Lacey Johnson

The Smithsonian’s ‘Watching Oprah’ Exhibition: A Fascinating Emblem of How Winfrey Shaped American Culture

Written by Lacey Johnson | Dec 28, 2018 | Arts & Entertainment, Diversity | 646

It was early 1984, in the era of after-school specials and the Reagan administration. An ambitious, ripe and relatively unknown television correspondent by the name of Oprah Winfrey was hired to host A.M. Chicago, a dwindling half-hour local morning talk show. Within a week, there was a shocking upsurge in its ratings. No one could identify exactly what made the 30-year-old fledging journalist so endearing, but there was something about her that intrigued viewers—grabbing them by their collars, pulling them to the edge of their recliners, and demanding that they put down their coffee and watch. In one month’s...

The Power of Living From Your Gut: An Enriching Q & A With Robyn Youkilis

Written by Lacey Johnson | Dec 20, 2018 | Health & Beauty, Spotlight | 118

She’s a bestselling author, a celebrated speaker, and a hustling entrepreneur with a booming health coaching practice. Her expertise has been spotlighted on The View, The Today Show, in the pages of Cosmopolitan and People, and she has graced dozens of podcasts with her language of wisdom. Wellness is her arena, straightforward is her style, and the connection between digestive health and the intuitive hemisphere is her beloved niche—one she is most fascinated by and continues to study earnestly. In this thoughtful interview, Youkilis stands atop her most passionate soapbox to answer questions about every facet of wellness—from the...

Celebrity Nutritionist & Bestselling Author Kimberly Snyder Invites You to Her ‘Feel Good’ Revolution

Written by Lacey Johnson | Dec 17, 2018 | Cover Stories, Health & Beauty | 1017

It started with a simple idea. A young nutritionist burrowed inside the kitchenette of her modest studio apartment in New York City, blended some fruits, vegetables and other ingredients together, creating a vibrant green concoction, and decided not to keep it to herself. Naming it her “Glowing Green Smoothie,” she published it to her blog and blasted it out to her modest readership, void of agenda or expectation. Five shares soon turned into 5,000 shares and, before long, wellness-seekers were migrating from all corners of the internet to try it, syndicate it to their followers, and post pictures of...

Anxious, Overworked & Unfulfilled? This Psychologist Says Self-Monitoring Is the Remedy

Written by Lacey Johnson | Dec 17, 2018 | Empowerment, Spotlight | 125

In the wake of celebrity overdoses and suicides, and social media manipulating nearly every angle of our lives—from our conversations, to our meals, to our wardrobes, thereby seeping into the fabric of our personal and professional paradigms, Dr. Kevin Gilliland wants to help us reclaim possession over what is ours. A clinical psychologist and Executive Director of Innovation360, an outpatient counseling service with locations in Dallas and Austin, Texas, Gilliland has become one of the most sought-after mental health experts for elite media outlets such as People and Inside Edition, but that’s not what he is most fired up...

‘Shark Tank’ Contender Daymond John Gets Candid About His Private Moments to the Top

Written by Lacey Johnson | Aug 10, 2018 | Cover Stories, Success | 579

It was Good Friday 1989. Standing on the pavement outside of the Colosseum Mall, on the corner of 165th Street and Jamaica Avenue in Queens, New York, a 20 year-old tried to be discreet as he examined his wad of cash. He thumbed through the crumpled bills, counting them and smoothing them out one-by-one, disbelieving that he was turning a $40 fabric purchase (funded by long hours spent working at fast-food restaurants and busing tables), coupled with days buried in his mother’s basement while curled into a sewing machine, into $800 worth of hat sales. But he knew it...

Woolworth on 5th: This Iconic Southern Eatery Welcomes All to Sit at Their Table

Written by Lacey Johnson | Aug 8, 2018 | Diversity, Food | 117

“A lady named Francis came in to show me where she was when a white woman put a cigarette out on her arm,” says Tom Morales, successful restaurateur and Founder of TomKats Hospitality in Nashville, Tennessee, while attempting to convey the sense of purpose and responsibility he holds for his most recent venture — the renovated Woolworth on 5th. “She still has the scar from it, too. But when I took her to the lunch counter and showed her around the restaurant, she was all smiles.” Although the majority of Nashville residents likely remember the 30,000-square-foot building at 221...

Self-Love Expert Lori Harder Wants You to Harness Your Tribe & Soar

Written by Lacey Johnson | Aug 7, 2018 | Empowerment, Health & Beauty, Spotlight | 85

In a tiny town in Michigan, there once lived a girl who had dreams too big for the labels she had been asked to hide behind. Her childhood was laced with anxiety, religious oppression, and the ache of unbelonging. Some days she escaped the pain and teasing with binge eating. Other days she amplified it with thoughts that tormented her, hissing, “You’ll never be good enough.” She wanted to be one of those girls — the desired and invited ones. The ones granted a seat at any table of their choosing. But under the layers upon layers of bullying...

Cactus Moon Retreat in the Mojave Desert Has Become a Magical Place for Thousands

Written by Lacey Johnson | Aug 7, 2018 | Travel | 339

How does a born and bred New Yorker, who is accustomed to its swarms of bodies filling the subway, its ambitious spirit and its frenetic pulse, come to be one who creates an atmosphere of serenity in the high desert of California — where the yucca plants are abundant, and the rabbits scurry across the terrain in meditative quietude? “I came to Southern California 27 years ago and I didn’t get it at first. I missed walking amongst people in the street. But I learned that there is a different kind of energy — one where people come to...

CEO & Founder of Lovesac Offers Stunning Advice for Every Entrepreneur

Written by Lacey Johnson | May 8, 2018 | Business, Spotlight, Success | 93

A little more than a week after graduating from high school, an 18 year-old Shawn Nelson was reclining into his newfound freedom, lounging on the couch one summer morning, watching “The Price Is Right” while munching on a bowl of Captain Crunch. Wouldn’t it be funny to make the world’s largest bean bag, he thought. The idea popped into his head in an unremarkable way, much like most ideas do. Except, rather than letting it pass over him like a cloud, he asked that it loop back through a few more times before, finally, reaching up and grabbing a...

Producer Tony Brown Is Asking the Biggest Names in Music History to Take a Seat

Written by Lacey Johnson | Apr 27, 2018 | Arts & Entertainment, Spotlight, The American Dream | 125

The year was 1975. Elvis Presley and his band members were gathered at his Palm Springs, Calif. ranch home, playing through some of his most beloved gospel songs. During a short break, Presley turned his attention to his newbie pianist, 28 year-old Tony Brown. Brown had recently transitioned from his first major gig with the Oak Ridge Boys to play with The King, who he recalls as being “the most beautiful, coolest cat I’d ever seen,” and “someone who never quite figured out he was Elvis Presley.” Presley called out to Brown without warning, asking, “What are you doing...