Today we’d like to introduce you to Elisa Johnston.
Hi Elisa, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Although I grew up on the California coast, I left home in my college-years to explore the world while doing humanitarian missions work. It didn’t prepare me for ten years in the rich and political suburbs of Washington D.C. where I “settled down” as a newlywed. I wanted to change the world, but I felt so trapped by both adulthood and a social structure that didn’t care about people. Overtime, I learned how to both make a difference from where I was and how to do it in a holistically healthy way. Now, I help other everyday people discover how to get involved in social issues–especially human trafficking–and empower them to be fully alive while doing so.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
For five years I felt like I was in a box. I struggled with depression and finding a place to belong–I was a fish out of water. Marriage was hard. So was mothering. I couldn’t seem to connect with any peers, which I didn’t expect to be a norm in American adulthood. Not only that, but as an activist, I was always angry at those around me who seemed indifferent and didn’t care about social issues. People only seemed to care about themselves. My early life was filled with such optimism and joy. But with kids toddling around me, malcontent seemed to my reality.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
In that season of malcontent, I start a blogging business, Average Advocate. I hoped to connect with others like me, who also wanted to make a difference in the world from where they were in everyday, adulting America. I didn’t become a famous blogger. But I did begin to connect with people. Through these connections I ended up working with others to start various organizations that made a difference. From sub-church ministries, empowering women’s coaching groups, to a local human trafficking non-profit, and county-wide needs-network and food program for local kids in need at neighborhood schools–I started seeing a trajectory of how to empower people around me to rise-up. And it wasn’t through being angry at them!
After moving to San Diego, I’ve continued to use Average Advocate to help others find ways to start making a difference through writing, coaching and speaking. As a small influencer, I use Instagram and my monthly newsletter to guide my readers. I also create downloadable resources. One of my favorites is the Kids Character Challenge, a simple guide for parents to teach their kids about social justice. I love coaching too, often using my Life Mapping Workbook to empower women to pursue being fully alive while making a difference from where they are. Recently I began walking my readers through the Five Phases of Rising Up, helping them see the stage they are in as they find where they best make a difference or how they are reacting to social issues. Everyone is somewhere in this process, so it is powerful to see my readers recognize where they are and what next steps they can take to move forward.
Something that has been slow and long in the making that came out of Average Advocate is Blackout Trafficking. (Quick note: slow isn’t bad–lots of mamas get deterred by this rather than recognizing it is okay to go at your pace, as life already has a lot going on!) Originally the Little Black Dress Project, we rebranded as Blackout Trafficking and this year turned ten years old! We run an annual challenge each March, empowering everyday people around the globe to do something about trafficking from their normal lives. We partner with organizations from San Diego to Dallas, New York, Tanzania, India, and Cambodia, fundraising and supporting these little orgs that so desperately need the manpower and support to do the good work they do. People choose one black item to wear through the month, and we teach them the basics of advocacy in the simplest way we can. Through this, we’ve raised over 100K, IDed trafficking victims, empowered survivors, taught prevention education, and created awareness about what this problem looks like. I love it and think it really fills a void in the nonprofit world.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
The coolest thing I’ve come to believe at the very core of my being is that it is everyday people who change the world. So often we think making a difference is something other people do. A few years in the hum-drum of life, we’ve lost our dreams to set the world on fire. We grow too cynical, insulated or overwhelmed to bother. Somewhere along the way we adapt a belief–especially women–that it isn’t worth trying. Changing the world is for the experts. The rich people. The politicians. The people who are “passionate enough.” But it isn’t for us.
That is a lie. We–the normal everyday people–are the ones who can band together and build a more equitable world, love others, bring life, creating good change.
Learning how to make a difference from my ordinary life changed my life. And then it began changing others’ lives too as they started believing the same thing, joining me.
Another lesson I had to learn the hard way was how to make boundaries, recognizing that I am not God. I can’t do everything and I am already loved/worthy without having to prove myself. About ten years into my “everyday world changer” journey, I burned out. I had to take the first year in San Diego to recover and relearn how to make a difference while valuing myself and my family as just as important as the work I was leading. This means I have to live with a lot of grace for myself and model this to others. My relationship with God, community, therapy, coaching and processing have all become parts of my own journey. I’ve pivoted a lot in my message too in order to put an equal amount of focus on pursing “fully alive”. I learned the hard way that giving without overflowing will drain us dry.
Pricing:
- Blackout Trafficking – $10 sign-up donation for March participants (which goes to our partners)
- Life Mapping Group (6-sessions for $95)
- Kids Character Challenge $7.99
Contact Info:
- Email: averageadvocate@gmail.com
- Website: www.AverageAdvocate.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/averageadvocate/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AverageAdvocate/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/averageadvocate
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/elisasue
- Other: https://BlackoutTrafficking.org
Image Credits
Michaela Jimenez
