John Howard, LMFT
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
About John..
John loves working out (weight lifting), shopping, people watching/helping/serving, mountain biking, sun bathing, gambling (black jack), correcting people, playing catch, improving processes, whistling, toothpicks and a lot of sarcasm.
John started his education as a MarLon Hills Mustang. He then became a South Ogden Spartan and finished his intensive high school studies as a Bonneville Laker. John completed his undergrad degree in Family Studies at his home town university, Weber State. He then barely graduated with a Masters Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Kentucky - you might have seen him in the Kentucky vs. Utah final four game in '98. He was sitting in the stands.
John has always valued work. His first joint business venture was recycling aluminum cans as a 5 year old with his twin brother and their 85 year old great grandmother, Pearl. After a few years they sold that business and John started working full-time at his father's bicycle shop (The Bike Shoppe) while maintaining two side hustles mowing lawns and delivering newspapers. While away at grad school, John enjoyed a variety of jobs including, driving a school bus, modeling, and serving tables at Tony Roma's.
John has worked as a mental health clinician and entrepreneur for the past 26 years and loves this work. He believes he is the luckiest person in the world to be able to assist others in need and to work with the amazing clients, clinicians, admin, and staff at Aspire.
John’s Motivation...
“I find passion in helping people find hope and comfort despite their circumstances. I love working with kind and amazing people to promote greater awareness and knowledge of mental health in effort to decrease stigma and increase access to services. We are all in the business of striving to relieve suffering in the human experience.
My love of people and my love for life are what drive me to wake up and to live every day.”
John is proud of…
John's proudest accomplishment is that he has not given up on himself despite that he has never really accomplished anything, not on his own.
John is a committed contributor to the human race. He regularly recycles and tries to be nice to everyone. When he was 9, he won the Black Beauty penmanship award. He pitched a no hitter when he was 12 years old. When he was 16, he sank three, three pointers in a row to help win the championship game. When he was 18, he CLEPed out of all his college math requirements by guessing on the math placement test. At 26, he got onto the cover of an EMT/Fire Fighter/Law Enforcement Catalog.
In all seriousness, John's biggest accomplishment ever, is that he has family and friends who love him, despite everything.