Heroes in Business - Donna Johnson, Mentor and Author of My Mentor Walks on Water

Episode Date: June 20, 2023

Donna Johnson, Mentor and Author of My Mentor Walks on Water is interviewed by David Cogan of Eliances entrepreneur community and host of the Heroes Show.  Mark Victor Hansen Library Nomination

Welcome back to Alliances Heroes, where heroes in business align. To be part of our super community and find out more about Alliances, visit www.alliances.com. That's right. Welcome back again. It's always exciting. I appreciate our listeners and viewers. So thank you so much. Keep the feedback coming.

Yep. Recently hit on the CMO of the American Lung Association and keep the feedback coming when I head on the president of the United Nations General Assembly. Make sure you check out those past episodes by going to eliancer.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-R.com. And you can find those episodes. So I'm excited about today. What are we talking about? We're talking about mentors, right? And we have with us Donna Johnson. She is a mentor and author. You ready for this? Her book is My Mentor Walks on Water. You could reach Donna by going to mentordonnajohnson.com. And of course, we'll have it on our website, eliancer.com. So Donna, welcome to the show. We got to jump right in here because people are thinking, hmm, my mentor walks on water. What does that mean to you?

Well, you know, I love it. So many people think it's just a faith-based book, and my mentor does walk on water. I learned so much from Jesus, who was the original water walker, and I just call people to stop huddling out in the center of the boat and have some courage to stand and have courage and walk on water. What motivated you and how did the idea come that, hey, I'm going to go ahead and write a book about this? David, I absolutely was not writing a book. It was completely downloaded to me. I share the whole story in the introduction, but a few years ago, I shared the stage speaking at a big event with Tony Robbins and Rita Davenport. And when it was Rita Davenport's time to share, she was joking and laughing because she never saw Tony Robbins live. And she was kind of kissing her feet and what's all this fire walking? I love my feet. And she looked up and said, I want you all to know that my mentor walks on water. And just then with that memory, it just downloaded. I called her. I

said, I never heard you say that before. She's one of my mentors. And the book just appeared. And I was just absolutely being obedient. And it's a beautiful message. appeared and I was just absolutely being obedient and it's a beautiful message. Talk to us about some of the highlights of the book as far as when people read it. So the highlights and then also the part of this is if there were a few things you want people to get most out of it, what would that be? I think some highlights are just to really first understand because we live in a crazy world right now where we're so distracted. We can be like that rubber ducky tossed in the ocean and following everything and just getting so exhausted. So I really start by encouraging the reader to find out who they are.

Who are you? Who do you think you are? How does God see you? Because so often we just get confused. We believe what other people say about us and we just get in alignment. And once you've got those values, then you can choose your mentors that align with that for long-term vision and success. And it actually creates, you know, we hear hustle and grind and it creates a rhythm and rest that is just a beautiful place to be so that you can actually do less, but achieve more because you're not on that rat race. You know, it's, it's, uh, it's not, we're not rats and it's not a race. Excellent. And you mentioned a little bit earlier in regards to that, it was downloaded to you. How can other others get their download?

Wow. Great question. Just really stopping the noise in our lives. You know, we all can pray and meditate, but we just talk too much, even in our mind. And just being able to be open for that inspiration. People call it tuition, other things. I call it Holy Spirit. And I talk about red light, yellow light, green light.

You get these, you just feel like God putting his hand on the back of your back to go forward. And then sometimes you get those red lights. I am not going in the right direction here. And one of the hardest things for us, especially high achievers, is a yellow light to just wait and do your due diligence on something, whatever it is, a project at work, a relationship, health, anything. And so just learning discernment to hear our creator. But how do we sift through all the, again, you mentioned too, is about, you know, the noise and news and just all of the, quite honestly, negativity that is a lot on TV, right? And a lot, you know, and that kind of just spreads like fire, right? How do you stay away from that? You know, you have to protect your access. Your inner circle is really

important. Who you allow to pour into you and have influence over you. And it may not just be a mentor or someone you hire as a coach or an advisor, it might be a podcast you listen to or music you're listening to. And does it serve you? Does it pour into you? And so I really protect my access and I think it sets an example for other people as well because we're only given 24 hours in a day and we want to live our life in a way that were we to die tomorrow, we wouldn't look back and go, oh no, I didn't know, I didn't have time. I want to be able to be productive and at peace every day of my life. So I really protect my access. Excellent. That's right. Bring peace to your life every day. We have with us Donna Johnson

helping to show us how. She is a mentor and author of My Mentor Walks on Water. You can be reached at mentordonnajohnson.com. And again, you're listening, watching me, David Kogan, host of the Alliances Hero Show. You can also go to alliances.com, E-L-I-A-N-C-S.com. Click on radio and podcast to find past episodes. All right. So Donna, what do you feel urgent about? I feel urgent about unity. I feel like we're in such a divided world.

And my hope is that the book opens up conversations. It's not a faith-based book. It's not a book for women. It's not a faith-based book. It's not a book for women. It's funny when I read a book by a man like my dear friend, Mark Victor Hansen, I don't go, oh, this is great for the men in my life. Right. And so I'm really surprised that so many people that are reaching out are men and women of all walks of faith, just so intrigued with the message. And that's what I wanted. I wanted to be able to start a conversation because I don't believe we want to be divided, but for some

reason there's these rules. Can't talk about that. Can't do that. And I love listening and learning from people, even if they don't think the same way as I do, because how will we ever learn if we're just in an echo chamber? Excellent, excellent. And we've got time for one more question. I think this is important too, is what secrets do you have for parents perhaps when they're communicating with their children to again, have that, what you preach and teach

in your book and stuff to be open to so they're not so stressed and all of the negativity and stuff. You're the number one person. People say God is watching Give Him a Show. So are your kids. So are your coworkers. I talk about this in my book and just love them. Be real. Let them see your dreams, your desires, your discontents, your struggles. Let them watch you deal with people and overcome obstacles. I have five adult children, all highly educated. I only have a college, a high school education, and I've built a very successful business. and I've built a very successful business.

And so I just, my kids say, mom, the best education we ever had was watching you build a business from home. So just love your kids. They need to know that no matter what, you are loved. Excellent. Well, all it takes is love, right? All you need is love, love, love. Thank you so much for Mark Victor Hansen for nominating you, Donna, to be on the Alliance's Hero Show.

Donna, you inspire others to leave their world of comfort behind and cause a ripple effect impacting everything around them. That's a hero, Donna Johnson, mentor and author of My Mentor Walks on Water. You could reach her by going to mentordonnajohnson.com. And thank you so much for watching. Listen to me, David Kogan, host of the Alliance's Hero Show. You know where to go, E-L-I-A-N-C-S.com, the only place where entrepreneurs align. Donna, you got to dance with me too, though. You got to dance with me too, though. You got to dance with me. Come on.