What Lies Beneath.... Livia Rose Johnson

What Lies Beneath is our monthly interview series exploring the inner stories behind outer expression. Through conversations rooted in ritual, heritage, and perspective, we uncover the layers that shape how our guests move through the world.

This month, we sit down with Livia Rose Johnson, the guiding arm behind social media at The Steam Bar, and a multidisciplinary creative whose work spans culture production, casting, writing, modeling, and media. Active across fashion, art, and cultural journalism, Livia brings a nuanced perspective shaped by both her creative practice and her role in shaping how culture is seen, shared, and felt online.

Here’s What Lies Beneath Livia

On Misunderstanding

The part of myself that feels most misunderstood is my quietness. People often mistake it for distance, passivity, or indecision, when in reality it’s where I’m observing, listening, and integrating. I’ve always been someone who feels deeply before I speak. For a long time, that meant I softened my edges or over-explained myself to be legible. Now, I’m more comfortable letting my presence speak for itself and trusting that not everyone needs access to my inner world to respect it.

Admiration and Aspiration

I value integrity, curiosity, and emotional fluency in other people the ability to be honest with themselves and others without rigidity or performance. I’m still learning to cultivate patience with my own process. I have a natural urgency to create and move, and growth for me has meant learning when to slow down, when to sit with discomfort, and when to let things unfold instead of forcing clarity.

Private Beauty

When no one is watching, beauty feels like alignment. It’s the way I move through a morning without rushing, the rituals I keep for myself, the care I give my body and mind when there’s no audience. It’s softness, quiet discipline, and moments of stillness that remind me I don’t need to be seen to be whole.

Observations on Beauty

In the US, Black beauty often feels bold, expressive, and unapologetic. There's power in visibility and self-definition. In the UK, I notice a quieter confidence, a kind of restraint that still holds depth and intention. Both feel rooted in survival and self-authorship, just expressed differently. What connects them is an innate creativity and an understanding that beauty is not just aesthetic it’s political, cultural, and deeply personal.

The Inherited Taste

My taste is shaped by contradiction and hybridity. I come from a lineage where resilience and creativity were intertwined where making something out of nothing was second nature. That’s influenced my instinct to blend softness with structure, tradition with futurism. I’m drawn to things that feel lived-in but intentional, imperfect but precise.

True Belonging

I feel most like myself in environments that allow me to be porous where I can think, feel, and create without performance. That often comes when I’m working quietly, traveling alone, or in intimate conversations with people who don’t need me to explain myself. Belonging, for me, is less about place and more about emotional safety.

Fear and Becoming

The fear that shaped me most was the fear of being misunderstood or dismissed if I showed too much of my inner world. Earlier in my life, that fear made me guarded. Over time, it’s softened into discernment. I no longer see vulnerability as exposure, but as choice. That shift has changed everything.

To Be Visible

I feel most powerful when I choose visibility rather than seek it. There’s strength in being seen on my own terms, but there’s also power in anonymity, the freedom to create without expectation. I’ve learned to move fluidly between the two, depending on what the moment asks of me.

Learning To Unlearn

I had to unlearn the belief that productivity equals worth. For a long time, I measured myself by output rather than presence. Growth has meant understanding that rest, reflection, and intuition are not pauses from the work they are part of it.

True Essence

At my core, stripped of aesthetics and context, I am a witness and a builder. I’m someone who notices patterns, feels deeply, and is compelled to create meaning whether through people, ideas, or spaces. What remains is curiosity, empathy, and the desire to leave things more honest than I found them.