Beyond The Office is a podcast hosted by Jerard Johnson that explores the conversations people often avoid but need most.
Through honest discussions, personal stories, practical insights, and occasional guest interviews, we examine life beyond careers, job titles, and expectations. From leadership and personal growth to relationships, resilience, purpose, community, and navigating life's transitions, each episode is designed to challenge perspectives and encourage meaningful growth.
Whether you're a professional building your career, a veteran transitioning into a new chapter, a leader seeking greater impact, or someone searching for purpose beyond success, Beyond The Office provides real conversations rooted in authenticity, experience, and insight.
Expect thoughtful discussions, occasional humor, and actionable takeaways that help you grow personally, professionally, and spiritually.
Topics Include:
• Personal Growth • Leadership & Influence • Relationships & Family • Career Development • Life Transitions • Mental Resilience • Community & Culture • Veteran Experiences • Purpose & Legacy • Success Beyond Titles
Real Conversations. Deep Perspectives. Lasting Impact.
Now, it means something completely different to me.
The more places I visit, the more I realize how easy it is to form opinions about people, cultures, and communities we've never actually taken the time to understand.
Travel has challenged some of my assumptions. It's introduced me to different ways of living, communicating, building community, and looking at the world.
And one of the biggest lessons I've learned?
“The more I traveled... the less I judged people.”
In this episode of Beyond The Office, I talk about how travel has changed my perspective—not just as a traveler, but as a person.
We get into cultural differences, stereotypes, unexpected kindness, community, cultural humility, and why sometimes stepping outside of what you know is exactly what you need to grow.
Because travel isn't only about the places you visit.
It's about the person you bring home.
🎧 Episode 5 — “Travel Changed How I See People” Now streaming on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts.
If you've traveled somewhere that completely changed your perspective, I want to hear about it:
🌍 What place changed the way YOU see the world—and why?
Follow Beyond The Office, share this episode with a fellow traveler, and join the conversation.
Titles tell people what you do. Stories tell people who you are.
I used to think travel was not for people like me. Or traveling was all about checking off places off your bucket list, seeing famous landmarks, taking pictures, trying different foods. But somewhere along the way, I realized travel wasn't changing the places I visited. It was changing me. The more I traveled, the less I judged people, the less I assumed, and the more I listened. Today I want to tell you why stepping out of your comfort zone may be one of the greatest forms of education you'll ever experience in your life. Let's talk about it. Here is where we have real conversations about life beyond our titles. I'm your host Gerard, and if this is your first time listening, your first time dropping in, welcome. And if you've been here since episode one, I appreciate y'all. I truly appreciate you spending a part of your day with me. Today's episode is one that I have been excited to record because it brings the two things that had shaped me and who I am today, the person who you see in this camera on your screen today. And it is people and it is travel. When most people hear the word travel, they immediately think about vacations. You know, beaches in Miami, luxury resorts in the Bahamas, taking a pick on the gram. But for me, travel has always been about something much deeper. And the military opened my eyes to something that I would never have experienced if I've never joined. And it is about perspective. It is about learning. It is about realizing that the world is a lot bigger than our neighborhood, than our city, and even our country. And honestly, travel has humbled me in ways I have never expected. If we never traveled and we stayed in our circle, we stayed in our neighborhood, we stayed in our bubble, we grow up thinking that our way, our perspective is normal. Every single one of us grows up believing that's just how life works. The food we eat, the way our families communicate, the way we celebrate, the way we grieve, how we worship, how we discipline our children, how we show love. We assume our normal is everyone else's normal. But when you hop on that plane and you travel and suddenly you realize your normal isn't the only version of life. It's not. And that realization changed me because it made me ask myself, how many opinions have I formed of people I never got the chance or given the chance to understand? One thing I love doing when I travel is getting away from the tourist areas. Now don't get me wrong, I'll visit the landmarks. I've been to the Coliseum, I've been to the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, I've done all that. I'll visit the landmarks, but eventually you just want to sit someplace local, a mom and pop shop, the neighborhood cafe, a small restaurant, the park, a market. I want to watch people. I want to see how they interact, how they greet each other, how they go about their day, how families spend time together. Because that's where you learn about people the most, not from a brochure. The one thing everybody, including myself, is guilty of, is we judge what we don't understand. And I mean that is the easiest thing to do because let's be honest, all of us have made assumptions. Whether we're watching TV or we're on social media and we see something about another country, about people, about their culture, about their neighborhood. And sometimes we don't even realize we're doing it. Maybe it's something we heard growing up. Maybe it's something we saw on TV, something someone told us. The problem is most stereotypes survive because people never have the experience that challenges them. And traveling forces you to challenge your very own assumptions, and not just your own assumption, society's assumption on different people and their culture. And that is uncomfortable. But growth usually is. I'll never forget realizing that kindness doesn't speak one language. You don't always need words. Sometimes a smile is just enough. Someone helping you find your way, and you'll get that. Someone sharing food, someone laughing with you. Even if neither you fully understand each other, those moments they absolutely stay with you because they remind you that humanity comes before any form of language. I want you to understand this reality is that communities look different everywhere. The one thing that has always fascinated me is how communities function and how they look differently all around the world. Some places move fast, like New York City, Philadelphia, Dubai, Bangkok, and some places move extremely slow, like Malta, Jordan, Qatar. Some prioritize work and others prioritize family. Some eat together every night, and others barely have time for dinner. Neither automatically makes one better or one worse. They're just different. And seeing those differences made me question my very own priorities. And I had to ask myself, what am I chasing? Who am I chasing? Am I actually living? Or am I just staying busy? Sometimes we don't need a vacation. Sometimes we just need perspective. And there is truly a difference in that. One thing that I have absolutely learned, and I have come to my own conclusion of this, is that humility and travel goes hand in hand. And when you travel, travel teaches you something really quickly, is that you are not the expert everywhere. And I know that in some places and some people they feel that just because one country is great, that they're the expert in every country, please stop doing that. We're just a visitor. So act like it. And that means that you observe, you ask questions, you listen, you respect. And I think that's something we can do and use more of. Even at home. Imagine if we approach conversations the same way we approach another country, with curiosity instead of certainty, with humility instead of assumptions, what would change? Probably everything that you have possibly have thought was right. And I remember realizing that no matter where I have traveled, and trust me, I have traveled. People want many of the same things. They want safety, they want opportunity, they want family, they want purpose, and they want peace. And lastly, they want love. And sometimes, in some areas, they want a better future for their children. Those things aren't unique to just one culture. At the end of the day, we're all human. I think the one thing I always like to do since getting this degree, and even before getting a degree, just being in school and just learning, is how to incorporate social work in every aspect of my life and in every experience that I have been through. And people, they come up to me and they ask me, Jay, what do social work and travel have in common? And actually, more than you think. Social work has taught me every person has a story. And travel has taught me every culture has one too. Neither can be understood from the outside. You have to listen, you have to observe, you have to be willing to learn before you speak. That's true whether you're sitting in someone's living room or halfway across the world. And there is a known fact is that everybody, no matter where you are, no matter what color you are, no matter what nationality you are from, there is always a need. Everybody has a need. From the United States all the way to Japan. There's always a need. And having a need leads to this. Everyone should leave their comfort zone. And I'm not saying everyone needs to fly across the world, but please do get them passports. Don't get me wrong, Miami is great, Myrtle Beach is great, the Jersey Shore is great. But still, we need to get out and we need to travel. Leave your comfort zone. Hop on that 13, 14 hour flight and go someplace different. Different time zone, y'all. Maybe your next perspective shift happens two hours from the house. Maybe it's another city, another neighborhood, another community event, another conversation with someone whose life looks different than yours. Growth doesn't always require a passport, but it usually requires curiosity. One of the greatest gifts travel has given me is gratitude. Gratitude for home, gratitude for the opportunity, gratitude for people, and definitely gratitude for the experience. Because trust me, when you start traveling, you gain a lot of experience that you take back with you when you go home. Because every trip reminds me, there is still so much to learn. And if there's one thing I hope you take away today, it is this. Don't travel just to escape your life. Travel to expand it. I mean, look at me. I ain't posting 84 days on Instagram. And it took me traveling halfway across the world, nine, nine, ten thousand miles away, just to open up my heart and open up my eyes and realize that it is bigger than just me. And I want you to eat somewhere when you travel, eat somewhere you've never tried. Go somewhere that challenges your assumptions. Talk to someone whose life looks different than yours. I want you to listen more than you speak. You may come home with souvenirs at the airport or somewhere in town because you gotta bring some back for your family. Don't get cursed out when you get home, y'all. But the greatest thing you'll bring back is a perspective that you made of your own. Now, before we wrap up, I wanna leave you with a question, and I hope this question you actually sit down and you think about it, and you reflect on it. And the question is, what is one place you've been that has changed the way you have seen the world? And if you have not had that experience yet, where do you hope that place would be? Now, I would love to hear those answers. So please leave a comment, send a message, or share this episode with someone who loves the travel or someone who needs a new perspective. Because sometimes the journey isn't about where you're going, it is about who you become along the way. Thank you for joining me for another episode of Beyond the Office. Until next time, but I want you to always remember titles tell people what you do. Stories tell people who you are. I'm Gerard, and this is Beyond the Office. Impact. Always start with insight. See y'all on the next episode.
