Reba Johnson, a Poplar Bluff native and author of four books, has led an eventful life from her Southeast Missouri upbringing to preaching in Africa to working in New York City.
It has been a journey of tragedies, faith and self-discovery. It’s one that she will soon tell another part of in her fourth book, “Bullies In the Boardroom,” which focuses on how to make your voice heard.
Johnson began writing her story in 2011, with the hopes of leaving a piece of herself for her descendants and to inspire others trying to find their voice.
“I wanted to be able to leave an imprint for my grandchildren, and great-grandchildren and other people. I wanted to be a voice for other people. Some people have similar experiences, and I want them to know that it’s okay to be creative, courageous and tell your own story,” she said.
Johnson already has three books available on Google Books, “Roar Lioness, ROAR!,” “A Time to Move,” and “Go Team! How to Rev Up Your Awesome!”, but the most recent is actually the one she started first.
Johnson said her writing process was “a lot of interruptions.”
“It wasn’t the right time, is what it was,” Johnson said. “Sometimes we do things in the order we think they are to be, but then, when God rearranges it, it doesn’t always come out the way you expect.”
Johnson is currently an essential grandmother who helps take care of her grandkids.
She was also a caretaker for her elderly mother and experienced setbacks beyond the everyday busyness of supporting a family: there were three deaths and a nonfatal overdose in her family as she wrote. Her small business burned and she even lost the manuscript to “Bullies In the Boardroom” when her laptop went missing and her replacement crashed.
Johnson almost gave up on the book at that point.
“And so I thought, it’s not for me to write that book,” she said.
Johnson set “Bullies In the Boardroom” aside and kept pushing to tell other parts of her story. She used what she had learned about the writing process during her first book to fuel “A Time To Move” and her subsequent works.
“One (piece of) advice that I would (give) is to read your chapters out loud — to yourself or someone else, but read it out loud,” she said.
She also encourages writers to worry about the table of contents last, keep their writing space orderly and set aside concrete time for their work.
“You have to have uninterrupted, non-negotiable time of writing,” she said, adding hers was two hours in the evening with no phone or internet. She found jet flights to be ideal for this as well.
“A Time To Move” focused on the ways people in Poplar Bluff rallied around her family after the first fire that destroyed their resale store, Rosie’s, and the opportunities that come alongside upheavals.
“Roar Lioness, ROAR!” is a memoir of Johnson’s time teaching in Africa and “Go Team!” centers around her childhood in Poplar Bluff, the deep friendships she made with her fellow Mules cheerleaders.
“The ladies that I cheered with in seventh grade, I am still connected with them... during that time, across the nation, there was unrest in there, people still wanted the segregation. But during that time — that was 1975 — during that time, those girls became a part of my life and because they were so warm and welcoming to me, I never lost my connection with them,” she said.
The book also follows her path to learning to cheer for herself as well as others.
“I cheered for people all of my life. I’m going to be 60 in April, and it feels good for me to know that I’m valuable, that I matter,” she explained.
“Bullies In the Boardroom” is about how to make decisions both solo and on a team.
“It’s about how to maximize your seat at the conference table, and it doesn’t matter if your conference table is on your job, whether it’s at church or at school, or even just personal decisions that you’re making. You have to maximize your time that you have to make that decision in order to participate,” she explained.
The response to her first three books, which are available on Google Books, has been positive and they have seen some success according to Johnson. Her next publishing adventure will be self-publishing through Amazon for her fourth work. She currently lives in Lexington, Kentucky, but would love to return to Poplar Bluff for a book signing someday.
“I grew up there in Poplar Bluff and that’s where my family is. That’s where my family is buried, and it will always be home for me,” she said.