Johnny Ahysen says he was born and raised in Beaumont, Texas, but that he grew up in Baton Rouge. He moved to south Louisiana in 1979, where he studied marketing at LSU. His intentions were to return to Texas—either Dallas or Houston—after graduation. However, during his college years, something happened that he didn’t expect. He fell in love with south Louisiana—its people, culture, way of life and rich history. He never left.
Ahysen calls himself a transplanted Cajun and loves Louisiana today like the day he first moved here. Broadcasting was Ahysen’s professional background, radio specifically. He’s been on-air full time from high school in the mid-70s through college and beyond. His radio career in Baton Rouge included 17 years on-air at WFMF—working morning shows with his sidekick, Jim Nasium. He also worked in corporate management overseeing WJBO/WFMF in Baton Rouge, as well as stations in El Paso, Texas, and Jackson, Mississippi.
Fate brought Ahysen and his former boss and good friend Randy Rice back together in the late ‘90s for a two-year sting on Baton Rouge’s Eagle 98.1 prior to Walton and Johnson. Then, as a favor to the news director at the time, he agreed to fill in for the WAFB-TV Channel 9 traffic reporter just for the summer of 2005. That position quickly became full time and is one he’s held ever since.
Ahysen’s passions are people. He loves to fly (he is a private pilot). When he gets too stressed, he says he has to leave the ground to get grounded. He is a commercial bus driver and drives weekly charters for Dixieland Tours. You’ll also see him behind the wheel of a Baton Rouge Capital Area Transit System bus on occasion, as well. Ahysen is a motivational speaker and is asked to address junior and senior high school students every semester, specifically on career day.
Although he grew up a strict Catholic, he has been an active member of the Jefferson United Methodist Church for 17 years. He is head of its technology committee and sits on the administrative council. However, he calls himself a “Meth-o-lic” because he still prays the rosary weekly and loves attending midnight Mass during Advent and the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday.