Chevonna Johnson
Chevonna Johnson has over 20 years of social work experience in the healthcare field working as an administrator for a home healthcare agency. She has developed several community based programs and initiatives locally and is currently working on international awareness. She is an advocate, advisor, liaison, public speaker, community leader, counselor, mentor and a voice for promotion, support, education(self-esteem), awareness and research social, psychological, human awareness on bullying, domestic abuse, suicide awareness/intervention/prevention about people, processes, policies, and laws. She is the CEO of All About Us Global Media Production Group, Executive Producer of AAU MEDIA RADIO/TV, President of The Whitney E. Johnson Foundation, Inc. 501 (c)(3) organization.
What were your initial years of growing up like? Tell us about your life before starting your corporate journey/venture/initiative.
I grew up in a single parent home raised by my mother and maternal grandparents. I lived in a rural town in the south located in Delmar Maryland. Our community was centered around the church. In the summer we belonged to the 4H club and played at the local playground. I was also a brownie, girl-scout, and cadet. I learned a lot about nature, camping and becoming a very strong young independent woman. My faith in God has kept me throughout my life. When I was younger, I struggled with my identity in discovering who I am. Eventually in my junior and senior year of high school I discovered I wanted to be a social worker to help teens understand their identity, write a vision and connect with their purpose and set goals to fulfill their destiny.
My goal is expanding All About Us Global Media Production Group, LLC & The Whitney E. Johnson Foundation, Inc. to reach all parts of the world and beyond. Our mission is very clear to work with struggling academic students to engage, encourage, empower and enrich students. We will continue to develop programs that focus on sociological, psychological and human impacts and effects on bullying, suicide awareness, intervention/prevention teen pregnancies programs and violence and mental health impacting our youth today. The Whitney E. Johnson Foundation, Inc. is providing enhanced educational awareness workshops with our partners and politicians to educate our Parents|Teens|Communities All About Us Media Radio|TV. Global mobile mentoring unit focused on Parents, Teens and Communities nationally and internationally.
The purpose of these trainings is to educate Parents about the real dangers, risks and effects on the latest trends and issues regarding Social Media, Human Sex Trafficking, Domestic Violence and Suicide.
Was there any turning point in your life that changed your journey? If so, what was it? Please tell us the backstory behind it.
The turning point for me was the disadvantaged I didn’t have as a child. The fact that I grew up in a poor rural neighborhood meant I had so many questions really nowhere to go or ask anyone about thoughts or feelings I had experienced. I always promised myself if I ever get the opportunity to create and encourage our youth and others, I will build a platform that would connect professionals, talk shows and educational opportunities to help our youth with questions or just to empower to encourage, educate them to focus on setting goals to see their true purpose for their life.
As a young girl I always felt different and isolated and alone. I never want a teen, parent or community to feel as though they have to be alone.
Every industry that is now a large-scale, top-notch business once started as a small idea in the minds of entrepreneurs. What was that idea or motivation that made you start your business /initiative? What motivated you within to say “YES, go for it!”
The motivation was the passing of my mother in law Whitney Johnson, my husband was her only child and she believed in parenting, youth and community. My second reason is I never had a daughter I wanted to mentor young girls to help them establish their identity to help them focus on getting better grades, to see the rare beauty about themselves and to know individually life is a great opportunity no matter what situation you may find yourself in, faith in yourself is the greatest gift and free will to live out your dreams is possible.
Everyone has their own set of challenges when starting an entrepreneurial journey. Still, the most essential part for others to learn is how you deal with those. Would you like to share with us your challenges and your coping mechanisms?
I always laugh at myself when I make a mistake and I have learned the hard way to forgive yourself for it. I knew I had an idea in my head, and I worked out of my head. Has anyone accepted me ever done this, but I learned writing the vision is essential to success. The funny thing is I was teaching my mentees how to set goals and hit their target, but I wasn’t writing my vision on paper. My faith in God means everything to me and my destiny was clear for a long time. I refused to go after it, until the death of my mother-in-law. Don’t allow failures to block what you know is attainable; your dreams and visions are there for a reason and you are part of it. Allowing yourself to win it is written in your destiny to fulfill.
While the global pandemic of COVID-19 is associated primarily with adversities, it has also brought about a true boom in startups, with successful entrepreneurship in many countries. The pandemic has impacted all of us in one way or another. Would you like to share your experience on a personal and professional level?
The pandemic has brought many challenges for us all. Yes, I would like to say it has brought many challenges especially among our youth. I say this because we are virtually becoming more virtual than ever before and for some young people it has become a challenge many of these children go to school to eat because they don’t have food at home, many get away from sexual and child abuse, and others it is their only means of socializing. I found that social media is a saving grace for connection and more harmful to endanger our youth even more connecting and interacting in more social rooms that are far more dangerous than we anticipated, and parents should be far more concerned. We have a lot of work to do to protect our youth and elderly. Through the pandemic I encounter young people feeling lonelier and more vulnerable because of one on one conversation and contact. Be sure to check on friends, family and people within the community within the safety of protecting yourself.
Would you like to share with our young budding women entrepreneurs the change you would like to see in the world if given an opportunity?
I would love to see us stronger as one sharing more of our experiences with our young women to help them overcome major hurdles that we experienced.
What’s the most important thing you’ve learned in your personal life and professional journey? What is your personal motto in life?
The most important thing in this life journey is to take care of you, you are one person. Love yourself even when there are moments you feel like no one does make sure you do. “Be the gift that not even you were expecting and then life will explode beyond the love you have for yourself to nurture others.” They will never expect you to show up but love always does. Chevonna Johnson
Women are a growing force in the workplaces worldwide, standing shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts. There are cracks in glass ceilings everywhere, with many women breaking through to carve out a space right at the top of the pyramid. What are your thoughts about women’s leadership today?
Women are naturally creators of life, work and nurturing love of creation. We are born to be leaders with great ideas and let them unfold.
With your grit and determination, you are making a considerable impact, breaking through, and serving as role models for many budding entrepreneurs. What would you want to say to our young women leaders/audience reading this?
Our motto is Changing “You” ~ Changing “US” ~ Changing “THE WORLD”! Know who you are, love yourself and leave an impression on this world for others to reach you.