Conversations with Monica Johnson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Monica Johnson.

Hi Monica, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory. 
Sure! I’m a bit of a Jill Of All Trades, and my personal story/journey has certainly taken several pivots that truly got me to my calling in life and put me on the path to where I am presently. While my career is in Advertising and still is, I found my passion and calling for makeup artistry a few years ago before my mom passed away in 2014 and then unexpectedly finding my passion for piano playing in 2020 because of the pandemic. Both passions were discovered as a result of extreme life-changing events.

Around the time when my mom passed away, I was a producer at a big ad agency in NYC and the workload was nonstop. I decided to put everything on pause, including my career, in order to not go into a deep dark hole and rediscover who I was again. Makeup has always been something I’ve always been fascinated with since I was a little girl and one of the things that made me extremely happy. I decided to get trained and educated in the makeup industry, held a vision, and shortly thereafter opened up my own business for doing makeup for weddings and photography. Now, I travel nationally and am featured on TheKnot.com as one of their Best Of Weddings vendors.

Piano came about as a result of the pandemic and putting my makeup business on pause due to Covid. The pandemic’s lockdown unexpectedly set the trajectory of my piano journey and unlocked a dormant passion I never even knew existed.

In each instance, I crafted things from my heart and shifted energy whether it was playing the piano or enhancing one’s beauty. Fast forward to now, and I’m thankfully managing all three simultaneously.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Absolutely not! However, the road’s been very rewarding by putting in the work and not quitting. The risk certainly is greater than the reward. The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward. There were so many times I wanted to throw in the towel, but am extremely thankful I kept putting one foot in front of the other. Both music and makeup served as calming and therapeutic outlets for me. Every day was a challenge while being in lockdown in 2020 and when I lost my mom in 2014, I had to find my footing again because of the overwhelming amount of grief I experienced. In each situation, the pivots allowed me focus my energies on things that whisked me away to a happier place where my angst could melt away.

One of my biggest challenges regarding piano was not knowing how to read music, which was the biggest struggle. I played with my heart and created art from a blank canvas moving through all of the motions. I tried not to overthink it and just do it because my motto is nothing is impossible. Over the last few years, I taught myself how to play and read Chopin, Beethoven, Debussy, and several other composers. Practice, consistency, visualizations, and never giving up allowed me to get to where I am now. Being extremely focused has helped me in every aspect of life, including running a business and working in advertising.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a creative at heart. I represent various production studios in advertising, own/operate my own makeup artistry business, and am a self-taught pianist. I’m proud of the fact that I’m able to multitask and am not only a hard worker but extremely dedicated to each and everything that I do.

What matters most to you?
I value happiness, practicing gratitude, and showing kindness because the world needs more of it. You never know how that will affect others in the process.

Pricing:

• Makeup Application starting at $150

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mojoglowmua.com
• Instagram: @mojoglowmua & @mojoglowmusic
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monicaerynjohnson/

Image Credits
Christine Keeley Photography
Orion Phillips II
Malcolm Smiley Studios