From rock-bottom moments to building a multimillion-dollar movement, Ava Johanna embodies the alchemy of turning pain into purpose. She is the founder of the Academy of Breath, an international certification program training over 800 teachers and impacting hundreds of thousands through the ripple effect of her work. She is an author, speaker, entrepreneur, and the voice of a new generation of women leaders who refuse to be confined to boxes. Above all, she is living proof that your mess can become your medicine—and your medicine can heal the world.
From Survival to Awakening
Ava’s journey began far from boardrooms and bestselling books. Growing up, she faced homelessness as a teenager and carried the weight of trauma, unhealthy patterns, and coping mechanisms that followed her into her early twenties. “I thought freedom meant overworking, over-partying, and being in the right rooms with the wrong people,” she recalls. “But really, I was terrified of being in my own body.”
The breaking point came when Ava was 19 years old. After receiving a DUI in Los Angeles, she was forced to confront the unsustainable path she was on. “It was one of those rock-bottom moments,” she admits. “I realized the way I was living wasn’t working. I felt so much shame and fear, but also this spark that said: you can’t keep doing this.”
That spark became a whisper. And eventually, the whisper grew louder. “That voice was always there,” she says. “I just ignored it—until the day I was dragged into a yoga class in San Diego. Dripping in sweat on the mat, I felt safe in my body for the first time as an adult. That moment changed everything. I thought: Everyone deserves to feel this good.”
The First Leap
That yoga class marked the beginning of Ava’s transformation. Within months, she enrolled in a yoga teacher training program, launching her first blog, Kicking Asana. “I’ve always been a writer,” she reflects. “So writing about mindfulness and wellness was natural to me. At the time, Instagram was just beginning to blow up in the yoga space. I didn’t have anyone in my personal life who shared my new values, so I found community online.”
In a stroke of serendipity, the studio where she had taken her first class offered to sponsor her training if she wrote about the experience. “I didn’t have the money to pay for it, and suddenly the opportunity was handed to me. That was the first time I really saw my professional talents merging with my personal passion.”
By August of 2015, Ava made a decision that would alter the trajectory of her life forever. “I said, I’m quitting my job by the end of the year. I will never work for someone else again.” She laughs remembering it now: “Once I set my eyes on something, I don’t accept no for an answer.”
She left corporate in December and never looked back.
Bridging Mysticism and Strategy
What sets Ava apart is her ability to fuse mystical wisdom with practical strategy. “The mystical, the soul, the spiritual—that’s what informs the structure of my business,” she explains. “Too many women look for templates and formulas. But it’s not about copying someone else’s framework. It’s about your unique expression. Without that, your business falls flat.”
Her philosophy is simple yet profound: intuition is the real strategy. “There are a million ways to make a million dollars,” she says. “But the only way that works is the one aligned to you. Your zone of genius is the blueprint. The mystical guides you, the practical builds it.”
Breath as Revolution
In 2020, Ava received the vision that would change everything: the Academy of Breath. “It was the first week of the pandemic,” she recalls. “I was meditating every day, praying: Show me how I can serve the world. One morning I had this vision of myself walking out onto a massive stage, tens of thousands of people in front of me, and leading them through breathwork. I started crying. I knew this was it.”
From that moment, the Academy was born. What started as an online certification has now trained hundreds of facilitators with audiences ranging from 200,000 to over a million. The ripple effect is undeniable. “Even if it’s just five people in a room,” she says, “this work has the power to heal the world.”
Breathwork, for Ava, is not simply a tool for relaxation—it is a portal for expansion. “Breath is the first thing we do when we enter this world and the last thing we do when we leave it,” she explains. “It is the key to everything in between. Breathwork expands your capacity to hold more: more wealth, more success, more impact, more love. So many women fear what it means to be powerful. Breathwork helps you embody that power.”
Embodiment in Action
Ava often speaks of embodiment as the cornerstone of her philosophy. But what does embodiment really look like? “It’s different for everyone,” she says. “We assume embodiment is being the loudest person in the room or having the flashiest outfit. But embodiment is about becoming the woman on your vision board. Moving her. Thinking her. Feeling her. Every single day, until she becomes your reality.”
For some women, that means choosing family as their highest priority. For others, it means commanding stages and leading movements. For Ava, it means being future-focused and anchored in her highest self. “I don’t build from the past anymore,” she says. “I build from who I am becoming.”
The Next Era
Today, Ava is living the life she once dreamed of. She bought her own home before turning 30. She built a thriving business, a loving partnership, and the health she once thought impossible. Yet she knows this is only the beginning. “Everything I have now is what I manifested over the last decade,” she reflects. “The next season is amplification—scaling to $5M, sharing my book on Good Morning America, and expanding the Academy of Breath to touch millions.”
Her bestselling book, Your Vision Board Life, is already shaping lives with its blend of practical exercises, breathwork, and energetic alignment. “I wrote it for the version of me who needed a big sister to sit her down and say: Here’s how you make it happen,” she explains. “It’s not about building a pretty vision board—it’s about becoming the woman who makes it real.”
Her next project? Fiction. “I love books like The Alchemist and The Queen’s Code—they weave spiritual wisdom through story. I want to do that. I want to tell the story of becoming an entrepreneur, of money, of purpose, through a fictional lens.”
A Mission Beyond Business
At her core, Ava’s mission is to expand what women believe is possible for themselves. “The most powerful thing a woman can do is unapologetically believe in herself,” she says. “I want women to create their own categories, to lead even if it means being misunderstood, to take risks even when it’s scary.”
She often uses the metaphor of swinging the bat. “Too many women take a swing, miss, and never try again. But success is about resilience. It’s about showing up, again and again, until you see what you’re made of. That’s how you build self-trust. That’s how you build a legacy.”
Legacy in Motion
Ava Johanna is not simply building a business. She is building a movement—one breath, one embodied choice, one bold risk at a time. From a girl searching for safety to a woman leading a global revolution, her story is both blueprint and inspiration for women everywhere.
“Your mess is your medicine,” she says. “And your medicine is what will heal the world.”
This is Ava Johanna. Covergirl. Leader. Alchemist of breath, embodiment, and becoming.
Photography by Lindy Lin @lindylinphoto
