Felicia Tosin Johnson

I attribute my success to leading with empathy and understanding of the human experience. I was motivated by the lack of empathy I observed in leadership roles, especially during my time at Walmart when I was sent out of state to train others and saw from a different perspective that a lot of leaders lack the ability to show empathy to people. I decided that the moment I graduated college, I wanted to be in a leadership role so that I would be able to lead with empathy. When I received my offer from Amazon to be an area manager, I made sure to keep the mindset that I am not going to manage people, I am going to lead people and manage the process. This made me one of the best leaders at Amazon because I got regional recognition and internal recognitions. I always remind myself that empathy is not softness, it's a strategy. I listen deeply to people as a leader, create psychological safety, and lead with understanding of the human experience behind every performance metric. I also drew strength from my personal journey from working as a truck unloader at Walmart, unloading 10 to 12 trailers per day as a woman, to becoming a recognized leader at Amazon. Additionally, I learned that reinvention is not a setback, it's a strategy, and every reinvention has made me a stronger and more compassionate leader. I believe in choosing yourself early, being visible without waiting for permission, and understanding that your story is not too heavy, it's not too complicated, and it's not too much - your story is your power.

The best career advice I've received, which also aligned with a lesson I learned, is that reinvention is not a setback, it's a strategy. Every reinvention has made me a stronger and more compassionate leader that I am today. This perspective has helped me view challenges and transitions not as failures, but as opportunities for growth and transformation.

My advice to young women rising in their careers today in my industry is to choose yourself early. Don't wait for permission to be visible. Your story is not too heavy, it's not too complicated, and it's not too much. Your story is your power. I want to represent women who reinvent themselves in silence, those who lead across cultures, and those who choose themselves even when the world is not clapping, because that was what happened to me. I only came out recently, the day I applied to this program, because I always influenced in silence. So I encourage you to be visible, leverage your story, and understand that your influence is not just visibility, it is impact.

The biggest challenges I faced in my field were demonstrated through the Amazon Community Project 23, which was a multi-site, multi-stakeholder initiative that challenged me in every way. The project had shifting requirements and parameters that kept changing during execution. I faced supply delays in getting the necessary materials, vendor issues throughout the process, and worked under high timelines with high visibility and unexpected roadblocks. Despite being promised a donation of $5,000 to $10,000 for the STEM program, I only secured less than $3,000 after spending over 450 hours on the initiative, including my personal time outside of my HR business partner role. I had to navigate this end-to-end from beginning to end without getting the help I needed. However, I took 100% ownership of the project, coordinated across multiple Amazon sites, managed district communications, ensured peer alignment, oversaw supply fulfillment, and navigated last-minute changes. Despite these challenges, I successfully executed the project, fulfilled every single teacher's wishlist with no one left out, and the PR team was so impressed they donated an additional $10,000 to the STEM program. The project received media coverage from all four major local stations in Kansas (Fox 24, ABC News, NBC, and CBS), elevated Amazon's community reputation, strengthened district relationships, and created a repeatable model for future initiatives. This experience taught me that when purpose meets persistence, transformation happens.

The most important value to me is empathy. I have always been a leader passionate about empathy and people, because people are the backbone of organizations. I was motivated by the lack of empathy I experienced and observed in leadership roles, and I made it my mission to lead with empathy and understanding of the human experience. I believe that empathy is not softness, it's a strategy, and I make sure to listen deeply, create psychological safety, and lead with understanding of the human experience behind every performance metric. I also value visibility and self-advocacy, as I believe in choosing yourself early and being visible without waiting for permission. Resilience is central to who I am, as I view reinvention not as a setback but as a strategy, and every reinvention has made me a stronger and more compassionate leader. Community impact is deeply important to me, demonstrated through my Amazon Community Project 23 where I spent over 450 hours fulfilling teachers' wishlists and securing STEM donations despite numerous challenges. I value authenticity and believe that your story is not too heavy, it's not too complicated, and it's not too much - your story is your power. I want to represent women who reinvent themselves in silence, those who lead across cultures, and those who choose themselves even when the world is not clapping. Being an influential woman to me means someone who reinvents herself without losing her humanity, someone who uses her journey to elevate others, someone who understands that influence is not visibility, it is impact, and someone who has the ability to change the emotional temperature of a room simply by walking in it.