Johnie, the founder of Dirtbag Darling is living the epitome of an authentic, adventurous life and I’m stoked to introduce her as the first Rad Livin’ feature.
A few years ago, she was living in California and working at her dream job. While she loved what she did, working 9 to 5 at an office didn’t completely sit right. She decided to follow her gut, or as she likes to call it “her goosebumps,” and set out to live a life full of spontaneous adventure and create work from coffices (coffee shop offices, how awesome is that?!)
The radiant 26-year-old created Dirtbag Darling to share her stories and inspire women to spend their time outdoors pursuing the things that make them feel alive.
Aside from Dirtbag Darling, she’s a writer, editor and brand consultant who works with print magazines, online publications and brands to help tell a story in the most creative, authentic way possible. She’s also the blog editor at Teva and a regular contributor to GrindTV.com, Swell.com blog, Without Walls and more.
Introducing… Johnie Gall
Where are you in the world?
I call Pennsylvania my “home base” because I’m usually traveling!
What are you up to over there?
Anything I can get my hands into, really. I’m a writer, editor and creative consultant, which basically means I help magazines and brands tell their stories in a creative, authentic way—About Us pages, catalog copy, fitness articles, athlete interviews…you name it! When I’m not at work I’m usually traveling or getting sweaty outdoors.
How do you follow your bliss all year round?
A friend once told me to “follow my goosebumps,” so that’s what I try really hard to do. I’m so lucky that my job enables me to travel, meet new people, see incredible places and try new things, so I try to honor that by never sitting still for too long. Oh, and by eating lots of guacamole and ordering the dang beer once in a while!
Where’s your favourite adventure spot?
Living in California made me realize I’ll always be a beach girl at heart, but I love the diversity of terrain and adventure in Puerto Rico, and Colorado is an outdoor lover’s paradise. I hope my favorite spot is the one I haven’t been to yet
If fear ever shows up in your life, how do you move past it?
I just try to remember that I’m doing the best that I can, take a deep breath, and let it go. Fear can be a good thing…it pushes you and keeps you alert. It’s panic that can really do some damage.
What advice could you give to someone who knows what they love to do, but haven’t yet gone for it?
My practical advice would be to have a plan—know exactly how much money you’ll need, who will support you emotionally, and what your goals are. Winging it can make you doubt yourself and give up. My real advice? It’s that there’s never going to be the “perfect” moment, and if you wait to long, you’ll never do it. Taking the plunge is terrifying, but the only thing that’s scarier than that is never taking that chance.
