When former Student Body President Jordan Johnson left UF in 2010, he was on a track to become the CEO of a General Electric Co. business.
He was working in a rotational program, and every six months GE would send movers to his house, pack up all his stuff and give him a ticket to someplace new. He went to New York, Connecticut and Washington, D.C.
Johnson learned to work through convoluted business breakdowns and figured out a solution.
"It made me sharper," he said.
But Johnson left his GE work behind in December.
"I could come back to Gainesville and build a dream," he said.
So he co-founded Totuit with Ray Land, the owner of Fabulous Coach Lines. Totuit is located in the Innovation Hub and creates mobile applications for the transportation industry.
Totuit is in the process of developing two applications.
Cartuit will give people the ability to summon a ride by dropping a pin on the map at any location.
"It's automatic, it's seamless and, frankly, it just makes sense," Johnson said.
The other application, called To by Totuit, is for transportation companies. It's an intelligence dashboard with Google maps, a chat system, drivers log and trip status.
Johnson said the idea of Totuit is to take the paper-run industry and turn it into the technology of tomorrow.
"There's a reason why we came back and started a development company for the transportation industry, and that's because we feel like we can win," he said.
Johnson graduated in 2009 with a degree in economics. After he won the Student Body presidency, he continued his schooling at UF and graduated with a master's in management in 2010. He was the first president to run with the Unite Party.
David Kratzer, interim associate vice president of student affairs, has known Johnson since he was an undergraduate student. He said Johnson is focused, positive and self-assured. He also said he thought Johnson would stay with GE.
"Here he is, walking away from the dream career to take a chance and be an entrepreneur," he said.
The Innovation Hub is designed for startup companies just like his, Kratzer said.
City and university officials want to turn Gainesville into a place where students can stay and be successful, Johnson said.
"And to me, that's what Gainesville is: It's a place where I can come back and be successful," he said. "And I can be successful at making a difference."
Jordan Johnson poses for a picture Friday evening at the Innovation Hub in downtown Gainesville.
