Mental Health issues are still deeply stigmatized in this country. It’s hard for people to find help when they’re suffering from mental illness or addiction, and there are especially few resources for members of disadvantaged communities. This is what young entrepreneur Johnwick Nathan found when he came to Arizona to study music production. As the CEO of Harbor Health Integrated Care, he has helped many Arizonians, and members of the Native American population get the mental health services they need.
From his passion for music to the growth of his company, he believes that his loving approach is what has helped him become successful. In a recent interview with him and some of his team members, he illuminated his journey, and some of the lessons he learned along the way.
Music is one of the most important things in Johnwick’s life; he has played the piano and the guitar in churches across the country, both as an occupation, and as a part of his gospel music group Arise. In these churches, he found a sense of community — another one of Johnwick’s passions. It was these passions that sent him to CRAS recording school in Tempe Arizona to perfect his craft. His intention was to become a well-renowned musician, but he found a new path in Tempe.
He started working at a group home for people struggling with addiction as a behavioral health technician to make some extra money while studying. Doing this work fulfilled him in a way he hadn’t previously experienced. “To be able to see a person change; that’s like watching a child be raised. When you have a child and he or she grows up and you’re like ‘man, I really did a great job,’” he said, recalling his experience. “Doing that, it changed my life. And at that moment I said ‘you know what? I think this is what I want to do.’”
After graduating, he made it his mission to start his own group home. It was a hard time — Johnwick was faced with evictions, car repossessions, and many other barriers that stood in his way. He hurdled over these challenges and managed to start his own group home in 2017. This group home proved successful, and he has since opened five more group homes. In 2020, however, he founded his most ambitious venture yet.
Harbor Health Integrated Care was born out of Johnwick’s desire to serve his community needs in a greater capacity. He saw how great the need was for mental health services among the local population, so he founded the company to serve these needs. Harbor Health runs multiple group homes, as well as psychiatric clinics and inpatient detox programs. They receive referrals from hospitals and parole offices, as well as Native American Reservations.
Helping Native Americans is one of Johnwick’s accomplishments he takes the most pride in. His mother brought him and his five siblings to America from Haiti when he was just three years old. They came as many immigrants do — from difficult circumstances looking for a better life. He knows what it’s like to be disadvantaged and he has made it his mission to help people who are in similarly rough patches.
Johnwick lives by a series of guiding principles that he believes are the keys to his success. One of the most vital of these tenets is what he calls the Servant’s Mindset Principle. This principle states that to find success you must “Keep the needs of others in the forefront of your thinking—their wellbeing is at the heart of your soulful success,” as Johnwick states in his upcoming book. He believes that this principle is not just a philanthropic afterthought, but a driving principle of true success.
It’s an idea that many other CEOs should keep in mind. Too often the betterment of others is seen as a kind and charitable offering in the world of business, rather than an integral tenet. Johnwick has found immense success, but this success is all in service to the greater good. His business has grown and expanded through the years, but every expansion is dedicated to services more of the needs of his community.
Another principle that Johnwick lives by is the idea that you must carry a loving attitude throughout all of your ventures. It’s such an important tenet to him that he labels it as the Primary Principle in his upcoming book. By loving attitude, he doesn’t just mean it as an emotion, but also as an intention. “A driving principle that establishes value, infuses relationships and promotes healing and ultimately success.”
Johnwick believes that loving your business, as well as the people it serves and the people it employs will drive you to see it through the toughest hardships. His employees and patients feel this love through every aspect of his business.
“You know, some days we have calm days here in the clinic, and then some days it’s some rough, rough seas. And the team is committed. They’re committed to the love and respect that he shows for each and every one of us. And they’re committed to seeing a life change for the greater,” said Lydia Sanabria Alexander, the COO of Harbor Health, about Johnwick’s leadership style.
Johnwick’s latest venture, a company called Guillet Industries founded just this year, is a natural extension of the principles he follows. Guillet is a community development and financial services organization that builds houses, and provides real estate, loan, and mortgage services to those in need. He realized that many outgoing patients from his facilities had nowhere to go. Guillet Industries provides these people with an affordable way to live independently and contribute back to their communities.
Johnwick’s goal is to impact the world in the most positive way he can. His businesses have given the struggling people of Arizona the mental health services they need, but now he is hoping to benefit the world with his new book, 12 Principles of Soulful Success. In this book he will describe his journey, and discuss the guiding principles he follows, so that others can find the same level of success that he has found.
