Meet Johanna — and the Spark Behind Biz Hero

I believe in businesses that nourish more than the bottom line. To me, economic development isn’t just about dollars — it’s about dignity, dreams, and designing systems where everyone has a seat at the table.

For over 15 years, I’ve worked across the spectrum of creative and community-centered economies — from small scrappy startups and solo artists to national nonprofits and multimillion-dollar companies. My career has never followed a single lane, and that’s by design. I’m as comfortable helping a BIPOC-owned healthcare startup scale from zero to six figures in six months as I am overseeing an eight-figure donor portfolio or writing strategic growth plans that boost solar companies’ sales by 65%.

At heart, I’m a storyteller. Copywriting, brand messaging, and big-picture strategic communications are often the first tools I reach for — because story shapes identity, and identity drives connection. Whether I’m writing public grant reports, producing cultural festivals, advising creative entrepreneurs, or launching a radio show, I use narrative to align people with their purpose and audiences with their impact.

I’ve advised city governments, led nonprofit initiatives, helped allocate millions in pandemic relief funds, taught hundreds of entrepreneurs, and still make time to host community radio and advocate for the arts. I once almost took a contract to write copy for a certain fast-food chicken brand — not because I liked their politics (I don’t), but because I wanted to practice the art of persuasion in complex, values-conflicted spaces. In the end, I chose a different path — one that centers integrity as much as skill.

Biz Hero is the business I needed when I first started. My entrepreneurial journey began with a community-focused event production company I launched in my twenties. We produced everything from cultural festivals to fundraisers for grassroots groups — blending creativity, logistics, and relationship-building in ways I didn't yet have language for. When that company closed in 2019, I didn’t know a pandemic was coming — or that the next few years would deepen my belief that business, when done with care, could be a form of healing.

Biz Hero is the next evolution. It begins with copywriting and strategic consulting, but it won’t end there. I’m building toward a suite of offerings: creative services, workshops, templates, collaborations — tools for entrepreneurs and organizations who want to grow with integrity and imagination.

This is business for the brave-hearted. Let’s build something better, together.

A woman with red hair and bangs, wearing a sleeveless blue lace top, is leaning over a fishbowl labeled 'Imagination' containing water and a rubber duck. She is adjusting the duck with her hand. A red fish plush toy is partially visible in the foreground. The setting is inside a room with patterned floor tiles.

Where Strategy Meets Story