Unleashing Your Unique Leadership: A Journey with Andrea Johnson, The Intentional Optimist

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Andrea Johnson (2:26): At least 300 times. So I promise you there will be no math today. Well, I hope. My guest promised me that there's no math. I don't know what the probability of that is, but we shall find out.

Andrea Johnson (2:46): And before we get started, you know, we're just gonna get started. I'm gonna skip my regular spew and just because I feel like that. So today, my guest, she has many different hats and she's very passionate about mental and physical wellness. So, let's just welcome her out today. Hello.

Unknown Speaker (3:13): How are you?

Unknown Speaker (3:14): I'm good.

Andrea Johnson (3:17): So, before we get started, can you tell us a little bit about who you are, what you do, how you got started, and why you got started?

Andrea Johnson (3:24): Sure. My name is Andrea Johnson, and I am the Intentional Optimist. And I work with other people to actually, I work with leaders. I like to help leaders go from what I call disempowered, where they have responsibility with no authority, and they may have gotten degrees in things that didn't really get them a better job. And I help them become what I call impactful or magnetic leaders by uncovering who they are at their core.

Andrea Johnson (3:52): I am a John Maxwell team speaker trainer and coach. So he's an international leadership guru, and I'm a DISC consultant. So I like working with people on communication behavioral analysis so that we communicate better. So I work with people on all different levels, both in person and online. And I kinda specialize in communication and team building.

Andrea Johnson (4:18): Wow. That's a lot. So what made you wanna get into all of this? Did you decide like, hey, you know, I want to help leaders grow or did you want to just be a very impactful person from day one?

Andrea Johnson (4:38): You know, I think we all want to leave an impact, don't we, Jimmy? I mean, that's what you do here, right? And I love how you talk about how you do healthy living through a specific lens, and many times we don't consider seeing anything through another lens. We only want to see through our own lens. Right?

Andrea Johnson (4:58): And as I worked for over twenty five years in the university medical system, I was sharing with you before we started recording that I didn't know I was going to got a business degree and I didn't know I was going to be working for these university medical schools where I was working with clinical trials and research administration and getting grants and funding and doing budgets and that kind of thing. But I figured out pretty quickly when I started managing people that I don't like that. I don't like keeping the status quo. I like to stir the pot a little bit, you know? I like to make things better.

Andrea Johnson (5:30): I like to take something from a five and go to a 10 or an 11. I like to find somebody's strengths and help them realize their goals and their dreams. And so, as I continued to work in that system, which is a great system, I worked for two wonderful universities that still do fabulous things today. Just realized that's not where I wanted to be. And a friend of mine, I told my husband, said, I just want to help people and that's not really a job description.

Andrea Johnson (6:00): And so friend introduced me to John Maxwell and to the leadership principles that I had kind of already been studying. I just didn't realize that I could actually be a consultant or a coach or a teacher, if you will, of adults in order to help them do that. And so for me, was just looking for fulfillment for me in order to help other people. And usually that's how it works. We help others and we find that it also helps ourselves.

Andrea Johnson (6:27): That's amazing. Know, I kind of want to be I want to kind of do the same thing. Want to I'll say I want to help people, but then, you know, I'm one of those people who are always looking for how to improve things. I'll give you an example. I just spoke on a recent summit, a virtual summit, I talked about how the healthcare system is dangerous to people with extra challenges, and I'm not going go into all the details about it, and I was like, you know, if I could get somebody to start talking about changing this garbage system because, you know, not being political or anything because I don't like any of the parties whatsoever it does.

Andrea Johnson (7:22): I just that whole disclaimer because I don't like any of them, they don't do anything for me, they don't help me in any single which way. So, I just But I think pretty much every single candidate is like, I'm going to approve this. I'm going to approve that. And it's like, it's been on the same hamster wheel over and over and over again. And then it's like, if one more person tries to run on it, I have this BS button at home, and it really says BS on it, I will take it to some kind of rally and blow it.

Andrea Johnson (7:59): Literally, because it's like, BS, this is not working. And so, I'm always looking for ways to how I say, can we make the system better? Here's what I'll give you the I'll list two examples here. One, there's too many of those portals, everyone's on the same page. And two, there's too many denials from insurance, statistics, oh my goodness there's that word.

Unknown Speaker (8:39): I promise that you didn't promise.

Andrea Johnson (8:47): These numbers, found that sixty percent of people with extra challenges get turned down by their health insurance. And then, it's like, they don't understand the specialty care that we need. And there's no average person, and there's no average number, how do you measure that? So I'm like you, I want to change something, and I want to be able to, I was like, yes, that's going to be a long, big goal, but you know what, if I can get somebody higher up than where I am to start talking about this, maybe he'll start going to the right direction because, well, let's just say the bar is so gosh darn low.

Andrea Johnson (9:27): It is. We really don't have much to overcome as far as getting It wouldn't take much to do better, would it? Fortunately, will say I wasn't in the healthcare industry. I was in the university side, so I was like, research? But it just takes so long for research to get to the patient.

Andrea Johnson (9:46): It takes so long for policies to change inside big institutions. There's great things that they can do, but at the same time, I just realized I can make a difference someplace else.

Andrea Johnson (9:59): And plus, you know, we all we always well, we we just recently learned that research doesn't is not always accurate either.

Unknown Speaker (10:10): Shocker.

Andrea Johnson (10:11): I know. I just said I just said shocking evidence. Whoops. You mean the weather is not a 100% accurate?

Unknown Speaker (10:25): Yeah, just look outside a minute. Yeah. That's always fun. Like, you look at your app and you say, Oh, it's going to be raining here. It's supposed to be raining here, you look out and the sun is shining, it's like, There's no clouds in the sky.

Andrea Johnson (10:37): Yeah. You know, fun fact before I ask you the next question. You know, I had this one weather app that says like, we're super accurate. Well, one day, I was in my dad's office at home, and it's just like, it's gonna snow. It was perfectly sunny.

Andrea Johnson (10:54): It's like,

Unknown Speaker (10:55): I was

Unknown Speaker (10:56): like, do you sure you have my right location? And he was like, yes. I'm not in Canada. And it's like, do I have to set up my time zone? I'm not sure.

Andrea Johnson (11:10): But as I said, some I think a satellite is broke from outer space. So I need to go back up to fix it.

Unknown Speaker (11:17): There you go.

Andrea Johnson (11:17): So my next question for you is, when you help people, what are some of their what do they wanna change to make a difference? Or what kind of stuff do they struggle with?

Andrea Johnson (11:35): That's a really you know, for y'all listening, if you haven't already given Jimmy five stars, you should just pause here and go back and scroll down and give him five stars because on whatever podcast app you're on, of course, I'm speaking Apple language, sorry. But that is a very good question because, of course, every client is different. But most people in general want to do well if they know how. And they don't always know how. Right?

Andrea Johnson (11:59): And we think that if we get a specific type of education or if we get a certification, like a master's in business, an MBA, or if we get in some you know, like a project management certification, or if we work longer hours, maybe they'll recognize our hard work, and they never do. Right? Working longer hours makes us bitter. Getting extra certifications makes us poor. Sometimes it gives us an education, but a lot of times it just makes us frustrated.

Andrea Johnson (12:33): And so my what I do is I take when people feel that way and they come to me, my goal is to help them look inside and say, So what am I who am I, really? And so I start with them in three major areas, and I look first at their core values, And that's something that we all have. We may not always recognize what they are. We may not always They're not usually honored. There are some people who can honor their core values, and those people live very what we call authentically.

Andrea Johnson (13:01): And it's amazing when I get a unicorn who already knows their core values and can live with them. But most of the time people really are trying to conform with society or with whatever their job or their education says they to do in order to get where they want to go. And so they think they can't be themselves. And so what they do is they compromise on their own core values. Things like, for me, it's like freedom of thought.

Andrea Johnson (13:27): Like, don't tell me how to think. Right? It's just don't even start. Or belonging. I want to belong.

Andrea Johnson (13:33): Right? I want to feel like I belong in every conversation and I want everyone to feel like they belong in a conversation with me. But I also want to be authentic. So those are my core values. So I start with people in that area because that's usually the one place that people have kind of given the world or themselves permission to not be themselves.

Andrea Johnson (13:56): So I think that's an important piece to start with. And that's kind of what and the other piece too, Jimmy, is that some people, I don't know if you've heard this, but, we do this a lot in business. We do it in universities. We do it in, government, but we promote people because they've done a good job at a lower level. So we promote them to a higher level, but we don't always train them.

Andrea Johnson (14:18): And so that's the other type of client I get, is somebody who's been promoted to a higher level, but doesn't really have any leadership skills or training. And so they kinda need to understand what are the principles of leadership? How do I engage my staff? How do I make sure that I'm doing things that's going to produce a really good culture in my team? Because the last thing you want is a really bad atmosphere where people are unhappy and then they just leave, or they do a poor job.

Andrea Johnson (14:43): Right? Those are my two basic things.

Andrea Johnson (14:46): Well, I have to comment on one thing, mean a few things on that. One, I met so many, I'm not going to name any specific companies, or I'm going try not to. I met so many company, some people, I mean, obviously on the customer service side, there's some managers or some other people that I was like, How did you get this job? And then they argue with you, and it's like, My manager would say no to the Well, not well, he say would the same exact thing as I am is I well, there's a reason why you're not the manager. And I mean, I mean, I'm not damn big at all or anything, the but but the but it's like, well, there's a reason why this that person's not in the manager position because, one, he's not thinking, hey, how can I help this customer?

Andrea Johnson (15:45): I'm just thinking, what's the quickest way I can get off the phone with this person?

Andrea Johnson (15:49): And those are pretty basic skills, right? I mean, so there are times I do communication workshops with organizations to make sure Like I did one with a veterinary hospital. Like I did some work with a veterinary hospital and one of them was a team leader who was consistently working with her team that was all customer facing. Imagine people bringing their sick animals in and having somebody not give you good customer service. I mean, want your animal, you want your family member basically to be taken care of, but you also wanna make sure that you're taken care of.

Andrea Johnson (16:20): So those skills are important at any level, and if we don't teach them, people may not know them.

Andrea Johnson (16:28): Yeah. And I also agree with you about if you work longer and harder and whatnot, you get burnt out and then also just irritated. Because, you know, I've been seeing a pattern these last couple of months in my past semester. I mean, I've been getting very irritated because I'm working with this annoying online program. Before And somebody says to me, and I know somebody probably will, is there's always that one peanut galley person out there, it's like, well, why don't you just take this in person?

Andrea Johnson (17:07): Just because I take it in person doesn't mean I'm gonna get a helpful professor. It does not mean Right. That it's going to be any easier. Me and numbers do not work together. I can understand numbers and I can understand positive and negative and whatnot, but word problems and whatnot, and then this and the calculated, there's a reason why I'm never gonna be an accountant.

Unknown Speaker (17:33): Me either.

Andrea Johnson (17:35): So Anyway, and just wanna piggyback off one other thing, going backwards real quick, is that you know how I said, I'm always looking for some way to improve these things? Like, one of the one of the problems I had to do was enter into a spreadsheet, and it's like and my brother's an accountant, and it's like, if this is what my brother has to do all day, I really feel so sorry for him because it's like, this is the most tedious crap I ever did. And these numbers weren't just three numbers, three on one side and three on the other. They gave me the longest list as possible. It was like 20 numbers on each side.

Andrea Johnson (18:18): Like, this is tedious. And it's like, if I could automate this thing right now

Unknown Speaker (18:22): Oh, yeah.

Andrea Johnson (18:23): I would. But and so, yeah. I know I'm a little off topic, but I just wanted to go back But real a it's starting from my train of thought, but that's where all my thoughts are going today. Backwards, forwards, up and down. Welcome to my brain.

Andrea Johnson (18:43): Way to go. So my next question for you is, what are some ways people can find their true purpose and leadership ways in life or one create a bigger impact than just doing the nine to five or do what everyone else is doing?

Andrea Johnson (19:09): Well, Jimmy, I like to talk about it in not a word problem, I promise. But a little bit of a story of being able to go from if you have somebody that says, if you're raised in a certain way that says, You have to do things this way, and then you realize, That doesn't work for me. And then you turn around and say, You know what if I do them? And you said, I like to find a better way to do things. So you turn around and do it a different way.

Andrea Johnson (19:33): That's like moving from imitating other people's principles and priorities to defining your own priorities and your own principles for what I call sustainable, impactful leadership. When you can actually do it over and over and over again, and you can do the actions associated with it, the thoughts associated with it, the energy that it requires, when you can do all of that over and over, then you've got what I call sustainable leadership. And when you enjoy your work, it's amazing, right? When you have the authority to act according to your convictions, the things that you really believe in and that you're passionate about, that's when you can do the work that makes a bigger impact. And so what I do is I help people figure out what their core values are so that they don't stay stuck in those myths of working harder or getting an extra degree or even just, you know, we get in this growth mindset, we say, Oh, I have a growth mindset.

Andrea Johnson (20:30): I'm going learn forever. But if you don't ever apply that learning, then it doesn't really do anything for you. So that's what I do, is I help people figure out who they really are, and I do that with their core values. I do that with their DISC communication style, whether or not you're a storyteller, or a bottom line person, or a detail person, or a steady person that likes to just keep the peace, a peaceful person. I help you figure those things out.

Andrea Johnson (20:58): And that, combined with your core values, kind of gives you a direction. Because, you know, there's probably any number of things that I could do for a living that would fulfill me as long as I could stay true to my core values. I was my son and I, he's 15, we watch f one races together. And I love racing. I like to drive fast.

Andrea Johnson (21:19): I drive a BMW. I like to drive fast on curvy roads. I really like the way it hugs the side you know, it hugs the road. I love all of that. And I was watching that the other day, and I thought, I could work for an f one team.

Andrea Johnson (21:31): And then I realized that would mean I would be away from home a lot. I'm like, well, that's true, but at the same time, there's things that I would love about it and things that I would hate about it. But there's probably five or six different careers that I could have with my core values that I could stay true to me and probably still enjoy my life. And I think that's really more of what it's about, rather than worrying about finding my true life's purpose. Because our life's purpose is to live out who we are.

Andrea Johnson (22:00): To me, it's that simple. It's to just be the most Andrea or the most Jimmy that we possibly can, and therefore bring everything that we were created to bring to our environment and our surroundings and our family and our friends and anybody else who will listen.

Andrea Johnson (22:15): I agree with that, especially and also about the part where you said, if you never apply that knowledge, then you never need to go get anywhere or where you wanna be. And I, like, I I actually took a few I went to some webinars this in the last couple of months, and I haven't applied everything yet to it, but I'm one I decided I'm gonna wait to apply everything once I finish a semester, which is like I mean, it's almost it's like next Monday, I'm finished. It's like it's like, yeah, you know, it's way this long. And I'm in and I have everything I'm recording. So it's not like I'm Right.

Andrea Johnson (23:08): Like, I can go back, listen to it, reapply my knowledge, and whatnot. So it's like, I'll do it. But it just right now, I just like, it's crunch time and everything else. Yeah. So I'm definitely going to look into it.

Andrea Johnson (23:25): I've been beating myself up lately because on the ratio of, let's say, maybe not use more ratio, but I've been spending probably ninety plus hours on math and 10% on my business. I was like, I hate this so much, especially because if I I can't say this out loud, let's just say if I've I'm trying to put it in words that I don't make it too obvious, but let's just say if it was an even fiftyfifty, 50 this, 50 that, even sixty and forty, I would have been like, great, but I feel like I'm spending all my time on math. I'm like, you know, it's like, no wonder why I absolutely hate math even more. Yeah.

Andrea Johnson (24:17): Well, mean, you're not getting to do what you love. Right? And so but going back to that idea of applying what we've learned, many of us take webinars all the time. And I'm and I have a a shelf over here full of books. But if I just read and I never apply anything that I've learned, or I take these webinars and I never go back to them, you know, John Maxwell says, Experience is not the best teacher.

Andrea Johnson (24:42): Evaluated experience is the best teacher. And it sounds like that's what you're doing. And you're being smart too by setting aside it's like, you know obviously that this statistics class is taking it's like eating your lunch. Right? So you just let it just like, I'm almost done.

Andrea Johnson (24:57): And then you'll get back to it and build your business the way you should. But, you know, Jimmy, if we never try those harder things, then we never know whether or not that's the direction we need to go. We never know what we are capable of. Right? I mean, it's like, obviously, this is developing persistence in you.

Andrea Johnson (25:19): And so, keep going. I'm like, never again.

Andrea Johnson (25:27): My tutor said to me, I wish I kept on track how many times you said I hate math. And it's like, it would have been a very impressive number. And he's Like a billion now. It's like, I should have kept a nice clicker. Click, click, click, click.

Andrea Johnson (25:44): Yeah. My next question for you is, why do you think people don't try something out of the norm to live the life that they want to live? Because there was a time, and I'll admit this, I saw some of my other colleagues and some of my other friends, they had their jobs and whatnot, and I was like, maybe I should go follow what they are. I mean, not particularly what they're doing in whatever field that they're in. But they should I just go get a job and just get a paycheck and and here I have some money?

Andrea Johnson (26:30): But then as it seems like, I've been working at this for many, many, many years already. And if to throw that all away, would be just terrible.

Andrea Johnson (26:43): Yeah. Well, I think that the biggest the word that I would use is that we're conditioned to think certain things. Right? We're conditioned to go to school, get out of high school, go to college. The normal path is to go to school, go to college, get a job, have a family, whatever.

Andrea Johnson (27:02): You know, it's like the whole American dream of the 2.2 kids and the white picket fence, that kind of thing. And the reality is that doesn't work for anybody. And you mentioned earlier, you used the phrase, there is no average patient. There is no average human. There is no I mean, an average is this conglomeration of everybody on all the extremes.

Andrea Johnson (27:21): And without the extremes, you would have no average, right? I mean, I promised I wouldn't talk statistics, I'm sorry. But shows you that we can use it, right, in ways that you don't expect. But I think the reason why people don't try new things is because we've been taught that it's, number one, it's not okay to fail. And number two, that we're supposed to do things in a certain way, and anything outside of that is different or weird.

Andrea Johnson (27:49): And, you know, breaking down that conditioning in our brains, let alone in society, is hard. And you're on the front lines of that kind of thing. My son has ADHD, and so, you know, we're constantly advocating at the school for things. And I just interviewed a gentleman earlier today who's 84 years old, and he discovered he had ADHD at 57. Part of what he discovered was the reason why he was so successful doing certain things is because of his not normal brain.

Andrea Johnson (28:19): Right? And so being willing to say, Alright, am I okay with going against what I've been conditioned to believe? And sometimes that's hard. I've done that in several areas. I've done it in my religious understanding of the world.

Andrea Johnson (28:36): I've done it in, like you said, there's no politician and there's no political party that meets your needs. I'm like, I'm right there with you, brother. I don't agree with any of them. My husband will say something like, Well, they're a politician. And my sister thinks I'm cynical, but the reality is I've decided I don't buy into that system anymore.

Andrea Johnson (28:56): It's a conditioning piece that I don't want to have. So I think being taking it back to your original question of how do you help people or encourage them to do that, is to give them the to empower them and give them the kind of knowledge base that they need to have the courage and the confidence to break out of that conditioning. Because that's actually the harder work. Breaking out of the conditioning is the harder work.

Andrea Johnson (29:22): I love it that you said that because there's no average brain, there's no average person, especially because, you know what, I have a weird brain that makes it me, the crazy fitness guy says it all right here. Then two, I don't think there's no such thing as normal except for the setting on the washing machine and the dishwasher. But other than that, I haven't met any normal people. Mean, what does normal look like? Can you describe normal for me?

Andrea Johnson (30:03): No. Exactly. And then I also want to piggyback off of the fact that everybody has different uniqueness and, you know, I'm like you were saying and I was saying, you know, there's you know, the political parties don't do it for me. I'm my my my parents are more political than I am. I'm I was like, yeah.

Andrea Johnson (30:37): And it's like, since since I had to since they're not making anything easy for me with the health care and whatnot, getting the tests that I need to to keep watch on my neck issue. I'm like, man, they can go go away, go to hell, whatever they want me to. And so, I was like, We can make this so much easier. And then I also want to say that everybody has their own gifts and whatnot. It's the people who stand by your side are the ones that are more important to me these days, especially for those, it was like, yeah, Jimmy, while you're in college, go try something different, etcetera.

Andrea Johnson (31:29): And even if I have to do something down the road just to make ends meet, I would still keep my business because I wouldn't want to give it up for anybody or anything because I love what I do.

Unknown Speaker (31:46): Well, good for you.

Andrea Johnson (31:48): And it took me too many years to get to where I am today, so I was like, throw that all away for a nine to five now. And even if I'm working nine to five myself, I'd rather be my own boss than listen to someone else and say, Jimmy, you gotta do it this way.

Andrea Johnson (32:03): Yeah. Well, and how many of us live within somebody else's vision? Right? It's like, I worked for two big, really nice schools of medicine universities, and they had great vision and great mission and really good values, and they do great work, but it's not my mission and my vision. And I wanted to live my life with my own rules and my own vision.

Andrea Johnson (32:27): And, you know, you're gonna have at best limited impact impact on your world based on what somebody else tells you is possible. I mean, Jimmy, you know this. If you only did what other people said was possible, you probably wouldn't do much, would you? No. No.

Andrea Johnson (32:42): And you've worked hard to get where you are. So that's part of the work that I do is help other people understand that they don't have to take what society or they say, or their teachers or their boss or whatever says is what's possible for them. I help them see what's really possible for them. Because a lot of times we just we get in this little blinder rut place and we just can't see because we're just trying to get the paycheck, or we're just trying to get the grade, or we're just trying to fit in. And it's just, it's more important, it's harder, and it's scarier to stand out, but it's more important to do that.

Andrea Johnson (33:18): I know what you mean by it's hard. It's hard to be the one to stand out because I used to actually hide be, well, really hide, but I used to just have everything as my brand, never post it as myself. And then one day, where I took the leap of faith, lack of better word. I just I I posted a milestone from Crazy Fitness Guide's page. No one cared.

Andrea Johnson (33:48): When I posted it from my page, people was like, oh, congratulations. And it's like

Unknown Speaker (33:54): right?

Unknown Speaker (33:56): They're like, two and two.

Unknown Speaker (33:59): Why not?

Andrea Johnson (34:00): Yeah. I know. God, hate this math. It's everywhere.

Unknown Speaker (34:08): You got this.

Andrea Johnson (34:09): I know. So my next question for you is, why do you what are some easy tips for people to start applying to, to either start finding path that they want or, just changing something, whether, or being a better version of themselves?

Andrea Johnson (34:33): Yeah. I think that the very first piece you need is awareness, so you need to want to know. And a lot of times we don't want to know. That's the first step, is we need to want to know who we are and how we tick. And so the easiest way to do that from my perspective is to find out those principles and priorities, which I call your core values.

Andrea Johnson (34:51): I have a free download. It's like an easy button that you click right above an easy button and like your BS button, but it's an easy button right above my head on my website. It just is a free download and you can get started on that kind of an exercise. But the other piece is in order to grow, you also have to know who you are. So understanding your core values and your DISC.

Andrea Johnson (35:11): But once you can do that, then you can give yourself the authority to lead. You can lead with the authority that comes from knowing who you are. So the first piece is to be willing to know. And when I teach workshops on this, a lot of times I ask people, Why have we not done this work? And invariably people say, because I'm scared to know what I'm what's in there.

Andrea Johnson (35:31): I'm like, but there's nothing in there that's bad. It's like the things that are in there are the things that you were created to show. And because, like you've said this over and over, we're all unique. We've been created uniquely. And if I don't bring what I am to the table, then what if nobody else brings that?

Andrea Johnson (35:49): And then we're all missing out. So I just want to encourage our listeners to be willing to say, Well, what unique pieces do I have to offer? And then how can I offer them? And when we do that, then that can kind of unleash these authentic results that we might not have had before, and gives us the ability to make an impact. Just being willing to talk to another person and see it from their perspective, that's also another good place to start.

Andrea Johnson (36:16): Yeah. Anyway, like, when I was actually changing five different majors in college, I was thinking, well, okay, maybe I should go in personal training. Well, I'm not good at math or science, so toss that out the window. Then I tried game design. Fun fact, my web design teacher had a friend at this company and one of the big companies, EA, and all he does all day long is make grass and games.

Andrea Johnson (36:55): And I'm like, if I wanted to make grass grow, I could go outside and watch the grass grow. And it's like, that sounds absolutely boring. And it's like, I would thought it

Jimmy Claire (37:04): would be like, hey, Warriors. Jimmy Claire here, tired of mainstream fitness b s, unlock Crazy Fitness Guys Elite podcast. You'll get exclusive merch, exclusive episodes, and bonus motivation or divergent wellness hacks. Low up your game now. Go to crazyfitnessguy.com and click on the mall link or click on the link in the show notes to view pricing and more information.

Andrea Johnson (37:37): And here I am getting paid. Well, I'm not getting paid on your show, but I now get paid to share my opinion. And so a lot of times, the things that other people see that are not our strengths, that are like something that makes us stand out in a way that they're like, oh, you should tone that down. Those are the things that are our strengths. And so capitalizing on the things that you do well is the smartest way to move forward.

Andrea Johnson (38:01): Bravo.

Andrea Johnson (38:03): And you know what? I posted a tweet later that's scheduled out later today about I'm not gonna name any names until later. But so I I just found that that one of my as a gift that somebody gave to me, these headphones, the leather on it was actually fake. How you can tell, everything is peeling off. I mean, it's not unpeeling.

Andrea Johnson (38:37): It's never been in sunlight. I have never sweat with it on. I mean, maybe I did some yoga in it, but I don't sweat darn with yoga. I just it's due to stretch out my tight hamstrings and everything else. But I was like, maybe I get a very low sweaty, but it's not as I mean, it's not drenched or anything.

Andrea Johnson (38:59): So I was like, this is like my fake leather jacket that I had years ago, and it was, I mean, it was like $80. I'm like, this company costs like 300 something dollars for these headphones. It's like, oh, they're so toast. I was like, I'm a very fed up consumer. And so, I said to my mom jokingly, today, you know, as an invisible mission, not going to list it anywhere, but as an invisible mission in my own brain, I'm going be the most transparent brand, and quote other brands, and it's like, I'm not happy with this person's product.

Andrea Johnson (39:44): And it's like, because you know what, I want to be one of those, those resources with people, it's like, you know, I'm a consumer too, this company is not good for this, this company is not good for that. I was like, it's not going all be negative, of course, it's going to be about still healthy living everything But, I want to be transparent, then people say, hey, I should keep going for this guy, because he hasn't steered me wrong yet.

Unknown Speaker (40:15): Tell me the truth, yeah.

Andrea Johnson (40:16): Yeah. I'm I'm a very brutally honest person. I mean

Unknown Speaker (40:23): You know, that's not terrible. It's not terrible.

Andrea Johnson (40:26): She's like, I don't think you should list that anywhere. It's like, didn't say I was gone to list it. That's why I said invisible. Invisible, mom. Yes, I never wouldn't line up the mission statement on Crazy Fitness guy.

Andrea Johnson (40:39): It's like, why would I put that there? Does not make any sense. My goodness. And she thought I was crazy. And she wonder where I get where I get from.

Andrea Johnson (40:55): So my next question for you is, what are some good resources for people to start looking for being the best versions of themselves, and being a leader, and what is your definition of leadership?

Andrea Johnson (41:16): Well, John Maxwell uses the definition, it's very simple, it says, Leadership is influence, pure and simple. And it's being able to influence others in a good way, not like to persuade them to do things they don't want to do, but to influence others to get together and do the work that they need to do, or to follow along and learn, or something like that. I also like to say that we get to lead beyond basic decisions and vision and employee satisfaction or team satisfaction, maximizing our effectiveness when we are the most, like you said, transparent, authentic. When we are the most pure to ourselves and the most real. As far as resources are concerned, I have again, I have core values course.

Andrea Johnson (42:04): I have core values coaching. I have disc assessments. These kind of things, like I said, well, I don't know if I actually said it this way. My business is first knowing yourself, which is your core values, and then we move on to understanding how you communicate all of that, which is your DISC assessment. And it's how you like, it's almost like a special language that we all everybody has a pattern of speech that they use.

Andrea Johnson (42:25): And then the third piece is what I call intentional optimism. And these are attitudes and mindsets that help us do well what we want to do, that help us live out our goals with ease and excellence. So as far as my resources are concerned, those are the resources that I present, as well as like I do masterminds, where groups of us will get together and walk through a John Maxwell book. There are several that are phenomenal if you want to develop good habits. I always recommend James Clear's Atomic Habits.

Andrea Johnson (42:57): And with John Maxwell, Developing a Leader Within You two point zero, he's got a workbook. I walk people through that in a mastermind setting, and I can do it one on one with executive leadership coaching. But podcasts are a great way too, Jimmy. I mean, is a good podcast. I have a podcast called Stand Tall and Own It.

Andrea Johnson (43:13): It's for people who just want to own the differences that they have and kind of literally just stand up and say, All right, this is who I am. It's been kind of geared towards women, but I have some I have some men who listen. But those are some resources that I would suggest off the bat.

Andrea Johnson (43:33): Yeah. My definition of leadership is if you can't follow your own advice, don't give people advice as well.

Unknown Speaker (43:42): I like that.

Andrea Johnson (43:43): Think I said it in a different way before, but I think this says something I forget the other way I said it. Just because my brain is just drawing blank today. Gee, I wonder why I have four and a half hour math quiz. So, that was my definition of leadership. And then my, and I think my core values would be, is not I'm not even a thing, my core values would be transparency for everything, because there's a lot of brands that are not transparent.

Andrea Johnson (44:21): Dive and count cast. Yeah, sorry. I like to call brands out sometimes, but I've been in a beef with Verizon, my late two. Somehow magically, speeds fluctuate so much these days, like, that sounds suspicious. And then there's 8 for on the bills, they're changing it like $2 per month for for paper bills.

Andrea Johnson (44:53): I'm like, yeah, that's not extortion. And then later, somehow, got like I reached a 190 people with one of my posts against Verizon, I think 30 peoples have commented on it so far and said, They are totally trash. Hey, Lisa, I'm not the only one. I knew I was on something.

Andrea Johnson (45:22): Well, like that transparency as a core value. I think that, you know, if that's something that you live on a regular basis and people can trust you to be transparent about the things that you promote, and to be transparent about how you feel, then they know that they can trust you in all areas, right?

Andrea Johnson (45:39): Yeah. Because, you know, I get tired of being the consumer where I was like, great, this brain was not transparent with me. I even had this scammer from last year. For instance, yes, I admit that I paid the money to see if somebody could help me out with something. Mean, it's a very long story, so I'm trying to make it simple, short history as possible.

Andrea Johnson (46:08): So basically, just, pretty much five minutes after I gave payment, one of my colleagues said that this was not legitimate at all. So I was just like, okay, I'm just gonna open a dispute with my credit card and just get my money back. She then said, I made up a lot of lies that she gave me services and was like, they didn't. I had like five I was like, there was like the thing that she was doing was like three like two weeks later, so it was like, there's no transaction that occurred, so I should get my money back. And so basically we went on back and forth and finally got the attorney general involved.

Andrea Johnson (46:50): And then she's like, here's your money. I'm like, gee, I should have just went there with that first. And it's like, but and it's like and then ironically, when this was happening, I was in Ireland. So I was like, I should and I was like and and I was being truthful, but I I said to my credit card company, it's like, I should have just I like, I could have just said that I lost my credit card. Somebody did this in Ireland.

Unknown Speaker (47:18): I mean, was transparent anyway, but I was like, gee, I should have just took the lie up and stanz.

Unknown Speaker (47:25): It's not always easy to do that, is it? No. Yeah.

Andrea Johnson (47:29): But it's like, gee, I got myself into this pit, oh damn it. I was like, I'm trying to get my ass off out of this one, it's like, should I be truthful or not truthful? And it's like, just be truthful. And it's like, I don't have to memorize any lies then.

Unknown Speaker (47:42): There you go.

Andrea Johnson (47:44): Exactly, because if you lie, you have to remember this, this, this, and this, and it's like

Unknown Speaker (47:50): My memory's not that good.

Andrea Johnson (47:52): No. I mean, it's one thing if it's like, like a very teensy teensy little WiLi that wouldn't hurt anything or anybody. But but something along with money and something else, it's like, this could hurt my reputation, so no. Even if I had to struggle for six months and back and forth, it's like, I have all the time in the world. I mean, I know, not really, after a few back and forth with this person, you could tell she was getting very clumsy with her wording because she had done, then she started calling me some really nasty stuff, which my credit card company could not tell me.

Andrea Johnson (48:32): So, I was like, cool. So, I was like, and I just sat there quietly, and she just keeps on pointing fingers at me, and I was like, I'm just going to take this all in stride.

Unknown Speaker (48:48): There you go.

Andrea Johnson (48:49): Made her look like a bad person.

Unknown Speaker (48:50): There you go.

Andrea Johnson (48:51): Because I'm not. So, my last few questions for you is, who's your favorite podcaster, and why? And feel free not to say me. I'm sorry. The suspense.

Andrea Johnson (49:09): Okay. This is gonna be a weird one. I have been binging this pot because I'm I'm a pastor's wife. My I met my husband in grad school as a a theology student, and I just love it. Right?

Andrea Johnson (49:22): It's just like, to me, it's like some you'd have a topic that you just eat up. Well, there is a podcast that says over 400 episodes now. I am 200 and some odd in, and it's called Bema, b e m a. And it is literally this guy walking through from the Jewish perspective the Bible and church history, and it's just so refreshing to me. And literally, everybody around me is like, What a nerd you are.

Andrea Johnson (49:46): And I'm like, I know, but I love it. So right now my favorite podcast is Baymont podcast, and Marty Solomon is the podcaster that does that. He's just kind of a teacher.

Unknown Speaker (49:56): I figured we're going say, because the famous girl.

Unknown Speaker (50:00): A famous girl. I know where he said that.

Andrea Johnson (50:05): I'm kidding. I think my favorite podcast at the moment, I'm gonna get a little nerdy. So I'll, so I'm a fan of Avatar The Last Airbender. I'll see how my shirt is. Yeah.

Andrea Johnson (50:25): They have a podcast called Braving the Elements and I've been, I've been watching, I've been solicited. They're also on YouTube now. So sometimes I binge watch it. I have a TV right next to me. So so so I watch it sometimes on YouTube, not the show itself, but I mean, podcast itself.

Andrea Johnson (50:47): So it's not like I'm watching TV all day.

Unknown Speaker (50:50): Right? My podcast is also on YouTube. Your podcast is on YouTube. You're watching our podcast on YouTube.

Andrea Johnson (50:55): Exactly. So, I just don't like to always watching on my computer because like I'm doing six other tasks and like so many windows open. It's like, can't really watch this on my computer at the same time, can I? No. It was like having in split screens.

Andrea Johnson (51:14): Like, it's one thing to have in split screen if I'm just doing one task and that's it. But having six different browser windows open, it's like, what's going on? Where's who who's talking? Is this an advertisement? I was like, where is this?

Andrea Johnson (51:30): I don't know. I don't know. And so, I've been watching that, and then I'm also a fan of Lewis Howes, who's at School of Greatness. I actually interacted with him a few times on social media. I said, One day I'm going be on this show, and he's like, I look forward to it.

Andrea Johnson (51:52): And I was like, that's a challenge.

Andrea Johnson (51:56): Yeah, Jimmy. And let me tell you something, as a podcast guest, and a business owner, I don't do a lot of social media. I'm not very consistent. That's not a strength of mine. But a strength of mine is talking, right?

Andrea Johnson (52:08): Just like you. Talking is a strength. And so I decided that I was gonna My goal is 200 podcast interviews this year. And what's interesting is that you will be surprised who will say yes if you ask. Right?

Unknown Speaker (52:23): So ask. Yeah.

Andrea Johnson (52:25): You know, did that's what I did in one of my one of my last I mean, one of my guests from last year. If you ever seen the show Legend of Korra, I had her name is Jana Varney, and she voiced Korra. I had her on my show. And she's literally the nicest person I ever well, I mean, one of the nicest person I ever met, mean, especially, there's an actress and a voice actress, and I was like, she's so gosh darn nice. I'm like, and I was like, and during that interview, I had like, I was just getting over over a 100.4 degree fever.

Andrea Johnson (53:09): And she's like, do you wanna reschedule? And was like, no, no, I'll show up. Oh. So it's like, and so it's like, wow, I was sick. It's like, I'm enjoying every second of this.

Andrea Johnson (53:21): Yeah. I've been surprised who has said yes to be on my podcast, and I've been surprised who said yes to having me on there. So, you know, it's just when you are yourself, people will say yes. Right?

Andrea Johnson (53:33): Yeah. Especially because like, how I I'm not gonna say how I pitched it, I should air over there a lot of details of like, as I, I was like, I really love The Legend of Korra, Avatar The Last Airbender. I've been binge watching the listening to the show. I was like, I'm such a huge fan. And I like, not a weird fan, but I was like, just such a huge fan.

Andrea Johnson (54:01): Well, I didn't want her to think I was like, gee. Yes. Stalks me. And I was like, I'm all the way in Pennsylvania. And I was like, I don't have literally have any time to stalk anybody.

Andrea Johnson (54:13): And it's like and after seeing so many police shows where people stalking, it's like, get a life. Literally, get a life. And my last question for you is, where can people follow you, find you, and learn more about who you are and what you do?

Andrea Johnson (54:30): Well, Jimmy, I am The Intentional Optimist. So you can find me at theintentionaloptimist.com. You can find me especially on LinkedIn or Instagram TheIntentional Optimist or Andrea Johnson. But Andrea Johnson's a very common name. So if you just search that, you're gonna have a hard time.

Andrea Johnson (54:46): But if you put in the intentional optimist, you'll find me. And if you wanna reach out to me, I am happy to chat with you. I do so on I respond to DMs on both LinkedIn and Instagram. I also have a podcast called Stand Tall and Own It, and that's also on YouTube, so you can put it up on your big screen. And and I come and I will do workshops and stuff for you, so you can just email me at andriatheintentionaloptimist dot com.

Unknown Speaker (55:11): So, reach out.

Andrea Johnson (55:13): Awesome. I hope we can stay in touch because I definitely will here's a hint. I would like to be on your podcast.

Unknown Speaker (55:21): Okay. Right.

Unknown Speaker (55:24): You said ask, so I'm gonna ask.

Andrea Johnson (55:28): That's right. So I'll tell you what, let's stay in touch afterwards and we'll work on it. I do about one guest a month.

Andrea Johnson (55:34): Well, that's less than me, but I've literally been I do a lot of interviews a month and but I do one show I mean, I do one episode a month for my podcast. That's why there's only 16 well, I'm not gonna name the number, but however many shows that's currently out there at the moment.

Unknown Speaker (56:00): Okay.

Andrea Johnson (56:00): And because I that's my school schedule, and I just like, if I'm gonna do this long term, I gotta be realistic with my time. I'm only one person. If if I didn't have the screen behind behind me, you'll just see my bed. I don't This

Unknown Speaker (56:18): is my basement.

Andrea Johnson (56:20): I promise you, I don't have any robots working for me, and I don't have any clones of myself. That'd really awesome. They didn't even have to talk. I just like, go do this. Just point

Unknown Speaker (56:29): That would to be life.

Andrea Johnson (56:33): Hey, Apple and Google and Amazon, feel free to stop making clones of me, please. Not voiceover ones. Just I mean, usefulness ones. Or just let me have, like, eight different arms just attached to my body or hold them. We're getting more done.

Andrea Johnson (56:52): Gonna get some more stuff done. Anyway, I I don't wanna look like an octopus. That'd kinda Yeah. Well, for being a guest, and I hope let's definitely stay in touch, and I look forward to collaborating with you in the future.

Unknown Speaker (57:11): Sounds great. It's been my pleasure, Jimmy. Thank you.

Andrea Johnson (57:13): Definitely. I'll see you in a little bit. So that's all the time we have for today, and feel free to follow me on social media, jimmaclairspeaker on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Jimmyclayspeakers Facebook, Instagram, and jimmyclayspeakers on Twitter. That is so wordy.

Andrea Johnson (57:33): And, yeah, you can blame that on Twitter, Elon Musk. I only 15 characters. Give me give me 17. Gosh darn it. So you can follow Crazy Fitness Guy at Crazy Fitness Guy on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at Crazy Fitness Guy.

Andrea Johnson (57:51): Make sure you tune in to Weekly Motivation with Crazy Fitness Guy on Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, the Wisdom Map, and Blast Radio. By the way, sorry for the Blast Radio and Wisdom Map users. I was a little late today, I cannot get everything set up. And I'm using my Chromebook, so I didn't have the other apps that I need to go live. Now maybe I could get something else to go live.

Andrea Johnson (58:19): But anyway, so I'll do that next time. Promise. And once this episode goes live, you can listen to it on Apple, Google, Spotify, a speaker, and wherever you get your podcast. And if you wanna help support the show and keep our lights on, subscribe to Crazy Fitness Guy premium podcast to get behind the scenes access, listen ad free, and more. Subscribe for $3.99 a month or $30 a year.

Andrea Johnson (58:47): And make sure you go check out Crazy Fitness Guy's mall Because if you want this, this amazing swag with the podcast or just the Muscle Bound Logo guy, make sure you go get your Crazy Fitness Guys swag today. And I'm hoping to expand. Should I say this now? Nah, I'm not gonna say it now. I'm I I didn't see this again, leave a mic drop right now.

Andrea Johnson (59:16): I'm hoping to expand to some online shops. Not gonna name any names, but we shall see. All coming soon to maybe a store online near you. That's if the IRS gets the stuff in their database. So about like five years later down the road and yep.

Andrea Johnson (59:45): That's all we have for today. And oh, yeah. Let me hide this. So in the meantime, stay safe, stay healthy, and stay motivated. I'll be back for another brand new

Unknown Speaker (59:56): Thanks for tuning in to another episode of the Crazy Fitness Guy Show. If you enjoyed this episode, this leave us a review so more people can find us. In the meantime, use the links in the show notes to subscribe to our monthly newsletter, shop for swag, read blog posts, watch videos, and listen to the latest episodes. In the meantime, visit crazyfitnessguide.com to see what we are up to in between episodes. In the meantime, stay healthy, stay safe, and stay motivated.