Pushed Into Purpose: How Grace Johnson-Wright Found Destiny in Dance

 

Life has a way of preparing us for our purpose- even when we least expect it. For Grace Johnson-Wright, founder of Neema Dance Collective, that preparation began at just four years old, twirling around her home in the DMV area before her mother enrolled her in formal dance training. But even with decades of experience as a dancer and instructor, owning a dance studio was never part of her original plan.

At sixteen, she started teaching dance- an opportunity that came not from personal ambition, but from a teacher who saw something in her. By the time she was graduating high school, Grace had scholarships lined up and every reason to pursue a professional performance career. But deep in her heart, she knew that path wasn’t for her.

“My senior year, my heart wasn’t calling me to perform,” she recalls. “It was calling me to do something else.”

That “something else” wasn’t fully clear at the time. She went on to earn a degree in biology, followed by a master’s in public health, and spent a decade working in the healthcare industry. She was instrumental in designing systems that made healthcare spaces more inclusive and accessible- skills she didn’t know she would later apply to running a business of her own.

Then, life did what it often does: it forced her into purpose.

In 2016, while preparing to give birth to her second daughter, Grace’s employer informed her that her position would be cut. Upon returning from maternity leave, she would be offered half her salary.

“They didn’t care that I was about to have a baby. They didn’t care about anything but the numbers,” she says. “That feeling of rejection- that feeling of being dismissed after putting my heart and soul into that job- I knew I had to show them something.”

With a newborn in her arms and a fire in her spirit, she filed for her LLC just weeks later. Having already been teaching private lessons, she rented space in a local studio and began building the Neema Dance Collective from the ground up. She was determined to create a space where young dancers- especially Black dancers- could receive quality training and thrive in an industry that often overlooked them.

Today, Neema Dance Collective is a thriving studio with 17 instructors and a student base spanning from toddlers to seniors. Grace has guided students into college dance programs, major performances, and professional careers in dance. Even through the COVID-19 pandemic, when so many dance studios were struggling, Grace and her team adapted. Virtual training expanded the studio’s reach, allowing students from West Virginia, New Jersey, Atlanta, and beyond to train under her guidance.

But despite her undeniable success, the challenges of being a Black business owner in the dance industry persist.

“Even with all we’ve built, people still don’t know about the Neema Dance Collective,” she says. “We’ve been turned away from the Kennedy Center. We’ve been told we don’t belong in spaces we can clearly fill.”

The world of dance, like many industries, operates on an unspoken “who-you-know” system that has historically kept Black-owned studios on the outskirts of opportunity. Grace knows this, but she refuses to let it stop her.

“I tell my students all the time: don’t let anyone tell you no. If you don’t get the spot, ask again. Prove yourself. Keep showing up in spaces where they least expect you,” she says.

It’s the same mindset that got her where she is- turning rejection into redirection and obstacles into stepping stones.

Looking back, Grace knows that every step of her journey prepared her for this moment. Teaching at sixteen. Establishing systems and business structures in healthcare. Facing rejection in dance, in corporate spaces, and even in entrepreneurship.

Sixteen-year-old Grace could never have imagined the woman she is today, leading a successful business, shaping the future of young Black dancers, and breaking barriers in an industry that wasn’t built for her success. But that’s the beauty of purpose-it doesn’t need you to have it all figured out. It just needs you to be willing to step into it when the time comes.