Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Roy Johnson Jr. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Roy, thank you so much for joining us and offering your lessons and wisdom for our readers. One of the things we most admire about you is your generosity and so we’d love if you could talk to us about where you think your generosity comes from.
Generosity is an admirable trait that can come in many forms. It can be exemplified through giving gifts, selfless giving of time by serving others, providing accessible resources (tangible and intangible), or simply being kind to others. But where does my generosity come from? Is it something that I was born with, or did I learn by watching the action of others?
Realistically, everyone’s experience is unique. As for me, my generosity is stemmed from my spiritual upbringing, life experiences and exposure to positive role models. But the biggest influence has been my parents who I first handedly watched and observed them always giving to others before appeasing themselves. For example, for the holidays, my mom would not only cook enough food for our household, but she would cook enough to invite others and take some to those who were confined to their homes. Still to this day, their heart of giving has not changed. Matter of fact, it has grown tremendously.
Notably, as you can see my generosity started from the home. My upbringing played a significant role in shaping my behavior. Being I grew up in a home where generosity was and still is valued and modeled, I have embraced this quality as an adult and continue to show kindness to others by paying it forward.
Lastly, my personal beliefs and values have also influenced my level of generosity. My ongoing desire to make a positive and impactful footprint in this world has been driven by my heart’s ambition to continuously serve and help others. I am a chosen vessel!
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Imagine growing up and consistently being told to go to school, get good grades and graduate. Well, I did that! After graduating from high school, I knew it was always my dream since a child to go to medical school and become an OB/GYN. So, I begin to journey towards the fulfillment of my dream by going to college, starting off at North Harris Community College (Now Lone Star) then transferring to Texas A&M University – College Station majoring in Biology. However, this process wasn’t easy, but I also learned a lot about myself during this part of my journey. It was during my senior year of college when I had to face the truth about the direction I wanted to head in with my life. I became discouraged, unhappy, questioning my abilities, wondering if I was good enough, and very doubtful in my future as a doctor because it began to feel like what I was doing academically wasn’t acceptable nor fulfilling. It was just subpar. But along with this, I had to face reality and my reality was I couldn’t fathom the idea of missing out on life. In other words, I am a family person who values and cherishes those unrepeatable and special moments I get to spend with my family and close friends.
By me becoming a doctor, that would have been a major part of me that would go empty. I knew that would have been a major sacrifice and personal loss. I knew by me becoming a well-known and prominent doctor, I would be doing pretty well financially, but I wouldn’t be able to fully enjoy the fruits of my labor. So, I had to do a self-evaluation and be honest with myself. Becoming a physician was no longer on my radar. I had to pivot and decide what direction I was going to head in because changing majors was not even an option. So instead, I graduated with my Bachelor of Science in Biology and went into education teaching eighth-grade science. Although I enjoy teaching and educating others, the traditional classroom setting was not suitable for my methodology of teaching. My teaching systematics was not customary to what was acceptable or what the school’s administration thought I should be doing. I was a first-year teacher who lacked tremendous support from the administration. An administration who thought and firmly believes students with behavior problems should continue coming to school, sitting in class and disrupting the teaching and education of the other students. This philosophy didn’t make any sense to me especially since I was giving all that I had within me to this future generation. I felt utterly unappreciated, and all of my efforts were in vain. But what I came to realize, money coming into the school outweighed the commitment I was making as a teacher. I resigned from the education system and went into management within corporate America. Being in management, I defined it as nothing more than running an adult daycare. It became so stressful and impacted my health so miserably until I had to leave out on Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) because my doctor couldn’t get my blood pressure lowered or under control.
So, I found myself at a crossroads. I had to make a conscious decision that it was either going to be me or this toxic job. I was going either continuing playing with fire and allow it to silently kill me or I was going to take my life back and choose me. I chose me and in December of 2009, I stepped out on blind faith and submitted my letter of resignation, took out my retirement and followed my dream. What was my dream, you may ask? I honestly had no idea. I had no clue. All I knew, I had a dream that was too big for the walls of corporate America to contain. There was a bigger purpose for my life! In order to grow, I had to be intentional, exercise my faith and make up my mind to get away from there. So, I became an entrepreneur and started my own business as a Certified Signing Agent in 2009. Although I have built a successful business and trained several others to do the same throughout the years, I started to feel unfulfilled knowing God had a bigger and greater purpose for me. I knew there were people who needed to hear my voice. I knew there were people who needed to hear a message that would enable them to break free from the shackles that’s been holding them down from pursuing their dreams, vision, purpose and passion for their lives. I knew my life was not just about me but about my ability to serve others. As a result, in June of 2020, I pursued my life’s purpose of becoming a certified life, business and entrepreneurship strategist to help others manifest their dreams by being more intentional and unapologetically. From this, The Business Launcher LLC was born. The purpose of The Business Launcher is to coach aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs who need proven and personalized strategy to accelerate the process of building a profitable business so that they can confidently shift from employee to entrepreneurship and control their own financial destiny. The Business Launcher is a prominent coaching program that enables me to help my clients deal with their life’s dysfunctionalities so they can move from stagnation to manifestation and start turning their yearnings into earnings and ideas into dollars.
“I AM…….THE LAUNCHOLOGIST!”
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Along my journey, I discovered that perseverance, adaptability, and a growth mindset were the three most impactful qualities.
Perserverance is essential because it helped me to keep focused, overcome obstacles and achieve my goals. I found it to be the ultimate ability for me to keep pushing and striving even when things got tough and wanted to throw in the towel and quit. With perseverance, I knew I can turn my dreams into reality and become the truest and best version of myself. It also taught me valuable lessons about resilience, determination, and hard work, which are viable qualities for success in any area of life. Without perseverance, I may have never reached my full potential or experienced the satisfaction of accomplishing something truly meaningful.
As for adaptability, it enabled me to respond effectively to changing circumstances as it pertains to my life personally and professionally. The fact of the matter is those who are adaptable are able to learn new skills, adjust their approach, and remain resilient in the face of challenges. This quality is critically valuable in today’s vastly evolving world of entrepreneurship.
Operating with a growth mindset entailed me believing that my abilities and intelligence can be developed and cultivated through hard work, dedication, and persistence. It also involved accepting new and profound challenges, learning from mistakes, turning losses into wins and seeking out constructive critiquing to help me grow and improve. With a growth mindset, I surprisingly found myself taking on newfound challenges, stretching myself beyond my comfort zone and persevering through obstacles. I saw my failures as an additional opportunity for premium growth and a willingness to put in the effort to improve my skills and enhance my knowledge. This sort of growth mindset had led me to greater success in both personal and professional endeavors.
My advice for those early in their journey is to embrace challenges as opportunities for growth, be open to feedback and constructive critiquing, and become a sponge of limitless and continuous learning while simultaneously developing new skills.
Remember that success is not a destination but a journey, so enjoy the process and stay committed to your goals.
What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?
I personally believe striking a balance between strengths and weaknesses is crucial for personal growth and potential. Focusing solely on our strengths can limit our growth and potential, while neglecting areas we aren’t as strong in can hinder our overall performance. For example, I am a natural introvert who loves encouraging, motivating, inspiring and uplifting others. I excelled in speaking but struggled with getting the courage to speak in front of others. Instead of continuing to shy away from my God-given gift and opportunities, I accepted it and begin maneuvering into an area of being not so comfortable and just did it. I begin finding myself actively seeking out opportunities and utilized them as practice until I became more comfortable and confident. This not only improved my speaking skills, but also boosted my overall confidence and drive to make an impact through my motivational speaking.
As a result of building the courage to face my fears of speaking, I have since then gone on to speak on countless platforms including speaking internationally in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thebusinesslauncherllc.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamroyjohnson/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/royljohnsonjr98/
- Other: Email: Roy@RoyLJohnsonJr.com
Image Credits
Jay Fields Gabriela Elizondo Gonzales
