Meet Amy Johnson, Partner @ 22Eleven / Co-founder and Former CEO @ LifeLoop

LifeLoop launched in 2015 and developed a platform to support assisted living communities with nonclinical procedures while keeping families, staff and residents in communication. Offerings included scheduling calendars, resident engagement tracking and fulfilling maintenance and transportation needs. The company was acquired in 2022 by iN2L. 

Johnson has since supported fellow entrepreneurs through her work as a board member of Invest Nebraska and running her startup and small business consulting firm, 22Eleven. 

What inspired you to become an entrepreneur or support other entrepreneurs?

Before LifeLoop, I never thought of myself as an entrepreneur. I’ve always just been someone who becomes hyper-focused on solving problems that impact people. That’s how I’ve always operated. If I see something broken or something that could be better, it’s hard for me to ignore it.

That mindset is what led to LifeLoop. It wasn’t about starting a company for the sake of being an entrepreneur — it was about trying to improve an experience that felt deeply personal and important. Looking back, I guess that’s what being an entrepreneur actually is.

I love being around people who are trying to build meaningful things, solve real problems and create momentum where none existed before.

What advice would you give yourself if you could go back in time to when you were just starting out?

I would empower people earlier and let go sooner. Early on, I felt like I needed to carry everything myself or have all the answers before giving others ownership. Over time, I learned that the best companies are built when great people are trusted to lead, make decisions and grow alongside the business.

Some of our biggest breakthroughs came from employees stepping into leadership in ways I never could have predicted. Looking back, I would have spent less time trying to control every outcome and more time building confidence and ownership across the team.

How do you stay motivated when things feel overwhelming — or stagnant?

I try to take a step back and get an outside perspective. One of the biggest things I’ve learned is that being too close to a problem can create tunnel vision. Sometimes you need space, different input or a fresh conversation to see things more clearly.

I also remind myself to stay focused on my strengths and delegate the things that are weaknesses for me to people who are better at those areas. That shift was a huge unlock for me as a leader. I don’t believe great leaders have to be great at everything — I think they need to know where they create the most value and build strong people around them in the areas they don’t.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve overcome and how did you overcome it?

One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced was navigating the period after selling our company. From the outside, selling a business looks like the finish line, but in reality, it can create a whole new shift in identity and purpose. So much of your momentum is tied to building, solving problems and leading a team, and suddenly you’re forced to figure out who you are without the constant pace of it all.

At the same time, I’ve learned that the path of an entrepreneur — and honestly, most careers — is rarely what it appears to be from the outside. It can be messy and nonlinear. The question of “What are you doing now?” is often not easy to answer because most entrepreneurs are juggling several ideas, projects and opportunities at once, many of which may never fully come to fruition.

What helped me most was learning to stop chasing perfect clarity and instead trust momentum. I focused on staying close to people, ideas and work that energized me. Over time, I realized purpose and impact mattered most to me, and that perspective completely changed how I think about success.

How can the Nebraska community support you?

Keep doing what it does best — show up for each other. Nebraska has this unique willingness to connect, to open doors and to help without overcomplicating it. That’s a competitive advantage most people don’t even realize they have.

For me specifically, it’s about staying connected to great people and great companies. Introductions matter. Conversations matter. The more we can bring the right people into the same room, the better we will all be.