We were lucky to catch up with Michelle Johnson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Michelle, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

I am working to build a better world for mothers and children to thrive, I want the work that I plan to do to provide access to opportunity, socio-economic empowerment, housing security, and overall wellness to outlive me. I have a pretty common name but I want people to say, ” Good Soil got me started” or ” I was a Good Soil Mom”. It is important to me that the work I do impacts generations to come and that people remember me as someone who always found a way to positively impact their lives. I hope that I can offer a little something in every room I walk that I enter. So many people are consumed with acquiring wealth to hold on to, but we can’t take it with us. I hope I am a walking example of filling other peoples’ cups as a result of my overflow.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a 20-something reproductive justice advocate, author, and doula from Newark, NJ. I have always been a helper at heart and found myself in the helping profession very early on. My dream has always been to open a transitional housing facility for pregnant teenagers and I have worked over the years to develop the skills necessary to be impactful in my pursuit toward that goal. In 2023, I published ” Planted in Good Soil ” to illustrate my less-than-perfect introduction to motherhood. I am the mother of a brilliant 5-year-old with more personality than anyone that I have ever met. She also happens to be the motivation behind a lot of my advocacy, as she is on the autism spectrum. My goal was to be transparent about the highs and lows of motherhood, as well as the defining moments that have made me the woman I am. Through my own experience and observing the women who have raised me, I have developed the desire to do more for the generation of mothers behind me. Creating opportunity by filling in the gaps of physical and moral support, addressing socio-economic disadvantages, and working to address disparities that impact the maternal mortality rates in the U.S.

I hope that every copy reaches the hands of young mothers who may need to feel seen and understood. While we don’t all face the same challenges, hearing from like minds can sometimes make all the difference. One of my proudest moments so far has been supporting the mothers of Baltimore’s Guaranteed Income Pilot. For 6-weeks, we gathered for bookclub where we read Planted in Good Soil and worked through prompts to tell their story. We discussed our
childhood in comparison to that of our children, our intrapersonal relationships and how they are a mirror, our birth stories, and how access to more money during the pilot has increased their quality of life. It was so inspiring to hear how these young women found hope during these reflections and many of them were inspired to write their own story. After all that is my “why”. My overall goal is to encourage other young women to regain control of their story and own it. I believe I am building something that is so beautiful and will uncover so many layers of black motherhood.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Moms always talk about the inequalities of having to work and be present. I was naive to believe that I would never be met with that challenge, Despite having a loving and supportive unit, things happen and we are not meant to muscle through every hard time. There are some moments that call us to reflect and change our approach to challenges, even when it is uncomfortable. My moment came at a time when I was juggling full-time parenthood, attending graduate school full-time, and working 1.5 jobs. After a weekend stay at the hospital and a diagnosis, I learned that I needed to put some down and focus on home. On the surface, it was devastating and easy to point fingers at how unfair life had been to me, but I took this as an opportunity to take inventory of life as a whole and assess every goal that I set. Why did I set these very specific goals, why did I give my dreams an expiration date, and why didn’t I allow wiggle room? I had been setting myself up for failure by making the details of how it happened, restrictive. A lot of my creative ideas come from those moments where I allow myself to live outside of the margins and I let fear of failure – based on societies’ ageist ideals- get in the way of letting that. My great-grandmother lived by “you can’t be grand and ordinary” and that has carried me for the past few years, encouraging me to continue to live and thrive outside of the margins. Because of that, I am able to give myself grace and appreciate my journey without feeling behind or off-track when it doesn’t align with the ordinary.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I often suggest two books when I am discussing my “why”, depending on my audience. For women who are entering motherhood, I suggest ” We Live For The We” by Dani McClain. I began reading this with my best friend when I was about 20 weeks pregnant and McClain discusses the revolutionary power that is motherhood. I spent my pregnancy trying to imagine a world that was perfect for my child and kicking myself for not making sure the renovations were complete before her arrival. She discusses the many ways that we are responsible for creating that world and details how we can begin to create the environement we wish existed, even when we don’t come from them. It caused me to totally change my perspective about single-motherhood and to reclaim my power as it pertains to raising a “free” child. Another book that speaks to my “why” is ” Hood Feminism”. Mikki Kendall covers the layers of reproductive justice and how black women’s experiences are often left out of the revolution. Reading the book the first time radicalized me and reading it a second time activated me. With each read or skim through chapters, I find new ways that the work I do can change our approach in addressing Reprodutive Health in the United States.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://MichelleJJohnson.com
• Instagram: @wihtlovemj / @eatprayadvocate
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-johnson-clientmanagement/

Image Credits

Ciara Graham