Meet Amani Johnson: Entrepreneur & Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Amani Johnson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amani, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
My initial reason for pursuing a creative career was because its was always something I’ve been drawn to. From a young age I’ve always enjoyed creating things whether it was drawing, painting, writing a poem, composing a song, or making a dance, I loved creating things of my own that I could say were mine and came from my creative process. I’ve known since a young age that I was a creative and creating different things is what I would end up doing in life as I grew older. Which leads me to my second reason, not accepting or caring about other peoples expectations or standards for my life. For a long time I let others thoughts of what they think I should or shouldn’t do control my life. One day I just woke up and chose to put myself first. I chose to take a route that would make me the happiest in my life and sitting behind a desk working for someone else wasn’t it. I chose to pursue a creative career to stay close to what made me happy, if I have to choose a career to stick with I want to be able to look back and be proud of the work I put in and say that it is something I created.

What should our readers know about your business?
Shopmommysaidso was created to encourage the voiceless, the individuals who feel as if they cannot express who they truly are due to the expectations and opinions of others. Our companies mission is to uplift the normality of not being normal or fitting into societies standards. What sets us apart from others is our determination to show people that being their true self is what makes you amazing. What I am most proud of brand wise is the impact we have on people when they open their new piece of jewelry, handbag, or accessory item and feel comfortable and confident wearing it. I got to where I am in my business today by stopping self doubt, trusting the process, and trusting in what God said for my life. It was not easy at all I had to separate myself from a lot of people and things. I had to go through a lot of changes to become who I am now. I had to separate from people who didn’t have my best interest at heart, people who didn’t support my vision, and people who didn’t help me grow. I had to grow mentally and come out of fear and self doubt in order to push forward. I had to shift overall. A couple of things I have learned on this journey is that you cant expect to go where your mind wanders with out a shift, you have to shift and grow in order to reach your dreams. Secondly, you should never feel bad about not fitting to societies standards or a certain group. Most times the thing or place we try to force our self into were not meant to be in in the first place. Find your own light, your own lane, and create something no one has ever seen before. Bring something only YOU can bring to the table. One thing I want people to take away from my brand is that you have to live outside the frame, you’ll never find yourself trapped inside of the norm, your identity, your validation, and your success are three things you can only find within yourself.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my best friend were visiting for the week the first place I would take her is the Selfie Museum where they have different room themes with huge ring lights to make your photos really pop. Then I would take her to Iron Age which is a Korean BBQ place where you can cook your own food with a mini grill right at your seat. And what’s a trip to Atlanta without going to the Aquarium looking at all the sea life under that beautiful blue tinted light. I would also take her to the Atlanta Belt line and look at all the graffiti art that spans for miles long. One of the last places I would take her is Bodies The Exhibition in Atlantic station where we would be able to see real human bodies and organs that have been preserved and put on display. All the places we would go would be visually pleasing and snapshot worthy.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I can’t dedicate my shout out to just one individual as there have been a handful of people who have pushed, encouraged, and motivated me to continue to go forward and not give up within my journey. CEO of Blazor Apparel Daiyzah Glenn , CEO of Core Truth Clothing Briana Nixon. Mentor The Birther Amaris Cummings , and Ministry Kingdom L.I.F.E Community Center Global. These people and groups have not only pushed me continue in my walk but have believed in me every step of the way always seeing something in me that I couldn’t see in myself. If it were not for them I definitely have no clue where I would be or what I would be doing. Thank you to you all for never giving up on me and continuing to be there even when times were hard.

Website: https://shopmommysaidso.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shopmommysaidso/

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=153842792814152&ref=content_filter

Other: Business Email: Shop.mommy.said.so@gmail.com

Image Credits
Full body images provided by So Basic photography by Daiyzah Glenn