We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jenée Johnson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jenée, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.
When I was training to receive certification to be mindfulness/emotional intelligence teacher based on the latest neuroscience, I learned about neuroplasticity. Essentially, the brain is malleable and responds to what we think, do and pay attention to with consistency. We can intentionally change the structure and function of our brains with practice. We are positively or negatively influenced by consistent experiences and thoughts. Learning that was a huge Ah-Ha moment…What if we applied this concept to racial healing and outsmarting the harm of oppression…What if I crafted a program to help people retrain and rewire their brains such that we are liberated from the reductionist programming of racism.? The Right Within Experience-Reclaiming Humanity, Joy and WEllbeing for people of African ancestry through mindfulness and mind/body practices was born.
The Right Within Experience is a daylong online or in person immersion that rewrites the reductist narrative of race and teaches several mindful practices to help people reclaim their attention and flourish in spite of diminishing external influences
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am a leader in the mindfulness movement and human flourishing curator. My work is based on science, spirit and scholarship. For the past 21 years I have worked in public health and directed a Black maternal health program and became the Program Innovation Leader bringing mindfulness into the public health practice to foster wellness and resilience among the staff.
I hail from NYC and have deep roots in the arts…writing, dance, and theater. When I was young I danced with the Brothers and Sisters United Black Repertory Theater where my love of Black culture and history expanded. I attended
Mount Holyoke College, the first of the seven sister schools, and received a degree in English
My career path is eclectic. Following college, Shortly after college, I studied the sacred text, The Holy Bible, and received a second degree in theology and just this year was ordained.
I found myself in public health as a result of my passion for individual and community health and my interest in contributing to the well being of Black families. As I worked on issues of health inequity and racism I added mindfulness as a way to destress, but I soon learned that it had tremendous possibilities for racial healing.
My work in mindfulness has been featured in Mindful Magazine and in 2019 I was chosen a one of the powerful women leaders in the mindfulness movement.
I will leave public health before the end of the year and nurture my brand and offer The Right Within Experience, Six Decades of Treasured Wisdom ,Start Her and other programs on the open market. The ecological home for my work is NTU WEllness CEnter, a culturally affirming mental health non profit in Oakland, California.
Can you open up about how you managed the initial funding?
I believe in synchronicity and the power of envisioning to create opportunities and experiences that align with your mission and declared purpose. (By the way purpose can change many times over a life time)
It is an inside job. Through meditation, affirmations, prayer and personal development work I tend to my inner landscape such that my business is seeded from within.
For example, one way this showed up for me…I spoke at the Wisdom 2.0 Conference in 2019. There I met a philanthropist who not only funded the first cohort of mindfulness teachers in public health, but funded the development of my mindfulness orogram,The Right Within Experience. At the same conference I met the publisher of Mindful Magazine, and after a conversation he led me to his editors and I landed on the cover of the magazine months later.
I CANNOT OVER EMPHAZSIE THE IMPORTANCE OF TENDING TO YOUR CRAFT AND DOING THE INNER WORK.
I learned the importance of deep self-acceptance, integrating my past traumas and frailties, and extending to myself copious amounts of self-compassion, such that, when I meet people I energetically communicate the optimism that people generally want to support and be a part of.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
I learned from Dr. Brene Brown, that “Clear is Kind” People appreciate honesty, authenticity and kindness.
I work with teams in an organization and I had the task of putting a team together to pilot my signature mindfulness program.
I identified the areas that I had little skill or know-how and scanned my world to see who could be invited to fill the gaps. I talked to many people…looking for alignment around philosophy, and competency in the skill areas I needed. I also checked with successful entrepreneurs ahead of me in the game, for advice and recommendations.
My team is excellent..after 3 years of hit and miss…
What makes us work is alignment, clear and consistent communication, celebrations, I vocalize appreciation, I delegate with trust, I believe in their skills and intentions, and I let them see me vulnerable.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jeneejohnson.com
- Instagram: Jenée Johnson
- Facebook: Jenée Johnson
- Linkedin: Jenée Johnson
- Other: www.rightwithinexperience.com
Image Credits
Jahsaudi Perkins