Daily Inspiration: Meet Lacey Johnson

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

Hi Lacey, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
After earning my degree in media studies at Belmont in 2011, I was hunting for the specific vein of journalism of which I could devote myself. During this time, I was, by necessity, in the midst of a personal crossroads-turned-transformation. After becoming a student of my own fulfillment and happiness–working to heal and reconceptualize traumas from my childhood and beyond, I began to study the psychology of empowerment, resilience and success. Personal transformation became my playground of curiosity and understanding. That’s when I very organically began to trek in that direction in terms of my career.

After a fairly jagged process, a decade later, I’ve written for top women’s magazines and media sources like Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan and Oprah Daily dozens of times, having worked with top mental health experts and spiritual thought leaders like Deepak Chopra, Gabby Bernstein and Dr. Caroline Leaf. I’ve been a featured guest on a variety of top Forbes’ podcasts, and I recently released my first book, Radical Life Renovation: Heal the Past, Reclaim Your Power & Build a Future You Love. Last year, I covered a piece on narcissism that landed on the front page of Oprah.com. It’s been a wildly beautiful ride filled with a bevy of surprises, whims and joys. I’m in love with every uncertain angle of it.

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?
Ha! Has it been absent of challenges? Not exactly. But nothing worth experiencing ever is. You can only experience the beauty and the joy in something to the same degree that you’ve brushed arms with its ugly and undesirable opposite. I’ve had projects be unexpectedly cancelled or delayed, and I’ve also had serendipitous opportunities land in my lap, seemingly out of nowhere. That’s the trick, I think: you have to be primed and ready for the providence you wish to create in your life, even before you can imagine where it might come from. And your reward has to come from what you do and how you’re contributing to the world; not from the potential outcome.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a magazine journalist who covers topics in the realms of mental health, relationships and the nuances of self-optimization. I suppose my shiniest accomplishment–the one that makes me want to pop my collar the hardest–is one of my O, the Oprah Magazine articles being selected as a “must read” for the front page of Oprah’s website. That made me skip and shimmy around my living room for sure.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
I’ve lived in Nashville since I was a child, but my husband, my little girl and I moved to the suburbs a few months ago. I love Nashville’s creative pulse, but I don’t love how frenetic Broadway has become.

Pricing:

• Radical Life Renovation $24.99

Contact Info:

• Email: lacey@laceyjohnson.com
• Website: laceyjohnson.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/thelaceyjohnson
• Facebook: facebook.com/thelaceyjohnson

Image Credits:
Antonio Fajardo