August 12, 2023 • 36 mins
Have you ever questioned your resilience in the face of adversity? I, Loren Johnson, will take you on my personal journey of resilience, recounting experiences of addiction, recovery, and the fight to regain custody of my children. As a former law enforcement officer, I've had my fair share of hardships - from suffering two traumatic brain injuries and subsequently spiraling into heroin addiction, to battling workplace bullying. I aim to share how these experiences shaped me and how I chose to rise above them.
In narrating my story, I aim to emphasize the critical role of mental health awareness in managing addiction. I'll shed light on the bullying I encountered in the professional sphere, and how I managed to push past it, persistently working towards my goals. Furthermore, I'll be discussing my advocacy for the recovery community and the joys of sobriety. Believe me when I say, no matter how tough the journey, there's always light at the end of the tunnel. So, gear up for this enlightening episode, where we champion mental health awareness, resilience, and stand up for our passions together.
check out https://www.ljvoiceproject.com
Twitter; @LJvoiceproject
instagram: ljvoiceproject
Facebook: LJ Voice Project
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ljvoiceproject/
Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!
Start for FREE
chekout https://www.ljvoiceproject.com
twitter; @ljvoiceproject
facebook; Instagram ljvoiceproject.com
Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!
Start for FREE
"Thank you for joining 'War of The Mind,' your essential guide to exploring emotional intelligence, mental health, and personal growth. Remember, self-awareness is the beacon illuminating your unique path of transformation and resilience. Join us again on our next adventure through the realm of mindfulness and self-improvement! #WarOfTheMind #MentalWellbeing #EmotionalIntelligence #SelfAwareness #PersonalGrowth"
- https://www.buzzsprout.com/1968339/supporters/new
- https://www.ljvoiceproject.com
- LINKEDIN: www.linkedin.com/in/ljvoiceproject
- TWITTER: ljvoiceproject
- FACEBOOK: LJ Voice Project, Loren Johnson
- Instagram: ljvoiceproject
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
And welcome back.
I'm your host, lauren Johnson,here on War of the Mind.
It's been quite some time sincewe posted a new episode, but
we're back with some updates andkind of going into detail of
(00:23):
some other topics that arehitting home.
Recently I was asked to sharemy story for a commercial that's
going to be put on at, I guess,apparently all the gas stations
(00:47):
at the pumps talking aboutrecovery and overdoses.
Sharing a short story is thestart of it and then from there
I'll be doing some panels andtown hall meetings and speaking
(01:09):
at hopefully the way it soundsschools and law enforcement,
just kind of update the publicon where it's at with mental
(01:29):
health and addiction and if youknow anybody with mental health
on what to do or addiction andif a case arises where you have
to use a Narcan, there'straining for that.
So yeah, I'm pretty excited.
(01:53):
It's a great opportunity forsome exposure and it's what I've
kind of been working towardsand sharing my story.
We've done that on the show.
You know, if those of you thathaven't listened to past
(02:18):
episodes, I worked in lawenforcement.
Short version of the recoverypart and addiction part is other
episodes.
We'll talk about trauma I'veexperienced and how that's
(02:42):
played a key role in my using.
As far as recovery, I startedin law enforcement, like I said,
out of college.
From there I'd work, you know,about close to 10 years.
(03:04):
Yeah, I would end up getting atraumatic brain injury from a
car accident and it was reallyan eye-opener.
Took a long time to get healedback to where I thought I felt
(03:26):
comfortable, where I was in life.
From there, you know, I wouldend up drinking and 2019 I would
get hit head-on by high schoolor going to class.
You know this would end upcausing another traumatic brain
(03:52):
injury and which I stillstruggle with today as far as
mood, anxiety, depression, allthat stuff that comes with the
mental health of, you know,having a brain injury.
And it wasn't until the braininjuries when I switched from
(04:25):
previously always taking painmeds from all the surgeries I've
had, from college sports whereI wrestled, to just injuries
from the car accident, and whenI had that second TBI, I would
(04:48):
end up making the crossover frompain meds to heroin and it
wasn't, you know, too far intoit when I started overdosing
repeatedly.
My body just is one of them,bodies that just does not like
(05:13):
fentanyl and I've probablyoverdosed about close to 10
times where I've had to be takenby ambulance to the hospital
and revived.
I probably overdosed at homewhere just a shot in our can
(05:40):
helped and I didn't need to goto the hospital.
I apparently did that about20-30 times.
You know I have a lot of regretsout of the overdoses.
You know the pain it caused,not only myself but you know but
(06:06):
the pain it caused family, thepain it caused close family, my
parents, my wife.
It took a toll and it waspretty traumatic and you know a
(06:29):
lot of us still struggle with ittoday and that's why I, you
know, really want to share mystory of resilience and why I
feel like I fought so hard tostay alive and but then still
(06:53):
could go down in turmoil andoverdose, whether it was on
purpose or not, and there are somany times you know I would
look at that needle and I would.
I would know that it's gonnaput me down and it was to the
(07:20):
point where it didn't phase meone bit.
I mean that's where I was inlife and it's hard because
people don't understand likewith addiction comes mental
health issues and you know Iwould, I would, I would put off
(07:56):
getting my kids back because Inever wanted them to see me on
heroin and that's something Ihave to live with.
But I know it was the rightdecision because I don't ever
(08:17):
want to have them around it orsee it and that was probably my
biggest struggle not having thekids and drove my using.
Because, I won't lie, when Ifirst got divorced I didn't want
(08:39):
to share the kids.
I felt like I deserved to havethem all time.
Now, in the real world, 5050 isyou know what it should be and
(09:00):
you know a tail end of treatmentcourt and you know I put up,
put the work in and it's time Iget my kids and go get them back
.
And it's gonna be a battlebecause I have an ex that thinks
(09:25):
she's better than everybody andand she's not.
We all should know that we'renobody's better than anybody
else.
We were created equal and youknow she's.
(09:52):
She's one who's gonna end uppaying longer on when the kids
find out why and find out howmuch dad tried to get back in
their lives and shut out justfor the fact somebody thinks
(10:18):
they can bully you and thatmoney will buy everything and
that's not the case.
But that's just a little bitupdate.
You know, with that commercialand speaking, I've been pretty
(10:40):
busy, and you know, speaking ofbullying, I just something came
to mind.
I was gonna talk a little bitabout self confidence and
finding your purpose, but Ithink we're gonna deviate from
(11:03):
that and talk a little bit aboutbullying.
And how, though, that doesn'tjust.
Yes, it plays a huge role inour kids growing up, but where
do you think our kids will learnfrom and it's whether we allow
(11:28):
our kids to do it what our kidssee.
And I gave a two examples in mylife never been bullied before
and I never was one to bullyother people.
I was the always, you know,friends with kind of everybody,
(11:50):
and you know I never really shutanybody out but or thought I
was better than I am.
I never.
That just wasn't who I was.
And first example would be howmy ex-wife uses my kids as a
(12:14):
pond to get her way and then,instead of, you know, realizing
that after the TV I had issueswith my something that I didn't
(12:37):
even ask for, I didn't evencause, it's nothing and for her
to use that against me and thentell me common aims, tell me I'm
unfit father.
Just because I have adisability doesn't mean I don't
(13:00):
deserve to see my kids.
And just because I had anaddiction doesn't mean I don't
get to see my kids.
There's people out there whohave done worse things and I get
to see their kids.
(13:20):
But because my ex-wife thinksher shit don't stink, that she
deserves whatever she wants andshe thinks she gets everything
she wants.
And for a long time I I was insuch a hole that I just kind of
(13:49):
took the punches and let her win.
And you know, I know I seewhere she gets it from, because
her parents are the same waywhen we were married and they
are just nothing but bullies.
And you know my ex-wife,everything's fine with her and I
(14:20):
until you cross that line andshe don't get her way.
And if she don't get her way,she's gonna pull out the punches
and the kids are gonna be thefirst ones to be used as a pawn
to get her way.
And you know she'll let us do alittle cheat, say what she
(14:44):
wants, just to make sure shewins.
And I personally that is nothow I parent.
I think that's totally wrong.
I think it's not even fair tothe kids and I kind of let her
(15:06):
push me around and bully me fora long time.
It's come to the time whereI've been clean enough and far
enough long and then she stillcalls me an unfit father.
But yet she needs to realizeI'm coming for those kids and I
(15:31):
will get them back and be partof their lives and they'll find
out the real truth down the road.
And I have plenty ofindividuals that are probably
(15:52):
going to explain to the kidswhat happened versus me, because
I'm sure there's going to besome anger there.
But I wish me luck because I'mgoing to need it because it's
going to be coming up here soonand then next bullying example
(16:19):
would be.
So I had a office at a certainbusiness in Eau Claire,
wisconsin, and it started outfine.
Everything was good.
You know, and I know they don'twant their names brought up.
(16:43):
I really should bring it upbecause the public deserves to
know, but I'm not going to crossthat road.
It was an environment workenvironment where I just rented
(17:05):
an office space.
It was my office space to dothe podcast and prep for
speaking engagements and work onmy business.
There were people in thebuilding that went on and
(17:32):
listened to my podcast and foundout I was an addict and stuff
like that.
So next thing that happens, I'mgetting hounded about everything
and anything and I'm doingeverything wrong and I wasn't
(17:55):
even talking to anybody.
I was keeping it myself, beingrespectful to everybody else and
to where I'd go there to record, and then one of the offices
the lady would pound with herhammer as loud as she could just
(18:15):
to make sure so I couldn'trecord.
And the contract had said wecould be there 24-7.
But you couldn't make it yourresidence, which I have a
residence.
And there was probably ahandful of times I stayed at the
(18:37):
office and worked overnight,because that was the only time I
was quiet to record and I hadthe proof to show them
everything and met with theowners because they were getting
complaints that I wassupposedly sleeping at the
(18:57):
office and then that turned intooffice ladies causing drama and
saying I was a drug dealer andselling drugs out of my office,
which is not what was happening.
And the owner sat down and metwith me and gave me a bullshit
(19:26):
story right to my face and satand told me I wasn't doing
anything wrong.
I said let me just keep doingwhat you're doing and you gotta
realize these people are dramaand they're gonna cause drama
and don't let it get to you.
And one day I was downstairs andalso I heard my name, so I
(19:52):
walked over and they said myname again.
So I go around the corner andhere's these two ladies one owns
a shop in there and the otherone owns another shop that
(20:15):
serves food and they would endup first lying that they didn't
say my name.
Then they ended up admitting toit and said that I couldn't be
there and I wasn't supposed tohave any guests and which in my
(20:44):
contracts that said I could haveguests, could be there 24 seven
.
I planned to have guests on mypodcast.
I have meetings there and afterthat meeting or these people
(21:07):
telling me this, I get an emailfrom the owner telling me that I
can't be there anymore.
From it was midnight to 6am Ican't have any guests.
No-transcript.
(21:30):
I was baffled by this becauseI'm like how can you change my
contract in the middle of it andyou kind of affecting my
business, because my business isbased on podcasts, working on
my speaking stuff at my officeand etc.
And they didn't care and theywere siding with the people
(21:56):
causing problems in the buildingand so you know, from that
point on it was tension buildingand next door to my office is
there was an open office and itwas like a spa massage thing.
(22:24):
And the thing is is like, okay,if you know that two or three
individuals are bullyingsomebody and you tell them
you're on their side, why wouldyou put them in an office
(22:50):
because they want to start someBS fake job in the office next
to mine?
I mean, personally, I would saythat's instigating, especially
(23:11):
when these walls are paper thinand you can hear everything
they're saying and they're justmocking everything I would say.
And so I walked out of theoffice and there's one of them
standing right in front of myoffice and I just said, asked
(23:32):
her what she was doing up here,and she didn't really say
anything.
And I'm like, well, unless Ichecked your office downstairs,
and she's like, no, I'm up here.
Well, pretty much, they turnedthat office into their little
break room and next thing I knowthis one lady that works in the
(23:58):
food one business comes out andshe basically says right to my
face that I'm a nobody andnobody really cares.
No one cares about my story andjust move on and you're not
(24:19):
important.
You're, as a main thing at theend and you're not important,
nobody cares, and you know Itook it with a grain of salt.
But when the owners didn't havemy back and the fact that they
(24:43):
moved them in there and thenthey wouldn't respond to
anything when I would sayanything to them, I mean,
basically these women wereharassing me because of my
background, which is total BS.
I think everybody deserves afair chance and it'd be
(25:08):
different if I was going up anddown the halls banging on a drum
during the middle of the daywhen everyone's around in their
business.
But that's not the case.
I was keeping myself, working onmy stuff and you know it was
(25:29):
still tough.
Though, like when they didn'thave my back, the owner says
maybe the spot isn't suited foryour business and you should
probably, maybe you should lookelsewhere.
So I find whatever.
(25:49):
You know I don't have to put upwith this.
And so I moved out of thatoffice.
Part of me wishes I wanted,because felt like I let them win
, but at the same time I don'tneed to put up with that.
And it got to the point whereit wasn't enjoyable to go to
(26:13):
work going to work on my podcastand because you felt like
you're being watched and peopleare just waiting to complain
about anything you do for eventaking a breath.
So I moved out of there andthat was in probably May, and
(26:35):
that's probably the last podcastI recorded.
Because one thing I did not prepmyself for was any negative,
any negative backlash fromeither the show, speaking
(26:59):
engagements, stuff like that.
You know, I just never, neverthought about it, you know, and
that's moving forward, somethingI've worked on for the last
couple months with counselors,because it's going to happen
again, you know, especially withmoving forward with this
(27:22):
commercial and speakingengagements, and people are
going to say stuff and at timesyou just got to have, you know,
turn the cheek and just take itand move on and it just shows
(27:44):
who that individual is andeverything's temporary, and so
it really it really hurt for awhile.
I'm glad I'm getting back intoit.
I'm glad I can thank the peoplethat have supported me, from
(28:10):
counselors to treatment court tomy parents, just anybody that's
been on my side and knows mystory.
And you know, I want to just sayto those people at that
business look at where I am now,because the crap you did.
(28:45):
Let's just show who you are asan individual.
And to pick on, call names,make stuff up, harass just shows
you how, what type of personyou are and how you treat people
(29:09):
and that just shows that yourlife is that way.
And you know, maybe you're theone almost unhappy individuals,
but I'm not going to let youruin what I am working towards.
(29:31):
And you know, when you'resitting there staying stagnant
and wondering why yourbusinesses aren't going anywhere
and mine continues to go up,just take a look in the mirror
and realize.
You know, maybe you need tochange something you're doing in
(29:54):
your life and quit bullyingpeople because it's got you
going nowhere.
I don't know if any of youcould tell this kind of pissed
me off, but it is what it is.
It's temporary, it's who peopleare and you know it's something
(30:15):
I had to deal with.
It's something that taught me alesson and I learned from it.
We're getting back into thisrecording stuff and I just am
truly excited to have theopportunity to move forward from
(30:39):
that and excited for the futureof what we got going on for us.
We still have them long-termgoals we got to fulfill and you
know that being, don't forget tocheck out our website,
ljvoiceprojectcom, and on thereyou can contact us if you're
(31:04):
looking for speakers or you justhave questions for the show or
want to be on the show and, yeah, I just want to thank you for
all the support out there andthank the listeners and you know
(31:27):
it's tough out there right nowbut you just got to stay strong
and keep hope alive and realizeeverything's temporary and just
keep fighting the good fight.
And don't forget to check outour Twitter, ljvoiceproject, our
(31:50):
Facebook ljvoiceproject, andwe're also on Instagram,
ljvoiceproject, andljvoiceproject is the one that
produces Show War of the Mind.
We're also in the process ofcontinuing the limitless journal
(32:14):
.
But, going into bow huntingseason, I plan on starting a
podcast called Grunt, rattle andShoot podcast and it's going to
be for our fellow deer huntersand bow hunters mainly and they
(32:35):
can come on and share what theygot going on out in the woods
and just a way for people tocommunicate and share tips for
other hunters.
Just advocate for stuff going on, advocate for rules and let the
(33:03):
fellow deer hunters whitetaildeer hunters, you know, have a
voice and then you know, we'llhave our big book competition on
the show and have guests on,hopefully weekly.
So if you're interested in that, go on our website,
(33:24):
ljvoiceprojectcom, and go downto the contact us section and
shoot us an email if you want tobe a guest on the show.
I recently went out and threwmy trail cams up and just got a
new tree stand, so I got to takethat down in the woods and put
(33:45):
that up before bow season.
So, yeah, it was a great show.
I want to thank the listenersand, like I said, keep hope
alive and keep fighting the goodfight.
I'm your host, lauren Johnson,and we'll see you in the next
(34:06):
episode.
And welcome back.
I'm your host, lauren Johnson,here on War of the Mind.
It's been quite some time sincewe posted a new episode, but
we're back with some updates andkind of going into detail of
(00:23):
some other topics that arehitting home.
Recently I was asked to sharemy story for a commercial that's
going to be put on at, I guess,apparently all the gas stations
(00:47):
at the pumps talking aboutrecovery and overdoses.
Sharing a short story is thestart of it and then from there
I'll be doing some panels andtown hall meetings and speaking
(01:09):
at hopefully the way it soundsschools and law enforcement,
just kind of update the publicon where it's at with mental
(01:29):
health and addiction and if youknow anybody with mental health
on what to do or addiction andif a case arises where you have
to use a Narcan, there'straining for that.
So yeah, I'm pretty excited.
(01:53):
It's a great opportunity forsome exposure and it's what I've
kind of been working towardsand sharing my story.
We've done that on the show.
You know, if those of you thathaven't listened to past
(02:18):
episodes, I worked in lawenforcement.
Short version of the recoverypart and addiction part is other
episodes.
We'll talk about trauma I'veexperienced and how that's
(02:42):
played a key role in my using.
As far as recovery, I startedin law enforcement, like I said,
out of college.
From there I'd work, you know,about close to 10 years.
(03:04):
Yeah, I would end up getting atraumatic brain injury from a
car accident and it was reallyan eye-opener.
Took a long time to get healedback to where I thought I felt
(03:26):
comfortable, where I was in life.
From there, you know, I wouldend up drinking and 2019 I would
get hit head-on by high schoolor going to class.
You know this would end upcausing another traumatic brain
(03:52):
injury and which I stillstruggle with today as far as
mood, anxiety, depression, allthat stuff that comes with the
mental health of, you know,having a brain injury.
And it wasn't until the braininjuries when I switched from
(04:25):
previously always taking painmeds from all the surgeries I've
had, from college sports whereI wrestled, to just injuries
from the car accident, and whenI had that second TBI, I would
(04:48):
end up making the crossover frompain meds to heroin and it
wasn't, you know, too far intoit when I started overdosing
repeatedly.
My body just is one of them,bodies that just does not like
(05:13):
fentanyl and I've probablyoverdosed about close to 10
times where I've had to be takenby ambulance to the hospital
and revived.
I probably overdosed at homewhere just a shot in our can
(05:40):
helped and I didn't need to goto the hospital.
I apparently did that about20-30 times.
You know I have a lot of regretsout of the overdoses.
You know the pain it caused,not only myself but you know but
(06:06):
the pain it caused family, thepain it caused close family, my
parents, my wife.
It took a toll and it waspretty traumatic and you know a
(06:29):
lot of us still struggle with ittoday and that's why I, you
know, really want to share mystory of resilience and why I
feel like I fought so hard tostay alive and but then still
(06:53):
could go down in turmoil andoverdose, whether it was on
purpose or not, and there are somany times you know I would
look at that needle and I would.
I would know that it's gonnaput me down and it was to the
(07:20):
point where it didn't phase meone bit.
I mean that's where I was inlife and it's hard because
people don't understand likewith addiction comes mental
health issues and you know Iwould, I would, I would put off
(07:56):
getting my kids back because Inever wanted them to see me on
heroin and that's something Ihave to live with.
But I know it was the rightdecision because I don't ever
(08:17):
want to have them around it orsee it and that was probably my
biggest struggle not having thekids and drove my using.
Because, I won't lie, when Ifirst got divorced I didn't want
(08:39):
to share the kids.
I felt like I deserved to havethem all time.
Now, in the real world, 5050 isyou know what it should be and
(09:00):
you know a tail end of treatmentcourt and you know I put up,
put the work in and it's time Iget my kids and go get them back
.
And it's gonna be a battlebecause I have an ex that thinks
(09:25):
she's better than everybody andand she's not.
We all should know that we'renobody's better than anybody
else.
We were created equal and youknow she's.
(09:52):
She's one who's gonna end uppaying longer on when the kids
find out why and find out howmuch dad tried to get back in
their lives and shut out justfor the fact somebody thinks
(10:18):
they can bully you and thatmoney will buy everything and
that's not the case.
But that's just a little bitupdate.
You know, with that commercialand speaking, I've been pretty
(10:40):
busy, and you know, speaking ofbullying, I just something came
to mind.
I was gonna talk a little bitabout self confidence and
finding your purpose, but Ithink we're gonna deviate from
(11:03):
that and talk a little bit aboutbullying.
And how, though, that doesn'tjust.
Yes, it plays a huge role inour kids growing up, but where
do you think our kids will learnfrom and it's whether we allow
(11:28):
our kids to do it what our kidssee.
And I gave a two examples in mylife never been bullied before
and I never was one to bullyother people.
I was the always, you know,friends with kind of everybody,
(11:50):
and you know I never really shutanybody out but or thought I
was better than I am.
I never.
That just wasn't who I was.
And first example would be howmy ex-wife uses my kids as a
(12:14):
pond to get her way and then,instead of, you know, realizing
that after the TV I had issueswith my something that I didn't
(12:37):
even ask for, I didn't evencause, it's nothing and for her
to use that against me and thentell me common aims, tell me I'm
unfit father.
Just because I have adisability doesn't mean I don't
(13:00):
deserve to see my kids.
And just because I had anaddiction doesn't mean I don't
get to see my kids.
There's people out there whohave done worse things and I get
to see their kids.
(13:20):
But because my ex-wife thinksher shit don't stink, that she
deserves whatever she wants andshe thinks she gets everything
she wants.
And for a long time I I was insuch a hole that I just kind of
(13:49):
took the punches and let her win.
And you know, I know I seewhere she gets it from, because
her parents are the same waywhen we were married and they
are just nothing but bullies.
And you know my ex-wife,everything's fine with her and I
(14:20):
until you cross that line andshe don't get her way.
And if she don't get her way,she's gonna pull out the punches
and the kids are gonna be thefirst ones to be used as a pawn
to get her way.
And you know she'll let us do alittle cheat, say what she
(14:44):
wants, just to make sure shewins.
And I personally that is nothow I parent.
I think that's totally wrong.
I think it's not even fair tothe kids and I kind of let her
(15:06):
push me around and bully me fora long time.
It's come to the time whereI've been clean enough and far
enough long and then she stillcalls me an unfit father.
But yet she needs to realizeI'm coming for those kids and I
(15:31):
will get them back and be partof their lives and they'll find
out the real truth down the road.
And I have plenty ofindividuals that are probably
(15:52):
going to explain to the kidswhat happened versus me, because
I'm sure there's going to besome anger there.
But I wish me luck because I'mgoing to need it because it's
going to be coming up here soonand then next bullying example
(16:19):
would be.
So I had a office at a certainbusiness in Eau Claire,
wisconsin, and it started outfine.
Everything was good.
You know, and I know they don'twant their names brought up.
(16:43):
I really should bring it upbecause the public deserves to
know, but I'm not going to crossthat road.
It was an environment workenvironment where I just rented
(17:05):
an office space.
It was my office space to dothe podcast and prep for
speaking engagements and work onmy business.
There were people in thebuilding that went on and
(17:32):
listened to my podcast and foundout I was an addict and stuff
like that.
So next thing that happens, I'mgetting hounded about everything
and anything and I'm doingeverything wrong and I wasn't
(17:55):
even talking to anybody.
I was keeping it myself, beingrespectful to everybody else and
to where I'd go there to record, and then one of the offices
the lady would pound with herhammer as loud as she could just
(18:15):
to make sure so I couldn'trecord.
And the contract had said wecould be there 24-7.
But you couldn't make it yourresidence, which I have a
residence.
And there was probably ahandful of times I stayed at the
(18:37):
office and worked overnight,because that was the only time I
was quiet to record and I hadthe proof to show them
everything and met with theowners because they were getting
complaints that I wassupposedly sleeping at the
(18:57):
office and then that turned intooffice ladies causing drama and
saying I was a drug dealer andselling drugs out of my office,
which is not what was happening.
And the owner sat down and metwith me and gave me a bullshit
(19:26):
story right to my face and satand told me I wasn't doing
anything wrong.
I said let me just keep doingwhat you're doing and you gotta
realize these people are dramaand they're gonna cause drama
and don't let it get to you.
And one day I was downstairs andalso I heard my name, so I
(19:52):
walked over and they said myname again.
So I go around the corner andhere's these two ladies one owns
a shop in there and the otherone owns another shop that
(20:15):
serves food and they would endup first lying that they didn't
say my name.
Then they ended up admitting toit and said that I couldn't be
there and I wasn't supposed tohave any guests and which in my
(20:44):
contracts that said I could haveguests, could be there 24 seven
.
I planned to have guests on mypodcast.
I have meetings there and afterthat meeting or these people
(21:07):
telling me this, I get an emailfrom the owner telling me that I
can't be there anymore.
From it was midnight to 6am Ican't have any guests.
No-transcript.
(21:30):
I was baffled by this becauseI'm like how can you change my
contract in the middle of it andyou kind of affecting my
business, because my business isbased on podcasts, working on
my speaking stuff at my officeand etc.
And they didn't care and theywere siding with the people
(21:56):
causing problems in the buildingand so you know, from that
point on it was tension buildingand next door to my office is
there was an open office and itwas like a spa massage thing.
(22:24):
And the thing is is like, okay,if you know that two or three
individuals are bullyingsomebody and you tell them
you're on their side, why wouldyou put them in an office
(22:50):
because they want to start someBS fake job in the office next
to mine?
I mean, personally, I would saythat's instigating, especially
(23:11):
when these walls are paper thinand you can hear everything
they're saying and they're justmocking everything I would say.
And so I walked out of theoffice and there's one of them
standing right in front of myoffice and I just said, asked
(23:32):
her what she was doing up here,and she didn't really say
anything.
And I'm like, well, unless Ichecked your office downstairs,
and she's like, no, I'm up here.
Well, pretty much, they turnedthat office into their little
break room and next thing I knowthis one lady that works in the
(23:58):
food one business comes out andshe basically says right to my
face that I'm a nobody andnobody really cares.
No one cares about my story andjust move on and you're not
(24:19):
important.
You're, as a main thing at theend and you're not important,
nobody cares, and you know Itook it with a grain of salt.
But when the owners didn't havemy back and the fact that they
(24:43):
moved them in there and thenthey wouldn't respond to
anything when I would sayanything to them, I mean,
basically these women wereharassing me because of my
background, which is total BS.
I think everybody deserves afair chance and it'd be
(25:08):
different if I was going up anddown the halls banging on a drum
during the middle of the daywhen everyone's around in their
business.
But that's not the case.
I was keeping myself, working onmy stuff and you know it was
(25:29):
still tough.
Though, like when they didn'thave my back, the owner says
maybe the spot isn't suited foryour business and you should
probably, maybe you should lookelsewhere.
So I find whatever.
(25:49):
You know I don't have to put upwith this.
And so I moved out of thatoffice.
Part of me wishes I wanted,because felt like I let them win
, but at the same time I don'tneed to put up with that.
And it got to the point whereit wasn't enjoyable to go to
(26:13):
work going to work on my podcastand because you felt like
you're being watched and peopleare just waiting to complain
about anything you do for eventaking a breath.
So I moved out of there andthat was in probably May, and
(26:35):
that's probably the last podcastI recorded.
Because one thing I did not prepmyself for was any negative,
any negative backlash fromeither the show, speaking
(26:59):
engagements, stuff like that.
You know, I just never, neverthought about it, you know, and
that's moving forward, somethingI've worked on for the last
couple months with counselors,because it's going to happen
again, you know, especially withmoving forward with this
(27:22):
commercial and speakingengagements, and people are
going to say stuff and at timesyou just got to have, you know,
turn the cheek and just take itand move on and it just shows
(27:44):
who that individual is andeverything's temporary, and so
it really it really hurt for awhile.
I'm glad I'm getting back intoit.
I'm glad I can thank the peoplethat have supported me, from
(28:10):
counselors to treatment court tomy parents, just anybody that's
been on my side and knows mystory.
And you know, I want to just sayto those people at that
business look at where I am now,because the crap you did.
(28:45):
Let's just show who you are asan individual.
And to pick on, call names,make stuff up, harass just shows
you how, what type of personyou are and how you treat people
(29:09):
and that just shows that yourlife is that way.
And you know, maybe you're theone almost unhappy individuals,
but I'm not going to let youruin what I am working towards.
(29:31):
And you know, when you'resitting there staying stagnant
and wondering why yourbusinesses aren't going anywhere
and mine continues to go up,just take a look in the mirror
and realize.
You know, maybe you need tochange something you're doing in
(29:54):
your life and quit bullyingpeople because it's got you
going nowhere.
I don't know if any of youcould tell this kind of pissed
me off, but it is what it is.
It's temporary, it's who peopleare and you know it's something
(30:15):
I had to deal with.
It's something that taught me alesson and I learned from it.
We're getting back into thisrecording stuff and I just am
truly excited to have theopportunity to move forward from
(30:39):
that and excited for the futureof what we got going on for us.
We still have them long-termgoals we got to fulfill and you
know that being, don't forget tocheck out our website,
ljvoiceprojectcom, and on thereyou can contact us if you're
(31:04):
looking for speakers or you justhave questions for the show or
want to be on the show and, yeah, I just want to thank you for
all the support out there andthank the listeners and you know
(31:27):
it's tough out there right nowbut you just got to stay strong
and keep hope alive and realizeeverything's temporary and just
keep fighting the good fight.
And don't forget to check outour Twitter, ljvoiceproject, our
(31:50):
Facebook ljvoiceproject, andwe're also on Instagram,
ljvoiceproject, andljvoiceproject is the one that
produces Show War of the Mind.
We're also in the process ofcontinuing the limitless journal
(32:14):
.
But, going into bow huntingseason, I plan on starting a
podcast called Grunt, rattle andShoot podcast and it's going to
be for our fellow deer huntersand bow hunters mainly and they
(32:35):
can come on and share what theygot going on out in the woods
and just a way for people tocommunicate and share tips for
other hunters.
Just advocate for stuff going on, advocate for rules and let the
(33:03):
fellow deer hunters whitetaildeer hunters, you know, have a
voice and then you know, we'llhave our big book competition on
the show and have guests on,hopefully weekly.
So if you're interested in that, go on our website,
(33:24):
ljvoiceprojectcom, and go downto the contact us section and
shoot us an email if you want tobe a guest on the show.
I recently went out and threwmy trail cams up and just got a
new tree stand, so I got to takethat down in the woods and put
(33:45):
that up before bow season.
So, yeah, it was a great show.
I want to thank the listenersand, like I said, keep hope
alive and keep fighting the goodfight.
I'm your host, lauren Johnson,and we'll see you in the next
(34:06):
episode.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.