Meet Elisa Johnston

We were lucky to catch up with Elisa Johnston recently and have shared our conversation below.

Elisa, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
This is my fifth article on imposter syndrome. You’d think by now I’ve tackled this issue, but I think the imposter syndrome is a monster that morphs and changes as your life does.

The first time I wrote about it, it was for an article about feeling like a fraud as a writer. I’d look at writers whose bylines were on big publications and wonder if they were just brave enough to apply, or if they actually got a degree in journalism or creative writing. I studied anthropology and global issues in college. Not writing. Did that mean I couldn’t cut it?

Then I tried to approach imposter syndrome from a higher view, looking at the tension between confidence and honesty. How could I be authentic when sometimes I am a hypocrite? How could I share what I do honestly while also following the guidance of marketers? How do we overcome imposter syndrome, that attacks our identity? There were no answers, it was an article of questions.

My next article was about work. Most of my adult life I’ve been a stay-at-home mom. I always worked on the side, starting nonprofits, working for ministries, and began a coaching and consulting business for other changemakers and writers. But I didn’t have the experience of a full time job in an office place. Every nonprofit I started, I did so with a hand on a computer, other hand soothing a baby. How could I say I was working, when was I really? It didn’t matter that managing a home and homeschooling for five years were two other full-time jobs. I discounted all my other experiences because I did it from home.

My last article on imposter syndrome was for other people who are trying to make a difference in social issues, changemakers. Something bad happened with one of the nonprofits I founded and I was cancelled. True, only by a handful of people, but it felt like a big betrayal with no resolution. I lost all my confidence in speaking about social issues even though I still had something to give. I started talking about it with my therapist, which has helped me process it. I also have truth affirmations I’ll read out loud to myself, like “You might not know everything, but you still have something to give.” Even so, it is a challenge.

These days I am talking to book agents, trying to pitch them my book, tentatively titled, “Restart the Rising:
The Everyday Woman’s Invitation to Change the World Without Burning Out.” Let me tell you what! It is a whole new world of imposter syndrome. The publishing industry isn’t exactly easy to break into. I look at my follower count and think, “I’ve got no chance” instead of “Why not me?”

The monster of imposter syndrome keeps changing its face as soon as I think I’ve defeated it. But it is these victories that remind me that it is possible to defeat again.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
With the passion only a six-year-old can muster, my daughter declared, “When I grow up, I want to be nothing, just like mommy!” I was horrified. I planned on changing the world, not being nothing! For years I was imprisoned by the responsibilities of womanhood, but craving something more: purpose, meaning, creating external change.

And spent the next fifteen years trying to do the opposite of “just being nothing.” I started ministries. I started two anti-trafficking nonprofits, one in Northern Virginia, the other a global one, Blackout Trafficking. I helped build backpack food programs for schools and wrote and spoke about social issues. And I burned out.

It took a lot of changing myself, so I could be the change in the world.

I still consult people on whether they should start a nonprofit, how to begin a justice ministry and how to take their idea and bring it to life. I still speak on human trafficking and how to begin making a difference (maybe this time with less saviorism).

But these days I focus on coaching. It turns out that there are countless, millions even, everyday women who are either already busy doing good but might be spinning inside–or they just have no clue what they even want to do with the rest of their lives.

With the latter, I help clients through Life Mapping, a process that helps people figure out who they want to be, and then from that they figure out next steps in what to do. In fact, it is a full system, helping people find vision, purpose, values, dreams and teaches them how to make the right goals, balance their schedules and maybe most importantly for some of us–say “no.”

I also practice co-active coaching, helping people move forward in any area. I have special training working with creatives, like artists, podcasters and other writers. Recently, a few of my clients are preparing their book launches–it is exciting to see their message of hope go out into the world!

I have two other new things going on–the first is my own IG Live series/podcast, Justice Daily, which is starting season two. In this I interview authors, leaders, and guides to help busy everyday people move forward. I also have a free Justice Daily Manifesto to tape to our refrigerators, challenging us to become more equitable and fair in our everyday lives. I even have a very easy to use curriculum for parents, the Kids Character Challenge, with one mantra and one action per week, giving caregivers a way to raise world changers by teaching them about justice and mercy.

The other new thing isn’t exactly new! I already mentioned it–it is a book! After three years crafting my book proposal, these days I am busy contacting agents to help me work with a publisher. If you know of any, send them my way! You won’t want to miss Restart the Rising when it launches!

Overall, I’m just an everyday woman coming alongside others in many different ways, because we are better together!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Some things I wish I learned earlier are below:

“Community over competition”

This was something I wanted to believe, but I couldn’t stop comparing myself to others who I felt were more successful. I didn’t want to, but I kept falling into the social media trap and it would make me feel gross. Even social media breaks didn’t fix me. A few things helped me get back to not viewing my fellow writers, advocates, coaches as competition. I read the business book, “Go Giver,” by Bob Burg, and that gave me ideas on how to live out connection and collaboration as a value. I also started writing affirmations and truth statements that were like prayers, reminding me of my worth and other’s worth. But ultimately, sharing other people’s posts daily, or doing something else to bless someone online, really helped this become natural to me. Many people didn’t care or respond. But that was fine, as I wasn’t doing it to get something out of it. However, I did make new friends and connections.

“Give out of overflow; don’t pour from an empty cup.”

After burning out, I had to change. Part of this was say “no” to things that weren’t my best yes– very challenging for the recovering people-pleaser in me. I’ve gotten a lot better at this. First, because of my own Life Mapping method helped me become realistic about where I want to go and how much time I actually have. But it was deeper than that, more about knowing my identity and believing I was enough (for me, that is built on my faith, because God already sees all of me and still says I am enough). I began rooting out co-dependency. I had all these rules that I lived by, such as “serve everyone always” that weren’t practical or equitable. Ultimately, it was humbling to recognize that the world would move on without me, I didn’t have to be the savior of all. Therefore, I could just give as much as I had.

“No Hustle November”

There is a time to hustle, but more often than not hustling beyond just doing hard work and recognizing out limits, ends up hurting us. This goes with the other two points, especially in regards to marketing and growing a brand and business. I starting the No Hustle November campaign for myself, to challenge myself to grow my business out of rest instead of out of anxiousness and trying to prove myself. I believe rest isn’t something we earn, time off if we work hard enough. No, it is something we live from. Take a month every year to tackle this, and inviting others into it, has been really helpful for me.

There are many skills I can talk about, or I can give you plenty of advocacy tools or even help you as a writer. But these things, across the board, help everyone.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I am always looking for collaborators–as long as I have the bandwidth to keep up! Here are five ways we can collaborate:

1.) I have a “Your Voice on Racism” series at AverageAdvocate.com that you can submit an article two.

2.) Justice Daily IG Interviews: I am a bit choosy about the people I work with, really making sure they have something to talk about that fits the vision of the podcast/videos, is relevant and can be heard by my particular audience, and fits with the other episodes or content being present in this season.

3.) I have a World Changers United Facebook group anyone can join, where we inspire each other or talk about advocacy days and awareness!

I am also starting a justice writers group, specifically aimed to help writers who talk about social issues, global problems, caregiving or other ways of loving their community. My hope is to help these writers specifically find support, collaboration and encouragement!

4.) I love coaching/consulting other changemakers! Also, as my training is with writers, creatives especially! Helping someone get their nonprofit into the world, begin their social good business, or launching their book or blog makes my heart so happy!

5.) If you want to collaborate by inviting me to be on your podcast, speak, or write for your blog about being everyday changemakers (and to do so without burning out), I’m your girl! Whether it is through a lens of my experience founding two anti-trafficking orgs, a moms group to help them find purpose, a faith community of for a business, I have shared this message or parts of it to so many different audiences.

Any other ideas to collaborate? Let’s talk! I’m not too hard to find!

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Michaela Jimenez, Imajinn.AI

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