I got a pleasant surprise today.

The Standard Examiner newspaper did an article on me and I thought it would be running next week, but it was in today’s paper.

As I saw the email this morning with the news, I was filled with nervousness and excitement because I wasn’t sure what the video interview would be like. I saw the article and the writer did a fantastic job. Yet, there was part of me that was nervous. My story, including my challenges over the recent years, are now open for the world to see. I’ve revealed my true self with nothing to hide.

I told myself to keep breathing…

This article is just the beginning of me sharing my passionate message with the world. My message that anything is possible and moment to moment the only thing we need to do is choose to move forward. Even when things seem too hard. Even when it’s hard to get back up again.

This is dedicated to the brave women before me who have shared their stories and their lives to enrich the lives of others and give us hope.

Thank you to Deanne who did a beautiful job writing this.

Challenges fail to extinguish woman’s light

Struggling through depression, an eating disorder, a loved one’s drug addiction and a job layoff are enough to cause almost any woman to give up hope, but not former Morgan County resident Angela Johnson.

“I was done settling and knew there was more to me,” said Johnson, a Utah State University graduate.

“I tapped into my power. I had a message that needed to be told.”

What came out of Johnson’s desperate, “numb fog” was a light, a light Johnson chose to keep burning when she created Illuminated Woman a year ago.

Some have said Johnson created the women’s empowerment organization after hitting her personal rock bottom.

“Angela’s amazing,” said friend and author Bridget Cook. “She’s been through a lot and come out the other side.”

But creating something out of nothing is a phenomenon Johnson had witnessed plenty times before — and it was something she was determined to perpetuate.

“I saw my mother do whatever it took to make sure we had food on the table, clothes, education and presents to open on Christmas,” Johnson said on her blog about her young adult life while living in Mountain Green.

“At the time, I didn’t realize how good she was at creating miracles out of what appeared to be nothing. My grandma had that same gift of creating miracles out of nothing.

“These powerful women have inspired me to jump off the edge of the cliff, knowing I can fly.”

Now 20 speakers, including Cook, are ready to join Johnson in taking the same message to Utah women.

Illuminated Woman is sponsoring the Ignite Your Spark Women’s Conference on Feb. 26 and 27 at the Salt Palace Convention Center.

Already, 100 women from across the U.S. have signed up, and Johnson expects an audience of three times that.

Lisa Nichols — best-selling “Chicken Soup for the Soul” author, teacher from “The Secret” movie and “breakthrough specialist” — is the event’s keynote speaker.

The conference will feature other speakers who will appeal to women of all types. They include entrepreneurs, those interested in improving personal health and wellness, and women dedicated to motherhood and families.

The idea behind the conference is “women can change the world by first changing the world around them,” said Johnson, now living in West Jordan.

And women are the perfect people to take on such a charge, Johnson said.

“Women follow intuition. They are typically more open to change. They are often the change-makers.”

Practically nothing can stand in a woman’s way when she is ready to remove oppression and other roadblocks, Johnson said.

“A woman’s power is not like a bulldozer. It is the power of grace.”

It is a power perfectly suited for the business world, said Johnson, who holds a bachelor’s degree in graphic design, journalism and marketing.

“Women accept that their personal and business life are all intertwined,” said Johnson, who began entrepreneurship with a jewelry business called Intention Jewelry.

“I didn’t know the nuts and bolts of how to run a business, and was nervous and shy,” she said. “Other networking groups weren’t resonating with me, so I decided to start my own.”

That was two years ago.

Today, Johnson’s Biz Divas, with chapters in Salt Lake City and Orem, has attracted 300 women and helped them perfect business plans, pitch their businesses and market their products and services.

“I’m fortunate to love what I do,” Johnson said. “I love empowering women.”

To register for the Ignite Your Spark Women’s Conference, visit http://igniteyourspark.com.”