4: US Senate Candidate “Trust The Try” Featuring Thomas Lee Johnson

What if the biggest thing holding you back… was you?

In this powerful episode of The Randi Lynn Show, I sit down with entrepreneur, executive coach, and AI strategist Thomas Lee Johnson for a real, unfiltered conversation about ownership, growth, and what it actually takes to change your life.

We dive into the mindset shift most people avoid—the moment you stop blaming everything around you and start looking inward. Because the truth is… that’s where everything changes.

Thomas shares his journey, what he stands for, and how he helps high performers cut through the noise, discern real value from hype, and step into clarity, leadership, and next-level results.

This episode isn’t surface-level motivation.

It’s about awareness. Responsibility. And making the decision to become someone different.

If you’ve ever felt stuck, frustrated, or like you’re capable of more… this conversation will hit.

In this episode, we talk about:

• The turning point: “I was the problem… until I wasn’t”

• Why most people stay stuck (and don’t even realize it)

• How to separate real opportunity from noise and hype

• Building confidence through action, not waiting

• Leadership, identity, and stepping into your next level

• The role of AI, business, and evolving in today’s world

This is the kind of conversation that makes you think… and then makes you move.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:01

Welcome back to the Randy Lynn Show. Today's conversation is about a shift that most people never make. That moment where you stop blaming everything around you and realize that you've been holding yourself back. But then something changes. You take ownership and everything starts to shift. Today I'm sitting here with someone truly who embodies that transformation. I'm joined by Thomas Lee Johnson, Air Force veteran and work for the CIA, entrepreneur, and the founder of a job, immersive. He also stepped into one of the biggest arenas there is, and that is running for a US Senate. Well, what makes his story is so powerful is what he's built and where he started. So Thomas was actually born into foster care and adopted at a young age, coming from the instability and uncertainty that could have easily defined his teacher. Instead, he chose a different path. He built a life rooted in leadership, growth, and service and continues to expand on that impact today. So, Thomas, I am so excited to have you here. I love your story. What I want to kind of lay it out and start with is there ever a point in your life when you thought, this is not me, this is not who I am. I deserve better and I'm gonna go for it. What was that, you know?

SPEAKER_00 1:16

Well, Randy, that's that's a great question. Uh and thank you for having me on your show. Uh, it is an absolute delight to be with you. Uh, the energy that we share just feels uh diselectric. So it's always good to be with you, Randy. My story began in foster care, and I was I was in foster care until I was five. And so I would go to kindergarten and then go back to a foster home, and I knew that I was not with my birth family. So I would go to school and I would say the Pledge of Allegiance, uh, and I would see the preamble of the Constitution where it says we the people, and and I would say we the people of the United States, I would say the words, and I love saying the words over and over again because it meant that I was not alone. I was like the Constitution, the Pledge of Allegiance, like just me having family was me having the United States of America. I had learning disabilities, I had uh severe uh stammer and stutter. I couldn't look people in the eye. I was um just severely shy as well. Uh I had night terrors, I went to bed, I mean, I just I had problems. And so with all of that, I was adopted at five, and my mother and father uh were disciples of Jesus Christ. They would pray and pray and pray over me while I slept. So I would wake up and I would hear, I would feel hands on my little head in chest. And they were praying that I would reach my potential and that I would, I would overcome the stutter, the stammer, the night terror, the screaming, the s night sweats, the the bed wetting, and I would be able to learn in a normal uh just you know mainstream elementary school. And so through all of that, just to answer the question that you asked, I didn't know I was, I didn't understand that I was a broken and I was going through you know psychosomatic traumas and all those kinds of things. I just knew I wanted love. And when I received that love and that investment, frankly, of faith in Christ and my parents' consistent standard for me, like they never let me think of myself as anything other than a high potential individual, even though they knew I had a list of problems. So their vision, especially my mom, my mom's vision for me was that I am excellent, I am capable. And so I just believed what mom said. And no matter what the teachers told me, mom said I'm excellent, mom said I'm capable.

SPEAKER_02 4:20

And so you do that because there's so many people that grow up, and uh, I was just talking about this in my last podcast, that it's that inner child, like it is so important. Um, the people you surround yourself with, and thank goodness that you found this family, and they found you at such a young age to where they shape, they really did shape who you are, it sounds like.

SPEAKER_00 4:42

Yes, absolutely, absolutely, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I I I was filled with fear, and I couldn't, I was so shy, I could not literally look, could not look people in the eye. Um it was uh a crippling fear, and then I think the stutter and the stammer went along with that as well.

SPEAKER_02 5:03

Um what age do you think it was where you felt different? Where you started coming out of that, or you felt more alive or not fearful anymore? How long do you remember when that shift happened, or if there's something that happened, or I do.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

I do remember. Yeah, and it's it's it's a funny story. So I was in middle school. I was specifically in I was in seventh grade in middle school, and I had been kind of behind the curve uh and or just average as a student up until that point. But there was one thing that my teachers noticed that I love to do, and that was read. I would read voraciously. I would I would I would carry home stacks of books because the books were my friends. They they never they never bullied me, they never told me I was a bedwetter, they never called me names, they never beat me up. I was, you know. But the books give me like all these wonderful I could go to Egypt, I could be in Spain, I could, you know, travel through Like your imagination, just run wild with the books. Yeah, yeah. So books were my friends. So that was wonderful. And then there was a student government election that was coming up in seventh grade.

SPEAKER_01 6:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 6:27

And Ashley, the captain of the cheerleading squad and the captain of the tennis team, tall, you know, cute blonde, she looked over at me. We were like math class one day, and she just said, You should run for student government. You do great.

SPEAKER_02 6:46

Okay, that's how the politics started. That was my next question. How did this all start? Okay, go ahead. Wait. Started in seventh grade.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

The prettiest girl in school, who is also the most popular, thinks I should run for student government. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 7:03

Okay. You feel like that's what changed everything? Was one person?

SPEAKER_00 7:10

It was somebody besides my mom who believed like she saw something in me I did not see in myself.

SPEAKER_02 7:20

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 7:21

So yeah, so what happened?

SPEAKER_02 7:24

I'm not curious. This is not how I yeah, I love this story. This is so great because you just don't know which people who you're gonna tell you in your story, and this is amazing.

SPEAKER_00 7:36

It it was so unexpected and unlike I had no idea what was gonna happen next. But because Ashley said I should run for student government, I said, okay. So I was we were like, I think we're in government class or something like that. So I was like, government teacher, I'm gonna run for student government. And I think he was also like the administrator.

SPEAKER_02 7:56

I was like, okay, I'm doing it.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

Yeah. And so they put your name on the chalkboard, and it's really it's you put yourself out there. And I don't know if you remember middle school, but that's where your identity is forming. Yeah, yeah. And when people are mean to you, you really feel it because this is also when you're, you know, developing your sense of social awareness and social worth, you know, the pecking order, you know, uh, all that thing starts to come into place. And because Ashley was like, yes, this guy, Thomas Lee Johnson, should be our next student government president. And she put her name, you know, and put the first mark. They put up Yeah, they put they put your name up on the chalkboard in the class, and then everyone throughout the periods, as I cycle through, have to vote for you or the other person or the other person, other person. And everyone knows it actually said this guy.

SPEAKER_02 8:55

Wow. That's not intimidating at all. Wait, that must sound great. That was I could see how that is like this most popular beautiful girl is like he is who you vote for. So I take it you won.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

I yeah, it's by my landslide because because the the mean girls said I should be student party president. So I won. Yay!

SPEAKER_02 9:23

Wow, okay. So then I guess how did that how did that like that one moment, and then what did you do? Because you just kind of it sounds to me that you just like jumped into it, right? It was just kind of like I'm in. And then when you actually got in, what did you do? How did you feel? Like, what did you do with that? Like, were you like, oh no, or were you like, okay, let's just do whatever it gotta do to make it work? What what did you feel?

SPEAKER_00 9:48

I I felt overwhelmed. I also felt I felt overwhelming fear that everyone is going to be looking at me because I'm still, I'm still, I'm still learning how to break out of my shyness, but I'm also feeling this rush and this thrill of being in front of everybody and everybody's looking at me because it's it's it's it's terrifying and thrilling all at the same time.

SPEAKER_02 10:18

Yeah, I love it. It's it's so crazy because I again I don't know you that well yet. I feel like I feel like we'll become really good friends because I I really like talking to you. We talked, it's our second time talking now, but like your your personality is just infectious. Oh that's a good thing, especially when you're going into like leading, leading people, because that's what you do for a living. You're a coach and then you lead people, your business, but like it's so it's powerful and it's positive and it's genuine, which is so rare. Um it's crazy. So tell me a little bit about like what happened, like what was your journey like growing up then? So that changed. You just like jumped into it. And would you say from that point before and everything just seemed easy, or do you have a normal life where it was full of challenges?

SPEAKER_00 11:04

It was it was a defining moment because it was after I realized that it's you know, being in front of a bunch, you know, it's standing in front of the entire student body saying this is where we're gonna go and this is what we're gonna do, and being not just terrified but thrilled by it, it also it like flipped a switch in my in my heart, in my mind. I'm like, wow, this is what it feels like to be like approved of by my by my peers. Okay, and and so I would, I would, I I did it and I loved it, is is the answer to that question. I loved it. Okay. Yes. And I mean, I'm a I'm a pr you know, I'm a professional speaker for a reason. Like, yeah, I love it. It's great.

SPEAKER_02 11:54

This professional speaking role, I guess, because when we were talking, you said you were literally in a car the first time going to a speaking role. So I guess I'm speaking all over the place because I'm just so excited to learn about what you do now and like who are you now? I guess I'm so intrigued. I have so many questions, but I'm just gonna ask you the most blunt questions. Like, explain who you are now. Like, you're married, right?

SPEAKER_00 12:19

Married, I'm married, I have four children. I have a nine-year-old.

SPEAKER_02 12:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

Nine, seven, three, and one.

SPEAKER_02 12:29

Wow, you guys have little kids. They're successful. This is why I love two. I didn't even know you had that many kids. Um make excuses all the time. Oh, people have kids, they can't work. Well, you know, like, wow, okay. So what got you into? Tell me a little bit about your business, what you do right now.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

Yes. So the transformation that I experienced starting in seventh grade, going through high school, I I became the high school valedictorian, you know, going from um from learning disabilities to high school valedictorian. I went on to the United States Air Force Academy, and then the CIA actually paid for my uh after I graduated from the academy, the CIA sent me to graduate school. I built spy satellites for the CIA. Uh, and so, you know, that was, you know, and I my master's degree was in commercialization. And so I learned how to methodically uh orient strategy for multi-billion dollar satellite systems uh at 25. So why not learn, why not take that knowledge and build the parallel into helping Fortune 500 companies strategically orient and transform their organizations for a living? And that's what I do now.

SPEAKER_02 13:50

Wow, and that is that's a lot. That's for people who are listening, the everyday what if they're listening, what can they like, what does that mean? I guess I would say.

SPEAKER_00 13:58

Absolutely, absolutely. So every organization, especially the Fortune 500, is you know, fintech, biotechs, I kind of live in those two industries. You know, let's just use a for instance, a Fortune 100 fintech company has a pension payment uh problem where they can't find all the beneficiaries and they have millions of beneficiaries across the globe. How do they find them so they can pay them the pensions that would do their beneficiaries? Where there's dozens and dozens and dozens of back-end systems that that that are complex IT infrastructure that also have to be operated by human, you know, by employees that don't know how to talk to each other because they live in silos. A strategy consultant helps the C the chief operating officer and the chief in uh chief information officer look at the big picture and reorient the stovepipes until they're a a seamless, smooth, integrated organization that delivers those pensions on time. And what I just gave you is a real case, by the way. So that's what I do for a living. I solve complex problems for billion-dollar companies. Okay. And so, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:12

And who use AI now to do that? How when did you start implementing AI into your business? Was it before the big AI fix? Was it just recent? Like, how did that all start? And because a lot of people are so intimidated by AI, but you're using it for the better and for the good, and you still you're still running it. So it's people are so afraid of AI taking over the world, but you're still like that is your business. So, right, would you say that it's it's incorporated with the human touch? Or what would you what would you explain about the AI field? Because that's a whole different industry.

SPEAKER_00 15:45

Randy, that's a marvelous question. And I answer that question with human-centered AI or HAI is how we incorporate and transform our current client base. Humans are in the loop, but as we transform, employees have to be told the truth about what HI what AI is doing to their particular uh job functions, task functions, and the value chain that actually impacts customers. They employees must be told the truth. We always say traffic in the truth, that's how you build trust. So once we traffic in the truth and build trust with employees, we actually help we help executives take employees by the by the arms and lock arm in arm and use AI to solve real customer problems to drive up value for customers. So we make better customers, frankly, more profit and expand our reach. We can scale what we're delivering. That's how we use AI with humans in the loop and build trust while we do it.

SPEAKER_02 16:57

So I love that. I love how you're using again, everyone's like, all I hear AI is taking over, AI is taking over. But what you just said again confirms what I believe too is AI is the tool, right? And a lot of times, too, I don't feel like people need to like people need to fully understand AI. Everyone's like, I need to understand it. You may not even need to understand if you hire someone like you or a company like you who just needs to show you how to utilize it. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_00 17:24

Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, you know, yeah, yeah. I mean, we we exist because Agile Immersive and companies like us exist because when Jensen Wong says ITIC AI is a three trillion, he said this yesterday, by the way. You know, he's he's a CEO of NVIDIA. It's like agentic AI is a three trillion dollar industry and it's going to recalibrate how the world delivers value in the value chain. And CEOs are like, wait, what? How? Yeah. Yeah, we have to translate, we have to translate genius into like real people using the tools on a daily basis, and that's what we do.

SPEAKER_02 18:02

Oh my gosh. Yeah, I mean, that makes so much more sense too. It's like the world, but I hate to say this like I'm not gonna go into politics or the world or whatever, but it's like I feel like the world is just feeding fear into people and like misinforming people. It's it's just uh, it's a Yes, it's uh it's a lot. It is so when you go again, I'm just curious because when we were talking last, you were going to speak, you do speaking events, but like who do you speak to? Like, where where do you find these events? How do people like who is your audience? I guess you would say when you say you're speaking at events, who is who are they?

SPEAKER_00 18:35

Absolutely. So our target speaking audience are organizations uh and uh sets of uh employees uh and executives that want an inspir a true inspirational story that gives them tools to solve their own complex problem set. What does that mean? That means that I my sticking engagement last Friday was with a uh a Christian high school uh that's probably 15 miles from my house. The exact literally the people who leave that. Yeah, so the people who leave that school asked me to come speak to their student body. I did. I've also spoken at organizations as Fortune 100 organizations, where then you know a thousand people gather, and we talk about how do you actually understand uh uh your life's journey, your purpose in the context of your current exploration, what you need to discover. How can you fearlessly look at your upbringing and bring in the lessons that you already learned and use them to reinforce positive leadership, positive executive mentality? That's also what I think.

SPEAKER_02 19:56

So you okay, let's dive into that because this is totally different than just the AI scenes. You're coaching on like mindset and positivity, and you're coaching, you're reaching out to the younger generation too. Right. So I have a question for you. What's the hard two people don't want to admit? Like, why do people get stuck? Like stuck in anything in life or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 20:19

Absolutely. And and and that's where I was bringing up Simon Sinek start with why, which is a con, it's a book about purpose. And if you look at Angela Murso's logo, and if you you listen to me for any period of time, there's a piece of what I say which is methodical and repeated, and that is we always start with purpose. If you understand your why, your purpose, what drives you, why you are here, why your creator made you, and then you traffic in the truth. That means you tell the truth, you seek the truth, you're listening for the truth, you will build trust. If we start with purpose and we and we build trust, when we're stuck, we can start experimenting and measuring the results of those experiments. And whatever the truth is, it will unfold, it will come out, and we will get unstuck.

SPEAKER_02 21:15

I just got the chills because I am I say this all the time. Like, literally the truth will always come out, right? Like, be genuine, focus on the truth, focus on the big purpose, not just like superficial, what is going on right now, but what is the bigger purpose? What is that? Why? Um I definitely have to read that book, I've never heard of it. Like that is so powerful. And to hear you say it is so is that how you kind of how you've led your life?

SPEAKER_00 21:41

Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 21:44

Yeah, that's easy. So let's say someone is stuck to feel like I get it. I want to choose love, but I'm just so scared. I don't know. Like that is such a reality, especially with our world of what's going on. Like, I want to feel love, I want to not be scared. But how? Like, how do how do I do that? Right? What do you tell people?

SPEAKER_00 22:04

Yes. And so I'm a disciple of Jesus Christ. I believe his love, his love for me is more than enough for me to trust the tribe. I'm going to trust the tribe. I'm going to run for the United States Senate with absolutely no experience, no backing, no political wind, no fame, I'm going to do it anyway. I'm going to trust the tribe because his love propels me. So if if if if if if your faith in and and and in and love is powerful enough and or you receive and hope in it enough, trust the tribe is the answer to that. Trust the tribe.

SPEAKER_01 22:51

And if you don't try this, pardon the interruption.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

But I had a conversation yesterday with a gentleman who has two PhDs. He is a polyglot. He speaks four different languages. He's brilliant and successful. And he's still bound in fear, Randy.

unknown 23:13

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 23:15

What what's what's scared about him? Like what is he doing?

SPEAKER_00 23:19

We're all human. Fear is real. If you look at a spreadsheet, there's always a reason. If you look at the terminal and your chiron on the terminal, you know, for your news or for if you're an investor, you know, on your, I mean, whatever it is that you do for a living, there's always a reason to be afraid. You must trust that there's something bigger than you that's at work and try it anyway. Try it anyway, even if you are afraid.

SPEAKER_02 23:47

I love it. So let's go in. You ran you ran for U.S. Senate. Tell me about that experience.

SPEAKER_00 23:54

December 15th, I filed for United States Senate. Uh, my wife and I uh really felt that this was what we're supposed to do. The Republican Party, I ran as a Republican. The Republican Party told me you have a 0.0% chance to win.

SPEAKER_02 24:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 24:16

And uh, you know, I was talking to the party official, and I was like, listen, I'm a strategy consultant. I do quantitative analytics and predictive analytics for a living. I know the odds are stacked against me, but I have to do this because purpose. Because I have to do this because I have to do this. Purpose, I traffic in the truth. Every voter I talked to, from from Chat uh, what's it called, Carterick County, all the way out to Cherokee County, that's from one end of North Carolina to the other. I told him the truth. This is my first time running. I think I I think critically and solve big complex problems for a living. I think I can help our state do better. Trust me. Give me a shot. 35,738 North Carolinians said, We're gonna trust that guy. And that put me in third place out of seven, seven politicians, some of whom had more money, more fame, and told me I couldn't win, I beat them.

SPEAKER_02 25:22

Well, this isn't the end for you, though. You're gonna do this again. I see you run for president. I like you. I think people need to know you. Um true Senate, just go for the president. But um Trump, he's going for you. But I feel like you do have a power. People just don't know you enough yet. But you're gonna run again, right?

SPEAKER_00 25:41

My wife has agreed. It's like we've already agreed, like, we're gonna do this again, and we're gonna do it because we love we love the people. It's the people, Randy. The people make it worth it. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:54

You aren't like the typical person I would think of as a politician, to be honest. Um I I feel like you have you're very, I mean, again, just knowing from you. So I feel like this is a good, you're just very likable. Um and just you've got a good story, just of not even story, but you've got character built on who you really are. And that um people need more of that. Um, we need more leaders like you. So I hope to continue. And again, I'm not your state, but um even if I could reach someone in your state to be like, look, who's out there? Like, or if you could start speaking more, because you are very powerful and um do give a lot of value. So I appreciate that. Um, I can literally sit here and talk to you forever. But um, really quick, you said you're hosting an AI workshop called Does Is it Discern Value Over Hype? Yes. What do you think people can get wrong right now with it? Do you think people are chasing tools instead of building skill and thinking? Like what's it what is this AI workshop is and how can people learn more about it, I guess?

SPEAKER_00 26:53

Absolutely. So the workshop is designed for executives and leaders, people who have organizations they're already authentically, you know, guiding into the future. It helps you it helps executives think about the problem set of AI. That is, the problem set, the top three problems that we're seeing in AI adoption is uh employee fear. Employees don't want to authentically lean into uh a full agentic AI. That is sitting with an uh a software that emulates the jobs that they do every day because they're afraid they're gonna get replaced. Okay? All right, so that's employee fear. That's number one. There is a utilization challenge that is once you know AI is integrated across an enterprise, uh, is it being utilized to authentically increase customer value for products and services that are helping the company make money? In other words, are we making more money because we're using AI? You know, AI as an investment. Is it is it worthwhile? Okay, so we're gonna dig into is it worthwhile? If it's not, what's the problem set on why it's not helping you deliver more value and get more value from it? Third problem, and we're gonna help you discern, is the future scope of how do you expand your road mapping, you know, for out years uh to increase your in your your uh outcomes and increase your investment. So that's what we're gonna help discern in that in that workshop.

SPEAKER_02 28:29

All right, and when is that workshop again for all of us?

SPEAKER_00 28:32

14th of April at 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, that is uh virtual, it's 100% virtual.

SPEAKER_02 28:39

Um yeah, and I'll drop the link in every time you post this, I'll drop the link. But what's like a good way for people listening, let's just say to listen afterwards, to get in touch with you. What do you what do you suggest to listeners, those who are not seeing it but listening to this podcast? What's a good way of getting a hold of you?

SPEAKER_00 28:58

Absolutely. So the the best way is to go to Agile A-G-I-L-E, I M M E R S I V E, Agile Immersive.com, because that has everything. If you're more of a social media person, um, running in politics has taught me a lot of Americans just don't use their phones to talk to people. They would rather go on social media. So if you want, if listen, you want a personal touch? Fine. Uh go to LinkedIn and type in strategist TLJ. That's strategist TLJ on LinkedIn. I'll pop up and you can you can just hop in my DMs and we can interact that way.

SPEAKER_02 29:40

I love it. Okay, perfect. So before we're gonna end with something, what is one tip of advice that you would say to our audience or to someone listening that you would like to give to end this with? Like, what is something that really resonates with you that you'd like to leave?

SPEAKER_00 29:53

Well, Randy, I I love that you want authentic conversations that inspire people to be better, to be more uh of who they uh are created to be. Um you I'm gonna I'm gonna end it with something that you said to me on my way to speaking, because you somehow like connected to me when you said, go change lives. And so I'm gonna end this conversation with you, go change lives. Both Randy Lynn and all of our listeners, go inspire people. There's hope on the horizon, it gets better. Trust your try and go change lives.

SPEAKER_02 30:41

Awesome. Well, it was a pleasure. I literally can talk to you for hours. Um, but thank you so much for being here, and thank you all for listening to another episode of the Randy Lynn Show.