How Joe Johnston Pivoted From His Psychology Profession To Creating MII Professional

Pamela Bardhi
Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of underdog, today we have an awesome guest here with us, Joe Johnston. Joe, how are you doing?

Joe Johnston
I’m good, Pam. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. I’m honored to be here.

Pamela Bardhi
Thank you. So what is it honor to have you seriously, it’s such an honor to have you. And you know, we’re just having fun just out here inspiring. Just through the guest stories, awesome guests like yourself, sharing your story of where you’ve been, where you are, and sort of where you’re going. I remember the last conversation was really awesome. You were sort of transitioning into the speaking world. And the really amazing things you got sparked with the leadership and varsity football and that kind of thing. So I would love to hear your story, sort of how you got to where you are today.

Joe Johnston
Yeah, absolutely and I also want to say it is always great to speak with a fellow Bostonian. There’s always a vibe there. Actually, the first individual who booked me to speak in sort of my first big engagement a couple of months ago was from Boston. So it was for a university down in Florida, Florida Gulf Coast University. And she was from Boston and grew up in Boston. So yeah, I guess I’ll start my journey. I like to start around when things started coming together for me from a professional side, around the end of college. I graduated from UMass Amherst, actually up in Massachusetts back in May of 2018.

Amherst didn’t have like that typical college experience sort of bounced around majors. Like the hat was a business, it was all around the business program like Pfizer on my major as many times as you possibly can. And ended up actually graduating and what was my minor for most of college in psychology. So I got a psychology degree and was really like denatured always. I loved psychology, I always have loved human beings. What makes someone tick, more importantly, like how to enact change, how to unblock someone, and enact positive, lasting change in the individual, is something I’m still trying to figure out.

In a sort of where I build my company on with all that being said, I started my work in the field of psychology. Working at McLean hospital up there in Belmont, Massachusetts, I was doing some work with psychotic disorders. And individuals who were coming in off a manic episode who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. It was really eye-opening work, you know. I really got exposed to the field of mental health, but at the same time realise I don’t know if this is necessary for me. I don’t know if I want to go on and become a clinical psychologist. So bounced around in the field of mental health, and it was really tough pill to like, give up that dream.

I don’t know if you’ve ever like pursued something personally, professionally, I’m sure some of your listeners have. And then somewhere along the way, you’re like, I don’t know if this is actually for me. Whether it’s like a person we’re dating, or whatever it is. And we have this dream, and we make up this future of what’s to be and you’re like, I think I got to pivot here real quick.

Pamela Bardhi
You figure it out. And then it’s just like, boom, correct. I have to start all over again.

Joe Johnston
Exactly, unfortunately, I would say to any of your listeners is I had to start all over again. But I also didn’t because I had all this psychology knowledge. So maybe I wasn’t going to become a psychologist. I still kind of knew where my passion lies in psychology, in enacting change in individual and personal professional development. So, fortunately, a couple of months later, I accepted a sales job at Oracle Corporation. And I knew that wasn’t going to be a long-term thing. But at about the same time, I actually came across an ad on Instagram. A guy named Grant Baldwin, and it was called booked and paid to speak. It was a webinar I jumped on a webinar with him. It was really all about just building a professional speaking business from scratch.

You’re not a big-name actor. You haven’t been in an industry for 10,20 years, but you still want to speak and you have a message. You have a passion for something that you want to get out there, so this was back in February of 2019. And I started taking grid’s classes. I started speaking on Toastmasters as much as, getting some gigs outside of that just free gigs, whatever I could get to speak. I was just trying to build this business and personal development, professional development psychology-related topics.

So it’s been almost two years now but I’ve built MII professional speaking. And continue to build it working with young adults, working with college students on personal development, professional development, helping them reach their fullest potential. And in doing a lot of that like for my own background, knowing where I kind of was in college to where I am now, it’s like, I wake up and I’m happy, I love my job and love what I do.

I love creating this business and social meeting people that I love, and I’ve made a move. And I’m building a business and all this stuff, where I committed myself to personal and professional development. Trying to give that back to others to help those who might be in a similar spot, or might be looking for that. So it’s exciting stuff. And it’s exciting to just continue to build.

Pamela Bardhi
That’s awesome. So MII – motivate, inspire, inform, correct?

Joe Johnston
Correct, motivate, inspire, and inform professional speaking. And I just like the ring of MII, I don’t know, I just feel it’s cool.

Pamela Bardhi
It is cool. That’s so interesting. So you were mentioning how you were in college and sort of now you’ve transitioned completely, you live in a life of passion. And then before you were sort of talking about depression, anxiety, is that because like your majors, you were going back and forth, and you weren’t sure, like what was sort of happening?

Joe Johnston
That’s definitely a big part. And I’m sure Pamela, I love to hear your thoughts on this. But like, we talk a lot about in our human optimization. Which is sort of our main four programs we offer. One of those programs is on identity and personal and professional identity. But when we’re not in alignment with who we’re meant to be and what we’re meant to be doing, for yourself. If you’re like, sitting at a bank, or for whatever reason, like when I was in that sales job at Oracle selling something I didn’t care about, man that stuff is soul-sucking. I think a lot of people are in that position. And it takes a lot of intrinsic work.

It takes a lot of doing things and going through 100 different majors and failing and saying, this isn’t what I want to do. Reading Matthew McConaughey, his book talks about identity starting with eliminating the stuff you don’t want to do. And then you’ll fall into the stuff that you do want to do. But I think a decent amount of that anxiety and depression, a lot of it came from socially and being a transfer student trying to find my niche and not taking care of myself biologically and going out and partying all weekend. That was definitely part of it.

But another part of it was trying to figure out who I was like, who is Joe Johnston. I was transitioning and felt my identity shifting from high school to my adult self. And a part of that comes with finding the alignment of who I’m meant to be and what I’m meant to do. And when we’re not in alignment with those things, there’s this disconnect between what the humanists call our real selves and our ideal selves. Which can really lead to a lot of mental and emotional distress.

Pamela Bardhi
Absolutely. I feel like that’s what’s happening in the world a lot right now where people are not in alignment. And we are seeing the depression and the anxieties, and it’s almost stretching to younger generations now more than ever. I hear my 12-year-old cousin talking about things that when I was 12, weren’t even in my mind. But now, with the instant gratification that we have, right on our cell phones, I feel like we’re reminded more that we’re not aligned. Like, the younger generations are getting so hung up on technology, and like, this is, you know, life is so perfect.

Even our millennial generation, too. You know, it’s like, this person is like doing this. And here I am still trying to figure out what my life is about. It gives us these unrealistic expectations that they’re not real. The most beautiful quote, I heard the other day, when I interviewed this woman was, we are all walking each other home. What that means is like, we’re all one, we all struggle, we all have our things. It’s like, we’ve all got each other. We’re all everybody’s going through something, you know what I mean? We’re all in this together, kind of thing. And it’s just like, the worlds out of alignment in many ways.

So these are just my observations, but it sort of prompted me when you were speaking. Because I’m like, that’s what I’m seeing often, everyone’s struggling. what am I doing? You get on social media then you see somebody who seems to be so far ahead of you, when you don’t know, maybe they’re going through something too. So it’s like, I thank you for sharing that. Because it just shows people that you’re not alone. If you’re lost at this point in time, especially in college, that’s where you try things. And you say, I like this, I don’t like this as you said, you eliminate. Thank you for sharing that because it’s reality. And how do you get over that hump? Or did you get over that hump?

Joe Johnston
Well, a couple of things. There’s so much gold in there. And I will talk a little bit about how I got over that hump. I want to start with a couple of points that you made because I loved it. One of the things I think is and I’m sure you can relate to this, and you’re doing this now through your podcasts. I know some other initiatives that you have. But for those individuals who have been fortunate enough to find their identity and become in alignment with that, we’ll call it self-actualization.

Self-actualization is our realization of our unlimited psychological growth. The next step to that of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs going back and being of service. And this is something we’re trying to do here in MII. Once we sort of figured it out in certain areas, years of personal professional development, it’s now our duty and our obligation in a sense as individuals to go back in to help those college students. To help those young adults become their truest versions of themselves, giving them the tools that I wish I had. And I did get through some areas that helped me get over that hump.

Another big point is we’ll go with this, one of the things that helped me get over that hump, and I recommend to anyone in almost all of my talks is we do some life coaching, right. And I like taking people from good to great. But I truly believe in the first step in our human optimization plan. The first step that led to my getting over that hump was when I actually went back and started cleaning up some crap from my past, mentally and emotionally.

And that comes in one word, and that’s psychotherapy- traditional talk therapy. I was fortunate enough to my junior year of college. Seeing a really effective therapist up at Amherst. And not only was he an effective therapist, but I was finally ready to go to therapy, right? Like, you could go to the best therapist in the world. But if you’re not ready to open up, you ain’t getting any work done. But I truly believe that I was able to start getting over that hump and need some help. I sought out a therapist, I sought out an individual who objectively was helping me get through some of those past demons, those past traumas, and trust me there.

I don’t really believe I had that much stuff in my past and I needed to get over narratives that I needed to reconstruct in my head and more than anything. And this is something we try to do at MII through our programs, giving me the mental and emotional tools to allow me then to live my own life. One of the greatest benefits any individual will hopefully get from an effective therapist is the ability by the end of therapy is to become your own therapist. I now know what I need mentally and emotionally and I know my therapists are there if I need them. But I know mentally and emotionally, I can attend to those things, and in all aspects of my life to upkeep my emotional and mental well-being despite what goes on.

And another point and this goes to sort of what you were talking about earlier, and seeing other individuals is the quote that you had. As we’re all walking each other home, you start to realize something interesting, which I never thought was going to be possible. But as I started to overcome my own stuff, and be comfortable with my own traumas and demons’ mental and emotional baggage, the world actually does start to open up and you say, “Oh, wait a minute, I’m not the only one.”

Maybe that person’s an alcoholic, or maybe that person is drinking because they have to like this oneness starts to open up. You would think when you were being vulnerable, the world will shun us, and the world will hate us and say, Oh, you’ve been sexually abused. Or this has happened to you, whatever it is, you’re evil now. But actually, the reverse happens and you start to realize this oneness. And you start to realize that one of the underlying causes, or one of the underlying things that bring us together as individuals, is the fact that we all do have pains and we all do have traumas. It may be to different degrees, but the pain is pain.

We’ve all felt similar things, and that’s kind of part of the human condition. It’s something that we all can relate to on some level or another. So I think it’s really interesting I think social media today is not highlighting that at all. And I think it’s something that does need to be highlighted because we all feel crappy sometimes. We’ve all gone through depression, anxiety, and when we can start being vulnerable. And talking about those things is when we’ll all start to collectively heal as well as grow and move together through life as individuals.

Pamela Bardhi
Absolutely and I mean just to know that you’re not alone is also like a super helpful thing, right? And you don’t feel so isolated. Maybe, you just start to reach out to that person. Like, hey, so how’d you get through it? That’s why I started Underdog so that they can listen to these stories and figure out how they can move forward, just to get over that hump. All I want is for people to get over that hump because from there, you can crawl, you can walk then you can run. Right? And it just flows. So I totally love what you’re saying in that respect, to be vulnerable. That the world would shun us because I went through that my own self. I’m like, talking about like the deep dark place.

Joe Johnston
We need to go to those places. We need to.

Pamela Bardhi
You need to. Because how else are you going to help the world transition, if people can’t relate to you? Most people look at me now and be like, oh yeah. I’m like, man, they didn’t see the 18 hours that I’m working going back and forth. Like helping my parents deliver pizzas, showing middle school dances, late smelling like french fries because I had to be at work prior to you know what I mean? Like all that stuff, but it’s like, it’s not the stuff that’s highlighted.

So that’s what I think is so beautiful about your story. That they thank you for being vulnerable and sharing that because a lot of people do go through depression and anxiety. And oftentimes they feel alone and they don’t want to talk to their inner circle. They want to talk to somebody outside truly just like when you talk to a therapist. It’s kind of like you can unleash and the person doesn’t really know much about you and they can be very objective.

Joe Johnston
Yeah, 100%. I do think a conversation is starting to be opened up a little more about that kind of stuff. But again, we do have this rise of social media, and like you said, your cousins who are facing pressures and technological advances with social media that is like nothing before. And they’re kind of the new generation that they can’t even turn to others and be Hey, how did you go through dealing with Instagram? And growing up with that? It’s like I didn’t. So yeah, it’s definitely difficult times. But I think just bringing awareness and normalizing therapy and saying, hey, therapy is great.

I truly believe everyone should go to therapy and have to do that as sort of a rite of passage. Because Yeah, that objective perspective can be really beneficial. But yeah, I think just continuing to spread positivity and motivation. And for us at MII, the big thing is like we want to give you the tools to optimize your mental and emotional well-being. Actually, a new initiative that we have that I’m really excited about is our MII speakers network. And what that is, is within the college and the young adult market is some hot topics like leadership or diversity and inclusion. Well, when I’m on the phone with a decision-maker, and they need leadership or a diversity and inclusion speaker, I’m sorry, but I’m not your guy.

You know, I’m the personal wellness, I’m the human optimization guy. Having said that, I still want to provide value to you, you still need a speaker. What we’ve done is actually partnering with some local speakers that I’ve met and some close friends who are leadership development experts and who are diversity and inclusion or business networking experts to fill more areas within the college and young adult market. So now as opposed to just Joe’s the guy for MII speaking on personal wellness, human optimization, we have a leadership development speaker, multicultural diversity and inclusion speaker, we have a professional development entrepreneur, a business, networking, marketing speaker.

So sort of broadening our reach within the college and young adult market. Just to continue to serve at a higher level and to provide high notch value. So really exciting stuff and trying to come from that place of service as much as possible, which can be tough at times. But just continuing to serve and provide those tools that certain individuals need at certain times in their lives that they can take forward with them forever.

Pamela Bardhi
That’s awesome. Well, I love that, you know, you jumped into your business with a purpose. And it’s been two years and I know entrepreneurship is not easy. You know, the first three to five years are tough.

Joe Johnston
Laying the groundwork, right. We’re laying the building blocks now.

Pamela Bardhi
Exactly, but you’re loving it. And you know, and I tell startup entrepreneurs this all time. If you’re not passionate about what you’re doing, it can’t be like, oh, I’m gonna make six figures this year from this business. And that’s why I’m doing it. If you’re not passionate…

Joe Johnston
It’s over before it even started.

Pamela Bardhi
It’s like I give you 60 days, 90 days at Max.

Joe Johnston
Because it’s crazy. You know, the idea of and I’ve thought about this, it’s like the idea of a thought of building something from nothing. It’s so difficult. There’s a Steve Jobs, you know, video, it’s so difficult. And it’s so hard, that the only thing that will give you the energy and motivation to get through is passion and purpose.

Pamela Bardhi
Right.

Joe Johnston
It’s true. Then I realized it more and more every day. It’s like, Oh my god, like, Okay, we got a couple of gigs here. We did 3000 speaking gigs last year. This year, like, that’s great. But that’s not sustainable and that was the second year. And Okay, maybe we do 10,000 next year, but how do I get the point? Just that the numbers are right where I can be doing this full time, it’s gonna take a while. And that’s good. You want to get like you said that three to five years is grinding. But I think you really have to have a long-term perspective.

As you said, you have to have motivation outside of just the numbers or you’re dead in the water. Also, it’s like, well go get a high-paying job, just go do that if you’re okay. And you just want the money but you don’t want fulfillment. You can find that in today’s society if you have a degree. But if you want to do more than that, you have a purpose and have a passion that’s higher than that, you want to be living in that and in the glory. And then as I’m sure you can relate to just the great feeling of doing something you love on a daily basis. Then it might be the path for you.

Pamela Bardhi
Amen to that. Yeah, no, I remember, like the first three to five years of business. You know, I started in real estate development about seven years ago. There are financial mistakes that I made at that time. Like maxing out credit cards and messing up my credit, that’s all affected me. Now, you know what I mean? This is reality, it takes time, but it’s okay to live out that passion. And I really love what you’re doing in terms of creating those resources for people to really identify, and you start it from the beginning identity. And then I think you had three other pillars to that.

Joe Johnston
Yeah, so we start actually with the emotional and the mental well being so the MII human optimization plan, which I actually have right here. This is just like a book of quotes. Honestly, this is where the MII human optimization plan is kind of brought into being. I’m like, oh, there’s a system here. And there’s like a personal professional development plan here. I truly believe if anyone could go through and I’m actually seeing with a close friend now who’s like at the beginning of that journey. And the beginning, to me, is like, it starts with really like the emotional and mental well being. More like, within that is like the trauma and like over going back, before we go forward.

I always like to say, so we start with the mental and emotional well-being piece and focus on again getting to a therapist. Or someone who can help you uncover some of those difficult traumas. But then after that, like within that piece is kind of also optimizing. As we talked about getting the mental and emotional tools, you need to be a mentally and emotionally prosperous individual. After that, I’m a big believer. And again, I saw this in my own process is like, once you start clearing up your past, then you start to construct your own unique identity. And start to really figure out what are my values, what are my beliefs, what are the things that I want to do, who am I as an individual, who is this new trauma fee-free, emotionally healed, a mentally healed individual?

After that, we have a piece on social, so sort of similar to that, as you’ve constructed your identity. Now, let’s construct your social network. And an interesting like piece with this Pamela is we talked about, like, I’m sure you can relate as well. I’m sure anyone can relate, not only do we need healthy and prosperous social networks but almost more importantly like unhealthy, toxic social networks are so detrimental to our health. It’s so important. It’s the Robin Williams quote, I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone, it’s not.

The worst thing in life is to end up with people that make you feel all alone. I’d rather be by myself, content with my identity and who I am Joe Johnston, and hanging out with people who are bad for me and sucking the life out of me. And the last piece is all about pursuing dreams. That’s when we started to get into the professional development piece, but sort of an entrepreneurial base motivational talk of just like, like we talked about. Listen. If you got a dream, like first things, first, you need a passion. You need to have something and know what you’re passionate about, then you need a vision, then you got to get committed.

Then some of the biggest pieces, you got to be consistent. You gotta be disciplined. How many people do you know? How many people do I know in my life who are amazingly talented? I know for a fact could, you know, build a really great business. They just have no discipline. They want to get up on Saturday and go out and spend a bunch of money and drinking and they need that $60,000 a year job. Because they like to live in a nice place. And then they just got no discipline. So I think that’s a huge thing. And as we pursue dreams, but that’s kind of what the last piece is about.

So it was kind of cool how the system came together. And in the human optimization, playing games together, but yeah, just all those sorts of tools within that realm of human optimization, personal professional development. So it’s exciting. It’s just exciting stuff. And, again, it all stems from that passion, and then loving what you do, believing in what you do, and in your mission and your purpose, and having a vision and working towards it.

Pamela Bardhi
Amen. I love the steps to it because it’s so aligned, right? It’s like, you can’t take step three without taking step two. And you just as everyone thinks healing is like, just like a fast forward movement. It’s really one step at a time and you get one without the other. My favorite quote, you know Lauren Hill, one of her song lyrics says, How are you going to win? If you’re not right within?

Joe Johnston
If you don’t? You don’t know.

Pamela Bardhi
 How are you going to empty your cup? When it’s not even full? What do you have an empty cup, are you gonna do it, so I totally love your system. And I love what you’re doing because it all sort of flows together beautifully. Then you’ve also tied in the speaker’s piece, so you’re becoming the connector. And because once those people get to that point where they’re possibly able to pursue their dreams, you can then link them up with the right people. Or get those people to speak on the stages then impact more people and then the cycle continues.

Joe Johnston
And how fulfilling is that? It’s something I’m realizing. And it’s an amazing quote, I love that. How can you win unless you’re right within? I think Macklemore has a similar it’s like, if you don’t love life, that check won’t correct yours or something like that. It’s so true. I actually see this in the world of kind of dating a little bit as I’m getting into it. Like, I didn’t always think but it’s always like you’re pursuing more and you’re putting stuff on professional and like now that I’ve actually focused on dating and stuff.

One of the things you realize is like money doesn’t really matter with the right people. Like there might be some women out there who are interested in the person who has a high-paying job or like wants that but it’s funny to see the guys who have that misconception and take these girls on these lavish first dates. And then don’t get a second date and just don’t have the confidence to go up and like say hello to a beautiful woman that they think is good looking and thinks that a money number is going to get them there.

I’ve heard stories of people who literally pursued careers because they thought it would get them the good-looking girls. It’s like, No man, you actually just have to face your fears and feel that uncomfortable feeling and act on it anyways. Go approach and start talking to a girl and be kind. It’s actually the complete reverse of what I think a lot of us in American society have been fed.

And oh, this girl just wants money. It’s like, no, not the type of quality woman that you’re looking for in a fulfilling relationship. So I think that’s interesting, as well as again, I mean, I’m not making a tonne of money right now. But like, I actually have the confidence in the sort of fortitude to go up and say hello to a beautiful woman. And I’ve seen results off of that just because I’ve been confident myself, and again, I worked on the within, I gave my tools that within and working on getting better at like that area of my life.

I think he’s just a great example because we see so many people who chase the money. But it’s better to be an honest street sweeper than a dishonest king. I love that quote, as well, because it’s spiritual. Whatever you want to call it, it catches up to you, lying on a sales goal, making your money in an immoral way is… You might not think it but sleepless nights, and I think that misalignment for a lot of people is like, catches up to you in other ways than then you know, the score sheet of money in your income.

Pamela Bardhi
Absolutely. And I think what you’re saying in the dating world, too, is people are looking for authenticity. Women and the best relationship advice I have ever gotten in my whole existence was the person that you’re with has to make your life shine brighter, which then means you already have a light, to begin with. Like you’re saying, you’ve got to have that in you. First, you’ve got to be healed, you’ve got to be whole and then you complement each other.

Joe Johnston
You’ve got to have the identity down.

Pamela Bardhi
Yep, you got to have the identity down. This is why everyone needs human optimization plan from you. You know, because you got to get heal within in order to find quality. And why do you see people going in and out of toxic relationships, they’re not making each other’s light shine brighter. That’s not what it is. But the most fulfilling relationship that you see out there is when both partners are doing their thing, and they complement each other. Nobody’s trying to overshadow the other and nobody’s reliant on one upon the other.

Joe Johnston
No codependence.

Pamela Bardhi
No, each has their own light, and they just help each other shine brighter. So that’s always my best piece of advice to everyone. It just correlates perfectly with what you’re saying too in your plan and how you’re helping the world, through your business to shift. And I think it’s so impactful, and so needed in the world, especially now. I feel like now with a lot being in lockdown with COVID. And everything we’re faced with being home, we’re faced with time to reflect and all of that in ways that nobody ever has before. People are searching for transformation now more than ever. So I think it’s a great time for you. It’s perfect, perfect timing for you, actually.

Joe Johnston
It’s exciting and actually, the book came out around the beginning of COVID. So yeah, it is exciting and I think that identity piece is seeing a lot of internal reflection for a lot of people who are stuck up with themselves. And kind of have to look in the mirror for the first time in a really long time. And I think that’s good. There’s definitely been a lot of cons to COVID. But I think it’s important that we take that time because we’re so busy. I’m glad I did it in college while I did kind of have the time because I’m really busy now. I got a lot of stuff going on but two-half people don’t make a whole person was a good piece of advice. I get on kind of codependence, you really have to be whole within yourself.

There’s another interesting concept kind of psychological Freudian concept. It’s called repetition compulsion. And repetition compulsion is basically when we repeat patterns from our pasts in order to try to get them right. This time, it’s a sort of traumatic reenactment. So it’s the individuals we generally see in negative relationships or negative patterns. We try to get a partner that’s similar to our parents or our different-sex parent. A sort of make it right this time and to fix those things that happen in our past. Which I think is why constantly some individuals get into these negative sort of toxic relationships that never work out with the same type of individual. They’re trying to get something right.

I think that’s another thing as well as I love Carl Young is until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate and it’s just this you know. We have to dig deep because if not, we’re going to be directed by forces outside of ourselves unconscious forces. That kind of dictates our lives and now we have the same marriage that our parents had that we swore we never would have. So yeah, it’s important to work. And again, it’s just an exciting field to be in. I’m sure you can relate to this as well, as difficult as it is, and uncertain as it is being an early-stage entrepreneur, it’s also exciting. It’s just exciting and fulfilling to build a dream.

And I think also, like, half of the chase of a dream is wondering whether or not it’s feasible, and if it ever will come true. Will I ever be that professional speaker? Where MII is my full revenue stream, and I’m doing it full time. And I believe I will, or else I wouldn’t be doing it. But the chase, right? It’s all about the chase sometimes. So it’s really exciting. You know, again, I just love the work that you guys are doing here with Underdog now and your new initiative.

I think it’s an important message that continues to get out there is that we all have our own Underdog Story. And use that, use the fact that there are people out there that want MII to fail. I know there are extra couple hours of motivation on a Saturday that’s gonna get me through to prove those people wrong. It can’t be all of your motivation. But it definitely kicks you that extra edge when you feel like going and taking a rest and just keep after it to prove those people wrong.

Joe’s Biggest Piece Of Advice to the World

Pamela Bardhi
Absolutely. I think what you’re doing in the world is absolutely phenomenal. And I’m going to ask you a super important question. What’s your biggest piece of advice to the world, whether it be startup entrepreneur, ship advice, advice about life, whatever you feel is most important?

Joe Johnston
Yeah, I’ll give I’ll give a personal one and then a business one. The personal one is kind of what we’ve talked about. It’s just like heal, it’s tough. It’s hard. Again I talk about what enacts lasting positive change. And unfortunately, it’s usually like, getting that, DUI, or like a close friend dies of a drug overdose or something like traumatic. We have to get desperate before we get inspired to change. And I think that’s unfortunate, but change and heal. Just try to do that without that event coming up, that forces you to change and heal. Just do it because the benefits will pay off for you throughout your life, whenever the amount of time you have left in life is tenfold.

You’ll become calmer, you’ll become more content, you won’t feel like you’re fighting against yourself on a daily basis. With everything that goes on with how difficult life is, we deserve not to be fighting and peace within ourselves. When it comes to entrepreneurship and building a business. Sort of what we talked about. For me, it’s identifying your passion, having a vision, getting committed, and then staying consistent and stay disciplined. I think if you can do that, then you will be successful, persevere throughout. But just if you believe in something, and you have a passion and a vision, and a purpose.

As long as you’re willing to put in the work, I truly believe that in today’s day and age. There’s enough opportunity out there that you will eventually be successful. I hope that’s true because that’s what I’m living on. And I’ve seen a little success with that so far. But I hope that continues into what my ultimate vision is and brings the success that I believe it will.

Pamela Bardhi
Amen. And that’s only going to magnify man, you know, it’s just time. Your only enemy right now is the time when it comes to business. Because I know it’s gonna blow up. What you’re doing is so important. Your work is so important to the world. So just keep going with that. And now you got to let everybody know where to find you.

Joe Johnston
Absolutely. And thank you Pamela and I appreciate platforms like yourselves who’re willing to give me a chance and get our message out there because we do believe it’s important. And we do believe it’s something everyone needs to hear. But yeah, so miiprofessionalspeaking.com. I’d actually love to offer your listeners a free resource, I believe we’ll have this the show bio for them to go to. But if you’re interested, miiprofessionalspeaking.com/hop is our free human optimization plan resource.

So basically, within that you’re going to get a couple of things, you’re going to get a PDF breakdown of the human optimization plan the four steps that we discussed. And really just written out the form of the tips and tools that we’d recommend to kind of optimize those different areas of your lives. Also off of that when we do a video series breaking down the human optimization plan, I tell a little bit more of how each step is relevant to my life and how I optimize each of those steps to get this human optimization plan.

And then also we have a five-part little like video miniseries just a little extra bonus on public speaking and becoming effective public speakers. And how you can utilize public speaking as a business owner, entrepreneur, student, whatever you are, whatever discipline you are, and becoming an effective public speaker, so miiprofessionalspeaking.com/hop. Other than that, miiprofessionalspeaking on Instagram. We have a page on Facebook, LinkedIn. You can find me Joe Johnston on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. But yeah, miiprofessionalspeaking@gmail.com.

Yeah, stay connected with us. You know, again, I love this community. And I know this podcast is just going to continue to blow up. So I’m excited to be a part of this. And I can’t thank you enough Pamela, again for the opportunity. I want to continue to serve and I think I’ll hopefully be able to with a couple of initiatives, we talked about down the line to serve this podcast community. But yeah, thank you.

Pamela Bardhi
No, thank you so much. Such an honor to have you and I’m so excited to see sort of where your journey goes. I know we’ll have a part two to this very soon. I’m sure.

Joe Johnston
That’d be awesome. I’d love it. Yeah. And a couple of years or so as we’re along further along in our journeys, we’ll get the update. And yeah, we’ll continue to grow and we’ll have to get together once I’m back in Boston soon.