ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. Miranda Johnson has been building since 2001. She owned a residential construction company in Charleston, South Carolina, at 20. She ran two trucking companies that grew to 20 trucks, the first one named 5BG for her five daughters. She became a Florida real estate broker. Now, from St. Petersburg, she has built the MiRAjO Hub, a home for organizations, associations and networks where leaders can see all of their people, so no one gets left behind.
The idea started in trucking. Finding and keeping good drivers meant chasing people across social media, group texts and five different apps. Later, running networks of business owners, she watched the same thing happen to them.
"We need our own platform that's dedicated to the goal, wherever you're trying to go."
"I caught myself losing five hours on social media. Imagine what they were spending, and they weren't getting to their goals," Johnson said.
She tried to build it on every tool she could find. None of them let it feel like a real home, so she built it her own way.
The Hub is for the owner looking for her next client, the woman getting ready to lead, the board member trying to grow membership, and the volunteer who sets up the chairs and does not have time to learn another system. Johnson wants it to feel that simple.
"I want them to go in like a Spotify app, find their song and press play," she said.
Inside the Hub, people find events, courses and each other. Mira, the Hub's guide, suggests who to meet and why. For leaders, Mira points out who just joined, who deserves a congratulations, and who has gone quiet and could use a hello. Johnson describes it as the difference between an assistant and an executive assistant: one tells you what to do, the other tells you what to do and what it already handled.
The Hub is already home to Women Impact Network, Tampa Business Club, the Tampa Bay Latin Chamber and BŪP INNO. Women Impact Network's membership on the Hub grew 42 percent in the last 30 days.
Johnson was born to an Air Force family in Lakenheath, England, grew up in Germany and Summerville, South Carolina, and has called Tampa Bay home since 2007. She has been with her husband, Josh, for 18 years. She is a mother of five daughters and a grandmother, the COO of Women Impact Network, and the author of The Pain Principle and LeadLoud: 11 Commandments for Next-Gen Leaders.
"It isn't me versus them. It's me versus me. I gotta keep leveling up."
The Hub is built to work in any language, and Johnson is not thinking small. "I know it isn't Tampa Bay. And I know it isn't nationwide," she said. "It must be worldwide."
About MiRAjO Collective
MiRAjO Collective is a women-owned company in St. Petersburg, Florida, and the home of the MiRAjO Hub and the work of Miranda R. Johnson. Connection made simpler. Let's Mingle, Be Mindful and Create Magic.