Sally Johnson

My journey in marketing started unexpectedly when a man approached me about doing marketing for his Yellow Pages company in Reno. I had raised three children on my own and had never worked in sales before, but he said I'd be perfect. I ended up being his number one salesperson and managed his Las Vegas, Reno, and Susanville offices. After going through some really challenging times where my husband stripped me of everything - my restaurant business in Oregon, my home, my car, everything - I found myself back in Oregon, homeless with just $5 in my wallet. I started pounding on doors and created Oregon Resource Guide, a full-color marketing guide patterned after the Yellow Pages. I was able to buy a house, and my daughter told her chief 'you don't know my mom' when he doubted I could afford it. I did Oregon Resource Guide for 19 years, traveling throughout the whole Oregon state selling ads. Then about 12-13 years ago, a client said to me 'Sally, you are the talk of the town,' so I changed everything, dropped the print, and to this day I am known around Eugene as The Talk of the Town. What sets me apart from other marketing companies is that I only promote businesses that I have actually used myself. I'm a member of 10 chambers of commerce across Southern Oregon, Central Oregon, and the Eugene-Springfield area. I treat everyone like family, I take them cookies and baseball tickets, and I go above and beyond. At 73, I'm still going full of energy, and I love what I do.