We recently connected with Pam R. Johnson Davis and have shared our conversation below.

Pam R., thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I’ve been a writer for as long as I can remember. I began reading & writing at an early age, and I’ve always had a healthy dose of imagination & wonder about the world. When I was a pre-teen, my family bought a computer. Now, this was the late 90s/early aughts, so it was one of those big-back, heavy desktop computers that was not at all connected to the internet, but it had a notepad app on it (and Minesweeper, at which I was absolutely terrible).

One summer, I wrote an entire novel on that big-back computer’s notepad app. It was a fantasy novel where a young girl discovers a hidden world in the forest behind her home. There were talking animals, neighborhood rivals, and whole communities living their lives in an ecosystem bursting with color that all came from my imagination. I put my entire young adolescent being into writing that novel – sun-up to sun-down, every single day, for an entire summer. This story was just always on my mind.

When I typed “The End” at the bottom of this (probably) 200+ page novel, I breathed a sigh of relief, hope, & awe. I did that! I was so proud. And right as I got ready to scroll back to the top…….that big-back computer froze, the screen went blue, it shut down, wouldn’t turn back on for a few hours, and when it did…my entire novel was gone! *cue sob crying*

I literally wept. For hours, days. Try as I might, no matter what I did, I could never get that story back. It was gone from the computer (I knew nothing of ‘ctrl + z’ at the time) and it was gone from my brain. The nuance, the structure, the characters – it was all gone. It hurt me in ways that only an angsty pre-teen with no printer, no “automatic-save,” and no Google docs could feel.

That was the moment I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally. Because losing that novel wouldn’t have hurt so much if I didn’t deeply care about this – about putting what’s in my head/heart onto paper. I knew then I would write professionally someday, somehow. I would tell stories that helped people feel seen or make them laugh or cry. I knew I’d be a writer because of how much losing my writing hurt young, pre-teen Pam.

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

About Me:

My name is Pam R. Johnson Davis, aka “Unapologetically Pam” – I am an award-winning poet, singer/songwriter, TEDx speaker, writer, historian, educator, and more. I’m on a mission to becoming myself, wholly and unapologetically, and I’ve been writing, singing, and speaking about my journey to bring others with me along the way.

At the core of who I am, I’m a connector. I love connecting to & with people. I’m really fortunate that I get to do that as a writer & performer across many stages. I’ve curated countless musical sets, poetry readings, and workshops for nonprofits, colleges, women’s organizations, festivals, museums, events, and more. I’m most proud of the fact that people have shared with me that my work has made them feel less alone in this great big world.

I have a Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts in History, and in addition to my full-time creative work, I’m also a full-time student coach! I provide advising & coaching to first-generation college students in the Chicagoland area. I serve on a number of boards & committees as it pertains to equitable access to education & wellness. I blog & write many musings about wellbeing, mental health, humor, joy, and #adulting under the pseudonym “Unapologetically Pam” – unapologeticallypam.blogspot.com

More About My Creative Work:

My first book of poetry “Seasons (I’ll Be Seeing You): A collection of poems about heartbreak, healing, and redemption” (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08B84QS71), was released in June 2020 and is an Amazon best-seller that won numerous awards, including the Best Urban Poetry Book Award and the Readers’ Favorite Poetry Award. My debut solo album “Call Home” (https://unapologeticallypam.hearnow.com/) was released in October 2021. The album has received a number of accolades, including two Global Music Awards. Songs from “Call Home” continue to be played on radio stations around the world.

In September 2022, my highly anticipated second poetry anthology, No Unpaid Passengers, was released to critical acclaim, with USA Today Bestselling Author K.C. Finn remarking, “My soul was truly touched by the author’s honesty and ability to convey such raw emotions in such beautiful words.” “No Unpaid Passengers” won the Literary Titan Gold Book Award in November 2022.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I saw this great infographic on social media the other day. It showed an iceberg submerged in water, with just the tip of the iceberg peeking out from the water’s surface. The tip of the iceberg was labeled something like “what you see when a creative person gets some level of success” while the rest of the entire of body of that iceberg, hidden under the water, was labeled “the hard work/anxiety/loneliness/financial sacrifices/etc it took to get there.” That really resonated with me.

Success looks different for everyone, and you may see a creative person sharing some successes on their social media or newsletter. But what you don’t always see is the sleepless nights, the nagging voices (real ones or the ones in our heads) telling us to give up or that this path isn’t viable, the number of projects we’ve started and stopped, the fear of failure AND the fear of success, managing rejection, and a whole lot more. This creative journey is difficult. You may only see the peak breaking through the surface, but just know there’s a lot of depth, for better or worse, that comes with it.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Getting to connect with others, for sure. Whenever I sing, write, or perform, I always hope that people will feel seen, held, and heard through my stories. We don’t create in a vacuum. Art is meant to be shared, and I hope that what I share is healing & hopeful, always.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://unapologeticallypam.blogspot.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unapologeticallypam/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/pamunapologetic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@unapologeticallypam
• Other: “Seasons (I’ll Be Seeing You): A collection of poems about heartbreak, healing, and redemption” – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08B84QS71 “No Unpaid Passengers” – https://a.co/d/c2Zsx5d “Call Home” – https://unapologeticallypam.hearnow.com/ “Where do you find your poetry?” TEDx Talk – https://youtu.be/lhSP94f_Smw