Brenda Johnson is changing the narrative surrounding aging, one story at a time.
Johnson, a transplant Hoosier storyteller, blogger and part-time Conner Prairie employee, is preparing to debut her one-woman show, “Aging. Reimagined!” on Nov. 9 at the Indiana Historical Society as the 2025 Frank Basile Emerging Stories Fellow. Johnson sat down with the Recorder ahead of the performance to chat about her outlook on aging and the importance of storytelling within the Black community.
Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Tell me a little bit about yourself, your background and connection to Indianapolis.
Johnson: I moved to Indianapolis in 1993 for a job transfer. I was with Boehringer Mannheim before they became Roche Diagnostics, and I left them in 2001, but I’m originally from Chicago, and I grew up in the Chicago south suburbs. … I’m 68 years old. I retired two years ago after 46 years in corporate America, and I am very passionate about positive aging.
When I retired, I started a blog, “Older, Bolder and Better” on Sub Stack, and I’m pleased to say that it continues to grow, even today, two years later. I have a strong personal philosophy that people aren’t just living longer; they’re living healthier and more active lives into their 80s and 90s, and the storytelling show was a celebration of that, but I try to live that in my life as well.
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Where did your passion for storytelling begin? How long have you considered yourself a storyteller?
Johnson: Storytelling came to me new after retirement. I consider myself a writer. I have a degree in journalism, and even though my corporate career was in sales primarily, I always freelanced on the side for magazines. I discovered storytelling — I was pulled into storytelling by a friend of mine, and so I started storytelling in November of 2023 and retired in September of 2023.
My friend Haley Lawrence does (an) annual show here in Indianapolis called “Listen to Your Mother,” and it’s going into its seventh season next year. I was in “Listen to Your Mother” in 2024, and it was at the Indiana History Center, and that’s where Storytelling Arts heard me. I was able to enter their mentor program for Black, Indigenous and People of Color in 2024, and I finished that program and started telling stories.
What does it mean to be the Frank Basile Emerging Stories Fellow?
Johnson: The Emerging Stories Fellowship is really to encourage and recognize the talents and skills of Hoosier storytellers. Storytelling Arts has been around for 38 years. A lot of great storytellers have won this award before me. I am certainly not the first Black person to win this award. There have been many Black winners of the fellowship, but my intent is to carry it on and definitely inspire other people to apply for this fellowship, because it is a great way to share your voice and your story, whatever you believe in.
For me, I’m choosing the topic of aging for this. But part of that fellowship is you do have to tell what your one-man or one-woman story (is) — what your show would be about.
Let’s talk about your one-woman show, “Aging. Reimagined!”
Johnson: I think of aging as a great opportunity. I mean, if you’re not getting older, that’s the problem there. I see aging as a real evolution. It’s an opportunity, really, to stop doing things that you have to do, like working and things like that, and start doing things you want to do. Because this is that opportunity that so many people aren’t given, and I see it as a chance to learn and to grow.
I’m really about people sharing their knowledge and that sort of thing. It’s also an opportunity, like I’ve done with the storytelling, to learn something totally new. I know so many people that are doing just that, you know, they’re using their later years to do things that they’ve always wanted to do. So that’s why I think of aging as reimagining it. It’s not sitting somewhere waiting to die.
What does it mean to you to be recognized with this fellowship as a Black storyteller? Why is it so crucial to share Black stories in this way?
Johnson: I think now more than ever, it is so important for Black stories and stories from and about Black culture to be shared with others — and part of it because so much of our history is trying to be whitewashed at a very high level of government. But in addition to that, just for people, young people, to understand our history and where we came from.
But I do feel, like those of us that are older, that we do have something to contribute, and it’s inherent upon us in our, you know, late 50s, 60s, whatever, to pass on the stories to our younger people. I pass these stories on to my son, who’s a young adult in his 30s, and now I’m passing those stories on to my grandson, who’s 12.
What inspired you to really dig into playwriting as opposed to other forms of storytelling?
Johnson: I’m actually writing a book. I’m working on a memoir about growing up in Chicago, and I’m going to dedicate my time to finishing that after the show on November 9. … I’ve been working on it for a while, so that is another artistic form, but the storytelling — I just became fascinated with it. The book I’m working on is kind of a memoir, what was going on from a child’s eyes in the late 60s. … This is my medium, and storytelling is so important. You get historical things across the people that may sound dry if you just tell it in prose, but people remember stories.
How do the different facets of your life inspire you?
Johnson: I keep learning new things. I keep meeting new people. I mean, since I’ve retired, I’ve met all these people that I would have never met before, whether it’s through the storytelling — in the storytelling community here in Indiana, which is very, very strong, or whether it’s through Conner Prairie or, just being out and about around a whole different group of people that I would have never been exposed to in my corporate life.
“Aging. Reimagined!” premieres at the Indiana Historical Society, 450 W. Ohio Street, from 4-5 p.m. on Nov. 9. General admission is $21.30 and $10 for students. The show will also be livestreamed for $16.25. For more information, visit storytellingarts.org.
Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgowanxx.
Chloe McGowan is the Arts & Culture Reporter for the Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper. Originally from Columbus, OH, Chloe has a bachelor's in journalism from The Ohio State University. She is a former IndyStar Pulliam Fellow, and has previously worked for Indy Maven, The Lantern, and CityScene Media Group. In her free time, Chloe enjoys live theatre, reading, baking and keeping her plants alive.
