Catching Up with Johnny Coe

Some might call Atlanta native Johnny Coe a bit of a Renaissance man due to his wide variety of interests, knowledge and activities. During his 39 years in budgeting with Georgia Power and Southern Company Services, Johnny Coe developed a reputation as someone with a strong financial acumen while developing many close working relationships and friendships. But many former colleagues perhaps know him better for a number of company-related social and sports activities he either participated in or coordinated outside of his day job. Today, Johnny continues to live by his favorite Latin class phrase of Carpe Diem, or “seize the day,” which speaks to his philosophy of taking on new challenges and opportunities and having few regrets.

Johnny attended Georgia Tech and Georgia State and received a degree in math with a minor in accounting. He joined Georgia Power in 1977 as a budget coordinator in the former Management of Information Systems (MIS) Department (Technology Organization today), where he worked as a budget coordinator for 22 years. Shortly after joining MIS, he met co-worker Willie Green, who was his best man for his wedding and now one of his best friends (Willie is featured in the September 2025 issue of Keeping Current) . After his time within MIS, he joined the Southern Company Budgeting team supporting application services for seven years. He then moved into a budget coordinator position with the Corporate Communications team at Georgia Power, where he worked for his last 17 years with the company, eventually retiring in 2016 as a senior budget analyst.

In addition to his official Georgia Power roles, many former colleagues may know Johnny from his time as coordinator of the Georgia Power corporate office softball tournament for 25 years, or perhaps from his 23 years competing in the company’s tennis tournament, which benefited Camp Sunshine. He also was part of Georgia Power’s winning team with the Literacy Volunteers of America Scrabble tournament, which was sponsored by Citizens of Georgia Power.

He stays connected to Georgia Power and Southern Company colleagues by attending various reunion lunches, including those with Accounting, Land and Telecommunications, and he organizes Corporate Communications reunion lunches. He took time out of his busy schedule recently to speak with us about his latest activities.

What are you up to now?

I like to display things in my home that I have collected over the years. I have a vinyl record collection of over 100 records, a unicorn collection based on my love of Greek and Roman mythology, and over 130 bobbleheads I collected while working at Georgia Power.

Fitness and health have always been important goals for me. I am active and play pickleball and work out at the gym several times a week. I played ALTA tennis and softball for many years but had to give it up due to three meniscus surgeries on my left knee.

I am also an avid sports fan, and I attend many Atlanta pro sports teams’ games as well as Georgia Tech games. In 2009, I married my wife, Cindy, who is a Delta flight attendant. Cindy and I enjoy going to concerts, movies, and musicals/plays at the Fox Theater and other local theaters. We have enjoyed many trips across the pond, including watching two Georgia Tech football games in Ireland.

I also enjoy spending time with my two successful grown stepsons, Max and Jackson, whom I helped raise. Max is an actor and has toured the country in musical theater and recently appeared in some episodes of Tulsa King on Paramount +, and Jackson is a marketing director in Austin, Texas. My wife and I also rescue dogs and currently have two – a Vizsla and a Golden/Rat Terrier/Pit Bull mix.

What was your proudest moment at Georgia Power?

One of the things I’m most proud of is that I always managed to maintain our year-end departmental budget variance at five percent or less, beating the company standard of 10 percent. This means that we were able to come in closer to actual costs spent through the year by reconciling invoices based on the budget goal set at the beginning of the year. This makes me especially proud given that we had a large advertising budget in Corporate Communications each year to reconcile.

Serving Georgia Power as a volunteer for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games had to be my proudest moment. Every International Olympic Committee (IOC) member had a driver and hostess, and I was the driver for the Swedish IOC member and his wife for three weeks. It was great getting to know them and seeing so many Olympic events, including equestrian, rowing, track and field, and tennis.

In addition, I am proud of the work that a few colleagues at different times (Jimmy Stewart and Jeff Petrea) and I did to organize the corporate office softball tournament, taking it from a four-week tournament to a weekend and ultimately to a one-day Saturday tournament. It was well run, and we got great feedback. And recently, I was asked to serve as a consultant for the statewide softball tournament that the company revived in 2025, which was a lot of fun. We had 20 teams from across the state and a number of enthusiastic volunteers.

What did you enjoy most about your time at Georgia Power?

Definitely the people. The people at Georgia Power and Southern Company are just extraordinary. The thing I miss most in retirement is not seeing them every day and catching up with them. I was blessed to make so many friends during my 39 years with the company, and I try to keep up with many of them by staying connected via social media and through lunch and reunions. I have a standing monthly lunch with several colleagues I had the pleasure of working with – Mike Pannullo, Billy King and Doug Smith.

Can you share your secrets to success?

Being open to other people’s ideas and opinions is important. People may have better ways of doing something than you do based on their knowledge and area of expertise. I would always listen to others who were experts in their fields of accounting, for example, since they may be more familiar with the rules and guidelines within their particular accounting field than I would.

Also striving for great teamwork is important. I always got along with my coworkers and management, which makes the work environment more pleasant and productive. This included being transparent and always keeping management informed.

Finally, I would say to keep in mind that your customer always comes first. As a former Waffle House waiter in my teens, I’d wear my Waffle House hat when I held budget kickoff meetings, and I would remind everyone that our clients are our number one priority, just like at Waffle House.

Looking back, is there anything you would do differently?

Georgia Power offers many great employee benefits. Looking back, I would have started investing earlier in our company’s 401K, which matches employee contributions up to six percent. At the end of the day, I have very few regrets and am truly blessed to have worked for such a great company with wonderful people who had had a very positive impact on my life.