.
Tony: This whole entrepreneur thing is a journey. You have to stay positive, optimistic, and realistic. Everybody’s not going to agree with the mission. Everybody’s not going to get your values. But as long as you stay aligned with yourself and true to the cause, how can you fail?
I’ve always reminded myself I’m not in this to make millions of dollars. If it comes, great. But ever since I put my focus on someone way bigger than me, my life has been winning. I can’t recall the last time things didn’t go the way I needed them to. I feel like this path is intended for me. More challenges will come, but I’ll be prepared. Believing in myself and setting expectations as high as I can.
Richard: And be willing to fail. Fall on the ground a little bit.
Closing Words
Tony: For any veteran out there, active duty, dependent, sponsor, if you feel like you’re having trouble processing your benefits, if you feel like you’re having trouble just processing being part of the service, reach out. I’m not just here to help you file disability. I’m not just here to help you process social security. I’m here to help you understand the system and help you achieve whatever goals you’re looking for, at whatever level that may be. If you feel like you’re in the dark, just know there is a light. BRITE CC.
Learn more about Antonio Johnson and BRITE CC at brite-cc.com.
Find Richard Lowe at TheWritingKing.com.