Co-Op Heroes: Stories from Electric Utility Operators
Sep 15, 2026 · 23 min · 8 segments
In this episode of The Co-op Heroes Podcast, we sit down with Rachel Johnson, CEO of Cherryland Electric Cooperative. Rachel speaks candidly about her unusual path to the corner office, starting as a…
Rachel JohnsonGuest
Pablo FuentesHost
James TannebergerHost
My, my company exclusively works with co-ops, and because I've never encountered a, you know, a better group of folks who are really focused on, on service and, and helping each other.
It sounds like people really rallied around you in a way that was, uh, I don't wanna say, uh, unexpected, but in some ways probably met your most optimistic expectations.
I think it, uh, is not something I take for granted, and I d- I think a lot of people go through these things and don't have the support network that I had.
There's a co-op CEO in, in Florida who I did not know, and, uh, he had been diagnosed with cancer, and he immediately reached out to me to help talk me through how to manage the discussion with my board and, and things he had learned along the way, and this is someone who has never met me, who, um, who reached out to, to figure out if he could support me, who was going, dealing with his own cancer stuff, right? Um, and then back home, my team, they, they just couldn't have been better.
And the, the amount of trust that we built through that process, it just reinforces for me how lucky I am to be a part of, of this program.
And, you know, you talk about co-ops, uh, like I said, the, within a, a, a month of coming to TerryLand, I, I knew this was all I was ever gonna do.
I love the industry, but I love the fact that I get to spend the bulk of my adult life investing in something that shares my value system, which is do the right thing for the right reasons, take care of the people around you, right? Like, that's the heart of the model, and we don't...
I get to just be open, honest, and transparent and do the right things and take care of people.
My, my company exclusively works with co-ops, and because I've never encountered a, you know, a better group of folks who are really focused on, on service and, and helping each other.
It sounds like people really rallied around you in a way that was, uh, I don't wanna say, uh, unexpected, but in some ways probably met your most optimistic expectations.
I think it, uh, is not something I take for granted, and I d- I think a lot of people go through these things and don't have the support network that I had.
There's a co-op CEO in, in Florida who I did not know, and, uh, he had been diagnosed with cancer, and he immediately reached out to me to help talk me through how to manage the discussion with my board and, and things he had learned along the way, and this is someone who has never met me, who, um, who reached out to, to figure out if he could support me, who was going, dealing with his own cancer stuff, right? Um, and then back home, my team, they, they just couldn't have been better.
And the, the amount of trust that we built through that process, it just reinforces for me how lucky I am to be a part of, of this program.
And, you know, you talk about co-ops, uh, like I said, the, within a, a, a month of coming to TerryLand, I, I knew this was all I was ever gonna do.
I love the industry, but I love the fact that I get to spend the bulk of my adult life investing in something that shares my value system, which is do the right thing for the right reasons, take care of the people around you, right? Like, that's the heart of the model, and we don't...
I get to just be open, honest, and transparent and do the right things and take care of people.
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