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

Alright, Willishia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.

I decided to start Beautiful Butterfly Community Corp when I was working full time at a community mental health agency where I felt that as a mental health provider my mental health and wellbeing were not a priority to the agency I was working for. It was during the struggle of working 40 hours plus to acquire my hours toward licensure that IU realized that none of the agency I worked for valued the mental health of its employees and that when I decided to start an organization that not only supports its clients with healing and growing but supports the growth of its employees as well. One of the first lessons I learned is that there are a million little jobs required to run a business and you have to know your areas of strength as well as your areas of weakness so that you can plan accordingly. I knew I had little to know knowledge of what it took to start a business let alone a mental health organization and so the first thing I did was find others that had the knowledge I didn’t have, and I picked their brains. I did research to gain a better understanding of what paperwork was required to begin a mental health agency. The biggest challenge was finding individuals that were able to provide me the information I needed and finding the time amongst all of my other responsibilities to actually complete the paperwork necessary to begin making my dreams a reality

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

Willishia Johnson, a native of South-Central Los Angeles, and is the founder of Beautiful Butterfly Community Corp, also known as Beautiful Butterfly. Beautiful Butterfly is a 501c3 nonprofit mental health organization that focuses on helping individuals and families heal from trauma, addiction and mental illness, while also supporting their personal growth. Willishia’s passion for supporting others comes from her childhood. As a child Willishia witnessed her family struggle with addiction, mental illness, and trauma. As an adult Willishia decided that she would create a space for individuals and families that are experiencing addiction, mental illness and trauma to go where they are able to receive the help they need to heal and grow. Willishia is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist that has served individuals in underserved communities for over 15 years in multiple roles from housing case manager to addiction counselor to Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Willishia has experience working with individuals of all ages and prides herself on being a well-rounded therapist and a resource for her community. Beautiful Butterfly provides individuals, couples and families with psychotherapy. Beautiful Butterfly provides the community with therapeutic services to assist clients with healing and growth but also hosts community events with partnering agencies to provide families with a safe and healthy place to interact with one another in a healthy manner, through community resource fairs and educational workshops.

Willishia also supports individuals with creating financial stability and legacy by providing program development and consulting for individuals that wish to start their own business, the company is called Beautiful Beginnings Program Development and Consulting LLC. Willishia believes that anyone that wants to have a Beautiful life can, but they must be willing to make healthier choices to do so. Beautiful Beginnings started out as Willishia assisting an acquaintance with developing a program proposal, while also trying to find another way to provide for her family. Willishia took her passion for helping others and her passion for writing and turned it into another way to support her family and others with building generational wealth.

Willishia is also the owner of Mizz Aniyah’s Poppin Popcorn, inspired by her daughter’s favorite homemade snack. Mizz Aniyah’s Poppin Popcorn is another way that Willishia is creating generational wealth for her children, her children’s children and generations to come.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

My entire life is a story of resilience. From the day I was born there have been obstacles that could have potentially destroyed me both mentally and physically but despite every obstacle, I have stayed determined to create a life for myself that is beautiful in every aspect.

A moment that I can look back on and really appreciate by ability to be resilient is when I was pregnant with my second child, I was homeless, working on Skid Row in Los Angeles as a homeless case worker in the shelter. Each day I showed up to work to house others while struggling to secure housing for myself and my children. It was mentally, emotionally and physically draining but I knew I couldn’t give up on myself because I have always had to be my own savior and so I worked and weathered the storm, stayed in some uninhabitable places, some uncomfortable places until I was able to secure a place for me and my children, it took me about a year, but I did it.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I went to school to become a therapist, I believed that once I got a job as a therapist, I’d be able to really help people and make enough money for me and my children to be financially stable, but I was sadly mistaken. I was an Associate therapist working in community mental health, working 40+ hours a week to barely make enough to cover the rent and basic necessities. I quickly realized that if I wanted to really make a difference and take care of my family, I would have to do more than work in community mental health because I felt like I was always feeling overwhelmed and bogged down by mountains of paperwork. I was making a difference in clients lives but I was also burnt out by the amount of paperwork and my client caseload just trying to meet the agencies productivity requirements. Thats when I decided that I wanted to work for an agency that gives to the community, I realized that in order to make a difference I had to be the difference. An organization that takes pride in the work it does with its clients, and in the community, while also being a healthy work environment.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bbccorp.org
• Instagram: @beautifulbutterflycommunity @beautifulbeginningspdc
• Facebook: BeautifulButterflyCommunity BeautifulBeginnings PDC
• Linkedin: willishiajohnson