Shownotes
This episode highlighting Women's History Month is an episode that features two remarkable leaders who are championing the advancement of women of color in our community.
First, we welcome the inspiring LC Johnson, founder of Zora's House, a thriving community space that empowers black women through mentorship and leadership programs. LC will share her journey, the remarkable growth of Zora's House, the concept behind their $66,000,000 capital campaign to build a comprehensive community hub, and her personal experiences as a black woman leader often in the harsh spotlight of hyper-visibility.
Joining LC is the first African American county commissioner in Franklin County, the passionate Franklin County Commissioner Erica C. Crawley. She'll be discussing her commitment to racial equity, the importance of supportive communities, and the journey to bringing valuable resources to organizations like Zora's House.
Together, they'll talk about the need for unapologetic leadership, resilience in the wake of skepticism, and the importance of making space for the unique experiences of women of color. You'll hear poignant stories of struggle, triumph, and the profound impact of drawing strength from the legacy of Zora Neale Hurston.
Get ready for an engaging and insightful conversation that shines a light on both the challenges and the progress of women of color in leadership.
Top Takeaways
1. **Visibility vs. Support**: LC Johnson highlights the discrepancy between the visibility of black women in leadership and the actual support they receive, a theme echoed in the conversations around the hyper visibility and simultaneous lack of backing for women of color.
2. **The Burnout Phenomenon**: The episode sheds light on the high burnout rates among women of color, emphasizing the additional pressures they face, particularly in leadership roles—an important consideration for organizations and communities.
3. **Creating Safe Spaces**: The establishment of Zora's House as a community hub and incubator is a testament to the need for spaces dedicated to nurturing the professional and personal growth of women of color, reinforcing the message that such safe spaces are essential.
4. **The Journey to Racial Equity**: Commissioner Erica C. Crawley and LC Johnson discuss the recent shifts in dialogue towards racial equity, noting that organizations and funders are beginning to recognize and address the unique challenges faced by black and brown communities.
5. **Funding Challenges and Ignoring Doubters**: Zora's House's audacious capital campaign, despite skepticism, underscores the perseverance required to secure funding for initiatives led by and for women of color, and the importance of persisting in the face of doubt.
6. **Leadership and Mentorship**: The Leadership Fellows Program at Zora's House reflects an active commitment to the development of women of color leaders, fostering mentorship, and professional development opportunities, and highlighting the value of such programs.
7. **Celebrating Black Women's Success**: LC Johnson's recognition as Columbus CEO's Woman of the Year and her appearance on the Kelly Clarkson show serve as significant affirmations for black women leaders, emphasizing the impact of recognition and the need to celebrate these achievements widely.
8. **Building and Supporting Community**: Both guests underscore the importance of finding a supportive community that sees and values individuals, such as Zora's House providing year-long engagement and a place where women of color's potential is embraced and uplifted.
9. **Honoring Legacy and Heritage**: The episode celebrates Zora Neale Hurston's legacy and her influence on Zora's House, fostering an appreciation for historical figures in women's history and the importance of honoring their contributions by continuing their work.
10. **Empowerment through Financial Stability**: Programming like HerWay Business Builder and Wealth Builders at Zora's House spotlights the crucial role that financial empowerment plays in the lives of women of color, addressing financial trauma, and championing first-generation wealth building.
Memorable Moments
08:46 Zora Neale Hurston's life celebrated, rediscovered.
16:33 Zora's House supports women of color's advancement.
17:49 Wealth Builders program supports 1st generation individuals.
24:33 Challenges faced by women of color in leadership.
28:49 Racial equity conversations challenge traditional funding priorities.
37:06 New cafe, co-working space, meeting rooms, incubator.
48:55 Featured on the Kelly Clarkson show, nervous.
50:06 Challenging hyper-visibility of black women's leadership.
talkofthecounty@franklincountyohio.gov
Copyright 2024 Franklin County Board of Commissioners
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/tropicana
License code: 6VVAVEFBZTQOL3AW
Transcripts
Hey, Franklin County. It's your County Administrator and host of Talk of the County, Kenneth Wilson. I have a special episode for you, this week, and it will be honoring Women's History Month. We have 2 dynamic women that are, superstars in Franklin County. We have our own Erica C. Crawley, who was the first elected African American county commissioner in history, and LC Johnson, the founder of Zora's House. Miss Johnson is a super entrepreneur indeed. She has, been recently, profiled on syndicated national talk shows. So that's a big deal.
Kenneth Wilson [:A really big deal. So I expect them to have a very engaging conversation. They both are examples of She Leads. 1 in government, the other in business. So I expect them to have plenty of spicy things to talk about, and I can't wait to sit down and hear this podcast myself as the host of Talk of Accounting. So please check out this episode anywhere you get your podcast. Again, Talk of the County is all about informing, inspiring with a little bit of entertainment sprinkled in. And in closing, just remember, be you because no one else has time to.
Kenneth Wilson [:Thank you.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:Kelsey.
LC Johnson [:Girl, how are you? Hi. So thank you so much for having me on the podcast. I was really excited to get this invitation. We joke often, that even as 2 black women leaders, we don't get to see each other as much as we would like. So if it takes a podcast for us to get together, that is really really cool.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:So thanks for having No. Thank you for making time, and letting everyone know, especially the county and the people who are in the county who don't know. I did a a talk yesterday, about all things county government and everybody was learning from each other. And so I think not even just for the public, but even for county staff and employees to know who you are, what you're doing here in the county, and what you're doing specifically for black women and women of color. So tell us about Zora's House, you, your, path to where you are right now because I think our first our very first introduction, was you were at the YWCA. Yes. It was a conversation around, like, racism or racial equity and poverty, and that was when I first met you. But now, here you are.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:So you wanna give us a little bit of history about your past and how you got to be where you are now?
LC Johnson [:Sure. So I am not a native, but Central Ohioan, Franklin Countyan. I don't know if that's a phrase, but We
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:gonna say this.
LC Johnson [:We gonna say this. I'm my native Franklin Countyan. I actually was born in New York City and raised primarily in the Southeast. So North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia. I got to Columbus in the way that many transplants do. I find that, folks either come here for school, for work or because they meet somebody who is from Central Ohio in some other part of the country, fall in love and are shepherded back into the state of Ohio. And that's definitely what happened with me. So I moved here, with my husband who is from Columbus, in 2015.
LC Johnson [:He and I met living in Boston, but he always really had a goal of coming back home. And and part of his work was always thinking about how he could come back home as a professional and think about how to make, Columbus, Ohio like a more equitable place. And so when I got here I already kind of had that lens of like I'm not from here but like this is still home right? Because when we have kids like their dad will be from here, their grandparents will have you know spent spent a lot of time in the city. So it always felt like home but when I first moved to Ohio I actually really struggled. So when I first moved to Ohio, I actually really struggled to get connections initially. Right? I just, I was living in my in law's basement which all millennials do at some point. Yes. Move home, live in a basement or a childhood bedroom for a couple years.
LC Johnson [:Part of our journey. Right. And so I was living with my in laws. And the only person I knew was my husband and his family. And I had a really hard time, getting connected with other women. And I I was really at that point in a place of transition in my own life. So we were recently married, we were thinking about having kids and something that had always been true in every part of my life, where I've gone through a big transition was having other women of color in my life. And so I I really felt the urge for that.
LC Johnson [:And you know my desire to find that type of community to support me through my transition and to find that type of, relationships and friendships and support was really kind of the impetus to Zora's House. And I had the opportunity to, before I launched Zora's House, actually got a job working at the YWCA Columbus, whose mission is to eliminate racism and empower women. Y'all see there's a little bit of theme going on here. Yeah. And so through that work just got a chance to, not just understand my own journey as a transplant and a black woman who was interested in leadership in this community but also really understanding kind of systemically some of the ways that folks were working to make this community more equitable and all of that together kind of formed the the vision of Zora's House.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:Oh, wonderful. So if you could tell us a little bit about Zora Neale Hurston, her legacy, and then when did you say, okay. You know what? I'm ready to launch something bigger than,
LC Johnson [:what I have or what
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:I currently see right now. Can you give us a little bit of history
LC Johnson [:on that? Sure. So I love talking about Zora Neale Hurston. She is so cool and she is, who Zora's house is named after. Even though many people get confused and think that my name is Zora, and in fact it's not. So that is always really funny especially when I send emails signed LC and people like, thank you Zora. I really appreciated it. And I'm like, not enough to read it apparently. Glad you appreciate it.
LC Johnson [:Right. And so in fact, Zora's House is named after Zora Neale Hurston. Zora Neale Hurston was a writer and anthropologist who lived and worked, during the Harlem Renaissance. Mhmm. And one of the things that I really loved about Zora's work and I see you have one of her books. I do. Yeah. Yeah.
LC Johnson [:Eyes Were Watching God. Their Eyes Were Watching God. God. One of her most famous novels that she's written and one of my favorite novels of hers. But one of the things that was really, that's always really inspired me about Zora's work is that, during that time a lot of, writers, were really encouraged to only write about certain views of blackness. This was during a time when you were thinking about, after reconstruction there was Jim Crow, like segregation. There were so many things in our world that really de, dehumanized like black people. And so one of the things that, collectively that in that movement we said, well, well if we show through our art just like how, you know, human we are.
LC Johnson [:Like if we show them like we are just as good, we are just as smart, we are just as accomplished. Right? That like this idea that we could prove that we were enough to be considered human. And and part of that was encouraged through the writing and the art. Like I said, showcasing only certain visions of blackness. And Zora Neale Hurston really bucked that trend so she wrote in dialect which a lot of people did not like. Mhmm. They said it made us sound really ignorant and it didn't make us sound intelligent and so she wrote in dialect, she wrote about women who you know drank and had sex and got divorced and did all the things that women were not supposed to do during that time. But what I thought was so special about her work and has always inspired me is that she really said like we are just enough, we are human enough in our full experience.
LC Johnson [:Right? And that like all of that deserves to be celebrated. We don't have to just highlight this one piece of ourselves to say this is what is gonna give us the key to be seen as fully human. And she really celebrated that full spectrum of, especially black women and their experiences. And I've always loved that about her work. But the other really inspiring part of her story is that even though Zora Neale Hurston was so prolific during her time as a writer and an early anthropologist, she actually died penniless and was buried in an unmarked grave, which is mind boggling to me. But it wasn't until the 19 seventies when Alice Walker, who was teaching at Barnard at the time, came across some of her work because Zora had spent some time there and done some writing there. And so Alice came across her work and as we are want to do was like, uh-uh. How come I don't know her? Right? Like she really had this moment where she was asking why aren't we why don't we know about this woman? Why aren't we teaching her work? Why is she not a household name? And so she wrote an essay called In Search of Zora Neale Hurston.
LC Johnson [:And you know, it was it is the reason that we kind of like have, an understanding of Zora Neale Hurston's work and her impact to this day. And you know, when she was done with that essay, she actually walked the graveyard where Zora Neale Hurston was buried, and she marked her grave. And the inscription is so beautiful because it comes from the opening passage of that essay and it says we will not allow our geniuses to be forgotten. And that is just so powerful to me and I feel like it really embodies the spirit of what Zora's house is about. So one woman of color looking at another and saying, as long as I live, like I'm not gonna allow your light, your genius to be diminished, to be forgotten. I'm going to ensure that everybody knows. Like not how brilliant I am but how brilliant you
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:are. Yeah.
LC Johnson [:Right? And so that that is such a foundation of of Zora's House and what we believe in and what this organization is all about. Oh, wow. I'm like like, I have goosebumps.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:But I always have goosebumps listening to you and hearing your passion, behind this vision that you have for Zora's House and and and her legacy. And, you know, when we think about what happened in Reconstruction, and then Jim Crow, but during the Reconstruction era, like, there was so much community. Right? There was so much, togetherness. We had more, elected officials, more community members, leaders, in places and spaces where decisions were being made, and we know that they were there because of black women, right, and their contributions. And so as we are, in Women's History Month and celebrating Women's History Month, will you think about, fostering an inclusive and empowering workplace for women given Zora Neale Hurston and her vision, for our community and black women. What do you see here, and what do you hope to cultivate in this space?
LC Johnson [:Yeah. That's such a good question. Cultivating, not
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:hope to.
LC Johnson [:You are you are doing it.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:You are it's already been called into being.
LC Johnson [:I love that. Oh, I love that frame. Now you're trying to give me chipped. So, you know, I I'm thinking a lot about Zora Neale Hurston and her story. Sorry. I'm a cough off to the side so y'all can just edit that part out. So when I think a lot about Zora Neale Hurston and her story and the fact that it took Alice Walker to revive her legacy. That the world in her industry, she was underpaid in her industry.
LC Johnson [:She was not recognized for the work that she did. In fact, she was one of the first anthropologists to actually study. She was from rural Florida. Mhmm. And she did anthropological research in rural Florida, in Haiti and at the time, it was not it was frowned upon for anthropologists to study communities that they identify with in any way, right? And so she was one of the early anthropologists who said actually there's some real richness in being able to have that trust and that context in your work. Right? Like that was that was her shepherding in a generation of anthropologists who could then do that work and and and have that road a little bit smoother for them. So she did all these groundbreaking things and yet the world did seek to diminish her. Right? The the world, the spaces that she was in did not value her.
LC Johnson [:They did not pay her her worth. And that's something that I I think about very often. Right? That like I want Zora's legacy and I don't want Zora's legacy. Right. And what does it look like to honor her by ensuring that, black women and other women of color don't just, have the opportunity to do their work, but that they are paid for their work. That they are supported in the work that they're doing. That they have joy and rest in their work, right? That they're not ground down in their work and and how can we create that type of space. And so, you know, there's work that we do as an organization.
LC Johnson [:We have programs, we have a membership model that really encourages women of color to come and and and plug into that type of community and support. But I think in the larger sense, one of the things that really excites me about Zora's House, is that we've had members come in and say, you know, like I I remember one of our early members who said like, you know, at Zora's House I practice who I want to be in the rest of the world. Right? That like this was the space where she could come and feel safe to practice being bold and being gentle with herself and being vulnerable and know that like in other places where that may not be welcome that she will have built that muscle encouraged, for me to feel brave. I remember what that's supposed to feel like. And so for a space like this to exist in our county, where it is that microcosm of the world that we want to see built and it is a training ground for women of color, to start to exist in a world that that doesn't exist yet.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:Yeah. Oh, that's good. That's good. And so you said you have some programming. Can you tell us
LC Johnson [:a little bit about
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:the programming that you have? Yeah. The program that programming you will have as you complete, I will steal your thunder because I know we're gonna talk about what's baking and brewing and and, what you're fostering here. So can you tell us about some key programming?
LC Johnson [:Sure. So, one of the things that is really important for us is that, our programs are all about ensuring that women of color can thrive and not just survive. So okay listen. So I'm like I know that y'all think if we have a roof over our heads and food on the table we should be content. However Right. That is not enough. That's not enough for women of color we should not feel like that is enough for women of color in our community to have their basic needs met right. And so while I very much admire, have many colleagues in the social services sector who are addressing the disparities women of color have in this community with lack of housing, with food insecurity, with transportation and childcare, that that are very, very critical.
LC Johnson [:The work that Zora's House does is really to ensure once women of color have that level of stability, how can we ensure that they can lead? How can we ensure that they can create? How can we ensure that they can disrupt? So a lot of our programming is really about, okay you you're good, you feel stable, you may have like a job, you have money coming in, but now what how do we level you up? Right? And so we have a couple programs, that do that specifically. We have a program called HerWay Business Builder, which is all about helping women of color to get reach profitability in their businesses with their initial business ideas. There are a number of, programs that serve women of color, entrepreneurs in the community. One of the things I think we really focus on is is taking folks from either idea to like business model, or from side hustle to like formalize business. Right? So we focus on folks who are like, but I but I've had this side hustle for like, you know, 3 years and I've never paid any taxes and it's like, but girl Right. That ain't it. Mhmm. You know, and so starting to figure out like how we get folks who are already doing work, like able to like do it at a at a different and higher level.
LC Johnson [:Another program that we really love here is called, Wealth Builders. So it is a program that focuses on what we call 1st generation wealth builders. So many people are familiar with the term 1st generation college student and that term really emerged because when somebody is the first person in their family to go to college, they are experiencing all of these things that like nobody in their family has ever gone through. There's nobody that they can really turn to to be like, hey hey help me navigate this or help me understand like how I should, you know, move through this application process, this financial aid process, right? Well for many of those 1st generation, college students, they then go on to be 1st generation wealth builders. Right? So they may be the first person in their family to ever hold a 6 figure job or a job that has a retirement account or to, you know, have meet certain financial milestones that there's nobody that they can turn to in their family and be like hey could you run me through like how did you set up your life insurance when no one did it well like they don't Correct. Right? Like, y'all don't know. Your mama doesn't know. And so what does it look like to really ensure that those folks have, the the support and resources and and education that's really competent to address both the financial trauma that comes with growing up in financial instability.
LC Johnson [:Even if you have you make 6 figures now, if you grew up in financial instability, that affects how you manage your money. Right? If you still have family members who are experiencing poverty or experiencing financial instability, that affects how you plan your retirement if you know your parents don't have any retirement. Right? Like you're now planning in a different way than maybe somebody who comes from generational wealth or even comes from generational stability. Right? So that's that program again it's really about taking things that exist maybe in the world but are not catered to women of color and we have often times very unique experiences. So I can literally be like, oh this this candle making class is cool. Alright. We gonna do a candle making class for women of color. Right? And and the people will come here and make candles and be like, man, I'm usually the only woman of color in my craft class.
LC Johnson [:Right? Because so often whether you niche down to just like an interest that somebody has or you get a little bit more macro and think about like some of the the critical skills or things that people need. So often women of color find themselves to be the only one. So our program really focuses on how do we create things that are made with women of color of mind. Not programs that they have to shoehorn themselves into or figure out how to fit into or constantly have to explain their identities or their experiences. How do we create programs that take that into account? I love that. I love that. I have two things.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:So I want to say last time I was here, we were having a conversation about what it means to be a leader, you know, and and lead in a space, but then, feel a burden by hearing a community and having expectations, having no outlet. Rest is like, what is that?
LC Johnson [:Right. You
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:know? Even when we are resting, we never really rest. And when we don't we don't get up feeling, well rested or like we had the ability to shut our mind off or, you know, or what does it look like, now that I gotta get up and go to work and I work with 2 men. Right? And and and being a leader in the space, like, and then not having an outlet to to be in community with upstairs who are like, I get it. I get it. And and and you can come here and we can hear it and we can hold space for you and how important it is to have spaces like that. So thank you for giving me that space, when I was here last time. But also to what you were saying about, being a 1st generation, wealth builder, I think we I've I've never heard that term before until now, but I think it is, so critical for us to have places where we can go to say, you know what? Yes. I make 6 figures, but I still live paycheck to paycheck.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:I still have more month than money, and I don't understand it. Or I'm helping my mother or I'm helping I'm carrying her bills or my father's bills or or whatever.
LC Johnson [:And then you're taking on
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:the caregiver role and still trying to keep your head above water. I was in Atlanta the other day, getting a facial with a woman that I I know really well. She was like, describe in one word, how you're doing. And I said, I'm surviving. And then I was like, existing. Right? And and and and that's why I always use this term. I I want everyone in our community to have the same opportunities to thrive and not just survive. And I think having a Zora's house where you create community, you hold space, for others, for women of color, especially, who are trying to navigate this world, that is, so unfair at times and, unjust.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:I think, you know, I wish we could replicate and have more Zora's houses.
LC Johnson [:Hey. Listen. Your lips to God's ears.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:I mean, but I mean, you're doing phenomenal work, and I I if you would just share, you know, we talked and I I hope it, you know, I'm not by asking, you know, there were people who were not bought into the vision. Why we needed a space specifically for women of color. And I know when it comes to funding for something like that, that wasn't the easiest. And now your flourishing, can you just talk about how that felt understanding, like, you had this vision and people were like, well, we've never done that before. We never invested in something like that. But you obviously lead people move, touched, and inspired and investing in in Zora's house. People are wanting to do that all the time now. So how did you get from a place of we don't invest in that and I don't understand how this what will outcomes look like to where you are right now?
LC Johnson [:Oh, I love that question. But before we even get to that question, I want to respond to what you said about you know talking to your girlfriend and being like oh I'm just you know I'm surviving. You know I'm existing. Right? And I think what's so interesting is that so many people would look at you and be like no no no no no Erica Crowley is she thriving girl. She cute. She got power, she's like out here right? Like she's ascended, you know? And so many people would look at those things and be like no she she's made it, she doesn't feel these things like she is thriving right. And I think one of the things that is so critical for us to understand is that even in 2024 women of color are still swimming against the current in order to
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:leave. Absolutely.
LC Johnson [:Right. That like it feels like oh no but y'all are so much more visible now and you know, you have all these, like, every other day there's a thick piece about, you know, women of color and what they need and what they but the reason that we keep talking about this is because it's still not happening. Right. That women of color are still burning out at incredible rates, right? That like, I was reading an article recently that talked about this idea of like, not so much you know that once a woman of color like shatters a glass ceiling so often she's standing on a glass cliff which means that she has been brought on to do something in her community or her, or her corporation or wherever that has either that either her predecessor couldn't do or that has never been done before, but not given any additional resources or support in order to make it happen. So come on in here and make some miracles. Bring your cape. Right. You know? And that whole idea of bringing women of color and this is real research right? This is research around why women of color, why black women are are exiting these leadership roles.
LC Johnson [:Because we tired. We tired. We tired. Which camera should I look at? We tired. It's real. Tired. We're beyond tired. Yeah.
LC Johnson [:We're beyond tired. And and, you know, in the midst of we'll talk in a moment about, you know, kind of what you were asking about, you know, how we brought people along. But along the way there's had to be a lot of vulnerability both with our funders. This space holds a lot of folks vulnerability and tears and truths in this space where people feel like they can speak and say the things that like they don't get to say. Even for you and I like because we're at Doris House we're gonna say some real things on this podcast right? Like if there's a feeling that happens when you walk into the space and it's like your truth is welcome here whatever it is. And so much of that has had to be a part of bringing people along. Right? Like I remember in the early days of Zora's House, I used to, so I started Zora's House. I had only lived in Columbus for like two and a half years or something when I launched Zora's House.
LC Johnson [:And, you know, so I was still new to the community, didn't really know much. I'm kinda, like, wandering around trying to get my footing. And you know I would start to like kinda meet with different funders and different, folks early on. Somebody would say, oh you should be with this person. And so early on, like, I would meet with funders and meet with, other leaders in the community and I would say, well, yeah. I wanna start this, like, community space and incubator for women of color. And you know I would talk about our mission, I would talk about like activating women of color and their leadership and their dreams And they would either say, oh we fun things, we do fun things for women of color. And I'd be like, oh what do you fun? They'd be like, oh we fund like the homeless shelter,
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:like the
LC Johnson [:food pantry and the and I'm like That's offensive. Oh, wait.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:I was like, oh,
LC Johnson [:number 1. Well, number 1. Okay. We're gonna start there. I'm offended. Literally. Like, literally being like, oh, we do fun things for y'all. It's like, look at these things, right? And like not understanding that women of color have this full spectrum that like we exist upon this like full spectrum of experiences and identities and deserve to be supported across that spectrum.
LC Johnson [:Right? And so it became very clear early on that like for many people when you say women of color that synonymous will low income women no matter what comes before or what comes after. Because I'm like I could have swore I have been told many times and I'm very articulate and I know I did not just describe a homeless shelter to you. Right. So how how are we now having this conversation? Right. Right. And so it was it was really actually in those moments being like that's not what we're talking about here. Yeah. That's not what we're talking about here.
LC Johnson [:And continuing over and over to kind of talk about, you know, Zora's house and the work that we were doing. And people would still just kind of say, oh, even when they got it, it was one of those where people felt like, oh, that that sounds nice like a little social club for like black women. Like that sounds like a nice like a nice to have.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:That's kind of thing.
LC Johnson [:You know that sounds like you know they didn't feel like it was was something that was like necessary. They felt like it was a nice to have. So then 2020 happened and all of a sudden we started having very different conversations about racial equity, about the experience of black people in this country. And at that point people were like, oh, I see. Right? And even then as we started to have those conversations with folks and we would still, meet funders and folks who want to be supportive and and they would say well we do want to be supportive but we like historically have funded, you know, what do they call it? Emergent needs like social needs I can't think of like what the word is but it has needs in it right? Basic needs. They're like we have we have historically funded basic needs and I'm like so is racial equity not a basic need? Is that not something that is that not a basic need that impacts the health, the like, environment, the, the ability for certain people in our community to access like the full value of living here. Is that not a basic need? Right and sometimes you just gotta frame stuff so people sound dumb saying no. So sure.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:And then just leave them in their uncomfortable
LC Johnson [:That's right. Right? It's like, oh I know that's not how we usually talk about it, but like that's how we're gonna talk it today. Yeah. And thankfully, we actually do have a number of people in our community who, a number of funders, a number of individuals who like in the very beginning they kind of didn't get it and like now they really do. Like they do get it. And when we have these conversations they are willing and they were willing to listen, right? And I think that's been a big part of how we've gotten from where we were to where we are now. I love that. I love that.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:And and so I'm gonna ask this question about mentorship or leadership training that you might have or programming, especially for, black women to be bold and unapologized. Like, you just, you know, describe these conversations. Like, no. I'm not let let me tell you what I'm talking about. Like, I'm not gonna allow you to try to reframe this or try to make this to be something else so you feel comfortable funding it. It's like, no. This is what we need. But everybody doesn't have that voice and are scared to use it even if they do have it and they they, know that they have a voice.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:And so we still have these people pleasing or I don't want to be a disruptor because sometimes being a disruptor, I've come across as, you know, you are a troublemaker or whatever. So do you have any mentorship programs or leadership programs that help, women use the voice that they have and be bold and unapologetic? So we, do have a
LC Johnson [:program here at Doris House called our Leadership Fellows Program. It's a 6 month, cohort and it requires people to spend 8 hours a week in the space. We have folks who work full time and are still able to, like, talk to their leaders about spending some time in the like, spending that time in the space. We have folks it is truly intergenerational. Right? So we have folks who are, in their mid 20s all the way up to like in their, you know, 50s 60s who are part of these cohorts. And you know a big part of that is kind of that leadership development, that professional development, where we are talking to them and they're getting kind of a behind the scenes view of of how Zorist House exists. How we operate, like what it looks like for us to, you know, step into the step into our leadership in real time as an organization that's led by women of color and and that is very grassroots, right? But the other thing that I have really heard from people and and also see myself is just the the role modeling that happens when you become a member of Zora's House. So we have a number of programs.
LC Johnson [:You don't need to be a member in order to participate in a Zora's House program. But what we love about membership is that it's our opportunity to kind of like wrap our arms around you over like
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:a full year.
LC Johnson [:Okay. You know, so it's like a program, you know, you may be here for 6 months and it may be a little bit of like in and out. But with membership it's like we really get to like welcome you in and kind of keep track of you for a year and and pour into you for a year. And one of the things that's really cool is that people get to see other women of color. It's not just me, right? We get to see each other being brave every day, right? And we celebrate that, right? We have a whole like, we have a whole like, listserv called the tribe list, which is all about like the the, women of color who are members able to like communicate with each other. And constantly people will just email me like, y'all, I just opened my first storefront and I'm feeling nervous like I just need some encouragement and you'll get like 10, 15 emails. So then like an hour, girl you got this sis, like go ahead girl you got this, that's amazing. Right? Like we'll have members get groups together to go support somebody's art opening.
LC Johnson [:Right? And just be like well she posted like, hey this is my first time like, my first ever art exhibit. This just happened actually. And one of our members was like, hey y'all like, I'm having my first ever art exhibit. If you can come, like, let me know. And then some other members got a group together. They didn't know each other. And they probably didn't know her that well other than the fact that they were all Zora's House members and they just win. Just to be like we got you like you did this thing.
LC Johnson [:You know and so you're not alone. And you're not alone Right? Like, you put it out there and we said we at your back. Mhmm. Like, turn around. You can see us. I love
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:that. Oh, I love that. So since you have programming, that's available, you can be a member, or you could just come and have this space where you can work and and and, be in community. I know you also just had a capital campaign because you are trying to Having.
LC Johnson [:Having. Oh, still having.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:Engaged in Almost. Currently. Over though. That's correct. Because you are almost at your target. Almost at
LC Johnson [:your target. Almost there. Yes.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:Yes. That's wonderful. So can you tell us what we, invested in? What's coming? I'm excited, to hear all about it. I've I've seen it, you know, the designs and and all of that. And we've talked about the vision, but tell everybody else what you're building.
LC Johnson [:Yes. Visibly. Visibly and otherwise. Yes. Thank you so much for, having that opening and even though I know this isn't about the relationship between Zora's House and the county, the county is one of the folks who that has supported the work that we're trying to do. And, and the building of our new 10,000 1,000 square foot, community hub that is really meant to be a center of innovation and leadership and creativity, supporting women of color for the benefit of the entire community. Right? Because that's the other thing that that I don't think I've had the chance or or have spoken enough about on this podcast which is that we support women of color and when we do that, our whole community benefits. Absolutely.
LC Johnson [:Our entire community benefits from those diverse perspectives. From more art, from more women of color in neighborhood leadership and PTAs and across the spectrum like we all benefit. Women of color are the fastest growing population in Franklin County. So if we're thinking about what it's gonna take to actually create not just an equitable, an equitable county, but a county that feels rich in stories and perspectives and leadership. The type of place that somebody from outside of Ohio would be like, man have y'all heard about what's going on? In Columbus what's going on? In Franklin County like have y'all heard about what's happening over there? If we want that, we can't do it without women of color. Absolutely. So when I think about this space, I really think about this as being that hub where we are encouraging women of color and their dreams and their, and like I said their leadership and their creativity. We're really excited to build this space because it's also gonna be it's 3 stories.
LC Johnson [:We're gonna have a cafe on the first floor, we're gonna have a co working space on the first floor, second floor will have like meeting space and and places for folks to, have private offices. And then on the 3rd floor, what I am really really excited about, we are going to have a new program called our residential incubator, which is an opportunity for folks to come and stay for up to a week, while they're working on a project. So imagine if like a co working space at an Airbnb, like, had a little absorb maybe and that would be the 3rd floor. And I just imagine right, like the times in my life when I've been like, I just need to get out of my space, like I just wanna go write or I just wanna go work and I don't wanna be mom for a little wet bit and I don't want to be wife and I don't even want to be friend. I just want to be me. Yes. And I want to go, you know, invest in myself. And so to have that kind of space exist in Franklin County, I believe that it really will be a beacon across the region right? Like we already have people who for some of our larger events who drive from Dayton, from Cleveland, from Cincinnati.
LC Johnson [:You know and so now I'm saying like hey we have this space that can actually like come here stay for a few days like work on advancing one of your projects and there's nothing really like that or anywhere else in the country. So yeah we are really excited it's we're on the cutting edge of like creating a space and the thought leadership and, you know, the ideas and entrepreneurial pursuits of women of color. So it is going to be really special. It is a, we are in the midst of a $66,000,000 capital campaign to, complete that building. And you know, we first said okay we want to do this and we want to raise capital and we had people literally tell us like you are you will never be able to do that. You will never be able to raise that money. Yes. It's very one of those one of those raw raw, but we have had many real moments in this space.
LC Johnson [:Yeah.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:And I
LC Johnson [:love you
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:for it.
LC Johnson [:Yeah. Same. You know because also not enough. You know, but it was I remember like hearing that I mean like you your your organization is not ready. You do not have what it takes to do this. And it was at that time and I tell people all the time, you know, and I I tell this especially to black women. I'm like be careful who you share your tender dreams with, right? Before they're full grown, before they're ready to be out in the world, when they still feel soft and like, you know, you you have to be very discerning Absolutely. Around who you allow to, witness you dreaming in that way so audaciously, so radically.
LC Johnson [:And so it is, yeah. It was just one of those things where, you know, I I kind of had had that feedback that like oh you're not gonna be able to do it. And I remember calling like one of my best friends and I was just like oh my gosh like am I crazy? Like should I just stop this? And she was like you can do this. You know you can do this. And you know you cannot listen to raised 5.3 Tugger. 6000000. We're
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:so close. We're almost there. Love it. Alright? I'm so excited.
LC Johnson [:But it and we're just this close. Like, it's it's gonna happen. Probably over the next couple of months, you'll be seeing someone on social media, like, we did it, like it happened and we raised it. You know and that's the story that we want to tell for Zora's House, for the women of color in our community. Right? That like your radical imagination is welcome here. Absolutely. Absolutely.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:And I unfortunately missed the groundbreaking, but I definitely will be at the room and cut it.
LC Johnson [:Oh, yes. I'm a get it on your calendar in advance.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:Dayla love will put it on there. And make sure that I am there. But when you told me about the vision, I'm like, oh, girl. I got you. We got you. I mean, because when we think about 2020, as you you said, where there was this racial reckoning, the county had already been doing work, in in the poverty space, but before we could even start doing work in the poverty space, the community was like, we have to just say that any work that the county tries to do, it can't be done if we do not, be bold and say that racism is a problem. Right? And everything has to have a racial equity lens. And so that is embedded in all that we do.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:And early in 20 2020, right when the pandemic happened, we were the 1st county in the state and one of the first counties in the country to declare racism as public health. Right? Yes. Right? And so when you were telling me about the vision but even, before, like, just expanding with the work that you were we're currently doing, I'm like, we have to be a part of this. Like, our declaration was not performative. Right? Like, we really put teeth into, that declaration and how we were gonna invest, public dollars. Right? And and this is exactly what we envision to have a space where, 4 black women or women of color can come because it enhances our mental health. Mhmm. That's right.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:It enhances our physical health. It does. Right? It puts us in community. It makes us even more productive that we can't be our full authentic selves when we go back out, right, and have to engage with the public or be adults or wives or brother I mean, mother, sister, all the things. Right? And so, I'm happy that we are a part of this. But I want to turn to you and talk about you, and you being the, Columbus CEO's Woman of the Year in 2023. Can you tell me about that experience, and what that meant to you? And did you ever envision yourself like, hey. I'm like this woman's CEO or, like, how did you feel when you heard about that?
LC Johnson [:Man, that's such a good question and it was weird. It was I did not envision myself necessarily like oh I'm gonna be this like woman CEO like that's that's gonna be me. You know I I sometimes struggle like vulnerability. I sometimes struggle to like think of myself as a CEO like it's in my title. But for so long I just felt like oh I'm just LC like just doing this kind of like little Zora's House thing. Right? Zora's House is just this little project that I have and, you know I struggled to see it as like this I remember somebody like told me they're like man I think Zora's House is is one of if not the like fastest growing like non profits in Columbus. And I was like what? Like you know I struggle to like see it that way. To see it as as bigger than just my own like passion project right.
LC Johnson [:And I recognize that like that isn't just in my head right. Like I've been like many women and many black women. Like I've been trained to see the things that I do, to diminish the things that I do, to to not see myself as a CEO, to not see myself as somebody whose work is deserving of that type of recognition. And so you know it was, it is always a strange dance. When I when I like get awarded something. What I will say is that this was the first award that I've ever gotten that I did not apply for or like like have to be nominated. I had to be nominated but many times like when I've received other things I was you know listed as like 40 under 40. But you kind of have to like Yeah.
LC Johnson [:You know do a little something you know, you know, you know it's coming or like, you know, get somebody to nominate you. And so with this, I didn't even know it's like a peer nominated award. So I had no idea that my name was even up for consideration. I didn't even know anything about this award. And then they like called me in December and they were like, yeah, you won this award. And I was like, I didn't even know I was in the running for this award. Wow. Right.
LC Johnson [:It was like a complete I was like oh like this is really surprising. I happened to have been going through some health issues at that time. That I do think really had to do with a lot of the like stress and things that that I was experiencing last year. And I was actually on medical leave for like pretty much all of December and part of January. And so I kind got this news and at the time I was like, oh thank you. Like kind of went over my head, you know, and then but when the actual issue came out and, you know, there was like somebody just like texted me a picture. I didn't even also did not know when it was gonna be published. They were like, yeah, sometime.
LC Johnson [:I'm like, yeah. Like, come on. Okay. I was like, can I get a date? A time frame? Can I get a tie can I get a a something in here? And so, they were like, yes. I'm not in January. So it was like the the, like, 4th day of January or something. And a friend of mine just texted me a picture of the cover. And she was like, okay, cover girl.
LC Johnson [:And I was like, what? I didn't even know and, like, I'm not gonna lie, the cover was a vibe. I was just like, okay. You know, and so it was really then I felt like I really got to celebrate it. You know? Like, I felt like I really got to celebrate it once, it became kind of public knowledge and people were so supportive, which was really, really incredible. And I think that type of affirmation, like, women of color leaders who are blazing trails, like, we need that. Absolutely. We need that affirmation. Like, people may think, oh, they're so confident they got it all together and it's like no like I still that type of affirmation and not even just the award itself, but the response of the I Those are the type of voices that can combat like other voices that may exist.
LC Johnson [:Absolutely. I mean, well one, that was a great
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:way to start the new year. Like with,
LC Johnson [:you know, you being on
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:the cover. But to your point, I think people think, oh, you've arrived or you've gotten to this level, and you're it's smooth sailing. But I can speak for myself and say I often question, like, why am I here? Why am I really doing what I'm supposed to be doing? You know, you always have this, like, assessing that's why you're doing your purpose. Right? And I'm sure that would be the same for you. And then maybe having the health challenges, you're like, okay. Am I taking on too much? Am I doing too much? You know? But then they have that confirmation, like, you're still on the right path. That's right. And and leading in a way that I've never seen before.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:And so, like, I'm a fan girl. I'm a part of you. I mean, I sent you the thing or in our little group chat, especially when you wanna put Kelly Clarkson show, which we're about to talk about. I'm like, look at our our girl. Like, in our little yahoo group and everybody's like, oh my gosh. The everybody's tuning in. Some people came to the viewing that was here. Yes.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:I mean, you are, like you you have everybody smiling and so supportive and just excited for where you're going. So can you tell us a little bit about the Kelly Clarkson show, how that came about and that experience? And then you were in the Dispatch right after that and so I mean, you've been on like a like a tour.
LC Johnson [:Been on my little line. Lot. My little bootleg press tour. Sponsored by myself.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:I am the agent. You're
LC Johnson [:My people, I am my people. Please just call me directly. And so, yeah, no, that was, so I was able recently like flew to New York to be featured on the Kelly Clarkson show. You know, and it was just a really surreal experience. I was so nervous which is really funny because people who have watched the show they're like you can't even tell you were nervous. Yeah. And I'm just like well I was. You know I was so nervous to have that opportunity but again I think to be able to speak about Zora's House on that national platform, I think really just speaks to the fact that this is an idea that is even on a national stage there were so many people, we got so many responses from all over the country that were like, I wish I had a Zora's house here and this is so cool and when when will you guys come to X City? And I'm like listen I'm still trying to potty train my toddler, okay? Y'all gonna have to give me a couple years.
LC Johnson [:But it was it was just such a really surreal experience. And I will say you know something that I've been grappling with since coming back, and you kind of mentioned like, oh yeah, you are the dispatch, and Columbus CEO, and then Kelly Clarkson. And it is something that sorry, Ira even come in. I wanna pause and then you can. I don't want I'd be standing on the porch for, like, the next 15 minutes. You know, something that I've kind of been grappling with, you kind of mentioned, like, oh, there was Columbus CEO and The Dispatch and The Kelly Clarkson Show. Is that that I do feel that there is a hyper visibility of black women's leadership in a way that is can be challenging if it's not met with the same amount of support. Right? And so it's like it was really, I remember, like a couple weeks so I posted something on Linkedin where, you know, it was a couple days after Kelly Clarkson and it was like I was on this high and everybody was like Elsie like you're so amazing and you're a trailblazer and you're doing this and you're doing that.
LC Johnson [:And you know I started off the year in a really low place because last year was super exhausting and stressful. We were realizing that within the campaign that we were having to jump through hoops that other organizations weren't having to jump through. That we were having folks who were, you know, giving us like a a percentage of what they typically give to a campaign. We were experiencing people who would make a minimal investment in Zora's House but then would have put us like on the front of their like, you know, report, their diversity initiative, their commercial. And it's like, you know, and and all of that took a toll. Yeah. All of that took such a toll and I remember at the end of last year I was just like crying and I was like I'm so exhausted. I'm so exhausted because I feel like we are working so hard and the fact that, you know, our campaign is one of the few campaigns that has happened in this community that has gotten over 90% funded without a lead sponsor.
LC Johnson [:Without a lead without, a lead sponsor. Right? Nobody to write the like big check. Yeah. And I just I just I'm gonna leave that here for people to sit with that and wonder like why that is. And what that means for a black woman who is trying to do something that has not been done before and to constantly be having to do more. You know that adage like you gotta work twice as twice as hard to get half as hard and that has never felt truer. And so it was a really interesting moment where I was seeing myself in all these places and getting all of this like verbal reassurance, but the actual support that I was asking for, can you fund me? Can you make this introduction? Can we figure out how to, you know, work around some of the older ways that you've done things that aren't accessible to a smaller organization, right? Like those things weren't happening. Yeah.
LC Johnson [:So it's like you cannot make black women hyper visible and then still not give them the support that they want. I great. Thank you so much for this award it means a lot But what I really want is to be done with this campaign so I can rest. Absolutely. Right? And so it is like I haven't talked about that a lot publicly because I think it it can be really challenging when people are like oh my gosh you know, we see you and you're killing it and you're this and you're that And it's like, man, like, I'm so visible, but I'm still not getting what I need.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:Absolutely. And thank you for sharing that. I think people need to hear that. Right? And as a funder and well, before I say what I was gonna say, I wanna say that when we were here one time and we were meeting and you were like, can I ask some questions? Because I don't know how to navigate this. Right. Right?
LC Johnson [:I was like, how does this work? Yeah.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:And and you were like, I don't have anybody, you know, telling me. And I was like, okay. Well, I could walk you through this process. Right? And, you know, and I'll navigate you to this extent that I can through, how we fund things at the county. And I think and why I love working with the 2 commissioners that I have, is that I think they get it. They really get it. I love that I can come to work and, and and have an administrator who's like, oh absolutely. We're gonna put more money in the hands of black and brown, organizations and businesses because we know historically they are not funded, that they do have to jump through hoops only get a check for like $25,000 where we historically, we have these legacy organizations who don't have to perform or do nothing and then they still get a $1,000,000 or 2,000,000 dollars.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:Right? And their work isn't even half as transformational. I'm not saying that it's not needed in the community, but what you're trying to do is transformational and it has not been done. And so they get it. And so we try and work really hard to remove barriers, but we see we see it. And and obviously people come to us for capital campaigns and there usually is a lead. There is a I'm not gonna call out, companies, but there are usually, you know, companies who write a $2,000,000,000 check or whatever, and it's like use this as leverage. And and that's unfortunate. That's unfortunate, that we deserve to be invested in at the same levels or if not more than other organizations that have had history in this community, but don't have a equity lens that perpetuate at times, the barriers that we're trying to overcome and they continue to put barriers in in place.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:And so I'm sorry that has been your experience.
LC Johnson [:Yeah. You know, some of the the pieces of it, Zora Neale Hurston has this quote that I love and I referenced in the LinkedIn post in it. She says, if you're silent about your pain, they'll kill you and say you enjoyed it. Absolutely. Right. And so I look at these smiling articles and these awards and I'm like but I won't be silent though. Like I'm not gonna be silent about the other part of this because that's important. And the other thing that I don't want to happen is that I don't want other black women or women of color coming behind me and for somebody to say like, oh, LC did it so why can't you? No.
LC Johnson [:Like because what you're not about to do is use my journey and make it sound like it was this smooth and easy pathway so that anybody should be able to do it. I wanna make sure that I am very vocal about and transparent about what this experience is like, what it takes and some of the barriers. So that what other women of color who are doing something similar don't feel like they're alone or feel like, damn how come LC's figured it all out? I'm like, I'm over here struggling. Success story. What will ultimately be a success story to leverage it against other women of color and say well like this person did it like you should be able to do it. That path behind me is rocky.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:Yeah.
LC Johnson [:It's thorny.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:Come on.
LC Johnson [:It is not smooth. Right? So anybody coming behind is like there are still shards on the on the ground. On my
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:come on my head.
LC Johnson [:And people need to see that and people need to know that. I love that.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:I love that you said that and I love that we can have this conversation, because I hear all the time, you know, and and and, I will say Dayla knows because I can come in the office and I'm like, I'm not good today or I could cry. And, because I could say to someone, you know, it's hard and there are times when I wanna put it and people will be like, I mean, you know how many people would kill you where you are? It's so dismissive. And then I have to say now, you know how many it would kill people to be where I am. They don't know what it takes. They don't know the sacrifice, but they don't know what I have to go through to be here. Right? Oh. The racism, the the sexism, the ageism or reverse ageism, to be in this space and then all that I have to do every day to show up. I always have to prove
LC Johnson [:That's right. Every day. That's right. That I
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:deserve to be here, right? Where other people just need to pass. That's right. It's expected. It's not easy. And I talk about being the 1st black woman elected to be in a space and that I won't be the last. But to your point, I don't want people to be like, well, Erica did it or he did it. You know? I mean, clearly you could do it too and it's like, wait a minute.
LC Johnson [:That's right. You will not do that.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:You won't do that to me or you won't and you won't do that to the person coming behind. We lift as we as we climb, but what are you doing to make sure that the person that is coming behind doesn't have to go through all
LC Johnson [:That's right.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:Hoops. That's right. That don't have to step on a glass. That's right. Are you here to make the path?
LC Johnson [:You sweeping? Who's sweeping?
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:Right. Right.
LC Johnson [:Who's sweeping? I'm walking. Somebody else gotta be sweeping. Right.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:And so, you know, I'm gonna ask you, you know, when it when you think about what leadership looks like and aspiring females who wanna be, you know, in nonprofit or or lead lead, any type of organization or agency, what advice would you give them?
LC Johnson [:Are you guys time checking or Yeah. Well, I was
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:gonna say this might be just be a good way to wrap up. Mhmm. Okay.
LC Johnson [:Good. I I saw the little leg ups. You know me, Erica, come here.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:Come here
LC Johnson [:all day. You're like, yeah, now what next? What else do you wanna talk about? Okay. Where's the wine? Questions are out the way. Questions are out the window. Wine bottle has emerged. Okay. Alright. You need to read me that I told
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:you, and
LC Johnson [:I just forgot what you asked me.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:How about Sprint? Right. So for aspiring, young women and girls who are looking to, either lead a nonprofit or just be in leadership or just be who they are and be that authentically every single day. What advice would you give them?
LC Johnson [:That's such a good that's such a good question. And, you know somebody asked me recently, what, she kind of said she was like, Elsie, you know, I feel like there's some audacious in you. Like what's what has like fostered that? And you know one, I grew up with an audacious mom. Right? So like I grew up my mom was a trailblazer in her field, super brilliant, smart, like didn't really take no for an answer, wasn't really afraid of anything or anybody. And I remember my mom always saying, not just to me but to other people who would question whether or not she was capable of doing something and she would say like well have somebody done it? And they'd be like well yeah I mean somebody's done it before like well then I can do it. If somebody's done it then I can do it right? And I just remember always kind of like hearing that and that kind of like instilled in me this belief that like, oh, if somebody's done it, like, I can do it. Right? And even like done a version of it. They don't need to have done exactly what I'm doing.
LC Johnson [:You know, and I now get the privilege to be that somebody for other people. But I remember growing up that was something that was a big part of, our our understanding, the culture of our who saw something in me that I didn't see in myself, right? That like I that who could mirror something back that like I wasn't able to articulate or you know or or even really see right? That like I remember when I met my husband like, we met at like this event and after the event, we ended up talking for like 3 hours, right? And it was just we like shut down the building, we just were like talking about bugs, talking about life. It was so cool. And I remember like that night he was just looking at me and he was like man, like you're really special. And we didn't start dating for months months but like even as a friend in a platonic way and he didn't just say it to me. When we, I remember like his boss was like hiring for this like higher level, opportunity in their org. And I was just like I can't. I'm not going
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:to apply for that.
LC Johnson [:And I mean this man had literally known me like 2 days. And I remember hearing him say to his boss, you need to interview her. You're not going to find somebody else like her. She's special. And so to have somebody who like not only saw it but would voice it not just to me but to like other people. And he has kind of like maintained that like idea that like wow you're really special there's something that's really special about you. You know and my husband's a very like practical person so you know he's a very like practical person so for him he's just like I mean clearly you're special it's not even you know and so I think just like having met people in my life, who saw something in me, and and that's really what Doris House seeks to be to like bring it full circle, right? It's like that space that like sees it in people when they don't see it, right? The the here you can find that person who you can talk with, you just met and you talked with for 3 hours and at the end of it they said, there's something special about you. Right? You can meet that person here.
LC Johnson [:And to be able to do that I think, is something that's key for any black woman, or woman of color who is interested in leading. Is to find those people and those places that pour into us the way we pour into others. I love that.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:I say that all the time when I'm asked like what would you say to, young women and girls? I'm like find your village.
LC Johnson [:Right? Immediately. Right? Immediately.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:Do not pass down.
LC Johnson [:Right. Or like That's right.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:Don't. And you may do it without them. Like, you
LC Johnson [:don't want to do
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:That's right. Without them.
LC Johnson [:That's right.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:Because they will be the the air, the breath that you need sometimes, and you will be that same thing for them.
LC Johnson [:Yes.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:And so I can say that every time I've stepped in this space, I have always felt seen. I always feel like you make me feel special. Like, there is something special about me. There's something unique. And then I've seen how you interacted with other people, and you you point that out with everyone. And you might not say, oh, this is the special thing, but you need people move, touch, and inspire. There is absolutely something special about you, girl. You are badass, and I thank you.
ommissioner Erica C. Crawley [:I appreciate you. I appreciate all that you are doing in our community. I can't wait to come to the ribbon cutting. I can't wait to be continue to be in this space and in the next one and see people travel from all over to see what's special about Zora's House, and why we need these in every community. So thank
LC Johnson [:thank you.
