We were lucky to catch up with Shanlee Johnson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Shanlee, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I think success is defined differently to each person. I believe if you are happy doing your job and there is relatively low resistance then you are doing things right for you. And being able to receive monetary compensation for what you love doing is always a great sign of success. Personally, I love to create. So a feeling of success for me comes from creating something that brings other people joy. It makes me so happy to see someone purchasing one of our Pineapple Sunshine outfits for their newborn or a baby gift, and the smile it brings to their face. Or seeing kids get excited about reading my book Toco Can Can: and you can too! for their favorite bedtime story. These are just a few ways I feel successful. If you can find that balance, I think it’s a winning combination.

Shanlee, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I have a children’s clothing and accessories store called Little Birdies, a children’s clothing brand called Pineapple Sunshine and I recently published a book called Toco Can Can: and you can too! The clothing brand features beautiful hand embroidery and smocked details on custom pima cotton prints. From newborn to 6 years. My book, Toco Can Can is quickly climbing the bestseller lists and I am so thrilled with the positive response. The book is the first of a series. It’s about a baby Brazilian toucan bird that travels the world, meets new friends and learns about different cultures. She flies to Rome to try spaghetti that looks like worms and meets new friends when she visits the Louvre Museum in Paris. The book is geographical, educational, inclusive and a witty fun read.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Once you learn the art of “The Pivot”, life and business get so much easier. There is a constant need to go with the flow and change directions at any given time.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I think one lesson I learned that wasn’t easy was to not take things personally and making good decisions a lot of times is about stepping back and seeing the big picture. Sometimes you might not like the new direction but you know it’s the right decision. Everything really does work out in the end.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shoplittlebirdies.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/oshanleej
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/littlebirdiesboutique
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanleejohnson/

Image Credits
Headshot by Erin Fabio Photography Kids Lifestyle by Raven Vasquez Creative