Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Pauline Johnson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Pauline, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I wrote and starred in my own one woman show “Me, My Selfie and Eye” in 2014. It was a deeply personal project where I got to explore my life through a comedic surrealist lens. I challenged myself in different mediums including puppetry, dance, comedic musical and film. The show was centered around a character Grace, who wakes up one day with her “Third eye” open and it won’t close The “Third Eye” was a fun, soft, intuitive character to play. She had to battle her own “Ego” which was a character I pre-recorded and was projected in the background, who had scenes with Grace. It was so impactful to stretch myself creatively down to the show’s brochure, designed by my Mom Jill Lyon. Each brochure had an eye sticker on the back that the audience put on to take a selfie with and post on social media. It was so exciting to explore creative social media strategy early on.. I am also proud I explored topics like being a woman, social media performance, body image, white privilege, spirituality, love and ego. Ultimately it felt genuine, vulnerable, creative and truthful.

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

In middle school on the Eastside of St. Paul Minnesota, I saw a high school touring theater (Central Touring Theater/ CTT). They performed an original black box play they had written around different social justice topics. I saw a funny, heartfelt and truthful show and knew I wanted to be a part of CTT from that moment on. Upon going to Central, a school outside my district, I was introduced to improv through Jan Mandell, (creator of C.T.T). and fell in love with the craft immediately!

There I learned to write and act in pieces that were original and subject matters that were important to me. We got to perform for theater students at the University of Minnesota and through this, I was able to receive a theater scholarship to the U of M Twin Cities! This was a big blessing because with my lower test scores I was on the waitlist and likely not getting in. I still remember receiving the voicemail from Luvern Seifert, the head of the theater department program an amazing actor, about how I was accepted and that I could be a part of their BA for actors program with the theater scholarship!

After graduation I worked at Brave New Workshop Comedy Theater, and HUGE Improv theater’s improv programs. I also created my one woman show for the Minnesota Fringe Festival. After that I got into stand up comedy and started making sketches for instagram, Youtube, Facebook, TikTok where I started to get some viral traction and grow my following!

I started to monetize my craft by being a part of a dinner detective murder mystery gig and stand up gigs here and there. I also was an improviser for a De-escalation training for police, city workers and more. We were given mental health crisis scenarios to train workers to de-escalate folks in crisis without using force or violence. I also was teaching theater to children after school, which was rewarding.

All these experiences showed me alternative ways to use my gifts, performing, hosting, stand up, training and facilitating workshops. I moved to Atlanta where I have a goal of making income from my art and services.

I want to provide my clients with workshop facilitation, teaching comedy, social media marketing and strategy, content creation, being a writer on a comedic show, acting in comedic works and VoiceOver. I am currently seeking representation in acting, writing and VoiceOver. I think I have a gift for hearing what a client’s need’s are and curating my skillset to serve them each uniquely.

I also hope to raise money for my short films and comedy TV pilot scripts to be produced! Bringing my writing to life on film here is a big dream for me!

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I hope to create work that feels truthful to me, the time I’m living in and resonates with the audience. I also strive to remain vulnerable in my writing, comedy and acting.

I have a 30 min single camera, comedic pilot I wrote about a Minnesotan woman who moves to Atlanta after an 8 year break up. She is a server while also pursuing her acting passions. It explores acclimating to a new city in a comedic way with a vibrant cast. I’m proud of it because all the characters were inspired by people in my life, as well as most of the story lines. I had a staged reading through the Coalition of Writers, here in Atlanta and it got a lot of interest and laughs! This is an example of sharing vulnerable work that is funny, resonates and fulfilling because I am getting to process my real life experience in real time!

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

I started to really build my social media following in 2016 when I started to put out sketches weekly on instagram and then Facebook. I would reach out to early comedic influencers to check out my sketches while also telling them I admired their work. Sometimes certain people giving it a view and comment ended up brining a lot of traffic to my work including past videos that were overlooked prior. The biggest boom of social media growth I got was in 2016 with a sketch “Bougie on a Budget” I had help creating with my good friend Seyara Smith. It reached 6 million views on Facebook and felt monumental for me! After consistent posting and intentional hashtags I would sometimes even get stand up gig offers. Then in 2020 I hopped on the TikTok train early and was able to grow my rolling to 20k+ followers!

My biggest advice is make work YOU’RE proud of and not just what you think people want to see. Following trends was really helpful for me to expanding my audience but what set me apart from others I was also putting my original voice, POV and creative ideas out there my audience was able to appreciate. Another big piece of advice is not falling in the trap I did where it felt like my art and me as a person was being quantified and thus effecting my anxiety and self esteem. Once I re approach social media I will be doing extra things for my self esteem in order to make sure I ‘m not seeking validation from others versus myself!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pow2x/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pow2xx
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pauline-johnson-41629019b/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@POWPOW2X

Image Credits

Laugh Lab Stand up photos and Headshot by Lola Scot

Script Reading Photos by Brittney ‘Huney B.’ Hunn