Today we’d like to introduce you to Zakiyah Johnson.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Zakiyah. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’ve always enjoyed capturing people’s stories on camera to create something beautiful. I was ten years old when I conducted my first interview. I can still remember interviewing my Borchardt Elementary School Principal at the time, Betty King, on the morning news show. I admired her warm spirit; leadership and passion for helping students like me succeed. My passion for connecting with people and storytelling through video eventually led me to study journalism in college.
In May 2013, I graduated with honors from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor’s in Converged Broadcast Media and a dual minor in Political Science and Spanish. Currently, I work in digital marketing. Looking back on my educational career in Frisco ISD, there were many teachers that had a lasting impact on me, including my maternal grandmother and two aunts, all of whom are teachers and administrators.
Fortunately for me, I grew up seeing the amount of passion, energy and dedication they put into teaching. It gave me a unique perspective and appreciation for teachers. My late paternal grandfather also had a profound impact on me because he always stressed the importance of education. If someone had told me at age 10, that at age 27, I would launch my own website and education blog documenting the stories of outstanding teachers who are grooming the workforce of tomorrow, I wouldn’t have believed it. I hope that the community will find value and inspiration in my content because it’s refreshing, insightful and needed. Society does not celebrate teachers enough. My content aims to shed light on the education heroes of the community who are helping students build brighter futures.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Launching Teach Brighter took a lot of thought, research, and planning around content, infrastructure, and branding. But more so, it required me to be more confident in my skills and abilities. My decision to start creating my own original content from start to finish took some time, I felt like I needed to brush up on my skills before I decided to just go for it. I ended up seeking guidance from my former high school broadcast journalism teacher, Eva Coleman, who I absolutely admire. She always believed in me, and I knew she would offer the encouragement and honest feedback that I needed. In speaking with her, she told me to “own it.” Although I didn’t pursue a career in journalism, she told me that the gift of storytelling was always within me. Her words truly gave me that “extra” confidence and confirmation to take my craft to another level.
We’d love to hear more about Teach Brighter.
Teach Brighter is an education website and blog that I launched in May of 2018 to celebrate and recognize outstanding teachers throughout the year. It serves an insightful and inspiring resource for teachers, educational leaders, and the community. I interview Secondary and High School teachers of all disciplines and school districts. My interviewees share their teaching experiences, advice, best practices, and challenges. Many of them have won awards, and or have at least 15 to 30+ years of experience.
What’s the most important piece of advice you could give to a young woman just starting her career?
Networking with purpose is crucial. I have found that intentional networking holds a lot more value than meeting people once and never nurturing that relationship. What can you do for others? As you engage in conversations with potential mentors, active listening is huge because you always want to be thinking of ways to use your knowledge and skills to help them as well. In the process of helping others, I have had some opportunities along the way, many of them were unexpected. Lastly, as you develop key relationships, it is important to be authentic, keep an open mind and pay it forward.
Contact Info:
- Website: teachbrighter.com
- Email: contact@zakiyahjohnson.com
- Instagram: zakiyah_j
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Teach-Brighter-2130878313898571/?modal=admin_todo_tour
Image Credit:
Robin Jeffries (Reflections HD)
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
