Name: Janai

Social Media Handle/Username: Janai_J_

Introduce Yourself/Tell About Yourself: My name is Leanna Johnson (Janai). I’m originally from Jacksonville, FL but now I live in Nashville, TN and have been here almost four years. Moving here truly gave me the opportunity to take up my passions in the fashion and entertainment industry that I’ve had since I was a kid. I’m gifted in creativity and my purpose is to inspire and to create art in all its forms. I have many things that interest me such as cooking, painting, music, and basketball that I rotate throughout my life to maintain my peace of mind. I came from very humble beginnings and my family and I have made great strides to level up throughout our lives. Family is something that is important to me. I didn’t grow up around my extended family in Florida so it was always just us and we overcame a lot together. I’m very blessed to have my parents and siblings in my life because without them I wouldn’t be who I am today.

What Inspires You Every day? : So many things inspire me to move forward. A big one for me is music. Music speaks to me in a way that I helps me work through my problems and how to attack my goals. A few of my favorite artists are J. Cole, BTS (AgustD), Zauntee, and Kodak Black.
Music is my first love of art and it plays a key role in my life.
My family also inspires me to keep chasing my dreams. Growing up, I experienced a lot of struggle and I’ve also seen the rise from it. Often times I feel like I’m much older than what I am because of what I’m gone through, but because I am still young, it also reminds me of how much and how quickly we overcame our problems. It reinforces the fact that anything is possible. If we can get through homelessness, joblessness, lack of food, water and electricity, on multiple occasions, then I can chase my dreams and accomplish them. I have no choice but to succeed looking back at how far we’ve come.

What is some words of wisdom you live by?: It takes a village. Sometimes I find myself continually trying to do things on my own for whatever reason I may have. But something we as people forget is that it does take a village. No one person single-handedly gets to the top. Underneath the people at the top are the ones who enabled them to be there. It may be true that they initially started on that path alone, but in life there are people who make the road clear to walk on. Whether it’s your family encouraging you through dark times, that one person who constantly reposts your music or business, the man that gave you a shot when nobody else would, there’s always someone that pushed you along. We can’t forget that. I can’t forget that. No one is better than the next, we all just have different purposes. I’m very appreciative of everyone who’s ever encouraged me, shown my kindness, gave me a chance, everything. Each act helped me to get here now.

What is your ultimate goal in life? : My ultimate goal in life is to help people like me who didn’t have an opportunity when they were young to focus on developing their gifts to be able to do that and then their children be able to and so on.
I want to be able to provide a variety of opportunities to all people regardless of their gender, race, sexual orientation, etc., and also be a safe haven for people through my art.

What are your thoughts on people who seek attention on social media, and what message would you like to give them? : Honestly we all attention seek on social media. Some just want more than others. It’s the whole point of the apps. I personally don’t have any thoughts on the attention seekers because we also have the same people in real life
A message to the attention seekers, there’s nothing wrong with wanting attention on social media. Just be sure to keep real life in mind and in order as well. It’s up to you to keep yourself aware of what’s going on around you.

What are your thoughts about people’s behavior from experience, and how would you help them.? : People behave differently for a variety of reasons. Nowadays it’s more difficult to really keep that in mind so I would just tell people to just pick and choose their battles. Not everything is worth going through hard times or expending the little energy you have to fight. These days you can’t just trust other people to be genuine in intent. I’ve had to figure that out the hard way a few times. It’s not fun 0/10 do not recommend.
There’s no codes, rules, or anything that truly keep structure anymore, nor can you control people. Hone in on recognizing when someone isn’t being genuine and save yourself time and energy by walking away. It’s not easy to do sometimes, but if you can, do it, you’ll thank yourself when you heal.

What qualities, traits or lifestyle you live makes you different from others in the world? : I feel like a quality I have that makes me different from others is that I have a very open mind about life and reality. Im not off the deep end, but I don’t contain my thoughts on my perspective of life, it’s ever changing and evolving with encounters of new information, ideologies, and digging in the history of the world entirely. There are lots of things in the ancient civilizations of the world that connects culture to culture. There are certain beliefs I have that derive from beliefs of cultures I don’t belong to. In doing so, I feel more levelheaded and open minded in general than I think the average person is

What else would you like to tell others about you or your life?: I’m a mellow person and just get in where I fit in. I have small things that over joy me like butterflies, small animals, and the color black.
I love Italian and seafood.
Cooking is my favorite hobby.
I’m a producer and actress for a new TV show coming in June.
I model and make music.
I’m currently a manager at Empire Clothing in Rivergate Mall.
I soon want to design and create another black high fashion house.