Juleun Johnson
Episode 150

Narrator: Welcome, friends, to another episode of The Story and Experience Podcast. Join your host, Japhet De Oliveira, with his guest today and discover the moments that shape us, our families and communities.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, welcome friends to another episode of The Story and Experience Podcast. I'm delighted to introduce you to this new guest today that is in another part of the country right now with me, which is fantastic, part of technology. We are going to go through a wonderful conversation. We cover a series of questions from one to a 100. They become progressively more vulnerable as we get close to 100, and they're about stories and experiences of this guest that made them into the leader that they are today.

So I'm going to begin straight away, and I'll ask you, could you tell us your name and does anybody ever mispronounce it?

Juleun Johnson: Yes. My name is Juleun Johnson, J-U-L-E-U-N. I've been called many things under the sun in addition to Juleun.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good, man. Is it good? Do you correct people?

Juleun Johnson: Well, sometimes I do. My wife does more of the correcting of people than I do.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, so, yeah, yeah. Hey, that's all right. So Juleun, what do you do for work?

Juleun Johnson: So I am a Vice President for Mission and Ministry at Advent Health, where I work in three different states, and I'm blessed to be able to serve a number of different patient populations.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's fantastic. How long have you been in this particular area or work a role?

Juleun Johnson: So in this area I've been about three years.

Japhet De Oliveira: And then you've been working in this particular field for a long time, or?

Juleun Johnson: Yeah, it's been about 13 years.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, there you go.

Juleun Johnson: [inaudible 00:01:47] perspective. Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, that's fantastic. Where were you born?

Juleun Johnson: So I was born in Maryland.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Juleun Johnson: Yeah, I was born in Maryland.

Japhet De Oliveira: Did you grow up there as a child?

Juleun Johnson: Well, I grew up in Maryland and also in Pennsylvania.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right.

Juleun Johnson: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: And then when you were a kid growing up in either those places, what did you imagine you wouldn't grow up to be? Was mission your thing?

Juleun Johnson: Actually, it wasn't. I actually wanted to be a pilot.

Japhet De Oliveira: Really?

Juleun Johnson: Yeah. My father used to get us these styrofoam planes from, I guess maybe a hobby shop. And so it was like these three or four foot long planes and we would just throw them in the backyard. So most of my life I wanted to be a pilot, actually.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, commercial or private? Did you think that far?

Juleun Johnson: At that time I didn't fly commercial. I only saw commercial planes over the air because we didn't live too far from the airport, but private planes more than anything else.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh. And so now I've got to ask, are you a pilot?

Juleun Johnson: So no, but I did have an interesting experience where I did get an opportunity to fly a plane. My wife and a church that I was pastoring at the time got me a passage appreciation gift. I got to fly a plane. The gentleman told me that I was not going to fly a plane. Maybe 15 minutes, and then we got in there, the guy said, "Does your wife want to come?" "Yes." We didn't tell our kids what we were going to do. Nobody knew but us. We got in this plane, started flying, and as soon as the wheels got off the ground, he says, "You got it." I said, "Well, what do you mean you got it?" And he said, "No, man, you're going to fly the plane." So for 45 minutes I flew the plane and there's some leadership, I think, items to kind of mesh in that whole experience as well.

Japhet De Oliveira: No kidding, man. No kidding. That's amazing. So now after that, how long ago was that?

Juleun Johnson: That was probably 10 years ago.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh man. You haven't done it since?

Juleun Johnson: It's been a while. No, I haven't done it since.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. Now tell us, are you an early riser or late night owl?

Juleun Johnson: Man, I'm an early riser. Early riser.

Japhet De Oliveira: What's early for you?

Juleun Johnson: I get up about 5:00 in the morning.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. All right. And when you get up in the morning, tea, coffee, liquid green smoothie? What's your drink of the day?

Juleun Johnson: I usually drink water, to be honest with you.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Juleun Johnson: I don't really need coffee to get me going. I mean, I'm kind of one of those kind of get me going kind of guys.

Japhet De Oliveira: Give me a gallon of water, I'll be fine.

Juleun Johnson: Well, in a gallon of water in about 30 minutes, I will not be fine. But yeah, I drink water in the morning.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, that's fantastic. Now, first thought that went through your mind today 5:00 when you woke up. What was that?

Juleun Johnson: My first thought when I woke up this morning, so I had been applying for global entry because I like traveling. And so I got an email this morning about global entry that basically I got approved. So that was my first thought. I was excited-

Japhet De Oliveira: That's great.

Juleun Johnson: ... because it opens the door for more travel and more opportunities to serve and minister and everything else like that.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right, that's fantastic, man. That's good. Juleun, if people were to describe your personality, would they say you are an introvert or an extrovert and would you agree?

Juleun Johnson: I'm an extrovert. I think people may think I'm an introvert because I like to observe a lot, but the people who know me well know I'm an extrovert.

Japhet De Oliveira: An extrovert. Yeah. All right, that's good. Okay. And then leadership question here. Are you a backseat driver?

Juleun Johnson: I would say at appropriate times, I'm going to say no, I'm not a backseat driver, but I think every leader who knows how to lead effectively knows how to follow and knows how to be quiet when others are leading. I don't think it's bad to ask the questions of a leader, say, "Hey, is there a reason why we turn left or turn right?", or, "Have you seen this while we're driving? Do you think that that's important?" But being a backseat driver, I wouldn't want someone to do that to me, so I'm not going to do that to anybody else.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. That's good. All right, where do you want to go next, sir, between 11 and 100?

Juleun Johnson: Oh man, I go for number 11. That's Isaiah Thomas, number 11. That's my favorite basketball player.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right, I like this. There's a rationale behind the number. All right. Tell us about the most adventurous food or meal that you've ever eaten.

Juleun Johnson: The most adventurous. Okay. So as a pastor, I used to get a lot of different types of cuisine, but one of the most adventurous foods I ate was a cake that was given to me as a gift. It was a carob cake and I'm not really a carob guy. It was a very heavy carob cake. And I would say that that's probably the most adventurous food I've ever eaten in my life.

Japhet De Oliveira: Carob cake.

Juleun Johnson: Carob, C-A-R-O-B, carob.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes sir. Yeah. Fake chocolate.

Juleun Johnson: Oh yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. So you like real chocolate?

Juleun Johnson: I like real chocolate, yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: And what, dark, white, brown, white, milk?

Juleun Johnson: I'm a milk chocolate... I'm probably about 30, 35% guy.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh yeah, yeah. Okay. All right.

Juleun Johnson: About 35%.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, that's good. All right. Where next after 11?

Juleun Johnson: I say go for number 32. 32.

Japhet De Oliveira: 32. All right. Yeah, I like where we're going with this. If you were featured on the local news, what would the story likely be?

Juleun Johnson: If I was featured on the local news, it would likely be, "Local man serves his community."

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Juleun Johnson: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good. That's good. You like serving locally?

Juleun Johnson: Man, I love it, man.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Juleun Johnson: I think when you get down to the grassroots of the community, you really get the needs. You understand the heartaches, the pains, but then you find the places. For me, giving is a high value item for me. So I find places to give when I serve my local community.

Japhet De Oliveira: What's your favorite project that you're involved in right now?

Juleun Johnson: So actually last night I went to... I'm a board member of this place called the Link Counseling Center. They give sliding scale or say we give as a board member, we give sliding scale mental health psychotherapy, grief therapy, suicide ideation therapy to anyone on a sliding scale basis. And I just went to a gala for that last night, so that's a very meaningful cause for me.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, that's fantastic. Good, good. All right. Where next? That was 32.

Juleun Johnson: I say number 44, John Riggins. He used to be from the Washington Commanders.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. All right. Are you interested in sport by any chance?

Juleun Johnson: In sports?

Japhet De Oliveira: No, I'm kidding. All right. 44. What is something that you're proud to have created? Oh, this is great for you.

Juleun Johnson: Proud that I did or proud of what?

Japhet De Oliveira: That you created. What is something that you're proud to have created?

Juleun Johnson: I'm proud I created my kids, man, to be honest with you. I have two beautiful daughters, Morgan and Julia. They're 16 and 13 right now. They're the apple my eye. They're fun. Yeah, those are the two best things that I've created with my wife who I love. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, that's actually true. It's interesting because the last time I saw you not too long ago, you actually talked about them, how much you love them and how proud you are of them. So yeah. That's great, man. That's great. All right, that was 44. What next?

Juleun Johnson: Well, let's go to 45.

Japhet De Oliveira: 45. All right. When people come to you for help, what are they usually asking?

Juleun Johnson: People usually ask me for guidance about their career or also maybe a personal challenge that they may be having. So I get a lot of calls about, "Should I do this in my career? Should I do that in my career?" I do get people asking me for spiritual advice and for advice about relationships a lot.

Japhet De Oliveira: So where did you learn to be able to advise? What kind of experiences brought you to that space that you feel you can help people in those areas?

Juleun Johnson: I've always been a person that likes to talk to people in large settings, but I have found really great experiences one-on-one. So one of the things that actually happened in seminary, there was a couple that me and my girlfriend who ended up becoming my wife, we actually started doing their pre-marital counseling. They just saw us as two nice people and they said, "Hey, we would love for you to... Would you babysit our kid from time to time?" We said, "Sure." And then they asked us for counseling. And so something clicked in my head that not only can you allow people to share their experience, but you can grow with them as well. And I think that that's a high value point to be able to journey with people in meaningful ways, but also encourage them. I think counseling and mentoring are our brother and sister, and so I enjoy mentoring people as well.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's great, man. That's great. Good. All right. Where next?

Juleun Johnson: I say let's go 51.

Japhet De Oliveira: 51. Tell us about something that you know do different than most people.

Juleun Johnson: I probably am a different thinker. I have to comb my hair based on my hair texture, what is here, what is not here.

Japhet De Oliveira: What is not there, yeah.

Juleun Johnson: Exactly. I comb my hair. I think I'm a different thinker. I look at things from... Some people ask, 'Why does it happen?" I ask, "Why should not that happen?"

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, interesting.

Juleun Johnson: Or, "How might we be able to achieve this goal?" I'm an innovator and I think everybody doesn't like innovators or visionaries, which I am. And I think that sometimes people misunderstand visionaries and people who look at things critically to think that they're not involved or in line with it, but we are. I am very much in line, but growing up in my home, we always thought about how can we make things better? How can we improve the experience? How can I make things better for my team? How can I make things better at home? How can I make things better for those I work with, whether it's above me, my boss? How can I make things better for people who are on my team?

So I think that I know I'm a critical thinker. I know that I look at things probably a different way, and sometimes that could get you in trouble because everybody doesn't... They don't know that you're actually with them. They think you're just trying to chide them.

Japhet De Oliveira: So how do you cultivate a mind like that?

Juleun Johnson: I think that you have to cultivate a few skills, being open and being curious. I think those are probably two of the best qualities I have. Man, when we were sitting down there talking, I would've talked to you all night, I mean, if we could, and the opportunity, because I like hearing about other people's experiences, but I'm open to journeying with them.

In some ways, I grew up in a judgmental house and I realized that being critical is a great quality to have, but understanding the other is even better. So what makes that person tick? And how can I understand where they're coming from, whether they are a similar culture of mine or from a different context totally? Man. I just love diving all the way in and learning about people. That doesn't mean I can't be better or they can't be better as a result of our conversation, but man, I just love to grow, to be honest with you.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, that's good, man. That's pretty good. Well hey, thanks for sharing that. All right, so where next??

Juleun Johnson: I would say I'm going to go down. I'm going to downshift a little bit.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, sure.

Juleun Johnson: I'll go to number eight.

Japhet De Oliveira: Actually, we did the first 10.

Juleun Johnson: Oh, we did the first 10. All right. All right. So let's go to number 18.

Japhet De Oliveira: 18. Sure. If you had to eat... This is fun... If you had to eat just one meal for an entire month, three times a day, what would it be?

Juleun Johnson: Haystacks.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. All right.

Juleun Johnson: And I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why. Because for many people-

Japhet De Oliveira: Now, for an international audience, first of all, just tell people what haystacks are for somebody who's around the world has never heard this.

Juleun Johnson: So haystacks is a combination of meat, vegetables, cheese, and some type of taco or something bready to connect with... You could put tomatoes on it, you can dress it up, you can dress it down, you could eat a piece of it. You didn't say I had to eat all of it every day, the same thing the same way.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure.

Juleun Johnson: Sure. But if I had to eat the same meal, haystacks all day long.

Japhet De Oliveira: You think differently.

Juleun Johnson: I think differently.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. That's great, man. All right. Haystacks it is then. Good. Oh, actually, I got to know, is there one particular ingredient in haystacks that you love, absolutely love that you cannot do it without that?

Juleun Johnson: Well, personally, I think that you really need to have... I mean, asking me to deconstruct the haystack, that's kind unfair, okay? That's first of all. That's unfair. But I would say the central ingredient for any really good haystack, I would say it has to be the beans. You got to have the good beans, but also I like haystacks dry. That's how I grew up eating them.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Juleun Johnson: So I'd rather eat them dry with dry beans. Something like soupy with all this bean juice everywhere, no man, I'm not for that.

Japhet De Oliveira: I will stop praying for you. Okay. All right. What's next, man? Which number after 18?

Juleun Johnson: I'll go for 25.

Japhet De Oliveira: 25. All right. Share the most beautiful thing that you've ever seen.

Juleun Johnson: Oh man. My wife. I mean, not even a question about it. And I would say that my wife is the most beautiful person inside and outside I've ever met, and she's the most beautiful soul I've ever met.

Japhet De Oliveira: How did you guys meet?

Juleun Johnson: Man, so this is a crazy story.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Juleun Johnson: This is about to be good and I'm about to be in trouble for this I know.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Juleun Johnson: So we met in college. She walked into English class and I said, "Man, I have to get to know you. I mean, I've got to." So I got my friend to connect me with her, and she was concerned about my vocational option. She was like, "I'm not sure if I want to marry someone who may be going into the ministry for his whole life." So I promised her, Japhet, I promised her, Japhet, I promised her, "I am not going to be this my whole career." I know that I'm built differently, I think differently, and I'm not sure that my vocational option, my initial vocational option will be my final one. I know it won't be. So she was like, "I'm not sure about that."

Man, but what ended up happening is we actually started a romance over healthcare. And so what happened is she used to babysit, I mean, hold kids when they would let people do that in the hospital and I used to go sing in the hospital on Saturday afternoons. I didn't realize that until one Saturday afternoon we talked and she told me about her going to the hospital. I said, "I go to the hospital as well," and next thing you know we talked... True confession here. We both were dating other people, but we would talk for hours on the weekends, let's put it like that. And then all of a sudden, man, time and the right moment connected, and this is history. So we've been together for 24 years.

Japhet De Oliveira: 24 years. Oh, that's great, man. That's great. Hey, beautiful. Beautiful. All right, so where next?

Juleun Johnson: All right, let's go to 26.

Japhet De Oliveira: 26. All right. Ooh. Tell us about one thing that you love that most people do not.

Juleun Johnson: That one thing that I love that most people do not love. It's going to sound hokey, but I actually love going to church, to be honest with you. Yeah, I'll tell you why.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay, go ahead.

Juleun Johnson: Growing up, there weren't a whole lot of places that we could go. So we actually found comedy at church, all kind of people that would come through there. My father was a minister and he would go travel places, so we would go with him different places. So my love for travel probably started by going with him. My love for teaching and serving started with him. But I love the music. I love to see the different expressions of hope and worship. And I used to always look for something funny at church.

Japhet De Oliveira: Funny.

Juleun Johnson: But then the thing is, Japhet, we'd go home and we would imitate all of it.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. All right.

Juleun Johnson: I mean, we would put on a show every Friday night, me and my sister and my brother. My younger brother, he was too young for that the time. But we put on a show. It would be better than any kind of comedy show anybody would know on local television or on broadcast television, national television. But it was good. I mean, thank God we didn't have YouTube then.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Sure, that's good.

Juleun Johnson: But it would've been good.

Japhet De Oliveira: Not captured. All right, all right.

Juleun Johnson: Exactly.

Japhet De Oliveira: Good. Yeah. All right, great. Thanks. Where next?

Juleun Johnson: Man, let's go to 36.

Japhet De Oliveira: 36. All right. Tell us about one thing you hope never changes.

Juleun Johnson: This is going to sound... I'm a different thinker, so this is one thing I hope never changes. One thing I hope never changes is that people would not stop being kind to each other in crisis. Crisis brings out the most kindness. It takes away any kind of socioeconomic status. One of the things that I was, I was a crisis responder and I was a crisis trainer, a crisis trainer.

And so in crisis, I've been in hurricanes, F5 tornadoes, the whole nine yards. And one thing I learned is about the organization of crisis, but about the will of humanity in crisis, that people always connect with one another. It doesn't matter where you live. As long as you're safe, healthy, happy, people want to connect with people. And I hope that never changes, but I do also hope that it doesn't take a crisis for that to have to happen. I think we should just be kind just to be kind.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Yeah. I like it. I like it a lot. It does bring people together. It really does. Good. All right, where next?

Juleun Johnson: I would like to go to number 38.

Japhet De Oliveira: 38. If you need encouragement, who do you call?

Juleun Johnson: Oh man. I have a group of friends that I call. I call a group of friends if I need encouragement. There's been times in my own personal life where I could not pray for myself so I texted my friends, "Hey guys, I can't pray for myself. Would you be willing to pray for me just because I can't do it. I don't have enough in me." I do have one good friend. A lot of my friends actually live on the West Coast.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. Okay.

Juleun Johnson: And so because they're on West Coast time, I can call them no matter what time it is, and they're just about to go to sleep. And so I really like calling my friends and I really appreciate that.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, beautiful, beautiful. All right, where next?

Juleun Johnson: I would like to go to number 52.

Japhet De Oliveira: 52. All right, here we go. Ooh, this is great for you. Juleun, share what motivates you.

Juleun Johnson: Oh man.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Juleun Johnson: What motivates me is another opportunity to serve and to impact somebody's life. Every day from when I was in college, I learned this, that it become basically a core value for myself. I learned, number one, the value. I read a book... No, when I was about nine, I read a book about memory and how to memorize things, numbers, names, people. It was a spy book, so probably wasn't the most altruistic-

Japhet De Oliveira: A spy book.

Juleun Johnson: ... piece of literature, but it was a spy book. But it taught me how to memorize names, numbers, and people. And so when I was in college, my goal was to meet one person every day. I mean, one person-

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow. That's a lot.

Juleun Johnson: ... every day. And that was my goal and I did it by and large. And so really that turned into my value not only of giving, but also of adding value to somebody's life. So you never know what somebody's going through. You never know what somebody's dealing with and you never know if somebody could be on the edge of a breakdown or a breakthrough. And so either way, man, I want to ride the wave with people because I believe that everybody's worthy of value and I want to add value to somebody's life every day.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good. I also like what you said, breakdown or breakthrough. That's good, man. That's good. Seeing people. All right, where next, Juleun?

Juleun Johnson: All right, let's go to 55.

Japhet De Oliveira: 55. All right. Oh, share about something that actually frightens you.

Juleun Johnson: When people lose their imagination. I think people who lose their imagination are probably the most dangerous people in the world because they can go on memory and not go on feeling or heart. And I think that when people go on memory, they are programming... I mean, both of us, we could drive back to our homes without thinking about it, whether we're tired or awake or happy or sleepy. But people who lose their imagination, they're probably the most dangerous people in the world because then they only see reality. They don't see the future. And I think that man, from creation, God has given us an opportunity to not only recreate, but to imagine what possibilities could be. And man, I want to live in the realm of possibility, but people who lose that are some of the most dangerous people in the world to me.

Japhet De Oliveira: So if someone gets into that stage, they feel like they have no hope, right? They're just stuck in the past and they're probably rewriting their past as well over and over again. What good word, counsel, would you say to help somebody to reignite their imagination and move forward again?

Juleun Johnson: Man, so I have a talk on this actually, and I think that people who actually... You can get your imagination back if you embrace what took it away. I think some people are so fearful of losing control that they'll say, "Man, I've lost control. I've lost a loved one. I've lost everything. That's where my everything was."

Well, that could be true for that moment, but you still have air in your lungs. You still have the opportunity to see. You still have some kind of way to move. And if you can't move anything, most people can move their mouth, okay? They can talk. But the reality is, I think the second thing that people can do to get their imagination back is to imagine, to think about what their life could be and then start chasing that. I did something recently the other day and I wrote out my final wishes. I wrote out my obituary and I wrote out my funeral, what I wanted my life-

Japhet De Oliveira: It's a powerful exercise.

Juleun Johnson: ... to do. And I just think that, man, it is an opportunity to think a different way and to say, "Okay, well what can be different?"

Japhet De Oliveira: I have to ask then because you shared that now, how do you want to be remembered?

Juleun Johnson: Oh man, I want to be remembered as a person who loved, lived, laughed and served. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good, man. That's good. I like that a lot, Juleun. All right man. Where next?

Juleun Johnson: I'd like to go to 74.

Japhet De Oliveira: 74. All right. Well, we did not plan this. You just picked a random number. What gives you hope? What gives you hope?

Juleun Johnson: Man, what gives me hope is another day. I think that sometimes days can be difficult and I think there are some days that can feel lonely and I think that some people think about the next day and plan a few days ahead of just a little too often. I've learned to claim every day, every day as a gift. So that's what I would say. Every day gives me hope. Seeing the sun come up and seeing a new day, that gives me hope.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good, man. That's good. I like it. All right, where next?

Juleun Johnson: I would like to do 78.

Japhet De Oliveira: 78. All right. Tell us what gives you... This is again perfect for you. What gives you childlike joy?

Juleun Johnson: Oh man, laughing. Laughing. And I will confess that I will laugh at probably the most inopportune times. I have done this my whole life. I've laughed at funerals. I've laughed at baby dedications. I mean, it's probably not the most appropriate place, but I mean, that's just who I am, man. I like to enjoy myself. So that's what I would say.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good, man. You create a lot of childlike joy for people as well.

Juleun Johnson: Oh yes. Oh yes. Oh yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right, where next?

Juleun Johnson: 81. 81.

Japhet De Oliveira: 81. What is something you've given your absolute best effort towards and why was it so important?

Juleun Johnson: I would say... given my best effort to. I would say, okay, I would say this. I like giving my best effort to when I'm speaking in front of people. And I'll tell you why. Because, and my dad taught me this lesson. He said, "Son, everybody deserves a good message." And he said, "Even if it's a bad week for you, they still deserve a good message."

So man, my five-minute talks at work, I really work very hard on them because I know that the leaders that I talk to, the people that I mentor, man, they need some encouragement and some hope. I was deceived earlier in my career that people in leadership had a steel jacket on them, a steel curtain on them, that they were not impenetrable.

But man, when I tell you the amount of people who have cried and who have borne their soul and shared their heart with me about their families, about themselves, about their fears, about their hopes and dreams, just based on something I said, man, it's just an honor to be able to do it. So I really consider that as a very sacred opportunity to be able to both encourage, inspire, challenge, and lift somebody up and help them to think about something in a different way. So that's what I would say.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's beautiful, man. All right, Juleun. Amazing. We only have time for two more numbers. Where'd you want to go for your last two?

Juleun Johnson: I would like to go to 97.

Japhet De Oliveira: 97. All right. Tell us about a time when you did the right thing.

Juleun Johnson: The right thing. All right, so I have done the right thing by sharing truth when asked about someone who may have done something that was not right. And I would say that even though sometimes there were personal opportunities to basically fudge the truth, man, there are moments in my career where I've messed up on data or sending something, I'd say, "Oh man, this is bad. Let me do the right thing. Let me show you where this is." I'll own it. I'll put myself on the cross as it were, and I'll say, "Hey man, it was me. I did it." So I would say that that would probably one time I did... I mean, do the right thing consistently. I don't know, that's what I can think of. That's probably not the greatest answer.

Japhet De Oliveira: It's a great answer. It's good, it's good. All right, last one. Which one?

Juleun Johnson: All right, I'm going to go back. I'm going to go backwards a little bit and I'll go to 85.

Japhet De Oliveira: 85. All right. Oh, describe a role model you aspire to be like.

Juleun Johnson: Oh man. So I have a role model who is actually in hospice care right now and it kind of brings tears to my eyes, man. His name is Charles D. Joseph. He was a social justice minister in the '60s and '70s. And I learned some valuable lessons about myself, several of them, but maybe one or two if I have opportunity to share, but one of them I learned was the value of humanity and seeing people. The other thing I learned from him was the value of accepting God's grace as it can apply to my life, that God wants to forgive me and I'm worthy and valuable.

And the final lesson that I actually learned among many was to be able to speak. So what he would do on weekends, we would go to our worship experience. He was our pastor when I was in seminary. We would drive 90 miles one way because this guy was like, "We heard about this guy in Chicago, man." He said while we were seminary in Andrews, "We got to go." So man, we literally get in our car to go there on the weekends and sometimes we would not have money to get back home, literally. I just get in the car and go, my girlfriend would go with me who became my wife, and I learned the value of being able to speak.

He would give us literally difficult theological things to speak about in church two minutes later and he'd say, "You need to do this," and you think about it and he taught us a lesson to always be ready. And I think that that was probably the most essential lesson to have. You don't always have to be right. You don't always have to be perfect, but you always need to be ready. That was probably the lesson that I learned that encapsulates. Always be ready to serve.

He would literally pick up his members out of jail and bring them to church. He and his wife would feed scores of people and then we as hungry seminarians would just be thankful every weekend for a meal. But that was a lesson I learned from he and both his wife, Charles and Vivian Joseph. So I would say if there's anybody I want to be like, it'd probably be him.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's beautiful, man. Juleun, thank you so much for sharing. It's inspiring. And I think you're absolutely right about what you said earlier. You got to create hope, you got to create imagination, you got to keep things going. And we learn from each other by talking, right?

Juleun Johnson: That's right.

Japhet De Oliveira: This is what I want to encourage people to do as well, and I say this every episode, but find a friend, ask good questions, learn about them. We are transformed by it and we're better beings for it as well. So it's a good thing. It's a good thing.

Juleun Johnson: Thank you for having me on [inaudible 00:33:20]

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh absolutely, man. God bless you. And we'll connect again and take care, everybody. Be good.

Narrator: Thank you for joining us for The Story and Experience podcast. We invite you to read, watch, and submit your story and experience at eventushealth.org/story. The Story and Experience podcast was bought to you by Eventus Health through the Office of Culture.