In this episode of Art of Authenticity I had a thoughtful conversation with Bridgette Mayer Johnson, an author and professional artist with an incredible story of overcoming abuse.This episode really blew me away. Bridgette spent decades of her life cultivating her passion for art. She now advises people all over the world on art. But it didn’t start like that.Her childhood started in a very abusive environment. It landed her in foster care homes and on the street, starving, actually getting her food from dumpsters out of a window that she had to climb out because her mother had locked her into a one bedroom apartment with her five siblings. She wasn’t even able to actually go to school. Eventually she was placed and adopted family and she began her life at age nine, going to an incredible college, pulling herself out of this devastating childhood into a multimillion dollar art gallery business.

Thanks for ListeningAgain, thank you so much for your support! Please subscribe to the podcast if you haven’t already!Show Notes

  • Spent decades of her life cultivating her passion for art. She advises people all over the world on art [00:53]

  • How her childhood started in a very abusive environment. It landed her on foster care and on the streets, starving, getting her food from dumpsters [01:09]

  • How she wasn’t able to go to school [01:15]

  • How her life changed [01:22]

  • How her first connection to art and creativity was a bag of makeup her mom left in the bathroom [07:13]

  • How she was removed from the home [10:14]

  • How she went back and forth between foster care and her mother [10:35]

  • How she got adopted by a foster mother several hours away from her home. [12:03]

  • How her healing started when she was brought into the new home. [13:42]

  • How she catched up with her age group education wise [14:31]

  • How she realized the worst part was over [16:25]

  • How her adoptive mother realized she had to adopt them [17:15]

  • How she realized she wanted to be an artist [18:23]

  • How she ended up with her own gallery [20:45]

  • What her challenges were starting her business [25:45]

  • How she overcame her fear of public speaking [30:15]

  • How to find a niche [40:05]

More About Bridgette

Episode Resources