Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Victoria Johnson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Victoria, thanks for joining us today. Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?
Hi, I’m Victoria J, the 12th Street Talk Back podcast host! Wow, this interesting story of how I became a podcaster. It is a story that put me on a self-discovery journey. After being an alcoholic for almost ten years and now clean and sober for three years, having three back surgeries, I realized that I had missed out on so much in life due to working over fifty hours a week for thirty-plus years. Closet drinking to mask the pain from not one but two divorces one of which nearly broke me. I truly married a real-life scam artist and I didn’t even realize it until I ended up homeless, penniless and out of options. Rebuilding my life seems second nature because, I always put 150% in everything I do. However, this time around circumstances became a lot different. Out of work, the pandemic, and idol time on my hands.I started to look at the world we live in now and how my teenagers were vastly becoming adults and life as I knew had change. I never really had time to slow down and look at life. But when I did, I noticed things like communication barriersnin our families and communities. We all have different communication styles but now it seemed like everyone was listening to combat and not listening for understanding. Respect for one another seemed to be a second thought and boundaries clearly being crossed.
I started 12th Street Talk Back based on people watching, family, friends and others. I have always had a heart for people. So, I thought to myself maybe by having an open dialog on a podcast would bridge some gaps in families and the community. Maybe I could move the needle in this area between the generations give back to my community as well as fulfillment for me.
12th Street Talk Back came alive after wandering around in my local community and discovering some old, abandoned houses, I thought to myself if these houses could talk. What stories would they tell? So, that is how the name for the podcast came about although at the time, I didn’t realize it would be a tongue twister. I have always been a communicator ( talker) opinionated but a softy at heart. Some might say I wear my heart on my sleeve. ( a people pleaser). Finally, realizing alcohol had taken so much precious time from me and life with my family, especially time with my children. Our communication had become an issue in my home and seemingly in our overall community. Fast forward to today Mental health is on the rise, more seniors than ever were becoming parents again taking care of their grandchildren. Drugs and alcohol was slowly creeping back into our homes, affecting adults and children more than ever, so
I decided I why not try to bridge the gap of communication in our community and provide a safe place to talk and educate.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
The 12th Street Talk Back podcast slowly became a healing place for me. I worked hard to provide things for my children and put in little quality time mixed with the closet drinking I had almost destroyed my family. The podcast became my safe space to talk about a whole lot of things including things that I hadn’t realized were affecting me as well, things I needed to deal with. So, the more I talked about all the things I saw in my community the more I realized I had a whole lot of cleaning up in my backyard to do too. As I began the healing process that I didn’t realize I needed. I peeled back layers of baggage that I had been carrying around I started sharing my life on the podcast, hoping it would impact someone else. Finding my courage and faith in God, would be a way to give back to my community. Plus I come from a Christian home so having a relationship with God has always been important to me. Giving back to my community and a need to help others that possibly that may have found themselves in the same situation became a must for me. Helping other people navigate through life not to mention helping seniors has become my mission. Through the podcast I’ve been able share my story providing information, volunteer services as well as inviting guest to the show. I take on topics like balancing social media,vgrandparents raising grandchildren, finances, mental health, senior services, community groups for children(girl scouts) promoting small business owners, established entrepreneurs, authors, and establishing a relationship with God.
12th Street talk back slowly became well talked about in my community and some would say the podcast community as well. 12th Street as become widely known for it’s transparency, Morning Inspirational 30-minute Uplift, my unsolicited, casual conversation about life, and hot topics.
The thing that sets 12th Street Talk Back apart from the rest of the podcasts is I talk about everything from Christianity, judgmental tendencies, the social media and the affect in our young community, generational gaps, mental health, women supporting women, (especially in our African American community) and current event’s.
12th Street Talk Back podcast has definitely earned seat at the table, if not starting a whole new table for the community.
Bringing different topics to the table and offering a nonjudgemental space to have conversations. I enjoy helping other and sharing my thoughts with others from a Christian standpoint.I truly believe it has and will opened the door for many conversations to be birth from all cultures.
12th Street Talk Back has opened the door for many conversations and provided new opportunities for others. I am also grateful for the support in our community as well as support from our sponsors BetterHelp. Not to mention companies such as NC Senior Services, Novant Health Choice Champions of NC, providing educational materials to help our mission and our network support from our new home at Unfiltered Studios. I’m also proud of the other accomplishments that the podcast has achieved like establishing a place on weekly charts such as Goodpods. In the last two years we have had the opportunity to rank # 1 in the Relationships/ Society Culture category on Good Pods’ top 100’s weekly/ monthly charts on several different occasions, placing #6 yearly, with reviews for being the best podcast for substance, impacting provoking thoughts, relatable and empowering.
Overall, I want my audience to know I’m a Child of God first and foremost, a people person and I love helping people.I am so grateful to the Most High for getting me back to the fun-loving girl that I use to be with the big heart that loved to laugh not mention reconnected to my family and community.
I want my followers and others to know it’s not how you fall, it’s how you get back up. Most people have problems, it wasn’t until I got sober that I realized most of the people that walked in and out those liquor stores were just like me, especially women. Professionals such as doctors, nurses’ bankers, lawyers, overwork and overwhelmed people living life and managing the best way they knew how. Life has a way of turning things upside down and you won’t even know it until you are too far gone. My advice from experience, slow down, regroup, breathe and remember your children, family and the community need you to be the best version of you that you can be. Never feel like you can’t take care of yourself because of a relationship gone bad or substance that has control of you rather than you over it. Remember the world needs someone like you in it.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
The mission of 12th Street Talk Back is to build a community of wonderful people from all generations to help bridge the gap of communication in our community one community at a time. We would like to continue to provide information to the community about communicating with our youth, providing our Senior with help in Assistant Living facilities/ Senior independent living in communities especially poverty-stricken communities. Empowering women with help against substance abuse, financial assistance, mental/ physical abuse and safe space to communicate. We would like to eventually start a non profit, as well continue providing a space for entrepreneurs to promote their brands. I would love the show go mainstream if God wills it and collaborate with more people in my Christian community such as some of the new hip-hop gospel artists, and community Christian Leaders worldwide the sky is the limit all you need is a dream and faith.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
In a world where there are over 5 million podcasts and 70 million episodes between them, I realized early on you’re not the only one with the next dream. Podcasting can be time consuming and not everyone can relate. Family and friends are often not going to be your biggest supporters. If I could offer any advice, it would be don’t look at the number downloads or follows for at least two years have fun and enjoy it. I wanted to quit so many times looking at downloads and following, but I was on a mission. Consistency and your ability to stay focused with a positive set is the key. Sometimes I was my only listener, find your niche, your passion. I was ready to throw in the towel after three months of no real audience, then realized I was going to have to hit the pacement, knock on some doors in my community. Let people know about the 12th Street Talk Back podcast and what it would bring to community.
After countless emails and begging people to come on the show by going to church events, community events, and networking with other podcasters I finally started to get some attention for the podcast. I am proud to say hard work and resilence pays off. We have been listened to in 34 countries at least once and have a loyal audience and growing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://12thstreettalkback.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victoriaj_12thstreetalkback
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id100079585045576&mibextidkFxxJD
- Twitter: https://x.com/12thstreettalkback
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@12thstreettalkback
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@victoriaj_12thstreetalk
https://www.threads.net/@victoriaj_12thstreetalkback
