Johnny Mehler moved to Maine in 2013 to pursue a sports reporting career. Today, he’s a marketing specialist for Spectrum Healthcare Partners, an Uplift LA 40 Under 40 creative genius nominee, a busy photographer and a proud dog dad.

Name: Johnny Mehler

Age: 29

Lives: South Portland

How did you get into sportscasting? I loved playing and watching sports as a kid (still do!) and when I was a freshman in high school, we had a broadcasting class that sounded pretty interesting to take as an elective. We had a very basic TV studio at the school and would put together bi-weekly school updates that aired on the public access channel and I thought the process was fascinating. I’ll never forget my first interview was at our high school football game on a Friday night and our team won on a last-second Hail Mary that probably could have made SportsCenter if we had technology like we do today.

I took the class again as a senior in high school and continued to Temple University to major in broadcasting, telecommunications and mass media, where I learned behind-the-scenes and on-camera techniques that helped lead me to my first broadcasting job at WLBZ in Bangor. After a few years in the Queen City, I was given the opportunity to work with Lee Goldberg at the WCSH 6 sports team in Portland.

When did the wedding photography and video work come along? I’ve always enjoyed content creating and video production more than I did reporting. I would see wedding videos on social media here and there and thought I could bring a different eye in the wedding scene. At the news station, I worked a lot of nights and weekends, which is when everyone gets married. So it wasn’t until I left the station two summers ago that I started to book weddings and I have had a lot of success and a lot of fun in my first two wedding seasons, and have weddings booked next summer and even in to 2020!

Any creative or original ideas that you’ve seen and thought, yeah, I could see doing that in my wedding someday? I’ve been to 30-plus weddings as a professional and just when I thought I’ve seen it all, I see a new idea or a different creative approach by brides and grooms. First-looks (when a bride and groom see each other for the first time) are so popular and produce some of the most emotion of the entire day and that’s something I envision the most. Whether it be decor or choreographed dances (even flash mobs!), I certainly take notice and think about things I would want to incorporate into my own wedding. Dance lessons are up there on the list!

How did you and Walker, your handsome pup, find each other? I went to some pretty extreme measures to ensure Walker would be our first puppy. I had been glancing at different local shelters online and seeing what puppies were up for adoption, and one day I was randomly scrolling and saw Walker on the Animal Welfare Society’s website and sent a picture to my girlfriend, Ashley, and told her we NEEDED to get him. He wasn’t available for a few more days as he had just arrived from Georgia.

I ended up going to the shelter in Kennebunk at 3 a.m. on the morning he became available and sleeping in the car to make sure I was first on the list to meet with him, and luckily I was, as about a dozen people were there to see him, too. Walker came from some very bad conditions in the South and was the only survivor (barely) in his abandoned litter, losing one eye in the process. He was bottle fed and nursed back to a stable condition and we are forever grateful to Road Trip Home and his foster family that saved him. He is the sweetest and most energetic puppy (now just over a year old) and he has been an amazing addition to our family. My future stepdaughter, Kamdin, who was 8 at the time, was ecstatic when Walker came home for the first time and they’ve been besties since!

Poor guy! Are there any special challenges in having a dog with one eye? Only challenge is small — sometimes he can get frightened if approached on his blind side but really, he’s just a normal puppy.

He’s cutest when . . . When he winks!

Winter in Maine: Yeah to staying indoors!? Or yeah to going outdoors!? Outdoors!

Top three outdoor activities in the winter: We love the snow. We love to ski. I am big into hockey and love skating out on the ponds and lakes that Maine has to offer. I am looking forward to my third straight Maine Pond Hockey Classic in February!

kskelton@sunjournal.com

Family portrait with Johnny Mehler and Walker. (Submitted photo)

Johnny Mehler and Walker (Submitted photo)

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