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Meet Singer Lysee J

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Elysia Johnson.

Elysia, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
The best way I can describe my journey as a woman and female artist is like the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy- I relate to that; all of it. I’ve been through a series of the most challenging times over and over and over in so many ways. Things I thought I could never overcome let alone even survive. However, it molded me into someone who is powerfully and vulnerably unstoppable so if anything, I am grateful. I think with people who have a pure and empathetic heart they sometimes need to go through incredible challenges to realize how strong and capable they are. I think we all have moments where we feel like David in David and Goliath. The odds are stacked against us and we have no idea how to come out on top. But we’ve got heart. We have desire. And when you push through challenges you never thought you could, that victory tastes sooo damn sweet.

So in regards my story, it is pretty unique. Growing up I always knew I wanted to be a singer. The only issue was, I was dealing with a lot at home (my parents separated before I was born and they divorced shortly after I was born. They were in a very public custody battle for the first ten years of my life (so much so that their case was in the newspaper and on TV) and I was painfully shy growing up. I was taught to shut down my emotions and cater to one of my parent’s needs, so growing up, there was no space for my wants, my thoughts, and my needs when it came to one of my parents. I grew up so shy that when family members came to the house I would hide behind my mother and whisper my responses to her, for her to then repeat for me. But…. what was interesting is that once I got going and felt comfortable in whatever room I was in, I would perform. I would put on shows acting, singing, dancing, and I would just come alive.

I knew I wanted to sing but from a young age, I was forced to grow up quick. I was incredibly empathic and intelligent so I knew by the time I was five years old that if I were to pursue music during my childhood years I would be incredibly unhappy. I would watch shows about teenage stars and how they were unhappy or turned to drugs and I thought “obviously because that’s not normal.” Because my childhood was chaotic (moving constantly, changing school eight times by the time I was in middle school, etc.) I knew I needed stability. The last thing I needed was more chaos… I knew from a young age that I wanted to know what it was like to go to high school, to go to prom, to have my first kiss AWAY from the public. I am a very private person so I knew this from the jump and acted accordingly. Plus, I wasn’t ready. I was living very much in fear and deep trauma that I needed to breakthrough over and over again to even make the decision to sing.

So that’s what I did. I lived as normal of a life as I could. I remember in high school they put on an American Idol type event and I remember walking across the quad in so much sadness because I wanted to sign up, audition, and sing so badly, but I just couldn’t do it. I was terrified. I was so fearful I would lose or someone would tell me I suck, or even worse, my peers would judge me and talk badly about me. And my heart and emotions were so fragile I would have absolutely cracked. And the funny thing is, I have an amazing voice! But I still lived in that fear. It didn’t make sense but that’s what trauma does to you, your mind, and your body. You do things that don’t make sense in order to feel some sense of safety and power until you heal whatever needs to be healed.

So I continued on this path until I was in my second year of College at a private university in California. I absolutely LOVED the school, the campus, the environment, my friends, and I was so in love with my first love at the time. However, my second year in college I noticed I was showing signs of depression. There literally was nothing wrong on the outside, my life looked perfect. Yet the things that used to bring me joy just didn’t anymore. Nothing brought me joy. And anyone who knows me knows I can light up any room I walk into with my infectious energy. I live big and love hard. I am always smiling and love having a great time.

What really got me is that growing up I went through so much tough shit. Like things no child should even bare witness to, however, I never allowed that to break me or my spirit. I kept my smile and turned to music. I became optimistic and just plain grateful for whatever was going right in my life instead of focusing on what I didn’t have. In a weird way, I actually thrived during this incredibly sad time in my life. I remember being so happy during these trying times because I simply chose to look on the bright side. So, knowing this, the fact that I wasn’t going through anything heavy yet I felt numb and dead inside was a huge wake up call for me. It was pretty alarming actually. So that December during Christmas break I told my mom I was quitting school to become a singer. MIND YOU, my mom is an incredible entrepreneur who went to Stanford University and my father is an incredibly successful businessman and engineer who went to Stanford AND Harvard. AND- They both had NO idea I could sing or that I wanted to.

So remember when I said I was shy? It was so bad I would stay home or sit in the car growing up and obsess over music. I’d sing and freestyle over and over but never shared that with a soul, including my parents. Needless to say, they were surprised (haha) but they always told me to dream big and that I could do and be whatever I wanted so this was an opportunity for them to back up what they taught me by supporting me on my own unique journey, which they did. Because guess what? We all have big dreams and we must honor them. It’s our duty to our spirit and soul. My parents were intelligent enough to know this, so I am eternally grateful to them for that. Because I felt so shy and insecure growing up, I knew 100% that I would not have gone for it without the support of my parents. Some people thrive under pressure and people telling them they can’t make it, and I am not one of those people. So I am so grateful to them for their unwavering support.

So that year I decided to leave school and that summer following my Sophomore year was one of the hardest seasons of my life up until that point. I felt so lost. Like I was walking through a forest but it was so foggy I couldn’t see my hand in front of me. I didn’t know where the hell I was going or how to get there. Then one day I got a call from a music producer. Turns out my father was at a fundraiser for Obama at the time and being the charming, social man he is, while he was working the room, he met a Music Producer who worked for SONY. His name was Automatic. Auto was working with several major artists at the time (He had worked with Pink, Christina Aguilerra, The Pussycat Dolls, Michael Jackson, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, and other well-known artists up until that point) so he didn’t commit to working with me but he did say that he would meet with me as a favor just to see what I could do and give me some tips to point me in the right direction.

So this one day in August about ten years ago, I was crying to my mom in my kitchen about how lost I felt and how much of a failure I felt like before I even started. Then Auto called—that same day within minutes of me crying to my mother about how lost I felt. We talked and had such a wonderful, energetic, inspiring conversation that I was so elated by the time the called end. I felt so comfortable with him. My energy had completely shifted and I was so grateful. I remember I went to my first Maxwell concert later that night and his performance was so moving, I knew I wanted to create that onstage for myself for others. It inspired me even more to just go for it. Seeing Maxwell on stage lit me all the way up and it just solidified that I needed to walk this path. As scary and alone as I may have felt, singing was the best decision I ever made.

Fast forward to this faithful day in September 2009 (Whoa I just realized how timely this is, as its September now) I drove down to LA with my mom to have a meeting with Auto. I remember feeling calm and yet a little nervous but I just thought “Here goes nothing!” So I walked into his studio and we chatted a bit and then he started playing some tunes on the piano. He asked me to sing and freestyle a song so I did. He told me this is the same test he gave Pink and Christina Aguilerra. He knew I had no formal training and that I was just a girl with big dreams to do music. So after that meeting he sat with my mom and told both of us how impressed he was with my natural abilities. He knew how to spot talent even if I had work to do and other things to learn. The raw talent and desire was there though. He was working on the music for the remake of Footloose at the time but he had that week off before he had to get back to work. So he suggested mentoring me and working with me that week to make my first EP and then shop it to all the labels he know, including SONY. So I jumped on that and the rest is history.

I stayed in LA about five days and we completed my EP in 4. I wrote, recorded, and he mixed and mastered one full song a day. Top to bottom. Which is pretty insane, haha, but I was ready and willing. That’s the thing about me when I am passionate about something, it’s all or nothing. I will spend all week working on something and forget to eat because I’m so lost in what I am doing. It was out of pure love and passion that I made this project, and you can tell.

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?
Everything was a struggle– the whole thing! Every day was a struggle–mentally, physically, financially, emotionally. However, it was great because I have always believed the music industry and the entrepreneur lifestyle supercharges you to one thing: How to overcome and win at LIFE, which is an incredible thing to learn. I get exhausted just thinking about it but the struggles you hear about the industry are true. People being dishonest in order to use you, men trying to manipulate you or take advantage of you, people having no integrity and breaking their word, people not caring about you and doing whatever they want instead, bars and clubs wanting you to bring in loads of people for your performances and refusing to pay you due to the “exposure” you were getting, people working with you and not doing their part, and more.

The worst was when I would perform at bars/clubs and I would have to work with the sound person they had already. I would give them super clear instructions on my music and also my levels during soundcheck, and without fail every show I had there were tech issues, sound issues, including the sound guy not paying attention and actually working the sound as I sang to match the levels. There were people who wouldn’t even play the correct tracks, which in turn made my weeks and months of prep look like I was an amateur, and worst, unprofessional. When I first started, I was like Beyonce with this shit, lmao. I took it SO seriously; I could not mess up. I refused to be anything BUT great. That pressure became too much though because I could never control everything. So I was constantly disappointed, let down, and felt defeated. Even when I had great performances I KNEW it could have been better.

I remember in March 2011, I released my first mixtape. I decided to have a mixtape release party which was my first big performance since I left college. I knew a lot of people from my school were curious if I was any good and wanted to see the hype. I approached a local Bar that I loved and decided to host the party and performance there. The max capacity was about 300 people and so I promoted this event for MONTHS. I spoke with every single person directly, no mass messages, and created the value for this show. I ended up reaching capacity the night of the show, with people driving hours to see me and some friends even flying in.

I had been rehearsing for weeks for this night. I was so excited to show my community all the hard work I had done over the year. I remember I went to my soundcheck that day and it was a little weird. The sound guy assured me he had all the levels correct and it would sound totally different once the room was filled. He also informed me that he wouldn’t be there that night, so literally no one qualified to run sound would be there. They had a DJ who would basically just press play and run the tracks and that’s it.

So the big night came, the place was at capacity, I had the Mayor of my city there, and some very high-level people/ business owners come through, along with friends, family, and members of my college. And the show was a complete bust. I did a 30 minute set and NO ONE could hear me, I could barely move or do any of my choreography without hearing feedback, and it was a giant mess. I was so heartbroken and what’s worse is that I spent SO MUCH time preparing for this and getting everyone there myself that it felt like a huge waste. What the worst part of it all is that I truly felt I wasted everyone’s time. And what’s unfortunate is that if someone was there to run sound like I had been told originally, all of this would have been avoided. I remember crying hysterically in the back of the bar while my mom and brother tried to comfort me. I felt so defeated, so embarrassed, and humiliated in front of everyone I knew and the people who didn’t know me but came to see what the hype was about. It was like watching your favorite underdog team that pushed through so many obstacles during the season just to lose the final second of the championship game–just heart-breaking. I felt horrible.

So yeah, that was tough haha. Another struggle I have personally had is actually doing this business. I would work 80 hour weeks for months just to save enough money to go to the studio to record music. I have been paying to do this out of pocket since I started. I have invested well over $75,000 for my career and that was money I had to EARN hustling and doing odd jobs first. Nothing was handed to me and I worked and also fundraised for part of it. In between producers, studio fees, vocal coaches, music lessons, dance lessons, piano lessons, music conferences, costs of mixing and mastering, music videos, travel, hair, makeup, outfits, etc., it’s a lot. I remember two years ago I was the executive producer on a music video for a song I did with a rapper and Snoop Dogg. The rapper was an independent artist just like myself so we fundraised and paid out of pocket just to shoot the video, which was like a $50,000 music video at LEAST (I think it was closer to $75K but I could be wrong). That’s when I knew I had become a boss and started making boss moves.

I remember I was left in the dark about how the video would be filmed when we would release it, and almost everything. It was about six months before I saw any edit of the video. Then I got a few days notice before the video dropped so I couldn’t even truly promote it on my end. I remember I was working 12 hours a day on top of commuting about 4 hrs each day working a conference in Anaheim when the video dropped. So on my breaks, I wasn’t eating and instead I was promoting the single and messaging every single person I knew asking them to support the video release. The same thing happened when I made a fundraiser for the cost of the music video. I raised 10K in a few months by creating an Indiegogo account, making a video to showcase who I am as an artist and why this project was important (which my brother filmed and edited for me) and I messaged over 200 people individually and personally to contribute, even if it was a dollar. I would be working 14 hours days and messaging 200 people on my break. So when people tell me they have struggled or don’t know how to hustle, I have no sympathy for them. The struggle IS a part of the business, it’s an enormous part of the journey.

What’s been really hard is doing almost everything myself. I have been my own promoter, choreographer, graphic designer, makeup artist, manager, agent, you name it. I spend 80% of my time on the logistics and 20% on the artist creative side when it should be the opposite or at least more balanced. So next I really need to acquire my team so I can do what only I can do best: which is sing, song write, and perform.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
So I am a singer, songwriter, and performer who is unafraid to get real. I love putting on a show, being confident, yet being powerfully sexy in a feminine and vulnerable way. I have so much to say with my words and my energy that you can put me in ANY room, and I will win over the crowd with who I am as a performer and artist. It’s actually hilarious because I am a pretty humble and grounded person in general yet when I perform, it’s like a new woman emerges. Friends who know me often are like “WTF just happened!” after they see me perform. They are like “Where did this woman come from?! You were giving me Beyonce vibes!” and that to me is the biggest compliment. I still have so far to go to ever truly be compared to one of the greats but it’s nice to know I at least have that fire in me that others can see as well.

What sets me apart from others is who I am and how I think. My goal as an artist is to embody the divine feminine and bring women back to their innate power- their true power. Stop giving a fuck what other people say, stop worrying about how you look and be authentically and powerfully YOU. Our society has really skewed ideas of what it truly means to be a woman and most women (and people) have lost sight of who they are at their core, at a soul level. I am here to be that spark to start asking questions that make you challenge yourself, and step into who you truly are.

What is interesting is that I always thought my mission is life was to solely be a singer and songwriter. Then last year it was revealed to me that I was a healer. I had been doing healing work on myself and others my entire life without even realizing it. I would feel drained after friends would vent to me and dump on me. Then they would feel so great and light afterwards while I felt sick. That’s because I was transmuting their pain for them and taking it on as my own without realizing it. Strangers would always come up to me and tell me their innermost thoughts and struggles, and in my mind I was like “ Umm, I am just trying to enjoy my day why are you telling me this” haha. I would have so many prophetic dreams and then weeks or months later that same scenario would happen. I would even get feelings or senses that things would happen and then the exact scenario I sensed would happen the next day. It was wild. Back track to about five years ago I went through a horrific break up (it was seriously like a telenovela it was so scandalous and dramatic while unexpected) so it rocked me to my core. I felt drawn to spirituality work as well as ancient rituals. So I started studying them. I studied ancient healing modalities and rituals.

Then this year I became a Toltec Shaman. I literally feel like superwoman now. I’m a shaman by day, working with people and especially women on how to process and transmute trauma, limiting beliefs, and blocks (while also providing spiritual mentorship, psychic readings, and energy healing) and then I’m this sensual, vulnerable, bold singer by night. It’s so cool haha. And what’s even cooler is that I couldn’t wrap my head around doing both at first and then it was revealed to me in a meditation (and confirmed by many other healers I work with who saw this themselves) that I am meant to do both. My shamanism wisdom is going to pour into the music I create in the future, and my music and singing ability is going to pour into my one on one sessions, workshops, and retreats that I lead. It’s such a beautiful life purpose that I often have to pinch myself at how dope this is. I am truly living the best of the two worlds I love most; the creative, and the expansive/healing. I struggled for ten years just to get to the point where I genuinely am doing what I love every day and I’m so fucking grateful for that. Truly.

So when you ask what sets me apart? It’s having wisdom beyond my years. It’s being willing to start conversations most people are unwilling to have. It’s being willing to look fear in the face and say “What’s good?!” It’s being willing to be fiercely honest and vulnerable with myself so I can show others how to do the same. The world is in deep need of some major healing and I was born to assist with that while healing myself through my own journey from trauma to peace and love. I want to be the voice for people who feel like they don’t have one. I want to teach women what a Goddess looks and sounds like. How does she operate during times of stress? Conflict? Sadness? How does she lead with her heart and intuition to create abundance? I am here to start a revolution back to love and personal feminine power.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I believe luck is when preparation meets opportunity. I also being in the law of energy, which is the law of attraction which is essentially the law of physics, meaning energetically speaking, you can create and thus manifest your own luck. I am an amazing manifestor and I have pretty much manifested so many of my dreams. From traveling all over the world (around 25 countries so far), to meeting my childhood idols Justin Timberlake, Babyface, and Beyonce, to touring the west coast, to having a song and music video with Snoop Dogg, to having amazing, powerful, transformative relationships (romantic, friendship, and business related) I feel extremely blessed and grateful. Yet I know I earned this. I fought for this. I worked so hard and failed so many times that I truly feel I have grown in such a way that has molded me into the champion that I am. I built myself up when I could have quit- so. many. times… When I could have invested in other things I chose to invest everything I had into myself. I am giving this everything I’ve got. I’m all in baby!

You see it’s not what happens to you in life that always matters the most, its how you handle it. It’s how you play the cards you are dealt. I can say with 100% integrity that I am so proud of the way I have shown up for myself and others throughout my life and career. Not everyone can say that.

I also don’t believe in bad luck. I believe in blessings or lessons. I believe in energetic frequencies and we all operate and omit them. So if our energy is off or in a lower vibration (anger, pettiness, selfishness, scarcity, fear), then we will attract negative experiences and people who aren’t empowered will think life is just happening “to them”. Well, that’s wrong. Life is an energetic exchange just like money, so you’re getting what you’re giving off. So its time to take ownership over the energy you give off and cultivate a vibration so high that nothing and no one can stop you. I actually look at all setbacks as opportunities to go inward and develop myself even more. If something isn’t working I ask myself why? Do I need to do something differently? Is it because I am attracting it and there are programs or limiting beliefs around this that I still need to clear? Or is this a test? Is this an opportunity to practice patience, love, discipline, standing of for myself, etc.? Its alllll about perspective honey. When you know how to reframe any and all situations. You got the sauce. You got the force, and you can do literally do and become anything.

It all depends on you and what you deem important. In regards to success and how I personally define it, If you were to ask me how I defined success when I first started at 20 years old, I would have said what society has ingrained in me over the course of my life. Lots and lots of money, a mansion, fancy cars, a husband, kids, and loads of plaques (Grammys, MTV awards, AMAs, etc). Now that I have seen the light, like actually seen the light of what matters, success is peace of mind. Success is having the freedom to do what you want when you want to. Success is creating YOUR life how YOU see fit in a way that works for you, honors you, and helps you thrive as a human being. I am not a material person because I’ve only seen the material weigh people down. I want to be light, to be weightless. I don’t want anything to have control over me. I travel the world and have seen more things and connected with more people than most will in several lifetimes. Success is knowing who you are, operating in integrity with who you truly are at a soul level, and creating relationships that support your growth while you support theirs. It’s reciprocal love. It’s creating a relationship with yourself that is so intimate, supportive, nurturing, and growth oriented that you thrive and can thus create that level of love and intimacy with others. It’s where you don’t have to put on somewhat of a show or airs to be around them, but rather they know you on a soul level, accept you, love you, and support you for who you truly are, and vice versa. It’s having enough money to do what you want when you want. It’s recognizing YOURSELF for your hard work and pouring dedication into your craft in such a way that others can’t help but notice and acknowledge it.

See, I used to experience what all “successful people” have experienced (which is part of why I am here to help clients with as well). I would get these amazing opportunities, achievements, etc., and I would feel absolutely no different afterwards. Imagine winning the lotto for like $50 Million and feeling NO different afterwards. It’s kind of a mind fuck. Yet that is a huge lesson in love, luck, and integrity. When you place success on ANYTHING outside of yourself, or better yet on any material THING (person, place, amount), you will never be happy. Nothing in life lasts forever and attaching your worth to that will keep you small in the long run. It will keep you in an ego loop and I am not here for that whatsoever. I left that behind. So success to me is how I am living now. I just spent the past three weeks in China and I remember walking through Hong Kong literally thinking how I am living my dreams. Do I own a home yet, no. Am I married? No. And yet I am so happy. I have never felt more fulfilled, and I trust the universe and my higher self SO much that I know these things will come in divine timing. So until then, I am enjoying every moment, and focusing on what I need to in order to get to where I want to be in the future. All I ask of myself is to keep going and continue pushing myself to grow everyday which I have. I am grateful, fortunate, and incredibly lucky.

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Image Credit:
Toni Nicole, Julianne Reynolds, Michael Mappala, Soulidified Project Photography

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