We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kim Johnson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kim, appreciate you joining us today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

If I could go back in time and change the time that I started my business, I wouldn’t. I started my business during quarantine in November of 2020. It was a time that a lot of us had a ton of extra free time on our hands. At the time, I was a newlywed and about a year into my Product Owner role at a FinTech Startup Company. My day job was no where near as challenging as my previous role so I felt I should be doing more outside of work to occupy my time. After all, I couldn’t take another virtual happy hour after 8 months of quarantine.

I’ve always had a love for statement tees and when Senator Harris became VP elect, a light bulb went off in my head. I said why not create a line of tees to honor her? I honestly never thought that I would see the day that there would be a Black woman like me in the White House so I was ecstatic. I worked day and night to form my business, design merchandise, and build my site. Some of my best sellers included statements like “Our VP is an HBCU GRAD” and “Grabbed Him by the Ballot.” I’m happy to say we were received with open arms and the rest is history.

I believe if we started earlier, I would have had the same passion to push things forward. If I started later, my business would have been competing with my top priority, my son who is now 14 months.

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

The Professional Hoodrat is a Black Woman Owned business that was founded in November of 2020 by DMV Native, Kimberly Johnson. Johnson, who has spent the past 8.5 years working in Technology as a Product Owner, started The Professional Hoodrat with a collection of streetwear to celebrate the election of our nation’s first Black Vice President. From there, she went on to create streetwear with a message geared specifically to people thriving in Corporate America that still love Trap Music. With messages ranging from “Minding the Business that Pays Me” to “Building Generational Wealth,” the Professional Hoodrat prides itself with creating a brand that speaks to the masses. There’s literally something for everyone. In 2021 & 2022, The Professional Hoodrat, received the prestigious honor of the Buy From a Black Woman Clothing Line of the Year. They have been featured in subscription boxes as well as recognized on several podcasts including, “Black at Work”, “His Mama, Her Son,” and “For a Black Girl.” In addition to consistently growing their own brand, The Professional Hoodrat also supports other businesses by creating custom apparel for their brands. The Professional Hoodrat is proud of their consistent 5 star reviews and intends to takeover the world, one hoodie and t-shirt at a time.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Building my audience on social media was the result of three things: consistency, authenticity, and planning. I plan out my content for at least a week at a time so that I don’t have to think about it. Most of my followers are professionals between the ages of 30-45. My followers are people that are excelling in their corporate careers but still enjoy Trap Music. I make sure to post things that my followers can relate to. I post using a tone that I would use with my friends so that my followers get the real me. Lastly, I post daily to make sure I’m exposing my brand has the opportunity to reach new followers.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When I think about resilience, I think about overcoming a Papillary Thyroid Cancer diagnosis while pregnant. In December 2021, I received the scariest phone call of my life. At 5.5 months pregnant, my doctor called me to let me know that a recent biopsy showed that I had cancer and that I would need to plan to have surgery shortly after giving birth to my son. My doctor reassured me that things would be fine and that this type of cancer spreads very slowly. I took a few days to process the news and only shared with a handful of people initially. My brother gave me the best advice. He told me to “Focus on the present.” My surgery wouldn’t be happening until late May and there were a lot of good moments to focus on between now and then.

That advice helped me reshape my thinking. I was able to focus on and enjoy the rest of my pregnancy. I even continued to show up for my business until I was about 40 weeks pregnant. After the delivery of my son, I prepared to have a total Thyroidectomy when he was just 7 weeks old. After surgery, I immediately felt a weight lifted. My recovery was fast and not too challenging. Mentally, I felt like I needed more time to love on my son and to process things before going back to work so that’s what I did. I extended my maternity leave and jumped back into business in the fall of 2022.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.professionalhoodrat.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/professional_hoodrat
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheProfessionalHoodrat