JOHAN SPEAKS

The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

“johan has established a reputation as an inspiring motivational speaker with a straightforward and entertaining, yet deeply provocative message.”

Dr. Mateo Sandoval - Professor, ASU

Johan_Khalilian_Fair_Lawn_High_Petronella_Photography_4.jpg

“We are either the product of our dreams or the product of our environment.”

Calling All Crazy ones!

Throughout history, there have been larger than life figures that have shaped the fields of technology, art, literature, design, medicine, social justice... you name it! You might not think you have the courage of Nelson Mandela, the tenacity of Amelia Earhart, or the ingenuity of Elon Musk - but today and every day you can choose the crazy idea that you have everything it takes to change the world. You just have to be crazy enough to believe it.

I want to give a huge thank you to my brothers, Aaron Milus, Derik Edan, and Ivan Lizarde, who worked so incredibly hard to make something we are all so proud to share with you.

If you like this video, know that there's more coming your way. Please leave comments in YouTube and let me hear your thoughts and questions, and feel free to share if you think it can be of benefit to someone in your life.

drake’s top five back to school tips

Drake’s Scorpion, for many, was the album of the summer. Now that vacation is over and the school year has begun, it’s tempting to walk into class with our heads low knowing that, as Drake may say, our Summer Games are over.

That begs the question, what else would Drake say? What pieces of wisdom remain to be discovered from the Champagne Papi? As the new school year begins, what lessons does Scorpion offer up?

The diary of a young girl

If a fourteen-year-old living in confinement could change the world. Why can’t you?

watch johanspeaks

keep up with johan

Today is about love (and chocolate), love well (and eat chocolate). Don’t take it for granted if you have someone. Don’t sulk if you don't. Overall, don’t be thirsty. Well, don’t be that kind of thirsty. Instead of being thirsty to get love be thirsty to give it.
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And do me a favor, don’t be stingy with it, make sure you love everyone like it’s restaurant soda. Y’all know that spot that gives us free refills, right? If you’re ‘hood, you know how to get one drink and share it with all your friends. Or, if you’re super ghetto like me you drink your fill, leave, and come back with your cup when you’re thirsty. With no shame in our game, let’s give love away like there’s free refills. Unless your love is Mountain Dew. Then be stingy cuz that stuff is gross!
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Let’s share and share and share the love until everyone has had a sip. Repeat that until the restaurant owner kicks us out because they ran out of pop!

The Law of Entropy.
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“Nothing is lost. . .Everything is transformed.” ― Michael Ende, The Neverending Story
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Everything falls apart. The fancy word for that is entropy. An object that is no longer in motion, if left to itself, will inevitably start to deteriorate. It will turn into junk. It will break down. Lose its value. That goes for you and I as well. If we don’t use it, we lose it. If we aren’t using our muscles they atrophy. If we aren’t using our minds we may lose our memory. If we aren’t using our friends Netflix account they may kick us off! .
Everything falls apart. That’s the bad news.
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Everything can be transformed. That’s the good news. If your life was no longer in motion, you can change that. If you were stagnant, you can flow again. If you were hurt, you can heal. If you were stuck, you can get free. Your muscles can be flexed. Your mind can be transformed. And, there’s always someone else willing to let you use their Netflix account!
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Everything can be transformed. That’s the good news!

Never have I ever sipped on sizzurp.
Never have I ever trusted a big butt and a smile.
Never have I ever experienced a whole city shut down because of eight inches of snow!
That is, until this weekend.
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Seattle, I love you for so many reasons. Clam chowder sampler from @pikeplchowder. Nirvana. Next level @storyville coffee. We need to talk, though. Eight. Inches. Of. Snow! That’s no reason to panic. It’s no reason to shut down your movie theaters. It’s no reason to raid the store for every loaf of bread in stock!
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It’s reason to have snowball fights. It’s reason to make lots of hot cocoa. It’s reason for me to make a YouTube video about what I experienced in this amazing city.
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Guys check it out! LINK IN BIO.

“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”
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My journey and destination have been rooted in those words for the last fifteen years. They’re more than a tagline, they have been my way of life and my call to adventure. Yesterday, at the Washington State Jostens conference, a new group of Crazy Ones were recruited with those words, and joined the movement. Future artists, innovators, explorers, and game-changers. They are the Crazy Ones.
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With every school I visit, every conference I speak at, every event I host; I take this idea, being crazy enough to change the world, with me in my heart and I offer it up as an invitation and challenge to everyone I meet.
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Maybe you think, this has nothing to do with you. Maybe you think that the best days of your life are behind you or that you have to wait until you’re a grown-up to move the world forward. I’m sorry, but you’re dead wrong. Motion is change over time. You can start today, even if it’s just the smallest move. Even if it’s just the smallest action. Fifteen years ago, I had no idea my life would be the incredible gift that it has become, and all of this came from one simple idea. Fifteen years of a movement in motion.
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Now excuse me as I turn up in the snow.
Crazy Ones know wassup!

“All you need is love.”
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Correction: All I need is my @alexandani ice - and love. Fine, I don’t NEED the ice, but I sure do love it!
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Solid accessories make an outfit come together. They elevate it and add that lil’ somethin’ somethin’ I’ll need as I search for my Valentine. One week left… girl, is you out there?! Cuz, like LL Cool J says, “I need a girl who’s as sweet as a dove, I need love.” Sorry, Beatles, I’m more of a hip-hop guy.
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You have seven days until Valentine’s Day. Surprise your special someone with the perfect piece from @alexandani. Get 20% off using code JOHAN20 at checkout, ends 2/14. Shop link in bio.
#AllYouNeedIsLove #ad

Put your future in motion.
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Moving away from Chicago wasn’t easy. It was one of the hardest decisions of my adult life. My momma won’t let me live it down either. To this day she says, “It’s never too late to come back home.” Why must you make it so hard for me, momma?!
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As hard as it is to be away, that move set my future in motion. I’ve lived in LA for ten years and it has been one of the greatest decisions of my life. Los Angeles introduced me to life long friendships. I wrote my first book and learned to write scripts. This city blessed me with a relationship I thought would end in marriage - but ended up in heartbreak and healing. I booked roles on national commercials, Jane The Virgin, and a feature film. I made Jerry Seinfeld laugh and learned how to cook for myself. (My mom is the best cook in the world! One of the reasons why it’s so hard to be thousands of miles away.)
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One choice to move from the city I love, set wheels in motion. Chicago will always have my childhood. But, LA is where I became a grown up.
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It is a decision I would make again - no question. What about you? What decisions are you avoiding? What choices can change everything for you?
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Today, take a bold risk, put your future in motion.

I always wanted to be like Jesus - Jesus Shuttlesworth.
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He Got Game is one of my favorite Spike Lee movies. It’s about an inner city basketball phenom and his rise to fame. Former basketball player Ray Allen played Jesus. On the screen and on the court, Allen embodied the cliché, “Poetry in Motion.” Artful jump shot. Graceful crossover. A poetic verse in sneakers.
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I was never as smooth as Jesus. I was good but my moves weren’t as seamless. My ability to take flight was underwhelming. My motion wasn’t poetic. My game was effective but I never did manage to walk on water.
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Does your life ever feel like poetry in motion? Should it? Do you ever feel in a groove, in the flow, lost in the moment? Whether you practice law, cultivate young minds, or keep people healthy; is there a poetic motion to the way you work and play and live? Are you living out your calling or just existing? What would it take for you to walk on water? What would it take for your life to be poetry in motion?

#hegotgame #sponsored #jesusshuttlesworth

Last month was about Stillness. Stillness isn’t a synonym to stagnancy. True stillness creates movement.
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This month I’ll focus on Motion: Motion Pictures, motion in the ocean, Sparkle Motion. If you don’t get that last reference, I must be honest with you, “sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.”
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What does motion mean to you, my friends?

Does this pose look familiar? Holding my @alexandani necklace like this brings me back to the days I wanted a rope chain. All the rap gods rocked ‘em; Slick Rick, Run DMC, Big Daddy Kane, and Rakim. Something about this pose was powerful. It wasn’t that the necklace itself gave them power. They were powerful men who lived from a place of power every time they picked up the mic, graced the stage and laid down a track. They rocked chains. Chains didn’t rock them.
That’s what stood out to me. I want to be a man who rocks things. Cuz, I bring the power to the pose. Not the other way around.

How will you rock your new @alexandani necklace? Get 20% off using code JOHAN20 at checkout, ends 2/14. Shop link in bio.
#AllYouNeedIsLove #ad

“Yo, you look like Ned Flanders!”
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Sunday, I said goodbye to my beard and began flexing the mustache. Since then, I’ve been called Ned Flanders fifteen times. My response is always, “Hi-diddly-ho neighborino!”
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He isn’t the only guy I’ve been compared to. Want to see who else is on the list? Click the link on my bio to find out the meaning behind my mustache.

Saying “I rock bling” isn’t cool anymore. I wish it was, cuz thanks to @alexandani, I finally have some bling worth rocking. Each piece has a meaningful message behind it. You guys know me and my need for meaning. The Anchor Mens’s Cuff I’m wearing is inscribed with the words, “Steadfast and Strong.” Every time I’m tempted to eat that extra cookie I look at it and chant, “You are Steadfast and Strong. Walk away from the cookie, Johan!”
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If you’re getting some bling for you or your beau, holler at the link in my bio. Get 20% off using code JOHAN20 at checkout, ends 2/14. Shop link in bio.
#AllYouNeedIsLove #ad #alexandaniWARRIOR

Shaved my beard for my corrupt cop role in Lady Justice, starring @marianavicente and directed by @sarayguidetti. Being in uniform has me thinking I should write my own buddy cop film and cast @therock as my co-star.
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What would we call it?
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A. Traffic Hour
B. The Other, Other Guys
C. Training Wheels Day
D. _____________ Fill in the blank.

“The most powerful action you take today is to choose. Make the decision that can change everything.”

ABOUT JOHAN

A product of Humboldt Park, Chicago, an area known for it’s gang violence and crime, Johan was able to move past the obstacles and traps that ensnared so many of his peers and live a life that is far from ordinary. His dreams, choices and determination transformed a ghetto kid into a national speaker who uses his life story to help people of all ages believe in the power of their dreams and the impact their life can make in the world around them.

His story has fostered interest from various media sources. He has been featured on the front cover of Chicago’s premier young adult newspaper The Red Eye. He has been a special guest on a number of TV and radio shows, including two appearances on The Tyra Banks Show, Fox News in the Morning, WLS Radio Chicago, and the critically acclaimed Today Show.

Along with being a nationally known speaker based out of L.A., each summer Johan returns to his hometown to work as one of the lead counselors and educators for the CANDO program in the inner city of Chicago. He is also an actor, a former Ford Model, and a deadly shooter from three-point range.