Reilly Johnson is the founder and CEO of Johnson Concepts. But he is best known as being the Editor-in-Chief of FandomWire, an entertainment news outlet and a subsidiary of Johnson Concepts. In just 2 years, Reilly has taken FandomWire from a passionate idea to a successful media outlet reaching hundreds of millions. FandomWire has been featured in Forbes and other globally recognized publications.
The 21-year-old businessman has faced physical and medical challenges that few of us will ever know. Reilly was born with a progressive, neuromuscular disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a severe type of muscular dystrophy that genetically resembles ALS. He has never walked or even crawled, and has used a computerized wheelchair since age two. He has endured serious surgeries and many, lengthy hospital stays. Originally, some doctors thought he would not survive past three years old. Today, he is about 95% physically disabled. However, he still has limited use of his hands, which is all he needs to move his computer mouse. He is able to run his businesses from the comfort of his bed with a powerful computer and two giant monitors.
Reilly was born in Hershey, Pennsylvania to Nanette and Neal Johnson, and has lived in the nearby Harrisburg area. Just three years ago, he was accepted and enrolled at Penn State to study business management, but the summer of 2016 changed all that. Reilly was hospitalized for ongoing gastrointestinal problems. Further complications caused him to almost die multiple times due to respiratory failure. He ended up having surgery to get a trach installed in his throat and is now attached to a ventilator machine to help him breathe. With the help of his high school, Reilly was able to graduate in the top 10% of his class from his hospital bed virtually, along with his fellow classmates from Central Dauphin East High School, of which he was Freshmen class president. In mid-August, he was finally able to come home after four grueling months.
Reilly’s always had a different perspective on life but those events in 2016 made him even more determined to accomplish his goals. The young innovator with a new lease on life decided to forgo his college scholarships to pursue his dreams.
So, in December of 2017, he founded FandomWire, the first of many brands to come under Johnson Newsroom, the news and media division of Johnson Concepts. The outlet primarily focuses on movies, television, and gaming. FandomWire operates many social media pages with millions of followers. Reilly has also recently started AthleticWire, an outlet dedicated to the world of sports. AthleticWire already has a following of hundreds of thousands of sports fans around the world.
