We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful MoAndra Johnson, MFT. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with MoAndra below.
Alright, MoAndra thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?
I will always say I was born with an entrepreneur sprit. The perfect balance of my mother’s relentless tenacity and my fathers entrepreneur mindset. Growing up my mother never turned my ideas down no matter how “unique” they were. I can honestly say this gave me the space to dream. From age 7-12, my cousins and I would have a lemonade stand every summer. My father would help us with “marketing ideas” and ways to expand like adding snow cones. At age 9, I decided I wanted to be a fashion designer when I got older. I told my mother my plans and showed her my sketches. That same day she helped me create my first email, logo, brand concept, and name for my fashion house- Today Tomorrow Designs. At age 12, on a particular day I was heart broken at the fact that no one in the neighborhood would hire me as a babysitter. My mother and step-mother sat with me for what felt like hours helping me strategize on what else I could do. I decided if I couldn’t babysit, maybe I could walk dogs! I went all over the neighborhood with my mother taking down my babysitting flyer and putting up my newly created dog-walking flyers. Even at a young age I watched my father with multiple businesseses and he ofter takes me through his process. My father required that every summer we create vision boards or business plans. All these experiences and many others impacted me in my life and career. What did my parents do right? They believed in whatever I wanted to do, they allowed me to dream, they gave mentorship and guidance, they never shutdown my money ventures and lastly they always spoke to me as a tiny human with ideas and a world to conquer verses a child who didn’t really know what I wanted or was talking about.
MoAndra , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I obtained my BA in psychology from the illustrious Clark Atlanta University. Shortly after I went on to complete her MA in Couples and Family therapy with a concentration in Sex Therapy from Thomas Jefferson University. It was during my MA degree that SOTT LLC. was born. I was so excited about the things I was learning and wonderful people I meet in sexology that I wanted to create a platform to showcase my field to the world, while breaking negative taboos around sexuality.
Currently, I am on a journey to complete my PhD in Human Sexuality from California Institute of Integral Studies. I am a Sex and Relationship Expert/Therapist and the proud owner of SOTT LLC, a multifaceted company with the overarching goal of providing the millennial generation a healthy blueprint for sex, love, and relationships through advocacy and education. Sex On The Table consists of a blog, podcast and an adult sex toy line Private Selection by SOTT. On podcast- Sex On The Table, I and other experts of Sexology strive to expose the raw truths, to break the taboo of sex and sexual.
My passion is working with individual adults and couples, that face challenges with sex and/or sex related diagnosis, post-affair recovery, and relationship conflict across the lifespan. As well as working with individuals struggling with depression, relational problems, and divorce. She I also AIDS/HIV patients helping them improve the quality of life by breaking barriers they may experience in the community. I have been featured in publications like Bustle, Buzzfeed, The Philadelphia Sun, and Voyage Atlanta. Though I wear many hats, my love for education, unlearning negative schemas, and positive sex education are commonalities that bridge every aspect of my trajectory thus far.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Entrepreneurship is not a smooth road, but we’ve learned so much along the way! Our biggest struggle has been how to creatively and effectively conduct business with “explicit content”. We struggled with social media platform policy changes, censorship, and marketing snafus. Due to the nature of our brand we’ve had challenges displaying our products at local events. We’ve been able to combat this by heavily relying on the sex education portion of our brand while promoting sex-positivity. The most unexpected struggle like many other businesses was operating during a Pandemic. Our brand was launched at the beginning of the pandemic, and upon launching we did way better than expected! This was amazing as a new business however our manufacturing timeline was heavily affected. We had to figure out how to restructure our business to accommodate the huge changes due to COVID-19.
Can you talk to us about your experience with selling businesses?
Data from the BLS shows that approximately 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open, 45% during the first five years, and 65% during the first 10 years. Only 25% of new businesses make it to 15 years or more. Also typical entrepreneurs have said that they have had multiple businesses fail before having a successful one. This has been my experience as well! Entrepreneur is HARD, and you may not always get it on the first try, I surely didn’t. SOTT is my 4th company, each business venture and the failing of them has taught me a great deal about entrepreneur and business. Despite your entrepreneur journey I can confidently say learn the lesson and keep going! Its not about how you fall but how you get back up.
Contact Info:
- Website: sexonthetable.co
- Instagram: @_sexonthetable
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moandra-johnson-7177ba191/
- Other: Professional Instagram- @moandrajohnson