I grew up in Michigan, the daughter of an entrepreneur. What was so amazing about my upbringing was that it taught me to just go for things in life and to JUST DO IT! I learned at a young age that I could recreate myself and offer specific services to people through my strengths. Even as a little girl, I had a strong entrepreneurial spirit.
My dad was always starting new businesses, which was great, and I learned a ton from him! But because of this, money was tight. No one on either side of my family had gone to college and when the time came to think about my education, I had to figure out a way to pay for it. Thus began my drive (pun intended) to start my first business!
I had a love for cars, so at the age of 13, I started buying used vehicles from the State of Michigan, fixing them up, and selling them for a small profit. The first state owned vehicle I bought was a bright orange, beat up El Camino! Do you remember those? I took that orange El Camino down to Earl Scheib and got it painted black for $99. I cleaned it up and sold it for $100
0. My first business was born!
Once I started flipping enough vehicles to pay my way through college at Michigan State University, I realized that selling cars was becoming a pain! I had to meet people I didn’t know, negotiate with them, and deal with all the paperwork to transfer the title. For a young girl, this was a little scary and dangerous. And it became very time-consuming when I was constantly going to meet people who didn’t show up. I had to figure out a solution to this problem.
So I simplified the process! My solution was the All-Michigan Auto Swap Meet. I rented a plot of land from the State of Michigan. People who were selling their vehicles came and rented a space from me on Saturdays. I advertised the event to people who were in the market to buy used vehicles and then took a cut of each sale. This business generated enough profit to get me through college!
The Auto Swap Meet was one of the first times I took something that was a good idea and also a bit of a burden, and I simplified it. Not only did I solve a problem for myself and a lot of other people, but I increased my profits, too! This was just the beginning…
Eventually I went on to college and got a degree is in Justice Morality and constitutional democracy. While in college I met my husband, Bret Johnson. We met a week after he transferred to Michigan State. After graduating, we jumped in my Honda and drove to California where I started as a paralegal. My goal was to pursue a law degree. In the meantime to keep myself busy, I started teaching fitness classes, and surprisingly… I was not good!!! Funny right! So I started taking classes from great instructors and learning what made them great. Eventually I did get hired and my classes started to grow. Around this same time, I started to really not enjoy being a paralegal. So I started a personal training outsourcing company teaching other trainers to train people at home. I also started teaching this class that I called 
TurboKick. It was a mix of hip-hop, kickboxing, and anaerobic drills. I started realizing that group fitness instructors were spending an incredible amount of time putting together their classes, and what if I did that for them!? So I started creating workouts and eventually Bret ended up leaving his job so we could work together to build this business. We started our certification company and we were teaching other instructors this crazy fun class I had created called TurboKick. Our business grew and we started to build a culture. Success unfortunately brought on such an overwhelming sense of obligation to so many people and I was unable to invest time in my family. My health and my relationships started to suffer. I found myself unhappy distant and not sure what to do and how to fix it.
So Bret and I created a blueprint to dissemble the prison I had built around us. We realized that we needed to sell our company to someone that could continue what I had created. Eventually we sold our company to BeachBody. We continue to work with them and we still are involved in making sure things follow our original vision. This has allowed us to live our lives! We now have our company Team Johnson in which we teach and help others to avoid the pitfalls we experienced. The Internet has allowed us to build a secondary business that has purpose and I can follow my calling and share what I’ve learned with other people. We now have peace, and are able to live the life we’ve imagined. We’re able to be present with each other and our kids.
My purpose – I found through my experiences as an entrepreneur that what I’m really passionate about
is helping people, and my gift and purpose is simplifying! I love helping people make their lives easier, happier, and more balanced by simplifying things that would otherwise be complicated. Whether that was helping people sell their vehicles, create fitness classes, or get in shape at home, it didn’t matter. My purpose was and is simplifying!
So I began teaching people my systems for simplifying their life. And as a result I’ve created tons of free trainings and online academy’s such as SMART Success Academy. I’ve created a business doing what I love — simplifying and teaching – and I feel like I’m living my purpose and a very fulfilling life.
SMART Success is one of our most successful programs. Smart Success Academy is an 8-week online course that teaches you the step-by-step process of creating your life by design. I teach you how to work less and make more. Bret and I have helped thousands of busy career men/women, seasoned entrepreneurs, new business owners, and stay-at-home mom’s and dad’s redefine success, escape the hustle and overcome the overwhelming trap of trying to do everything themselves…all while experiencing incredible career/business growth and living more. Start living YOUR life by design!
So what about you? Deep down, what is your purpose and passion? How can you apply that to where you are in your life now? How can you share what you know and help other people? How can you apply that to your business? And what shifts and changes are occurring in your industry that you need to stay on top of? While this might be a little overwhelming, and you might not know exactly where to start, the opportunities available to us today with the Internet have made it possible to build a successful business a thousand times faster than I did! It’s your turn! All you have to do is discover your passion and purpose, solve problems, and be aware of what’s going on around you!
If you’d like more help in this journey, I’d love for you to check out SMART Success by clicking HERE NOW!
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