Meet Melanie Johnson

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

Hi Melanie , appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

Resilience

For years I saw myself as a broken person. It seemed that nothing I could do was good enough. I had been Valedictorian of my high school class, scored 27 on my ACT test, had offers from some of the most prestigious universities, yet it wasn’t good enough. I could do better.

Even in relationships, I was insufficient. I was mocked in high school for being a nerd. Guys pretended to like me to make fun of me. In college, I thought I had hit the jackpot because I met a man who asked me to marry, and I said yes. What I didn’t know was that I was consenting to twenty-three years of an abusive marriage, and two miscarriages to never become a mother. During this time, I felt like I could never be good enough, and this led me to two failed suicide attempts to end it all. I wasn’t even good enough to die.

But after almost being unalived by my then husband pointing a loaded gun at my head, I realized that I had to make a change. I was still here for a reason, and I vowed to find out what that was. To do that, I had to employ the use of mentors and counselors to help me see who I actually was. Upon suggestion from my mentor, I began writing a journal, chronicling my feelings true and raw. This therapy helped me to see that I was assessing myself improperly. I had accomplished more than I allowed myself to celebrate. I had a successful career as an educator. I was influential in many of my students’ lives. I had substance.

Once I shared parts of my journal with my mentor, I was then encouraged to share my life’s struggles with abuse and mental health with the world by turning parts of my journal in my first published book, Womanly Wisdom: What “they” Couldn’t Tell Me. From my sharing of my story, so many others have read and connected with me that it made me realize my purpose. I am here to help others through issues they never would have thought they could make it through. From this book publication, I have been invited to speak to live audiences and be a guest on interviews where I share my story and provide encouragement to others who lack the ability to believe in themselves. I have also become a poet, becoming Aspiring Author’s 2024 Poet of the Year, using my words to bring light and healing to others. I am the CEO of Busta Word Publishing, LLC, and Melistic Imagery Photography.

Each day I get up and look in the mirror and say to that shy young woman, “stay in the fight and don’t give up. You have a lot of good to give this world. Take every opportunity to make it a better place. You’ve got this.” Now I know, I was good enough, it was just for the wrong measuring stick. I am no longer buried in the bondage of comparison. Like the phoenix, the ashes just kept me warm until my breakthrough came.

~ Melanie M. Johnson

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am CEO of Busta Word Publishing, LLC, where I help others bring their healing and happiness through the expression of their words. I help them to be real, raw and relevant in their publications to help others connect with them and become one with their emotions and healing. Through my company I also provide professional photography through Melistic Imagery Photography. Here I show others how to display their realistic beauty in ways they could never believe before. I do what I do to help others find their purpose too.

You can reach me through linktr.ee/MelanieJohnson

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 qualities that were impactful in my journey were authenticity, patience, and empathy. My ability to remain authentic, even when it went against the mainstream allowed me to see things as they are, not as I wished them to be. My authenticity allowed others to build trust in me because I would tell them the truth, even at the risk of being unpopular.

I also developed extreme patience during my abusive marriage. For twenty-three years I waited for God to change the situation. Others thought I should have given up years prior. Yet I waited. During the wait, I learned that not everything is going to come automatically, and not everything will be according to my timeline. Patience helped me to deal with some of the most difficult people whose purpose is to sideline. Patience is often considered weak, but I learned that putting up with someone else’s pettiness allowed me to become stronger.

Having empathy for others came naturally with my ability to have patience. I learned that everyone is different and that you cannot expect the same outcome from different people or circumstances. Seeing life from another’s perspective opens the door for communication, collaboration and caring. Each of these actions will help to bring about a healing even to the most broken individual.

Stay the course. Becoming stronger will not happen overnight. Nor will it come with ease. Either way is difficult. Staying stagnant is hard because you won’t advance. Working hard despite barriers is hard because you will be stretched beyond comfort level. You must choose your hard.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

My mentor has been most helpful to me in overcoming many of my challenges or barriers. When you are in a low or desperate, it is almost impossible to pull yourself up out of the “hole” you are in. Having a mentor or counselor gives you someone who can help you see your situation as it is and offer advice on how to improve it, or provide resources to put you in a better place. It is through my counselor and mentor that I was able to walk away from something I was used to (yet uncomfortable) to build myself to face the unknown. They helped me to see that staying where I was would not be beneficial to me at all, but that the fear I would overcome would help me be able to help others through.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/MelanieJohnson
• Instagram: @melaniejohnsonspeaks
• Facebook: Melanie Johnson https://facebook.com/emjae91
• Linkedin: Melanie Johnson
• Youtube: Womanly Wisdom Speaks @womanlywisdomspeaks7238

Image Credits

All images were of me.