Speaker & Author

Marklyn T. Johnson is a professional speaker, corporate trainer, and five-time published author who helps people and organizations rethink how success actually gets built. As the Founder and CEO of MarklynSpeaks INC., he delivers keynotes, workshops, and training programs for colleges and universities, corporations, nonprofits, and civic organizations across the country.

Marklyn is the creator of Change the Formula™, a framework built on four principles — Place, Position, Posture, and Patience — that reframes how ambition, resilience, and advancement really work. The framework didn’t come from theory. It came from being fired from four consecutive Fortune 500 roles at Verizon Wireless, General Mills, EcoLab, and UnitedHealth Group. Rather than bury that history, Marklyn made it the spine of his message: what looks like failure is often the raw material for reinvention, and the “formula” you were handed is rarely the one that gets you where you’re going.

A five-time published author, Marklyn’s titles include Change the Formula, Pull Up a Chair: An Honest Conversation About Race in America, Lessons From a Sh*t Talker, Facebook Conversations: The Good, The Funny, The Ugly, and I Like Black People: The Good Ones!!! He is also an award-winning scriptwriter and the host of the Have You Met Me? podcast.

Offstage from the boardroom, Marklyn performs stand-up comedy as MisterDirect, bringing the same fearless honesty to the stage that he brings to his keynotes — a reminder that humor and hard truths belong in the same room. Whether he’s training a sales team, addressing a campus audience, or working a comedy crowd, his throughline is the same: Laugh. Think. Grow. Connect.

Marklyn’s mission is creating meaningful change through humor, fearless conversations, and authentic human connection.

Based in Scotch Plains, New Jersey.