Rose Slam! Johnson is empowering queer communities

Rose Slam! Johnson first came on my radar from my colleague Rabbi Gray, for the queer business meet-ups that Slam! organizes. At GatherBay, we love a good meet-up, so I was intrigued. When we “sat down” over Zoom, our conversation ranged from talking about bicycling across the Golden Gate Bridge more times than one could count, to launching businesses, to pursuing a pain-free 5K, and much more in between. 

Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Slam! What brought you to the Bay and what made you stay?

I grew up on the East Coast, and I lived in a bunch of different places, including the south and the midwest. When I was in college, my cousin Moon worked in the Marin Headlands. On family visits, he would tell me about his time out there, and it sounded really fun.

When I graduated college, I took a naturalist position in southeastern Ohio. We got the winter off, so I jumped in the car with two of my colleagues and we headed for California. We traveled together for four months, going to national parks, visiting co-ops, and camping across the country. At a certain point, I got tired of living on the road, and so I called my cousin’s best friend in the Marin Headlands, and said, hey, it’s spring. Do you guys need a naturalist? 

I called them every day until they hired me. In 2007, I landed in the Headlands, and I lived and worked there for a year and a half. Every weekend, I would ride my bike to the city and  sleep on my friend’s couch. I fell in love with San Francisco. I fell in love being queer in the city. I fell in love with the food—and the climate, and the weather—in the city. And, thanks to those epic rides across the Golden Gate Bridge, I fell in love with long-distance cycling. 

Wow, I love that story. And how would you say you made the Bay your home?

In 2008, I secured a little tiny room in a little tiny apartment in San Francisco. I moved to the city and worked at a grocery store where I was sent home with bruised vegetables. I started experimenting with different culinary combinations when the stakes were low, and it turned out the results were generally good. I fell in love with cooking, and launched my first business, which was a pedal-powered weekly food delivery service. This first culinary adventure experiment launched me into being a professional chef for the next seven years.

At the same time, I was building something called Queer Camp—a summer camp for adults. It was a four-day camping trip that was summer-camp themed. When I first moved to the city, I would go to The Lexington [a lesbian bar in the Mission] looking for community. I was often disappointed because the vibe was either very drinking-focused or hookup-focused, and I wanted something different. That was the inspiration for Queer Camp, which was sober and focused on friendship and community-building. We had something like 14 different events over the course of nine years.

What a journey. And I know you’re a coach. How did you make that leap?

After four years in the city, I moved to Oakland. I continued doing food and queer camp. I built a partnership with someone and we made food and hosted queer camp together. The experience was lovely and it also ran its course. When we split, we also wrapped up queer camp and I eventually shifted out of the food world. I took on a series of different jobs trying to figure out what role of a business I wanted to play.

In 2018, I did a six-month group coaching program called “Give Yourself to Love” with Zo Tobi, and it totally changed my life. I shifted out of my job, and I met my partner who I’m with now. We live in a community with four other friends, a dog, a cat, six chickens, and a four-year-old. 

When the pandemic hit, I was in the first module of a two-year coaching training program, and so a natural reaction to the pandemic was to launch my coaching business, which I’ve been doing for four years now. I work with different businesses every day, and it really suits my style. The folks I work with are getting great results and having more fun in their business too. 

That’s amazing. What are some highlights from the folks you’ve been working with?

One of my clients just wrote and published a children’s book. Someone got a new job and made a total pivot in their career. One person is a therapist in her 70s—we just did a process of training her to manage her Quickbooks on her own. I’ve also been working with this construction company for over four years, and they just landed two different $1.5 million jobs, and they’ve built the team to be able to take on those jobs with ease. And that was just yesterday!

Can you say more about this connection you’ve referenced between bicycling and business?

Using the metaphor of a bicycle can make understanding systems within a business more interesting and fun. Some of my favorite principles include: you must be moving forward in order to be running your business (same for riding a bike), but you also have to know how to balance a bike in order to move forward (same for a business). 

There are also predictable stages for learning to ride a bike that call for different types of support. Your business has different stages and calls for different skill development at each one. That’s why I work as a coach—I can help people at their unique and specific stage. 

For example, you don’t need to know how to change gears in order to learn how to balance a bike. You can break down the skills and simply practice scooting. Once you scoot for a while, you might implement the pedals, and once you’ve got pedals, then it might be time to look at gears.

Business is about the appropriate amount of challenge to be wildly successful, and that’s what bikes are all about. I weave in that metaphor so that people who are running their own business don’t feel so lonely, are not burdened by comparison and competition, and can work on a time horizon that really works for them. I do that through air, balance and cadence—the ABCs of bicycle or business. 

That makes business feel very approachable! How can people plug into your coaching? 

I send out a semi-regular newsletter—it’s musings on the bicycle metaphor. And I offer a free 30-minute conversation if anybody wants to explore coaching, which people can use to chew on a topic or see how it feels to work together.

And what about the queer business meet-up you host?

When I was in the process of being self-employed this round, I didn’t want to be as lonely as I was in the past. So I invited four folks to get together to meet up regularly. 

This has evolved into a larger meet-up, the Queer Business Collective, where we gather monthly (ish) in person (mostly in the bay area) and online. This month we are meeting at Good To Eat in Emeryville on September 18 and online on September 26. 

I am always looking for more folks to partner with, so if you want to come play, drop me a line! We’re a little scrappy but also serious. 

Making a pivot…what feels alive for you right now in your Jewish life?

I often share Shabbat with the folks I live with. The four-year-old in our community goes to the JCC, and she makes challah every Friday. It’s very laid-back and sweet to connect at the end of the week. My dad was studying to be a rabbi before I was born, and he weaves a lot of his wisdom and practices into his stories on our weekly zoom call.

I follow Kathy Simon, who was one of my nonviolent communication teachers. She is currently leading the charge for the fight for democracy. My partner has been active with JVP [Jewish Voice for Peace] and I support where I can. It is thrilling to see the ways Jews are getting involved in politics, collectively—around Palestine, around peace, around liberation, around activism and around interrupting  fascism. That inspires me and keeps me engaged, and that getting to show up for that as a Jew feels really important and keeps me engaged.

How do you spend your days when you’re not coaching people thinking about businesses?

I’m learning how to do watercolors and build with my hands. I just did an office renovation where we went down to the studs, and I did the design work with the contractors to really make something beautiful. I have more plans for restoration and building at my home. 

Onto our in-house Proust Questionnaire. Tell me a poem, book, movie, play, piece of art, or media that you love!

I just finished Laurie Frankel’s novel, This Is How It Always Is—so beautiful! 

What’s the best-kept secret of the Bay?

Can’t tell you! Though Good to Eat is new and AMAZING!

When was a recent time that you felt some kind of spiritual connection? 

Sitting with my clients as they share their truth is amazing, connecting, and magical.