The Roanoker - March/April 2021 - 42

Sharon Morley (left)
and Erika Johnson have
worked together on
various projects in Floyd
for decades. " Mom is
absolutely my hero, " says
Erika.

Wild Women
Before Erika Johnson, 50, was co-founder
of FloydFest, she was a girl growing up in
an old farmhouse, with no running water or
electricity, at the top of a mountain.
Her mother, Sharon Morley, 72, was
a 1970s back-to-the-lander, who taught
herself to farm organically, raise chickens,
roast goats, run a Christmas tree and
wreath-making operation and - with
Erika's help - build the top yurt-making
business on the East Coast. (Sharon's
longtime friend Kathy Anderson is also a
partner at Blue Ridge Yurts.)
Erika's and Sharon's admiration for
each other is palpable.
" Anything good about me, I attribute to
Erika, " says Sharon, who for 40 years has
spearheaded a variety of business ventures
from her land holdings in Floyd County.
" Mom is absolutely my hero, " says
Erika, who, since selling her share of

42 MARCH/APRIL 2021

FloydFest, has opened an outdoor retail
space with partners in Floyd, called
OuterSpace, where she runs Revolution
Juice, a smoothie stand that also offers
locally-made CBD products.
Erika has been working for and with
her mom since she was a teen. She
bought her first computer after Sharon
paid her 10 cents for each tree seedling
she planted. When Erika opened the
restaurant and bar OddFellas Cantina in
downtown Floyd in 2000, Sharon was her
bookkeeper.
Then, 15 years ago, daughter and
mother traveled to Big Sur, California, for
a race. Erika ran a marathon, her mom,
the 10K. They saw their first yurts there. A
new business venture was born.
Erika says there is an unparalleled level
of job security that comes from working
with family. " It takes a huge thing off the
table. Nobody's going to lose their job.
Nobody's going to throw up their hands. "
Today, lumber is stacked to the ceiling

of a warehouse on the family property,
where yurt orders are cut and prepared for
delivery. Less than a mile down the road,
two yurts made by the company are tucked
among the trees. Erika raised her two
kids in them; she now rents them through
Airbnb.
" She is fearless of failure, " Sharon says
of Erika.
Though the two women are very
different - Erika has an aversion to being
tied down; Sharon can be nonmaterialistic
to a fault, they say - they are continually
learning from each other.
" I have a new appreciation for Mom's
grass-roots, build-it-slowly business
model, " Erika says. " She's never gone into
debt in any of her businesses. "
As Erika develops her next innovation
- renting shipping containers to Floyd
tourists - there's no one she'd rather have
in her court than her mom.
" I feel super lucky to have her support, "
she says. I

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The Roanoker - March/April 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Roanoker - March/April 2021

The Roanoker - March/April 2021 - Cover1
The Roanoker - March/April 2021 - Cover2
The Roanoker - March/April 2021 - 3
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The Roanoker - March/April 2021 - Cover3
The Roanoker - March/April 2021 - Cover4
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