Mother.
On September 20, 2015, I was blessed with the gift of motherhood. I've always known I wanted to be a mother however being the mother of this amazing little boy, surpases my visions of becoming a mother by far. He is truly my SONshine.
Wife.
I had the honor of becoming one with my college sweetheart, Joshua Johnson. Not only is he my husband; he is my best friend, my confidant, my spiritual partner and my biggest support. We met as freshman at California University of Pennsylvania. He was on the basketball team and I was on the track team and despite how handsome I thought he was, his dedication to his sport and his dope personality was what drew me in. When I realized how strong his relationship with God was, that only put the icing on the cake. We have been through ups, downs and 3 years of distance but because of God, we have managed to come out stronger everytime with loyalty never being an issue. On June 6, 2015 we became one - Mr. and Mrs. Johnson.
PhotograpHER
For years photography has been a male dominated career/hobby. (Hence my emphasis on the HER in photographer) I have been into photography since I was about 13. The clarity and perfection of a photograph has always been major to me. I started out shooting film and iPhone/iPad photography. I was afraid of people not taking me seriously as a photographer because I did not have the latest and greatest camera. Until one day I started to compare my work to other great photographers and I felt very confident. From that point on I took my photography career more serious and have now been shooting under my business (SCJ Captures) for about 2 years.
Educator
I chose to include a picture of my son and I, hand in hand because motherhood has been the best experience I could possibly have to build me as an educator. Being that my mother, grandmother and great grandmother were or still are in the world of education for the youth, I was destined to find interest and passion in the field myself. Since I was in high school I have been working with the youth in one way or another - coaching, counseling, teaching, mentoring. Before my most recent position, I was giving therapy to children with disabilities throughout my last two years of college. I now am an instructional assistant for the 3rd grade team at an elementary school in Fairfax, Virginia and soon to be a 4th grade teacher starting the 2017-2018 school year!
Natural Hair Care Specialist
One of my favorite ways of self expression is styling and showing off my crown. The day I decided to officially begin my natural hair journey, I studied the ins and outs of natural hair and natural hair care. I decided to commit to being natural and relaxer free back in 2008 and I never turned back. Being natural is a way of life. I eventually became a very knowledgeable and self taught natural hair specialist and began offering my services to other people who were looking to or have already committed to the natural hair lifestyle. I spent about a year working from my home as a natural hair stylist and then moved on to work at Divas & Co Spa Hair salon. I now host natural hair workshops so that I can give people the knowledge and support that they need in order to learn and style their own hair instead of depending on hair stylists and salons.
Athlete/Coach
Since the tender age of 8, I have been heavily dedicated to the sport of track and field. I have competed at both the Division 1 and Division 2 collegiate level; qualified for multiple Junior Olympic meets and received multiple medals, titles and broken records from youth track and field organizations to college. I then moved on to the coaching stage of my career as an USATF/AAU jumps coach. Fitness is still a very large part of my life - working out and maintaining a healthy lifestyle will always be a priority. I am currently triple jump training to compete professionally.