Johnny Deas (pronounced Dees) was born on November 7th 1973 in Brooklyn, New York. He moved to Florida with his mother and siblings in 1975 shortly before his parents divorced. Being a single parent proved to be a financial struggle for Johnny’s mother; this struggle often led to the family sustaining on welfare. After graduating from high school in 1992, Johnny enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on a six year tour, and was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in Southern California (now closed).

Shortly after joining the Marines, Johnny began attending college at night and on the weekends; as an undergraduate, he developed a passion for personal finance and became a voracious reader on the subject. After spending most of his life in poverty, he was fascinated with the idea that relatively simple steps could be taken to improve one’s economic plight. In January of 1998, while still in an active duty status, Johnny graduated cum laude with a Bachelor in Business Administration; later that year, he was selected to become a Marine Corps Officer. After graduating from Officer Candidate School, Johnny went on to complete a tour of duty as a Marine Aviation Supply Officer.

After successfully fulfilling his military contract in 2002, Johnny left the Marines to pursue a Masters in Business Administration. He received a partial academic scholarship through the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management (CGSM) www.cgsm.org, a non-profit that provides merit-based business school scholarships. Johnny attended the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis. While in St. Louis, he was determined to give back and to be more than just another graduate student. In 2003 Johnny teamed up with 3 other students to partner with the Gateway Institute of Technology (an inner-city magnate high school) www.learnserver.net/gateway/ . Johnny and his team worked with the school’s faculty to help develop strategies to curb truancy and improve academic performance. Through that experience, Johnny got a first-hand account of the educational crisis facing underserved communities. In 2004, Johnny graduated from Washington University in St. Louis and was recruited by a Fortune 15 financial services organization. He went on to earn a Certificate in Financial Planning from Florida State University (through correspondence).

Despite his demanding schedule, Johnny made time to reach out to underserved communities and in 2007 he was honored with the Urban League’s prestigious Volunteer of the Year Award. Johnny was also asked to use his innovative teaching methods to enhance the Urban League’s GET $MART curriculum. GET $MART is a financial literacy program that teaches families financial management concepts through classroom instruction and hands-on application. Johnny was given autonomy to make the class relevant to younger students and his character Mr. Bad Debt was an instant hit.

GREAT iDEAS EDUTAINMENT LLC ™ is a company dedicated to providing Knowledge Through Music™. The inaugural product, Financial Literacy Music™ and other financial literacy information are available at FinancialLiteracyMusic.com. The product is a family-friendly edutainment CD that teaches the basics of investment planning, tax planning, insurance planning, retirement planning, and estate planning. Additionally, a host of other money topics are covered in a fresh and entertaining format.

Johnny is a married proud father of two “A” honor roll students. He enjoys boxing and reading.