“We Want to Make Our Investors $100 Million. And We Want to Give $100 Million to Charity.”
New Satell Institute member Shawn Johanson has learned the recipe for real impact — and fulfillment.
Johanson: Money isn’t an end in itself. It’s a tool that lifts other people up.
“I have a picture right in front of my desk that says, ‘Work smarter, not harder,’” says Shawn Johanson. “That’s what I want to do.”
Over the last 15 years, Johanson’s smart work has paid off not only for himself, but lots of other people, too. His family. The clients involved with Sona Investments, the extremely successful real estate development business Johanson co-founded with his wife, Janet. And the range of nonprofits the couple supports.
It’s all part of a fascinating, powerful journey that Johanson, a new Satell Institute member, has been on. It’s a road that’s included no shortage of challenges — growing up poor, dealing with dyslexia, navigating a quasi-midlife crisis — as well as plenty of triumphs.
Today, Johanson’s mindset very much mirrors the Satell Institute’s mission: Financial success is wonderful, but insufficient on its own. True meaning — and real impact — come from using your success to help other people and build stronger communities.
The Johansons are more committed than ever to that approach. “We have a stretch goal that we want to make our investors $100 million in the next 10 years, and we also want to give $100 million to charity,” Shawn says. It’s bold, but when you work smart, anything is possible.
Building True Wealth
Johanson was raised by a single mother who had to work two jobs just to try and make ends meet. “I saw my mom struggling, I saw her in pain,” he remembers. A young Johanson had challenges of his own. He didn’t like school, in part because his reading comprehension was poor. He barely made it through high school and never even enrolled in college.
Nevertheless, he found a path for himself, eventually going to work at GE Capital, where he specialized in making home-improvement loans. But then came the financial crisis of 2008, and suddenly Johanson was out of a job.
It was a turning point. Around that time he read Robert T. Kiyosaki’s bestselling book Rich Dad Poor Dad, which explained that people build true wealth not through a salaried job, but through investing, asset building, and financial literacy — in short, by working smarter, not harder. Johanson decided to focus on real estate, first flipping houses, then buying and rehabbing commercial properties.
Today, Sona Investments, headquartered in Naples, Florida, owns a robust portfolio of properties in multiple states, including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, New Hampshire, Texas, and Florida.
Along the way, the Johansons have learned a valuable key to success. “We really look for investments that are value-add,” he says. More specifically, Sona seeks out properties that are underperforming, then, through targeted capital investments, transforms them — ultimately attracting stable tenants, generating steady cash flow, and producing significant gains. Indeed, since 2011, Sona’s projects have realized annualized returns for investors of more than 30 percent.
But the value-added philosophy doesn’t just apply to buildings. It also steers the Johansons’ approach to philanthropy and Corporate Social Responsibility. The couple generously supports a number of nonprofits, including Junior Achievement, 3DE Schools, and Give Us Wings, an organization focused on education and development in Africa.
Their support is more than just writing a check. “How can we add value to these people or these organizations so that they can be more successful?” Shawn says of their approach. “We want to help create systems that are not just a onetime fix.”
Money and Happiness
Shawn Johanson continues to throw himself into challenges. A few years ago, after the Johansons’ daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia, Shawn learned more about the disability — and discovered that his own reading problems were rooted in dyslexia as well.
“I never got my d's and b's mixed up, but there are so many other things that go along with dyslexia, including comprehension,” he says. “I had to read something three times to comprehend it, but if you showed me how to do it, I could pick it up like that.” He’s committed to improving education options for young people who have dyslexia.
Meanwhile, Johanson has also begun leaning into coaching and mentorship — the outgrowth of yet another twist in his fascinating journey.
He explains that like a lot of people, he long associated making money with being happy. But after achieving real financial success in his 40s, he didn’t feel fulfilled. “You kind of reach a certain level of success, but it wasn't what you thought it was going to be when you dreamt about it,” he says.
What’s required, he finally concluded, is a shift in thinking — to see money not as an end in itself, but as a tool that helps lift other people up.
Connecting with SI
In many ways that mindset shift was a perfect entrée to the Satell Institute.
“It just sounded like something that we wanted to be part of,” Johanson says of his introduction to SI. “The organization does some amazing things.”
He’s hopeful that SI can be helpful in reaching that bold long-term goal of earning $100 million for investors and donating $100 million to nonprofits. To get there, he and Janet have plotted a strategy that doubles-down on their commercial real estate expertise, while also leveraging skills in identifying, building, and exiting promising startups.
Nothing is given. “As with any grandiose plan, it’s fluid,” Johanson says. But if it all works, lots of other people, in the great tradition of SI, will benefit.
