Kingdompreneurs - Rev. Elliott Johnson | Faithly Stories

00:01 - Speaker 1 The way the world is wired today, it seems to be grounded in despair. Yes, especially in the secular space. Yes, so what I try to bring is a spirit of encouragement. Yes, Into that space. 00:15 - Speaker 2 Yes. 00:16 - Speaker 1 Right that could reflect God's three theological virtues at him. Those virtues are charitable love grounded in faith. That allows you to ground your faith to do, to inspire, encourage, hope. 00:30 - Speaker 3 Welcome to Faithly Stories, the podcast that brings you inspiring tales from conversations with church leaders as they navigate the peaks and valleys of their faith journeys, through their ministry work and everyday life Brought to you by Faithly, an online community committed to empowering church leaders. Learn more at faithly.co. Get ready to be uplifted and inspired on the Faithly Stories podcast. 00:58 - Speaker 2 Welcome to the Faithly podcast. I am sitting here with Reverend Elliott Johnson. Hello, my friend. Hello my friend. How are you? I'm good you know you're not just another guest. No, we're friends, true that. 01:09 And God has preordained this relationship. Over the last two and a half plus years that has grown from running into each other at a meeting in New York I think it was at the Marriott Marquis or something to now literally a friendship that's blossomed. Somebody I look up to, somebody that checks on me once a week, and your background is extensive. You've worked in everything from commerce and business. You've worked with government leaders, you've worked in the faith space. It's amazing to me, it's so many of the things I want to be involved in and that I want to emulate. Tell the audience these ministers that are watching, pastors, leaders, some in the government space, some in the NGO space a little bit of your background. 01:54 - Speaker 1 Well, Adam, really I just thought I was trying to keep up with you. However, you know, let's just start from the beginning. I'm from the South side of Chicago Okay, right, I like to refer to myself as a poor colored boy. Okay, the south side of Chicago Okay, and I had an opportunity to go out east to school. I went to Howard University yes, sir, Howard Business School, and where I was able to get my undergraduate and graduate degree in marketing and management and international business. I took back then, and this is the 70s, I took the civil service examination, okay, and I was qualified to work in the public sector, public government, right. So I had an opportunity to stay in Washington DC. I could have went to Philadelphia or go home to Chicago. So, obviously, I went home to Chicago and had an opportunity to be a city manager and advisor to four mayors in Chicago. One of the more popular mayors was late Richard Daly Sr, the man they called the boss. And they called him the boss for a reason, but I won't go into that. 03:08 - Speaker 2 At least not on this podcast. 03:09 - Speaker 1 No, on the podcast, that's right, you know what I'm saying. And then his predecessor, Michael Blandick, the first woman mayor of Chicago, Jane Byrne, and then the first African-American mayor, which was a man by the name of Harold Washington, who wanted to become a mentor to me and encouraged me to go into the private sector, thought I was wasting my gifts, as he called them, in the public sector because you know, he would do edicts for city commissioners, aldermen, city department heads, and they wouldn't follow him and I would meet with them individually and next thing you know, they're singing Mayor Washington's praise. So he said you're an influencer and so there's a big movement right now to bring African Americans in to the consumer product industry and put them on the C-suite track. Okay, and I have a good friend who is the CEO of a consumer property company. I was like well, which company is that, sir? He said Philip Morris. I said, well, I don't smoke. He said well, Elliott, didn't I bring you in to smoke? There's plenty of smokers. 04:16 - Speaker 2 Okay. 04:17 - Speaker 1 They're bringing you in for senior management. I was like okay. 04:25 - Speaker 2 And I said, do I have to? He was like, yeah, here's your pink slip, a closed door, but it's an open door on the other side, but I got it. 04:30 - Speaker 1 I got it. I got it. But at that time there was a ban on advertising in the cigarette industry. So the Philip Morris Corporation bought two companies, kraft Foods and the Miller Brewing Corporation. So they brought me in and they placed me with the miller brewing corporation. Now, I didn't drink, so I don't drink, I don't smoke. God, what do we have to? I do eat, though. Okay, craft foods, I mean food. So, nonetheless, got on the board. 04:57 Uh, got on a fast track, want to become a senior executive, vice president, sales and marketing, and was part of the group that uh introduced a low-calorie beer segment to America. You may have heard of it, you may not. It's called Light Beer. Okay, then was fortunate enough to also introduce another beer into the marketplace called Miller Genuine Draft. Okay, draft beer in a bottle as well as it gets. Then there was a brewery that was 10 miles up in the mountains and they heard about me and they were trying to meet that quota and so they recruited me. And, uh, the man, the banana was so big it just bent the steak, so I just had to grab it. 05:34 Right, it was the cores brewery okay came on board the brewery, we'd already created a low calorie beer segment in america. So the great, best way for the brewery to really substantiate itself as a national brewery instead of being bootlegged all the time everybody heard about Coors beer being bootlegged created Coors Light. Wow, now you know. They got a strong national presence. And then there was a brewery that was in bankruptcy. That brewery was called the G Heilman Stroh Breweries. They owned the Lone Star Brewery in Texas, the Rainier and Winehart Breweries out west Carling Brewery, and they were known for two national brands, Adam, you may have heard of them. One was called Mickey's Malt Liquor, another one was called Coke 45. Okay, so Mickey's and Coke were their two largest single-selling brands. Right for the brewery. 06:27 And the brewery was in bankruptcy. And it wasn't in bankruptcy or anything the brewery did. It was a man by the name of Alan Bond. Australian magnate created a beer called Foster's Lager. Oh Right, a billionaire in Australia. Well, he bought the Heilemann Brewery. It was evaluated at that time $400 million. He offered a billion. Okay so, russ, clearly, owner, let him buy it. He used the assets of the brewery to pay off his debt in Australia, which ran the brewery in the Bank of Australia, okay. So then they said okay, and then they brought me and turned this around. I'm like boy, okay turning around. So, nonetheless, what we wound up doing, we took a look at the Mickey's and the Colt brand, and so we decided to make some radical changes with the brand's persona Mickey's located like a little wide mouth bottle People have seen it the flip top. They call it grenade bottles. And then, with the Colt brand, what we decided to do is Billy Dee Williams was their spokesperson. 07:21 - Speaker 2 I was going to say that earlier. 07:22 - Speaker 1 I was going to say that earlier I was going to say cool and suave. Billy Dee. But the challenge was that Billy Dee's persona was attracting a lot of women Because you notice his commercials are in bars, whatever lounges, tuxedo a lot of women around Well women don't drink beer. 07:40 - Speaker 2 Right. 07:41 - Speaker 1 I don't drink a lot of beer, right, and so what we decided to do because it was a phenomena that was emerging called hip-hop- yes. 07:50 Right Early 90s, late 80s, more early 90s, going into that period right, okay, and so what I decided to do was we parted ways with Billy, and then we identified two emerging artists in the hip hop culture. I said the hip hop culture was attracting everyone. It wasn't just black people, just white people, it was everybody. Right, but it was really being promoted by African-American artists, right, and so we targeted two Tupac and Biggie. 08:23 - Speaker 2 Oh, I haven't heard of those guys. Yeah, you know, I never had either. They didn't have any influence on my life at all. 08:29 - Speaker 1 I mean, who were they for today? Right? And so, nonetheless, we gave them equity in the brand and we asked them, since this thing was emerging can the brand be in your videos and in your music, not being consumed, but by just being part of the culture, right? And then we had to make a change with one of the packages, and that one package was the quart bottle. So Colt had six-pack cans, six-pack bottles, 16-ounce cans and quarts did about $600 million. I decided let's take a gamble, let's add some more ounces to the quart bottle. We added eight more ounces, which turned it into a 40-ounce package, a 40-ounce, right. 09:11 - Speaker 2 So I mean there are a lot of things about your accolades. I mean, we talk about presidential awards and all the rest, but you created the 40-ounce. 09:19 - Speaker 1 Well, let's just say I was a part of the genius that came up with the idea. 09:24 Okay, all right, nonetheless, took a gamble. Within less than two years, that 40-ounce did over a billion dollars a year, just by itself, sure. Needless to say, it brought the brewery out of bankruptcy. And then, as an officer of the brewery, we consciously decided to sell all the assets of the brewery, sure, and we put the brewery on the market and was able to get $3.5 billion. I was an officer, so I got a little piece of that cheese, okay. A big slice of that cheese, okay, okay, right. And I'm 43. Now, I'm 43 years old. This is 1996. I'm like okay, God, what steps are now ordered? Because I never believed in retirement. I always believed in being repurposed. Yes, right. So now, God, what's my purpose? 10:11 - Speaker 2 Can we talk about that for a second? Absolutely the idea that one door closes and then God's got another door, and it's about reframing your thought process in that moment as saying is God repurposing me? Is God using me for something? Can you speak to people that feel like I just had a door closed in my life and I thought that was it, I thought that was the end, and yet no, it just might be a new beginning. 10:36 - Speaker 1 Right. So my father always taught me that the kingdom of God was built in abundance and not scarcity. Yes, and in the kingdom there aren't doors, there aren't rooms. The kingdom is about space. The kingdom, so what God does is, once you serve well in one space, he leads you to another space in the kingdom to serve and be of service. 11:01 So that next space that I was led into was, believe it or not, I became a state elected official, so I don't know if you've heard you should be. This is the East Coast Township Government, one of the oldest governments in America. Sure, right. So I became a state of Illinois Township elected official in Cook County. I became the president of the Board of Education for a very large school district in southern Cook County. I had an opportunity to become the chairman of the board of Howard University's business school. Then I had an opportunity to be the chairman of the board of the YMCA for the Midwest region, the chairman of the board of the United Way for the Midwest region, and then I had an opportunity to be an advisor to the Clinton administration for Democratic leadership. Then I had an opportunity to be an advisor to the Obama administration for foreign trade. Now my international business as it goes to play. And then I had an opportunity to be an advisor to the Biden-Harris administration for faith and community partnerships and, as you alluded, biden did award me the Lifetime. 12:12 - Speaker 2 Just this past December. 12:13 - Speaker 1 Just this past December, Lifetime President's Seed Award. So praise God for that. 12:17 - Speaker 2 So you've navigated all these spaces. You know most identifiable when I run. You know, when I speak to you and I text you, I call you Reverend EJ, and there are a lot of pastors, ministers that might be watching that think well, my role or my anointing is somehow contained into I'm a pastor and period, instead of I'm a pastor, comma. I'm also in commerce, I'm also working in government. I'm also working in the nonprofit space, because the truth of the matter is, we could run through the amount of areas you're currently involved in as a senior advisor on the board of what would you say to the guy that feels like or the lady that feels like I am only this, and yet God has more for them. 13:07 - Speaker 1 So that's a real good question, Adam. And when you, when I, they call me Reverend Johnson or Rev EJ, Rev EJ, it's because I did go to seminary. Yes, sir, and I went to the seminary. And, um, and I went to the seminary. What I went to the seminary, what I would call late in life and some folks say it was right on time and I was 60 years old at that time, God had given me the opportunity to serve and be of service in all those other spaces was to prepare me to have that theological experience in seminary, but, more importantly and I use this language and we talked about this the other day to become a kingdompreneur. 13:55 - Speaker 2 Yes. 13:57 - Speaker 1 Not an entrepreneur Right, but a kingdompreneur Kingdompreneurship. Deuteronomy 818 all this is God, yes, none of this is ours. Yes, so God had already, uh, determined and ordained our purpose, for we've been created, and then he created us to serve and serve into it yes and so I believe that he a lot of folks that are in ministry went to the seminary first, early on, okay. 14:27 Then maybe became bivocational and did all these other things. Sure, you know, the pay in that particular vocation isn't, you know, very fruitful, sure, but it'll provide, it'll provide. So I think he did that so that I could sit with people and say that, you know, one of the blessings of having a theological education whether it be through seminary, divinity school, bible college, however, it is right, you're equipped and prepared it's really to be able to go back into the secular space, right, and do good works. Sure, but for me, I didn't realize I was doing the good works early on until later on, sure, and then it wasn't until later on. 15:16 God led and it was like you right into my space to serve and be a service alongside. So I would, I would, I would recommend or suggest or ask people to put prayer and ponderance behind really understanding. We're all kingdomprenuers. You don't have to go to seminary for that we're, we're all that right, and it's based on your faith, right, and Jeremiah 1.5, like I said, God had already predetermined you know what our purpose was to serve and bea service, to glorify him in his space, which is Deuteronomy 8.18. 16:03 - Speaker 2 How does your faith show up in those spaces? I know for me people ask when they find out that I sat on Mayor de Blasio's clergy advisory council, or now Mayor Adams, and they say, well, but policy doesn't seem to be in alignment with your faith. And yet I feel like my job is to bring my faith with me, but not necessarily have to preach a sermon all the time. Right, how does your faith show up when you're working with because you're still currently working with not just CEOs in business and in government, and then, of course, in the Christian space as well, in government, and then, of course, in the Christian space as well? Obviously, you know Senior Advisor, bishop Claude Alexander, who's a dear friend of mine, somebody that I admire and look up to. How does your faith show up in a secular place that might seem to be adversarial to what your faith would want to express, but yet you've got to show God off in a way that is palatable to that group of people. 17:09 - Speaker 1 I would say it shows up in one word, or two words, three words spirit of encouragement. Okay, right, the way the world is wired today, it seems to be grounded in despair. 17:27 - Speaker 2 Yes. 17:28 - Speaker 1 Right. 17:28 - Speaker 2 Yes. 17:29 - Speaker 1 Especially in this secular space. 17:30 - Speaker 2 Yes. 17:31 - Speaker 1 So what I try to bring is a spirit of encouragement. 17:34 - Speaker 2 Yes. 17:35 - Speaker 1 Into that space. 17:36 - Speaker 2 Yes. 17:37 - Speaker 1 Right that could reflect God's three theological virtues, Adam. Those virtues are charitable love God's, a charitable loving giving God. 17:49 - Speaker 2 Yes. 17:51 - Speaker 1 Grounded in faith, allows you to ground your faith to inspire, encourage hope, and so that's what I try to bring into every situation and every opportunity I can with people I know. People I don't know, you know and prepare myself for people I will know. 18:10 - Speaker 2 Okay, you know, and you married Hope yeah. 18:13 - Speaker 1 I did Lady Hope, lady Hope, yeah. 18:15 - Speaker 2 So, for those of you that don't know, his wife's name is Lady. 18:18 - Speaker 1 Hope, amen, amen, and she is fantastic, we both married way up. 18:23 - Speaker 2 I texted my wife too this morning, let her know I'm married way up um, but that's interesting because you know, I've never thought of specifically the role you have in my life, but in a very accelerated way in two and a half years. Uh, I tell guys all the time I I say you know, you need a Paul, you need a Timothy, you need a Barnabas. And for all of your accolades and our age difference and all that, you could have almost come in and forced a Paulian. You know, I'm here to mentor you and I've never felt that from you. I've always felt like a come alongside you, I want to be a Barnabas. Right, what does that mean to another leader? Like I want to come alongside you and be a Barnabas. 19:10 I heard somebody once say that Barnabas might be the most important person outside of Jesus in the New Testament, because if we don't have Barnabas, we don't have Paul, we don't have Timothy. Like he's the guy that sticks his neck on the line, correct, when they're like, hey, I'm not messing with Paul, Paul was killing people and now you want to bring him to the church leaders. This might be some covert operation to knock us all up. And Barnabas is like, hey, man, I know you can't trust him, but you can trust me. And he sticks his neck. When I think about Reverend Elliott Johnson man and I'm getting this in real time right now I'm thinking, man, Reverend Elliott Johnson is a Barnabas man. This is the kind of guy that has been willing to stick his neck on the line for me or encourage me. Your weekly text that I get is always a voice of encouragement so that, no matter what I'm facing, I walk away far more encouraged after having read it. What does it mean for you that you're a part of this? 20:11 - Speaker 1 There's so many. Well, it means everything to me. Once again, I entered into what I would call this sacred space a little bit later in life. Sure, as opposed to you, you entered into it a whole lot earlier in life, right, right. So when I say I'm trying to keep up with you, I mean that literally. And he used the word mentor, and I like to want to switch that around and call it something of Proverbs 27, 17. Okay, iron, sharpening iron, yes. 20:50 - Speaker 2 Yeah. 20:50 - Speaker 1 So coming alongside but being there to be able to sharpen your iron, so you can sharpen my iron. Because it was very clear to me, and I shared this with you last night, that when you came to Chicago, right, and you were quote unquote, as my wife called you an outsider, meaning you weren't part of my inner circle, Sure, she had never heard of you. I didn't even let her know you were coming. And then you came and she said well, who is that? And I said, and I told her real quickly, she's like okay. And then, uh, like your wife. My wife is like let me take this brother out, let me take him out and how he's interacting you know yeah 21:30 you know, because I had some very high profile clients in there and you did. You weren't necessarily that, but she knew me. She knew that God had encouraged me and inspired me right to invite you to come alongside me right in my sacred space. Yes, Okay, and it was all secular people there and I wanted to see how you handled yourself because I got a plan. And so, needless to say, afterwards and you know, she knew everybody else there, so we're sitting in the box and she was like Adam Durso, so I understand why you invited him. I said, well, tell me why I invited him. She says because he's a leader. That's the way he carries himself, and not only is he a leader, but he's like you, he leads leaders. Mm-hmm. And I was like, yeah, that was the spirit that came over me with my discernment and that meant that I needed to serve and be of service alongside him. 22:36 Right, and he could help me feel more comfortable in the sacred spaces of Reverend Elliott Johnson. Every time I say that, I had to always go downstairs in my case and take a look at my two seminary degrees. That's my name, even though my father was Elliott Johnson and so was my son. But no, that's me. And so anyway, and you did that for me. And then she told me, she said you have to take care of him. I said I know. She said you have to take care of them. I said I know. So for me, God has given me this whole assignment, anointment, appointment of being a steward. 23:18 - Speaker 2 Yes. 23:19 - Speaker 1 Of the resources. 23:20 - Speaker 2 Yes. 23:21 - Speaker 1 That are within the abundance of the kingdom. Yes, the reservoir. I can't access it, though, until God brings a cause and a purpose. 23:29 - Speaker 2 Wow. 23:30 - Speaker 1 And that cause and purpose is called Adam Durso. Thank you, man, I've always felt that 100% yeah. 23:36 - Speaker 2 You know, as we sit here, the background doesn't look like New York City, but we're in New York, we're in New York City, we're on Long Beach, long Island. We're on Long Beach, long Island. We just hosted 70 plus pastors for a retreat, a safe space to encourage, to equip, to empower, and this is not your first time being here. Matter of fact, at this point, you're part of the host committee, you're welcoming guys, you're seeing some of the alumni, you're making sure you're getting over to the new guys that haven't been there. What, in reflection on the last 70 hours that we just had, I'm sorry, the last 30 hours that we just had with 70-plus leaders, what would you say your takeaways were? 24:17 - Speaker 1 Whoa boy. My takeaways were one where it continued to affirm my purpose as a leader, because I was amongst leaders who were looking to be nourished right by this experience. Yes, 30 for 30 is an experience, right, wasn't clear about it? If we can be transparent, the first two times, sure, because the first two we're in one marketplace. It's Atlanta. Yes, sir, I missed here. Some things were going on. I missed Austin, some things were going on and it was so funny. My wife was saying you're not going to miss this next one because I told you to take care of him. I don't plan on missing a deal, but thanks for the reminder, right, and so that meant now I need to understand coming there and being a part of the experience, a member of the experience. I just let God be God with me and it was very clear that this is a catalytic moment. Yes, okay, there were a lot of young men in that room that were looking and needing right for something to inspire them and encourage them right. 25:45 So the speakers were all that, the food was all that Jump was all that jumping jewelikers right and then, uh, you know the ambience of the scenery. Yes, long beach. Yes, right, I was never really a big fan of new york city. I gotta be straight up, okay. Yeah, you know, I call new york little chicago oh, that's hurt. 26:05 - Speaker 2 That's hurt, but now. 26:07 - Speaker 1 I've got to flip the switch. Okay, ain't called Chicago a little New York now? Okay, because being here and being with you and being here, and I've been here with you that first time, right, mm-hmm, and then this time, and then there's been. It was another time we were together here. 26:26 - Speaker 2 We had Movement Day, we had the Marriott Marquis event. You know all that. Yeah, some of the other things too. 26:30 - Speaker 1 Yeah, my, ooh, just my, just God, my discernment bell rings with a different kind of ring. Now, right, and so it's clear that you, you know it's easy to really like being here in new york we're in long beach but to me it's the same thing, yeah, yeah and so, um, yeah, so this whole 30 for 30 experience telling moment, right, uh it, I think that 30 for 30 is not a brand, 30 for 30 is an opportunity, 30 for 30 is a spirit of encouragement. 27:18 Yeah 30 for 30 is 30 hours that God has already ordained and planned. Yes, and planted, seedsained and planned. 27:28 - Speaker 2 Yes. 27:28 - Speaker 1 And planted seeds in everyone there. Sure Right, and it's on us now to how do we sow those seeds, mm-hmm. So, as leaders, leading leaders, yes, you know, we now have that ordained, anointed, appointed responsibility as being to be kingdom endures. 27:50 - Speaker 2 I've got to tell you, rev, you know you're not the kind of guy that comes in the room, although you have all of the accolades to do so, and put your weight around. I've seen it. I've seen how you move and the space and you come alongside guys and you're encouraging guys. The space and you come alongside guys and you're encouraging guys. And to have that not only in the midst of a 30 for 30, with 70 plus leaders out here on Long Beach and watch you, minister, and sit you at different spots at different tables to encourage guys and sharpen guys and edify guys, which is absolutely amazing. 28:24 I am personally indebted because of the role you play in my life, because of what you've done for me, how you've spoken into my life, how you've encouraged me over and over again, how you've been willing to stick your neck on the line like a Barnabas or open up doors into certain opportunities for me, and so I just want to say publicly thank you. Thank you for being on the journey with Leading Leaders, collective and 30 for 30 and helping us lead leaders and the rollout of what God is about to do, because we are on the precipice of something that's going to be great and going to be global and is going to sweep in a way that is going to allow God's kingdom to be expanded in the earth as it is in heaven. Amen, my friend, I am thankful for you. 29:09 - Speaker 1 Thank you so much, Adam. 29:10 - Speaker 2 This has been Faithly Stories podcast. I am so excited sitting with my good friend, Reverend Elliott Johnson. I hope you were blessed by this and I hope you continue to follow us on Faithly all the social channels. God bless you. Bye. 29:23 - Speaker 3 Thank you for tuning in to the Faithly Stories podcast. We pray this episode gave you the encouragement you needed to continue on your journey. The Faithly Stories podcast is brought to you by Faithly, an online community committed to empowering church leaders, pastors, staff and volunteers. The Faithly digital platform offers innovative and practical tools and resources to enhance connection, foster collaboration and promote growth within the church and ministry space. Remember to subscribe, rate and review our podcast to help reach more listeners like you. Stay tuned for more uplifting tales from the front lines of ministry on the Faithly Podcast. Stay bold, stay faithful and never underestimate the power of your own story.