Noel Johnson

Entrepreneur | Leadership & People Development Specialist | Award-Winning Author | Speaker

Noel Johnson is an entrepreneur, educator, leadership specialist, award-winning author and speaker whose varied career has been defined by reinvention, resilience, curiosity and a belief in the potential of people.

Beginning his working life in engineering, Noel later retrained as a teacher, initially teaching engineering and discovering a passion for helping others develop. His career subsequently progressed through education, leadership and the public sector, where mentoring young people developing their own business ideas helped rekindle his entrepreneurial ambitions.

That experience eventually encouraged Noel to leave the security of his public-sector career in Hull and build businesses of his own. Since then, his entrepreneurial journey has taken him across a diverse range of sectors, from training, education and people development to hospitality and the drinks industry, including his involvement with Beyond the Red Door and The Little Red Berry Company.

That diversity has given Noel first-hand experience of both the opportunities and realities of entrepreneurship, starting and growing businesses, building teams, developing people, navigating setbacks and continually adapting to change.

Today, Noel continues to work with businesses and their people to develop leadership, capability and organisational performance, drawing on decades of practical experience rather than theory alone. Alongside this, his involvement in hospitality and the drinks industry keeps him firmly connected to the day-to-day realities of running and developing businesses.

Noel is also an award-winning author and speaker. His first book, One More Time™, explores resilience, adversity and the importance of getting back up when life knocks you down. The book has received two Five-Star Awards from the Open Book Awards, their highest award, with Noel becoming the first author to win two Five-Star Awards.

He is now developing One More Time™ into a five-book series exploring reinvention, endurance, discipline and leadership, combining personal experience with practical lessons about navigating change, overcoming setbacks and continuing to grow throughout life.

Despite decades spent teaching, developing and leading others, Noel remains passionate about learning himself. He believes some of the most valuable lessons in business come from entrepreneurs sharing their experiences honestly, not only the successes, but also the mistakes, setbacks and things they would do differently.

As a member of FEO, Noel is keen to share those experiences with fellow entrepreneurs, support others on their own business journeys and, just as importantly, continue learning from the experiences of others.