Tory Johnson reflects on her career on 20th anniversary at 'GMA'
When it comes to scoring the best deals, Tory Johnson is the go-to expert.
For two decades, the "Good Morning America" contributor has been helping viewers save big while finding high-quality products.
2024 marks Tory Johnson's 20th anniversary with "GMA" -- a milestone she describes as both "an honor" and "a privilege."
"It's an extraordinary honor to have been part of 'GMA' for 20 years," she said. "I think to be part of any organization for 20 years is an incredible accomplishment, but to specifically be part of 'GMA,' to be invited into our viewers' homes ... I take that responsibility quite seriously."
She added that "to this day," she works to ensure "every second of that air time is delivering value to somebody at home."
Johnson first joined "GMA" in 2004 as a workplace contributor, debuting with a segment on earning extra cash during the holidays.
Since then, she has written a New York Times bestselling book, "The Shift," and created the hugely popular "Deals and Steals" series, where she has featured more than 69 million products and helped viewers save $1.5 billion. The series has traveled on the road to meet viewers all over the country and given small businesses their start or second chance over the years, including during the pandemic.
In celebration of her 20th anniversary, Johnson reflected on her career milestones and shared advice for her younger self.
Give it your all
Johnson credits her two decades with "GMA" to a simple philosophy: Always treat each segment or opportunity like it could be the last.
"I think so often we go into situations where we think I might have another chance, like, 'It's alright if I blow this, I'll have another chance,'" Johnson said. "And I've always treated this show and the audience as if this might be my only chance, so I better bring it. I better do my best. I better give my all."
Don't abandon a dream -- reengineer your dream
In one of her early segments on "GMA" as a workplace contributor with Diane Sawyer, Johnson offered this advice about following your passion: "Sometimes someone will say to me, 'I want to be a tennis player, but you know what? I'm no Anna Kournikova. I can't even hit a ball across that net.' And so instead of abandoning tennis as a potential opportunity, think about sports marketing. Think about working at a stadium. Think about working in a major league team. Passion counts for a lot."
Reacting to that advice now, Johnson said, "When I think about this particular segment and really living your passion, I think maybe even I was talking about myself without even realizing it at the time, because I studied journalism in college and probably had some aspirations at some point of like, oh, you know, you could be in the news, you could be a newscaster, you could be on TV."
"And that's not at all the path that I took," she shared. "So, don't abandon a dream, but look at it perhaps in a different way than what is potentially most obvious."
Make a mindset shift
In 2013, Johnson published "The Shift," a book that detailed her personal journey of losing over 60 pounds in a year by committing to lasting lifestyle change.
Johnson said "The Shift" was inspired by a conversation with a former boss "who said to me, 'You don't look your best. I want to help you. I want to send you to a stylist.' And I took that as 'Lose weight or lose your job.' And it's not what she said, but it's what I heard."
"It allowed me to finally, in my mind, make a shift about my lifestyle and allowed me, over the course of one year, from that conversation through the entire year, to lose 62 pounds in a year," she said. "I never planned on talking about it. I didn't like talking about being overweight. I didn't like talking about losing weight. It was my personal struggle. But maybe that conversation that I had with my boss, maybe there's something there that could allow me to pass it on to somebody else. And so I wound up writing a book that debuted as a No. 1 New York Times bestseller."
Have candid conversations with your kids
Johnson's children, Emma and Jake, along with their friend Juliet, once appeared on "GMA" as kids to share how they raised $1,000 during the summer through a bake sale.
Reflecting on the throwback clip, Johnson said she was struck by "the importance of talking about money at a very young age."
She said she's seen through her own kids that doing so has had "an immeasurable effect that will benefit my children for the rest of their lives."
"I've always talked about work, about how I make money, the importance of earning money and saving money," Johnson said. "And understanding how you make money, how you spend money, how you save money has been something that from a very young age, I've talked to my kids about and that my kids have understood," Johnson said.
