Growing up lower-middle class meant her and family were limited to resources. A child of separated parents meant she spent most of her childhood with her mother. She grew up watching her mother struggle. It was years of living in small rented rooms, hotels, and shelters for some time. Because of the constant displacements, Johanna was constantly moving elementary schools meaning she was always the new kid. Moving from school to school meant she never really had friends that stuck. She was bullied for most of her childhood years and was always considered the weird kid. But despite that she was always a joyful child. She was never afraid to be loud and outspoken. Johanna never let it stop her from being herself.

Her parents were her biggest inspirations. Coming to a country to make a better life for themselves. Her mother eventually found a way to create a better life for not only her but her family. She started working in her dream field, cosmetology. Which made Johanna feel supported in her passions and dreams of acting and art in general. Johanna’s father always pushed her to do exactly what she dreamed of, and always pushed her to dream big.

She’s always known she wanted to perform and somehow be involved with something artistic. She’s always loved the spotlight. Ever since her first musical “Annie” in 3rd grade, she’s always felt like she was meant for something big. From playing dress up every year on Halloween because it meant she could play a new character, to being in choir, to doing all the fun plays in elementary school, having a solo on the recorder, joining the talent show, to doing scenes and skits with her sister in her room. She’s even styled models for photoshoots, dappled in the position as a DP on set and has also been a freelancer Make Up Artist. She always loved performance and being on stage. She discovered that being on stage meant she could be loud, she could be free and most importantly she could escape her reality for a little bit.

If there were three words used to describe Johanna it’d be loud, ambitious and empathy. She’s always created a negative connotation to the word loud, up until reaching adulthood. She grew up being silenced or quieted the majority of the time. But, for her, being loud means projecting her voice and ideas. It means she’s passionate and she cares. Tying into the next word, ambitious. Johanna’s ambition comes from knowing how hard her mother has worked to be where they are now. Her mother set the example of what it looks like to raise a child with minimal help or resources. It has pushed Johanna to strive for higher and works hard to achieve her goals and she won’t stop until she’s satisfied. Lastly, her empathy. She’s had to learn how to manage this quality and it has been one of the hardest lessons to learn. But it has also taught her how to be more human, how to be more open minded. To be kinder, and remembering that not every story looks like hers, to let go of her ego, to not judge. And most importantly, to love.

Johanna prioritizes spreading love, kindness and joy into the world because she believes that everyone deserves to feel loved and to feel joy. She knows what it feels like being the odd one out. With all her pain came an imagination full of creativity and the ability to make the best out of every situation. She realized she could be in charge of creating a different reality and being able to live through those realities on stage.