Meet Jenise Johnson

We recently connected with Jenise Johnson and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jenise, so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?

I have learned how to be both effective and successful when I am the only one in the room that looks like me by focusing on WHY I am the only one in the room that looks like me. In every space I am privileged to occupy, my initial goal is to identify the reason or purpose for being there. When I think of the word “look”, I am not simply thinking of my physical appearance. I think of what honed talents, gifts, and skill sets I bring to the room itself. Instead of focusing my attention on comparisons that could lead to unnecessary competition or feelings of inferiority, I focus on fully showing up as Jenise. I know that what I have to offer is valuable, and whatever talents or skills I bring will be uniquely expressed through me. That strategy has been helpful in re-framing my thinking when I have no choice but to notice that no one else “looks” like me. Whenever I am invited (or tossed) into those rooms, instead of thinking why me? I think, why not me?

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

Greetings all! My name is Jenise Johnson, and I am a Chef, Cake Artist, Holistic Nutrition & Wellness Practitioner, Behavioral Change Specialist, and Fitness Nutrition Specialist. For years, I worked alongside world-renowned chefs in several areas of the food-service industry, from fine dining restaurants doing ice sculpting/fruit carving, to bakeshops making pastries and wedding/custom cakes. Growing up, I took a particular interest in nutrition. As a New Orleans, Louisiana native, I am no stranger to food. What initially began as a personal journey to master the art of eating healthier versions of the foods I was accustomed to, quickly turned into a complete overhaul of my eating habits. The first college experience was all about food. The second college experience was all about nutrition and wellness. After graduating, I embarked on a journey which allowed me many opportunities to share my passion for healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle. What I find to be most exciting about these opportunities is that I get to watch people reclaim their freedom for life. I have watched them come off medication and walk away from their doctors with clean bills of health. My most recent venture was starting a podcast and blog. I am still navigating that space and getting comfortable with everything it requires. While I have a ton of topics dancing around in my head at any given moment, I am being intentional about differentiating between the ones that need to be spoken as opposed to written. This is stretching me more than I thought it would, but I find myself enjoying the challenge.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The three most important qualities that were, and still are most impactful on my journey are discipline, self-awareness, and a great sense of humor. I hear a lot of people talk about the importance of motivation and how necessary it is to accomplish goals. Over the years now, I have come to understand that discipline is more important. This journey as an entrepreneur is not always easy. I will not always feel or be motivated, but that is when discipline kicks in. Self-awareness has helped me to notice where I would get in my own way at times by being a perfectionist. I recall several times when things did not go the way I planned or hoped they would. This is one reason that a great sense of humor is SO very important. While I shed many tears throughout this journey, I learned to laugh more than I cried. I became determined to laugh even if that meant watching a lighthearted comedy, talking to someone who could make me laugh, or telling myself corny knock-knock jokes until I found them funny. No matter what, I aim to have a few good belly laughs daily. My advice to folks who are early in their journey is to be intentional in developing these qualities. The phrase, “I don’t feel like…” is one that I would suggest eliminating to train yourself to be disciplined. Motivation plays on the feelings while discipline says, “Do it anyway.” A strategy for developing stronger self-awareness is simply paying attention to your own quirks and idiosyncrasies as it relates to the way you approach tasks. If you notice that something is a hindrance to productivity, make the executive decision to pivot. Lastly, get comfortable laughing. Very rarely will things go exactly the way you want. Your ability to find humor in even the simplest of things will serve as a reminder that the world will go on, and your world must go on.

Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?

I think that it is important to go all in on our strengths while accurately assessing whether an area is our lane. When I worked as a cake artist, I had to learn everything from the ground up. There were certain techniques that I was not as good at initially and had to practice repeatedly to become proficient. During that time, my lane was all things cakes. Now, I am on the nutrition side of things, and I enjoy the challenge of making “healthy” cakes. Sometimes, when experimenting with new formulas, I do a lot of conversions. Conversions require math. I was never what one would call a “math-whiz” while growing up. Even though I have no elaborate aspirations when it comes to math, I recognize the importance of investing effort in improving in this area of math to achieve my desired outcome with cakes. Then there is the world of computers. I have a few I.T. guys in my family who are rock stars at what they do. On several occasions, I needed them to fix issues that I had no clue how to fix. They specialize in that “lane”. One time, my brother was working on my laptop and typed in something to make the screen go black. After that, a bunch of codes popped up, and he proceeded to fix everything. Do I have a clue what he did? No. Do I have a desire to learn how to do what he did? Also, no. Ultimately, I believe that it is better for us to identify our lane(s), go all in there, and invest our efforts in improving those areas that will help us to become stronger in our lanes.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.healthtransfer.org