Inspiring Conversations with Cierra Johnson of Nova Naturals / Locker Room Customs

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

Hi Cierra, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My story isn’t a straight line, and I think that’s one of the most important things about it.

I grew up without my parents, and that shaped me in ways that I didn’t fully understand when I was younger. I had to learn independence, survival, and resilience early. There were things I had to figure out on my own that other people may have had parents to guide them through. For a long time, I was simply trying to navigate life with the tools I had.

Education was one of the places where that showed up.

I started college when I was young, but I wasn’t ready. I didn’t have the maturity, structure, or guidance that I needed at the time, and eventually I failed out of school. For years, that could have been the ending of my educational story. Instead, it became one of the chapters that I am most proud of because I eventually went back.

Returning to college as an adult was completely different. I wasn’t the same person anymore. I understood what the opportunity meant, and I had something to prove—not necessarily to other people, but to myself. I returned through an accelerated program at Wilberforce University, earned a 4.0 GPA during that journey, and ultimately graduated in 2026 with my bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice Administration.

My professional journey has been just as unconventional. I’ve worked in corrections with both adults and juveniles, and those experiences allowed me to see people during some of the hardest periods of their lives. Eventually, my path brought me into education and working directly with young people in a different capacity. Today, I am continuing my education while also building a career in the classroom.

Entrepreneurship became another major part of my story.

I started Nova Naturals in 2021. What began as an idea grew into a real business serving customers beyond my own community. Building Nova taught me things that no classroom ever could. There have been long nights, financial sacrifices, delayed orders, unexpected expenses, equipment problems, mistakes, lessons, wins, and moments when I had to figure things out with very little room for error. I learned product development, branding, marketing, customer service, e-commerce, and, most importantly, how to keep going when something doesn’t work the first time.

But while I was building businesses and pursuing goals publicly, there was also a very real person behind all of it.

Mental health has been part of my journey. I’ve had periods where anxiety and fear affected how I experienced everyday life, and I’ve had to actively work on myself instead of pretending everything was fine simply because I was accomplishing things. I’ve learned that success and struggle can exist at the same time. Someone can be building a business, going to school, working, showing up for other people, and still be fighting private battles.

One of the biggest personal turning points for me came after a difficult breakup in 2024. That period forced me to look at myself, my life, what I wanted, and who I wanted to become. Some chapters of life don’t end the way we expect them to, but they can still become the beginning of something else. I had to rebuild parts of myself, and that process changed the way I approached my future.

Instead of allowing the things that hurt me, the mistakes I made, or the things I didn’t have growing up to become my identity, I started looking at what I could create from them.

Nova Naturals continued to evolve, but my entrepreneurial vision grew beyond one company. Eventually, that evolution led to Locker Room Customs, a custom apparel company focused on creating uniforms, apparel, and custom pieces for schools, organizations, bands, teams, and other clients. What started with me learning how to build one brand eventually gave me the confidence and experience to build another.

Today, I wear a lot of hats. I’m an entrepreneur, educator, college graduate, graduate student, and someone who has dedicated a significant part of my professional life to working with young people. But those titles only tell the polished version of the story.

The fuller version includes the kid who grew up without her parents.

It includes the young student who went to college before she was ready and failed out.

It includes the woman who went through heartbreak and had to rebuild herself.

It includes mental-health struggles and learning that asking for help and working on yourself are forms of strength.

It includes starting a business without knowing exactly how far it would go, making mistakes, losing money, learning, adjusting, and continuing anyway.

And it includes walking back into higher education years after things didn’t work out the first time and eventually walking away with my degree.

I don’t want my story to be presented as though I overcame one obstacle and everything became easy afterward, because that isn’t how my life happened. There have been multiple seasons of rebuilding. Every time I thought I had life figured out, something else challenged me to grow.

I’m still building. I’m still learning. I’m still becoming.

But when I look at where I started compared to where I am today, I’m proudest of the fact that none of the chapters that could have ended my story actually did.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Absolutely not. My road has been full of detours, setbacks, and moments where I genuinely had no idea what came next.

Growing up without my parents created challenges that followed me much further into adulthood than I realized at the time. When you don’t have that traditional support system, you become independent because you have to, not necessarily because you’re ready. I learned how to survive, but surviving and being prepared for adulthood are two different things.

There were so many things I had to learn through trial and error. There wasn’t always someone to call and ask, “What am I supposed to do here?” Sometimes I made the wrong decision and had to live with it. Sometimes I watched people around me receive guidance and support that I didn’t have. For a long time, I carried that mentality of, “I’ll figure it out myself.”

That independence helped make me who I am, but I’ve also had to learn that I don’t always have to be the strong one.

Failing out of college was one of my earliest lessons in failure. It wasn’t just about grades. There was embarrassment attached to it. I knew I was capable, so having to admit that I hadn’t succeeded was difficult. For years, I had unfinished business with education.

Going back as an adult meant walking directly toward something that had already defeated me once. This time, though, I understood that failure wasn’t proof that I couldn’t do it. It was proof that the version of me who tried the first time wasn’t ready yet.

That lesson has carried into entrepreneurship because owning a business will humble you very quickly.

There is a version of entrepreneurship that people see online—the orders, new products, announcements, partnerships, and accomplishments. Then there is the version the owner experiences: wondering whether you made the right decision, investing money before knowing whether you’ll make it back, dealing with mistakes, unhappy customers, delayed shipments, vendors, production issues, and having people expect answers from you even when you’re still trying to find the answer yourself.

Nova Naturals taught me how to build something from an idea, but it also taught me accountability. When something goes wrong in your company, you can’t always blame someone else. Your name is attached to it. You fix it, learn from it, and do better.

That became even more important as I expanded into Locker Room Customs and started taking on larger projects. Growth sounds exciting—and it is—but growth also means bigger responsibilities, bigger financial risks, more people depending on you, and less room for careless mistakes.

One of the hardest battles, though, has been internal.

Mental health has challenged the image I had of what strength was supposed to look like. There have been times when I could accomplish something professionally while struggling personally. I could handle business, school, work, and responsibilities while simultaneously dealing with anxiety and fears that other people couldn’t see.

That taught me something important: looking successful and feeling okay are not the same thing.

My breakup in 2024 reinforced that lesson. It was one of those periods where I had to figure out who I was outside of what I thought my life was going to be. Heartbreak doesn’t care about your résumé, your business, your goals, or what you have planned. Life can change, and you still have to decide what you’re going to do with yourself afterward.

That period forced me to rebuild emotionally. It made me more intentional about the people I allow into my life, the boundaries I create, and the future I’m building.

If there is one common thread through all of my challenges, it is that I’ve had to become comfortable with rebuilding.

I used to think success meant getting everything right. Now I think success is being willing to correct course.

Sometimes you have to admit you weren’t ready. Sometimes you have to admit you made the wrong decision. Sometimes you need therapy. Sometimes you have to apologize. Sometimes you have to walk away. Sometimes you have to start the business over, return to school, change careers, or completely rethink the future you had planned.

I’ve had to do several of those things.

My biggest lesson has been that failure is an event, not an identity. Failing at something doesn’t make me a failure. Losing something doesn’t make me lost. Having mental health struggles doesn’t erase everything I’m capable of doing.

The challenges haven’t disappeared as I’ve become more successful. They’ve simply changed.

The difference is that now, when something goes wrong, I don’t automatically see it as the end of my story.

I’ve restarted enough times to know better.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I am the founder of Nova Naturals and co-founder of Locker Room Customs—two very different businesses that represent my creativity, entrepreneurial spirit, and ability to turn ideas into brands.

I founded Nova Naturals in 2021 as a hair and skincare company with a strong focus on textured hair, waves, locs, beards, and melanin-rich skin. Over the years, Nova has grown beyond simply selling products. We’ve built a community around hair care, self-care, culture, and education.

Nova Naturals is especially known within the wave community. Our Explosive Growth line has become one of the products most associated with the brand, but our offerings extend into moisturizers, shampoos, butters, beard care, specialty treatments, and limited-edition products.

What makes Nova different is how personally involved I am in what reaches our customers. I’m not simply putting my logo on someone else’s vision. I’ve spent years learning ingredients, formulation, product development, packaging, branding, e-commerce, marketing, and customer service. I pay attention to what our customers tell us and use that feedback to continuously improve the brand.

I’m also very intentional about creativity. Hair and skincare brands don’t have to be boring. Nova has personality. Our product names, packaging, campaigns, collaborations, and limited releases reflect the communities we serve and allow customers to feel like they’re part of something rather than simply purchasing another product.

That entrepreneurial experience eventually helped me expand into another industry.

In 2026, I co-founded Locker Room Customs, a custom apparel company specializing in uniforms, school and team apparel, marching-band gear, warm-up suits, jackets, hats, bags, and fully customized pieces for schools, organizations, teams, businesses, and individuals.

Locker Room Customs is about more than putting logos on clothing. We help our clients create an identity. I love taking someone’s vision—even if it’s nothing more than an idea or rough concept—and helping transform it into a finished piece they can actually wear.

One of our biggest accomplishments so far has been becoming an official uniform supplier for the Wilberforce University Hounds of Sound for the 2026–2027 band season. That opportunity is particularly meaningful to me because Wilberforce is my alma mater. There is something special about graduating from an institution and then returning to serve that institution through a company you helped build.

I’m proud of what both brands represent.

Nova Naturals showed me that I could take an idea and turn it into a real company. Locker Room Customs showed me that I didn’t have to limit myself to one industry.

Neither business was handed to me. I learned branding, product development, e-commerce, manufacturing, vendor relationships, pricing, marketing, customer service, and business operations largely through experience. Some lessons came from success, and plenty came from mistakes.

That’s part of what I want people to know about my brands: we are still building.

I don’t want Nova Naturals or Locker Room Customs to simply exist. I want to build brands that people recognize, trust, and remember. I want Nova Naturals to continue growing beyond my immediate community, and I want Locker Room Customs to become a trusted name for schools, HBCUs, marching bands, athletic programs, organizations, and businesses looking for custom apparel that actually represents who they are.

I’m proud of where we’ve gotten, but I’m even more excited about where we’re going.

What does success mean to you?
My definition of success has changed tremendously over the years.

There was a time when I probably would have defined success by accomplishments—how much money I made, what degree I earned, how big my businesses became, or how many people recognized my name.

Those things still matter to me. I’m ambitious. I want successful businesses. I want financial freedom. I want to continue my education. I want to build things that become bigger than me.

But today, I understand that accomplishment and success aren’t necessarily the same thing.

For me, success is having options.

It’s waking up and knowing that the decisions I make aren’t solely based on survival. It’s having the financial freedom to take care of the people I love. It’s building businesses that can operate beyond me. It’s creating opportunities for other people. It’s being able to walk into rooms that at one point in my life I couldn’t have imagined myself being in—and then holding the door open for somebody coming behind me.

Success is also peace.

That’s something I didn’t always understand.

You can have money and be miserable. You can have degrees and still feel incomplete. You can build a successful business while your personal life is falling apart. You can receive recognition from thousands of people and still struggle when you’re alone with yourself.

So I’m no longer interested in building a life that only looks successful from the outside.

I want a life that actually feels good to live.

I want my businesses to grow. I want Nova Naturals to become bigger than anything I originally imagined. I want Locker Room Customs to grow into a company serving schools, universities, HBCUs, bands, athletic programs, organizations, and businesses across the country. I want to continue advancing professionally and academically.

But I also want to be present.

I want to enjoy the people I love. I want to protect my mental health. I want to travel. I want to laugh. I want to create memories. I want to be able to stop working without feeling like everything I’ve built is going to collapse.

And because so much of my professional life has involved young people, success also means leaving something behind.

I want a young person who has failed at something, grown up without certain advantages, made mistakes, or feels like they’ve already messed their life up to be able to look at my story and realize that where you start does not have to determine where you finish.

That’s legacy to me.

I don’t need my life to look perfect.

If I can build financial freedom, create businesses that outlive me, positively impact young people, take care of the people I love, maintain my peace, and leave this world having created opportunities that didn’t exist before I arrived—that’s success.

Everything else is just a bonus.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://novanats.com
• Other: https://Lockerroomcustoms.com