Chris Cate: Welcome to the Fluent in Floridian podcast featuring the Sunshine State's brightest leaders talking about the issues most important to the people of Florida, and its millions of weekly visitors. In this episode, created by SalterMitchell PR, our executive producer, April Salter, the CEO of SalterMitchell PR, talks to professional golfer Kamaiu Johnson. In their conversation, they discuss Johnson's childhood growing up in Tallahassee and how the kindness of a stranger put him on the path to go pro. Enjoy the show.

April Salter: Good morning. I am just delighted to have you here. Kamaiu Johnson, here in the studio. I have been such a fan of yours for several years and watched you just advance through the various tournaments you've been playing in, and the acclaim that you have received, and watching you become really now an ambassador for golf.

Kamaiu Johnson: Yes, ma'am.

April Salter: It's very exciting, and I'm just so pleased to have you with us-

Kamaiu Johnson: Yes, ma'am.

April Salter: So thank you.

Kamaiu Johnson: Thanks for having me. Really glad to be here.

April Salter: Okay. So Kamaiu, you may not yet be a household name. But certainly the folks in Tallahassee have taken great notice of you and you grew up here in Tallahassee. Tell us a little bit about how you grew up, where you grew up.

Kamaiu Johnson: Yep. Yeah, so I grew up on the south side here in Tallahassee, Ridge Road. When I first moved to Tallahassee from Madison, Florida, we lived on Ridge Road, south side but my life has been very interesting, honestly. I grew up being the only black in everything I did; baseball, golf, whatever it was. So that really just opened my eyes to life and people. And that's kind of how I got to where I am today. It's just because of the village of people who helped me get to the next level. No matter what color you were, no matter what you looked like, it was just a group of village. It was a village that raised me.

April Salter: Right.

Kamaiu Johnson: So that's kind of how my childhood was. I didn't grow up with a dad. My mom was working three jobs, didn't know golf, didn't really know baseball or anything like that. So I grew up being raised kind of by my peers' parents. And it was a good childhood but when I got home, it was another thing. Just no discipline. Nobody in my household to kind of tell me what to do, how to do. I went to probably 15 different schools by the time I was 16 years old. So that was a challenge for me. I was placed in ESE classes, which is slow learning classes in early grade school. And it kind of embarrassed. I was very embarrassed because my friends were the cool crowd, and I had to hang out with them on the morning before school and then we had to go out separate ways because I was placed in ESE classes.

But all in all, man, I really just kept fighting at the end of the day. I was always inspired by somebody. When I was in Madison, my best friend was probably the wealthiest person in Madison. And then when I moved to Tallahassee, I had a really another childhood wealthy friend that was also here in Tallahassee, Hal Lewis. His dad, Fonvielle Lewis Foote & Messer.

April Salter: Yes. Sure.

Kamaiu Johnson: I grew up with Hal. I was always open to better things in life. And so at an early age, I knew that there's no reason that... I live in America, right? And there's no reason that I couldn't chase my dream, and just keep fighting a good fight. Right? So I realized at an early age, and I had to mature at an early age.

April Salter: Sure.

Kamaiu Johnson: Sixteen years old, I was on my own, and I had to mature. And I had to figure out what I was going to do and what was my purpose. And the good thing about it is I had a great mentor here in Tallahassee, Ramon Alexander, who took me in and really just showed me what a father figure, big brother, should be like. And that really changed my life. He told me at an early age, "If you want to be a screw up, be a screw up. It's very, very easy to be a screw up. But if you want to be somebody, you just got to keep fighting. You have to wake up and win the day, because if you can win the day, you can win the week. And if you can win the week, you can win the month. And if you can win the month, you can win the year. And if you can win the year"-

April Salter: And look at you. You're winning right and left.

Kamaiu Johnson: Exactly. Absolutely. And if you can win the year, you can win at life. And that's kind of my mentality. It's just surrounding myself with great people who want to see me succeed and who are also better than me and smarter than me.

April Salter: And Kamaiu, you also had the experience of meeting Jan Auger, who is the manager of golf at Hilaman for many years, still is. Tell me a little bit about that.

Kamaiu Johnson: Oh, she's awesome. She's just a mother figure. She doesn't have any kids. And she calls me her son, and she is. She's really that to me. She's really a mom to me. She's really everything that I've ever wanted. She's always there for me, no matter what. I bought my first car in 2020, and she cosigned for me. She's just that person in my life.

April Salter: She's there for you.

Kamaiu Johnson: She's just there for me.

April Salter: Yeah.

Kamaiu Johnson: And she's just that person, man. She's a huge reason why I'm here where I'm at. She just never gave up on me.

April Salter: I had a call with her the other day in preparing for the interview, and she was talking to me. She said that when she first saw you, she saw you from a distance and you were hitting and it looked like you were hitting a golf club. And then she was curious, why is this kid not in school?

Kamaiu Johnson: Yep.

April Salter: And so she walked over to you and you said, "Well, I'm homeschooled." And she realized that you weren't hitting with a golf club, you were hitting with a stick.

Kamaiu Johnson: Yes, ma'am.

April Salter: And she said, "He was so little, and so I gave him the shortest club I could because he was so small."

Kamaiu Johnson: Yep.

April Salter: And so she gave you a nine iron.

Kamaiu Johnson: Yep. She gave me a nine iron and a bucket of balls.

April Salter: That's right. A nine iron-

Kamaiu Johnson: Yep. And the rest is history.

April Salter: That's right.

Kamaiu Johnson: Yep. Yep. Yep. She's amazing. The thing about it is a lot of people ask her, "Why did you do it?" Or, "Did you do it for recognition?" She was like, "No, I did it just because I saw something in him that I didn't see in a lot of people, and I wanted to give him a chance." And I think that's what every kid in America deserves. Every kid in life deserves a chance, right? A chance. And that's what she gave me - a chance. And look at me now, I try my best to give back to people just how she gave back to me.

April Salter: It's really been impressive to see how you've progressed in the last few years. I became aware of you when Golf Quarterly had just done a feature on your background that I had no idea. And here you were in Orlando, and I think it was a GoFundMe, trying to raise money for entrance fees. And that would've been entrance fees for... Was it Q-School or what was-

Kamaiu Johnson: Yeah, Q-School tournaments. And I still remember, you donated $500 to me. I still remember that.

April Salter: Oh my goodness.

Kamaiu Johnson: And that's why when I was available, and you guys reached out to my PR manager and said that you would like to do an interview, and I tried to find some free time to not-

April Salter: Oh, that's so nice.

Kamaiu Johnson: Do it in on the phone and do it in person. So really thanks for having me, and thanks for the support.

April Salter: Oh, absolutely. So you're here, we're doing this live in-person, and you are here because you're doing some work in Madison. Tell me a little bit about that.

Kamaiu Johnson: Yeah. Yeah. So I bought my childhood home that I grew up in from the time I was probably born to the time I was like seven or eight. It was a family home. And my great-uncle, he's 83 years old, he lives up in Seattle, so it's just hard for him to manage a property in Madison. And he wanted to stay in the family. And I told him. He said, "I'll sell it to you for 25 grand, and then two lots with it."

April Salter: Wow.

Kamaiu Johnson: Yeah. So doing that, met the contractor down there this morning to get started on the work, and it needs a little work. It's going to be a fixer upper. But I didn't get this far in my dreams where I was going to be able to invest my money into property. So it was just really extremely blessed to just be able to do that and keep that house and my family, and just be a part of something different, creating change in my family. And that's what I want to do. And yeah, just happy to be.

April Salter: Tell us a little bit about your progression over the last really three or four years. It's been kind of the transformative years of your life. So talk a little bit about... What were those steps along the way?

Kamaiu Johnson: Yeah. I mean, I really have to give a huge shout-out to Jeff Daley, who was the pre... He just stepped down as CEO of Farmers. We have a new CEO now.

April Salter: Farmers Insurance?

Kamaiu Johnson: Farmers Insurance. Yes. He saw me in an interview in 2019, January. Sorry. Yeah, 2019. And he said, "I want to do something for you that's going to allow you to chase your dreams and be successful." And that's kind of how my life has been. It's crazy because people have came into my life and made my life better. Yes, I've had work ethic and I want to work hard and keep fighting, but there's also been a lot of people who believed in me at times that I didn't believe in myself, and Jeff Daley and the other CEOs that I'm an ambassador for, or just that-

April Salter: I see you, you're wearing Titleist, Farmers Insurance, Cisco, what's so-

Kamaiu Johnson: Yeah. And the Cambridge Mobile Telematics.

April Salter: Cambridge... All right. Well-

Kamaiu Johnson: And the cool part about it is this isn't a marketing thing. I have a full-blown relationship with all these CEOs, and that's what-

April Salter: Wow.

Kamaiu Johnson: A kid from being where I'm from dreamed of, is just having a seat at the table. Right?

April Salter: Yes.

Kamaiu Johnson: And now I believe that I have a seat at the table, having a relationship with these CEOs of these companies. So 2019, Jeff Daley announced that Willie Mack and I were going to be ambassadors for Farmers Insurance. And after that, I was supposed to play in the Farmers Insurance Open in 2020, I get COVID, my story resurfaces, goes viral, get picked up by Cisco. Chuck Robbins CEO there, amazing guy, put his money where his mouth is. He called me up and said, "Hey, I just saw your interview on the Golf Channel, and I just want you on my team."

April Salter: Oh, I love that.

Kamaiu Johnson: And so, like I said, that's just kind of how my life has been. It's just people helping people. Right?

April Salter: Yeah.

Kamaiu Johnson: And I think if America can take home my situation of people helping people, we'll be in a much better place right now. 2019, 2020, win five times on the APGA Tour when other tournaments... And that just goes to show you that when you give a kid a chance and you keep your hands on the kid, what can happen?

April Salter: Yes.

Kamaiu Johnson: And that's just how it's been. And now I have full status on PGA Tour Latino america. I've played five PGA Tour events. And I'm just allowed now to chase my dream fully.

April Salter: Yeah. So it's great not to have the pressures of, "How am I going to pay for these entrance fees?"

Kamaiu Johnson: Yes. Right.

April Salter: Because I'm sure it's very expensive.

Kamaiu Johnson: Yeah. Yeah. 75 grand a year to play golf for a living.

April Salter: Wow. Before you start collecting the first nickel.

Kamaiu Johnson: Exactly.

April Salter: Right. Right.

Kamaiu Johnson: Exactly. So it's an expensive sport. And I get a lot of questions about how can we make golf more inclusive, more cheaper? It's really hard to do it within the golf course, but you have to create programs, and keep your hands on programs for kids to learn and be inspired. Because the reason why I'm here today, because I was inspired by Koepka, Daniel Berger, when they were at Florida State playing on the golf team there.

April Salter: Right.

Kamaiu Johnson: And now they're on the PGA Tour. And so that inspired me to get better. So I was inspired by somebody. I didn't just wake up one morning and be like, "Hey, I'm going to chase this dream." No, I got inspired by other people. No, they didn't look like me, but they still inspired me to be better. And I think that's what we need to bring more diversity in golf and more inclusion, is to give kids a reason to be inspired.

April Salter: Right. Right. Expose them to different things.

Kamaiu Johnson: Yes.

April Salter: You're on the APGA Tour now, you're getting ready to go back to Latin America. How do you see that progressing? What's your next, like this is what I've got to do?

Kamaiu Johnson: I have goals that I've set already this year. So went on PGA Tour Latinoamerica, put on the PGA Tour. I finished top 10 on the PGA Tour. And I truly believe my game is there to do it now because I have a trainer, I have a psychologist, I have a team that's getting me better every day and getting me better quicker. And all-

April Salter: Wow.

Kamaiu Johnson: All I can focus on now is playing golf.

April Salter: Yeah.

Kamaiu Johnson: And yeah, the sky's the limit. Honestly, my goals are set high for this year, and I truly believe that if I keep doing what I'm doing and moving in the right direction that I can reach them.

April Salter: And so you have put your money where your mouth is, and you have created this MY My foundation. Tell me a little bit, how is that... Are you saying to sponsors, "As part of sponsoring me, please give to the foundation?"

Kamaiu Johnson: Yes.

April Salter: How's that working?

Kamaiu Johnson: Absolutely. Every company that I'm an ambassador for has given money to the foundation.

April Salter: Great.

Kamaiu Johnson: And the foundation is put there to give more inner city kids a chance to play golf, and bring more diversity to the game at an inexpensive rate. And what we're working on right now, and what we're really trying to do is create a program to have kids play golf for a dollar a day. Same way I did at Hilaman Golf Course. And that's going to take-

April Salter: I love that.

Kamaiu Johnson: Raising money, right?

April Salter: Yeah.

Kamaiu Johnson: So yeah, that's what we're doing now. We are in a process of hosting a National Junior Invitational in Atlanta. Partnered with another company that I'm an ambassador for. It's called Invited Golf. They're a golf management company. They manage golf courses. And the cool thing that they've started is called the Gateway First Tee program. I don't know if you guys have ever been to a golf course or a private golf course or a high-end golf course where there's always a gate-

April Salter: Yes.

Kamaiu Johnson: Surrounding a golf course.

April Salter: Right.

Kamaiu Johnson: And-

April Salter: I golf. As I told you, I'm a not a good golfer. If I get under a 100, I'm really happy. I'm having a good day.

Kamaiu Johnson: Well, the average golfer shoots a 100.

April Salter: Yeah. Well, I'm very average.

Kamaiu Johnson: So when you go to a high end golf course, there's always a gate surrounding the golf course. And what this program now with the Gateway First Tee program that ClubCorp, and now Invited has created is to let those kids inside those private clubs members free of charge. So all these kids that were first tee participants in the First Tee Program in Houston, Atlanta, and Dallas. Now they're members at private high-end clubs.

April Salter: Right.

Kamaiu Johnson: And what that does is, that just opens the members' eyes, it opens the kids' eyes.

April Salter: Sure.

Kamaiu Johnson: And you're going to see, may not be PGA Tour, but they're going to be doctors and lawyers, and whatever they want to be.

April Salter: Absolutely.

Kamaiu Johnson: Because someone believed in them and someone inspired them. So that's what I believe and it's creating programs. So that's what the MY My Foundation stands for and that's what it's in the movement to do is just create a nice program and keep our hands on programs for kids to get better.

Chris Cate: The Fluent in Floridian podcast is brought to you by SalterMitchell PR, a communications consultancy focused on helping good causes win. We provide strategic insight and guidance to organizations seeking to make an impact in the nation's third most populist state. Learn more at snprflorida.com. Now back to SalterMitchell PR CEO, April Salter's interview with professional golfer, Kamaiu Johnson.

April Salter: Yeah. So you've said that you want to make golf look like America. And certainly I golf at beautiful courses all over the world, and it doesn't look like America. It looks very white. When you first started playing, what was that like to be... I mean, you grew up when Tiger was really at his peak, and so you had him as a role model, but what was the average course like? What was it like to go out and play?

Kamaiu Johnson: Like I said, I grew up being the only black and I grew up playing a Cool Story, Marcus Beck, who's the VP of Merrill Lynch here in Tallahassee. I grew up with his son, Grant Beck, and they were members at Capital City Country Club. And when I was coming up, I couldn't afford to go to Capital City or whatever. And Marcus Beck came to me, he said, "You can go to Capital City under my membership whenever you want and play golf."

April Salter: Wow.

Kamaiu Johnson: And Marcus-

April Salter: Wow.

Kamaiu Johnson: Marcus gave me $1200 a month to chase my dream when I started chasing my dream.

April Salter: Oh, that's great.

Kamaiu Johnson: And that just goes to show you people helping people, right? And so for me, looking back at it, yeah, I was the only black, but I really didn't notice it. That really wasn't my main focus. My main focus was to get out of my situation, and to chase the dream, and to play golf for a living. I never looked at it as, "Oh, I'm the only black so I stand out," or whatever. No, I looked at it as I'm fighting a good fight. I'm playing golf, I'm on a golf course. No matter... Yes, there's racism, but if I focus on racism, I can never get to where I am.

April Salter: Right.

Kamaiu Johnson: Because I'm always focused on the negative. So I've always focused on the positive. I'm playing golf, I'm chasing a dream, not too many people where I come from can say that, and making a difference. And yes, I'm the only black, but I'm out here.

April Salter: That's right.

Kamaiu Johnson: And that's all that matters.

April Salter: And you're doing a great job.

Kamaiu Johnson: Yep.

April Salter: What an amazing thing. So as you think about growing up and so forth, your grandmother basically raised you. Is that right?

Kamaiu Johnson: Yep. Yep. Absolutely.

April Salter: And so is she still alive?

Kamaiu Johnson: Yes. Yes, yes.

April Salter: She must be-

Kamaiu Johnson: She's great.

April Salter: So proud of you.

Kamaiu Johnson: Yeah, yeah, she's doing really good. She instilled in me when I was younger, that one day you'll be the head and not the tail." And that's a scripture in Deuteronomy, and that's just something I've lived by as well, is one day I'll be the head and not the tail. And that's kind of just keep fighting the good fight.

April Salter: Yeah. I'm curious as a pretty lame golfer myself, when you get out there, are there days when you just say, "I'm going to rely on this particular club? What's your favorite club?

Kamaiu Johnson: I mean, I drive the ball pretty well, so I never have to show up to the golf-

April Salter: When you say, "I'm going to hit the ball there, you actually hit it there?" Yeah, yeah. When I get the driver in my hand, I usually hit it where I'm looking-

Kamaiu Johnson: Wow.

April Salter: Which is good, but we know golf.

Kamaiu Johnson: Yeah. At my level, I can come out one day and shoot 63 and then come back the next day and shoot 73. So golf is just you continue to learn. And that's what I like about it. And another thing that I like about golf is that you meet somebody new every day-

April Salter: Right.

Kamaiu Johnson: At the golf course.

April Salter: And you get to spend time with them.

Kamaiu Johnson: And you get to spend time with them.

April Salter: Yeah.

Kamaiu Johnson: They're strangers, you go through hell together on a golf course, and then you come out and you're best buds because you just did the same thing. You may not have the same background, but you have something in common, you play golf.

April Salter: Yeah.

Kamaiu Johnson: And that's what so good about this game, is you can go out and pick it up and play with anyone.

April Salter: In the year ahead, you're going to be all over South America, we're all rooting for you and hoping that you get into... You're playing in the tour and you're making the top 10 here.

Kamaiu Johnson: Yes ma'am.

April Salter: What do you think need or what separates that? Because everybody wants to be a... I've known many people in my life who wanted to be pro golfers and very few of them make it. And you are doing that. So what do you think is that separation? How do you get in the mindset to be a champion like that?

Kamaiu Johnson: Honestly, with golf you have to focus on the positives, because there's so many negatives, right?

April Salter: You have to stop swearing and just...

Kamaiu Johnson: I like to focus on the good times, like the good shots, the good tournaments I've had, the-

April Salter: Interesting.

Kamaiu Johnson: Focus on the good, because if... The thing about it is, in golf, if you win five to 10%, you're a Hall of Famer. There's not a whole lot of winning, unless you're Tiger Woods or Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer.

April Salter: Yeah.

Kamaiu Johnson: You're not going to win 70, 80 times. You're going to win 5%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5% of the time. But you can make a good living doing that. Right?

April Salter: Yeah.

Kamaiu Johnson: And yeah, you just got to focus on the positives. You just got to stay positive, even when times get hard. When I was sleeping on my friends' couches in Orlando and driving their cars to tournaments, I still focus on the positives. "I'm here, I'm playing golf," and that's what it's all about.

April Salter: Well, I think you're doing a great job, and we really look forward to seeing what's ahead for you now. We always ask our guests four questions. What is your favorite sports team in Florida? Or sports team? Who do you root for?

Kamaiu Johnson: Favorite sports team is the Boston Red Sox.

April Salter: Oh, really?

Kamaiu Johnson: Ever since Johnny Damon, David Ortiz. I grew up playing baseball.

April Salter: Yes.

Kamaiu Johnson: So yeah, Boston Red Sox. I'm a diehard Boston Red Sox fan. I'm not into it how I used to be sure playing baseball, but I'm still a Red Sox fan.

April Salter: That's awesome. Is there a person, place, or thing in Florida that you think deserves more attention? And obviously, you have your golf background. Is there anything that you think Florida as a state really needs to be doing more of this?

Kamaiu Johnson: I mean, really think, I wouldn't say Florida as a state. I would say more of Tallahassee, just because I would really like to see a First Tee program, or a junior program, that's uplifting kids and getting kids involved in the game of golf. I would like to see golf in elementary schools.

April Salter: Yes.

Kamaiu Johnson: I would like to see that. I hope to help with that, and to be a trailblazer to kind of get that going. But I really would like to see golf grow in Tallahassee, and just be more diverse. I really would like to see that, because if you look at the golf courses, they're very segregated here in Tallahassee. And I would just really like to see us as a community come together for something good and give back and to help kids get involved in the game of golf.

April Salter: Absolutely. I think that there's a lot of people who would support that and find ways to help, whether it's sponsoring a kid to be able to go play at your private club or whatever. I think there's a lot of folks that would be absolutely very interested in that. And maybe now that you are building a house in Madison, on your off times we can figure out a way to make that happen.

Kamaiu Johnson: For sure.

April Salter: Is there a Florida leader or leader that you really admire? You obviously have contact with lots of these CEOs that may or may not live in Florida, but from... Who's a leader that you admire?

Kamaiu Johnson: Yeah, I mean, there's a couple of guys that I really admire here in Tallahassee. Number one is probably Ramon Alexander, just because he has done so much for this community, for black and brown boys. We all went through the program, Distinguished Young Gentlemen of America, and we all grew up in single parent home. And the graduation rate for the Distinguished Young Gentleman of America, it's like 95%.

April Salter: It's amazing. It's a really incredible program.

Kamaiu Johnson: And I just don't think Ramon gets enough recognition for that just because he's on the back end of that. But he created all that. And another one for me is one of my good friends, Will Rodriguez. He's a lobbyist here in town. He does so much good things for the community as well. And the young people here. We have a very, very group of talented young people here in Tallahassee, and a lot of doctors, lawyers, and school for that. I think there's need to be more attention on the up and coming leaders we have here in Tallahassee, whether it's politics or whether it's lawyers and doctors. We have so many young talent. I think Access Tallahassee does a great part in that in getting young people involved in politics, because we need young leaders. Right?

April Salter: We absolutely do.

Kamaiu Johnson: We do. And we need people that are fighting a good fight. And I think that Tallahassee has a lot to offer when it comes to that.

April Salter: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for your time today.

Kamaiu Johnson: Absolutely.

April Salter: I wish you so much luck this year. We're all going to be rooting for you and hope that it's a super year for you.

Kamaiu Johnson: Thank you. Thanks for having me. Really appreciate it.

April Salter: Thanks so much.

Chris Cate: Thanks for listening to the Fluent in Floridian podcast. This show is executive produced by April Salter, with additional support provided by Heidi Otway and the team at SalterMitchell PR. If you need help telling your Florida story, SalterMitchell PR has you covered by offering issues management, crisis communications, social media advocacy, and media relations assistance. You can learn more about SalterMitchell PR at smprflorida.com. You can also learn more about the Fluent in Floridian podcast and listen to every episode of the show at fluentinfloridian.com or by searching for the show using your favorite podcast app. Have a great day.