For as long as she can remember, Emily Johnson has been honing her skills as a real estate industry publicist. After all, it was her mother, Deborah Johnson, who founded Taylor Johnson in 1977 when Emily was just 6 years old. As a result, Emily literally grew up in the business, attending model open houses on weekends, sending out press releases during summer breaks and helping out with the occasional client event.

Today, more than four decades after its inception, Taylor Johnson remains the go-to PR firm for real estate companies looking to raise their profile not only in Chicago, but also markets nationally and internationally. Following Deborah’s retirement in January 2008, Emily took the reins as president, leading Taylor Johnson through the recession by strategically diversifying the business to not only survive, but thrive.

In addition to nurturing longstanding relationships – Taylor Johnson still represents its first client, Lexington Homes – Emily also forged new ones, expanding the firm’s roster with a wide range of residential and commercial real estate companies. These include some of the industry’s most prolific developers and builders, as well as leading brokers, architects, designers, general contractors, property managers and more. The intentional decision to pursue work across virtually every major discipline and property type, and in geographically diverse markets, has fueled Taylor Johnson’s post-recession growth. Under Emily’s leadership, Taylor Johnson has also added social media and content development to its service offerings while growing the media relations and event management services that remain the foundation of the business.

A Chicago-area native who graduated from the University of Iowa, Emily prides herself on the quality of the team she’s assembled at Taylor Johnson, drawing senior-level professionals with backgrounds in journalism, law, government, integrated marketing and communications. She’s also proud of TJ TALK, a daily digest of real estate news and events that’s delivered to over 3,000 industry professionals and editorial contacts across the country. It’s just one of the ways Taylor Johnson positions its clients as thought leaders and itself as a broader resource for the industry that seeks to inform and connect. Emily and her husband, Chris, also an entrepreneur, have two daughters and a son. When she’s not working, Emily enjoys spending time boating and traveling with her family and is an avid runner.

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