Meet Dennis and Sonja Johnson | Former Federal Executive and Human Resources Consultant

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dennis and Sonja Johnson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dennis and Sonja, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My wife Sonja and I have worked for others for our entire careers, and we felt a strong desire to be our own bosses. We spent a great deal of time researching and thinking about what kind of business we wanted to own. We realized that we had limited experience in many of the types of business that interested us. We believed that starting a franchise would be a more realistic option as the franchisor would provide much of the support and experience that we would need to be successful.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
As in any small business, it is critical to have an understanding of human behavior. This applies to customers, staff, and business relationships. Sonja’s background in human resources has provided a unique understanding of how all of those relationships work. She has extensive experience as a Human Resources leader. Her background encompasses a variety of industries from manufacturing, health care, legal services. She continues to provide services in the Human Resources are in addition to her work with Bohemian Bull.

Dennis’ path includes a lifetime of experience with a federal agency. He retired after 37+ years but could not stay away as his agency called upon him for another 3-year special project stint. He served in various positions as a first level supervisor, mid-level manager, and as a member of the Senior Executive Service. His leadership experience includes working with small groups of 20-30 as well as an entire workforce of 70,000+.

We were well aware that our many years of leadership experience would be a critical component of our success.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I believe that our first stop would be Grapevine, TX, which coincidentally is where our first Bohemian Bull is located. The City of Grapevine includes historical main street which consists of a number of boutiques, restaurants and places of interest. It is highlighted by a number of street festivals throughout the year including its standing as the Christmas Capital of Texas. As the name implies grapes and wine are a key product of the area.

In addition to the history of the city Grapevine hosts a number of resorts, water parks, and entertainment areas for year-round enjoyment.

Our week-long trip would also include visits to the bookend cities of Dallas and Ft. Worth. Both are modern cities with a large dose of history thrown in. The Ft. Worth Stockyards is a worthy stop. The Bishops Arts District in Dallas includes cool shops and unique restaurants. Both cities have noteworthy museums, as well as symphonies and operas. Dallas is also home to the annual Texas State Fair in September/October where you can dine on fried everything.

Sports venues, amusement and water parks, and a wide variety of food options are included in centrally located Arlington TX, about midway between Dallas and Ft. Worth. More relaxing fun can be found on the plethora of lakes surrounding the DFW area.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We have been blessed with an exceptional group of employees who have taken a chance on us and are helping us through the day-to-day challenges facing a startup business such as ours.

The support of our families has been critically important to us. Our friends have celebrated and commiserated with us through the process. Our franchisors continue to roll with us as they have through our long development and startup process.

Website: www.bohemianbull.com/grapevine

Instagram: @bohemianbullgrapevinetx

Facebook: @bohemianbullgrapevinetx3

Yelp: Bohemian Bull Grapevine, TX