- Sally Johnson
- Green Light Booking
- Pleasant Grove
Representing artists and helping them achieve their dreams
With a background in the arts, Sally Johnson had been around many struggling artists. She saw that artists and musicians weren’t being fairly represented and had a dream to provide solutions for these artists. Most were in need of a good, honest booking agent. In 2008, Johnson started casually calling venues, businesses and event planners to help a few musician groups get booked. Johnson’s dream of helping struggling artists turned into Green Light Booking, a full premier entertainment solution for high-profile corporate and private events, community concerts, performing arts shows, private parties, fundraisers, weddings, festivals and events of all types.
It was Johnson’s determination and charm that allowed her to find and book jobs for musicians. Once word got out about how effective and wonderful Johnson was to work with, more artists — including comedians, dancers, and all kinds of musicians — started reaching out to her. They all wanted her to help them find and secure well-paying work as she had done for the other artists. Green Light Booking LLC has expanded to represent performing artists nationwide and now even sends artists throughout the world. Not only do they book engagements for artists, but they also handle all the necessary legal contracts, logistics and other behind-the-scenes work to make things easy for the artists.
Due to COVID-19, the year 2020 was a disaster. There were no calls coming in, no jobs, and to top it off, they were refunding sales almost every day. The SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program helped the business and the artists survive. The real survival help came in 2021 when Green Light Booking was awarded a Shuttered Venue Operator Grant by SBA. The grant allowed them to retain their talent and replenish what they had used to refund in 2020.
“Starting Green Light Booking in 2008, in the middle of a nationwide (and personal) economic crisis, was daunting,” Johnson told the SBA. “The past 14 years have taught me that small-business opportunities for women abound here in Utah. It’s an unexpected honor and privilege for my company to be recognized as a success by the SBA.”
Johnson puts having a good relationship with both customers and artists above everything else. She feels that fair compensation and being pleasant to work with are key ingredients to the success of Green Light Booking. People that know her agree that Johnson has been the heart and hands of Green Light Booking.
It is important for Johnson to continue evolving her dream of helping artists. Green Light Booking donates annually to the Sharing Your Talent Scholarship which sponsors students in college arts programs. Johnson is also creating a future mental health support fund for musicians and artists in Utah, which she hopes to have established by the end of the year.