Today we’d like to introduce you to Jacquelyn Clark Johnson.
Hi Jacquelyn Clark, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
People often meet me in a boardroom today guiding people strategy and shaping culture across a global organization. But my path to the boardroom began long before corporate life. It began in Augusta, Georgia, where I was raised to value education, responsibility, and excellence. Those values carried me to Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, a place that shaped my voice, sharpened my confidence, and taught me how to lead with both heart and discipline. Bennett was a defining chapter. It showed me the importance of sisterhood, standards, and showing up fully prepared.
My career itself began in retail as the Accounting Manager for Burlington Coat Factory in Charlotte. That role grounded me in business operations and financial discipline, and it revealed the importance of aligning people and performance.
From there, I stepped into hospitality with Studio Plus Hotels. I started as an Assistant General Manager, then moved into General Manager roles for properties in Charlotte and Raleigh at different stages. When Studio Plus Hotels was purchased by Extended Stay America, I was promoted to District Manager in Raleigh. After the acquisition, I was transferred to Greensboro to continue serving as District Manager, overseeing five hotels across the region. Hospitality became the foundation of my leadership identity. It taught me how to build teams, respond to real time challenges, and shape culture at the ground level.
This experience opened the door to The Generation Companies, where I transitioned fully into human resources and organizational development. I first served as Director of Training and Quality Improvement, then advanced to Director of Human Resources and Training. During that time, I earned my master’s degree in human resources counseling, business and industry, from North Carolina A&T State University. That education reframed how I understood talent, culture, and organizational growth.
My HR journey continued with PricewaterhouseCoopers as a Market HR Manager, followed by senior HR business partner roles at Paychex and Ralph Lauren, where I served as Director of Global People Development. Each role strengthened my expertise in leadership development, talent strategy, strategic planning, rewards and recognition and culture transformation.
Today, I serve as the Vice President of People and Culture for Volvo Financial Services in North America, guiding people strategy and cultural evolution across the United States and Canada. I am also a certified executive and career coach and the founder of Beauty 4 Ashes International, focused on developing women and emerging leaders.
From Augusta to Bennett College to hospitality to the executive table, my story is rooted in preparation, growth, faith, and a belief in the power of people. Every chapter built the leader I am today.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road has not been smooth. My career has been shaped by seasons that demanded resilience, faith, and the ability to keep moving when circumstances shifted unexpectedly.
My hospitality chapter began with StudioPlus Hotels, where I served as a General Manager in Charlotte. Early in that role, I faced one of the most frightening moments of my life. I was robbed at gunpoint at my hotel. It shook me to my core. For a moment, I believed fear would end my career in leadership before it truly began. Instead, it taught me how to lead under pressure, how to rebuild confidence after trauma, and how to show up even when shaken. That experience changed me. It deepened my courage and sharpened my instincts as a leader.
As I continued to grow with StudioPlus, I was elevating, winning awards, and stepping fully into my leadership potential. Then the company was acquired. Overnight, every manager had to interview for their position again. It was unsettling, especially after years of strong performance. I was grateful to receive an offer, but the Charlotte district already had a District Manager. The available District Manager role was in Greensboro. If I wanted to stay on a leadership path, I had to relocate. I chose to move, stepped into the Greensboro district, and continued building my career through the transition. That season taught me adaptability and how to pivot when life redirects you.
Another major turning point came during my years at PricewaterhouseCoopers. I started as the Greensboro HR Manager, balancing my professional responsibilities with raising a young family. Four years in, the firm restructured the role and expanded it into a Market HR Manager position that required extensive travel across multiple states. Around that same time, my husband deployed to Iraq for a year. With small children at home, I found myself married but functioning as a single mother while managing a demanding, travel-heavy role. Eventually the strain became unsustainable, and I made the difficult decision to resign to protect my family’s stability.
My plan was to take one year off. I had no idea the 2008 economic downturn was approaching. The timing changed everything. That one planned year stretched into nearly three. Jobs were scarce. Hiring was frozen. I worked part time with Right Management simply to stay connected to the field and keep my home steady. It was one of the most humbling and financially difficult seasons of my life.
Eventually, I landed at Personal Communication Systems. It was the foothold I needed to rebuild. I delivered results, advanced quickly, and regained the momentum I thought I had lost. That role became the bridge back into the level of leadership I was destined for.
Looking back, every challenge taught me something important. The robbery taught me courage. The acquisition taught me adaptability. The PwC transition taught me the cost of imbalance. The downturn taught me humility and grit. And rebuilding my career taught me that no setback is final.
The journey was not smooth, but it shaped a leader with depth, steadiness, and empathy. It formed the woman and executive I am today.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Beauty 4 Ashes International is built on one central belief. When you pour into women and girls with intention, strategy, and community, everything around them changes. Our work spans high school, college, early career, and multi generational women, and each program is designed to support both personal and professional growth.
Cultured Pearls serves high school girls. We focus on mental health, identity, self esteem, etiquette, leadership skills, and emotional intelligence. We want them to walk into womanhood grounded, confident, and clear about their worth.
From the Classroom to the Boardroom is our college initiative that prepares young women for life beyond graduation. We cover career readiness, leadership, etiquette, internships, confidence building, branding, and navigating the realities of early professional life. These students leave our program polished, prepared, and empowered.
Our EmpowerHER Summit is a smaller, high impact forum focused on entrepreneurship, career advancement, and leveling up professionally. It brings together women who are ready to grow their businesses, expand their leadership, or elevate their career paths. The summit blends workshops, panel discussions, networking, and hands on strategy sessions. It is intimate by design. Women get actionable tools, direct guidance, and real conversations about how to advance financially, professionally, and personally.
Our largest annual experience, An En Rouge Affair, is our empowerment brunch for women of all ages. It is beautiful, intentional, and transformational. We cover mental health, relationships, healing, identity, purpose, and the deeper work that allows women to rise into their next season. It has become a signature moment for our community, and each year women leave changed.
Alongside Beauty 4 Ashes, I also lead Breaking Point Coaching, where I serve as an executive and career coach for leaders, professionals, and women navigating transition or reinvention. I specialize in career strategy, leadership development, emotional intelligence, and helping clients break through internal barriers with clarity and confidence.
What sets my work apart is the blend of heart, strategy, and excellence. We create safe spaces where women and girls can grow, but we also equip them with real tools to lead, advance, build, and transform their lives. Our programs are not just inspirational. They are developmental. They change the way women see themselves and the way they move in the world.
Beauty 4 Ashes International is about empowerment, elevation, and impact. And whether through our programs or through Breaking Point Coaching, every offering is designed to help women rise into who they were created to be
Miscellaneous _.
I am honored to have been recognized twice as one of the Top 50 Women Leaders in North Carolina by Women We Admire. I am proud to serve on the Board of Directors for Junior Achievement of the Triad and the American Cancer Society, where I help support financial literacy, youth programs, and community health initiatives. I am also a Senior Certified HR Professional and a certified executive and career coach, which allows me to support leaders and organizations at the highest level.
Together, these qualities and accomplishments reflect the way I move in the world. They are the reason I am still advancing, still learning, and still committed to the work I am called to do. I am I am also an author. My book, I Declare, I Transform, is a 40 day empowerment journey designed to help women speak life, reclaim their identity, and walk boldly into their purpose. It is one of the works I am most proud of because it puts transformation in the hands of every woman who reads it.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
If I had to name the qualities that have been most important to my success, it would be faith, resilience, clarity, integrity, and grit. Faith is the foundation. It steadies me, guides my decisions, and reminds me that purpose is bigger than any position or challenge. Faith has carried me through seasons where the path was unclear and allowed me to keep moving with confidence.
Resilience has been my constant companion. It is the ability to recover, refocus, and rise even when the road is difficult. It has helped me navigate setbacks without losing myself.
Clarity keeps me aligned. I pay attention to purpose, timing, and people. That sense of clear direction helps me lead with intention instead of reaction.
Integrity is non negotiable. Your character, your consistency, and how you treat people matter more than any title. I have always believed that your reputation should speak for you long before you enter the room.
And grit is the engine. It is the willingness to work, to rebuild, to stay committed, and to push through discomfort until the mission is accomplished.
Those qualities together have shaped how I lead, how I show up, and how I continue to grow. They are the reason I am still standing, still advancing, and still committed to the work I am called to do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.beauty4ashesintl.com
- Instagram: iamjackiecjohnson
- Facebook: Jacquelyn Clark Johnson
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquelynjohnson
