There comes a moment in every person’s life when the question changes. For years, the question may have been:
What’s next?
What is the next achievement? The next opportunity? The next title? The next milestone? But eventually, a deeper question begins to rise:
What do I do with who I have become?
What do I do with everything I have experienced?
Everything I have survived?
Everything I have learned?
Everything life has placed inside of me?
Because some seasons of life do more than change our circumstances.
They change us.
They stretch us.
They shape us.
They leave us carrying wisdom, lessons, scars, and stories that were never meant to end with us.
In this episode of You Are You, Unapologetically, Dr. Kim R. Grimes sits down with James Robert Johnson for a powerful conversation about purpose after transition, identity beyond titles, and what happens when a defining chapter ends but the calling continues.
James spent years serving in high-stakes environments, protecting presidents, responding to some of the most challenging situations imaginable, and carrying responsibilities most people will never experience.
But after that season, another calling emerged.
The classroom.
The opportunity to take everything he had learned and pour it into the next generation.
This episode is a reminder:
Your greatest chapter may not be behind you.
It may be the chapter where you finally realize what everything you lived through was preparing you to do.
Episode Overview
“I Protected Presidents. Then I Went Back to the Classroom.” is a conversation about transformation, purpose, and discovering what comes after a defining season.
Many people spend years building careers, achieving goals, and becoming known for what they do.
But eventually, a transition comes.
A role ends.
A title changes.
A season closes.
And when that happens, many people struggle with a difficult question:
Who am I without the thing that defined me?
This episode explores the difference between chasing the next achievement and discovering the next assignment.
Dr. Kim and James discuss what happens when someone stops asking, “What is the next position?” and begins asking, “What is the most meaningful use of who I have become?”
Because the truth is:
The experiences that shaped you were not wasted.
The lessons you learned were not accidental.
The challenges you survived were not only for you.
They may have been preparing you to serve someone else.
Watch The Episode Here
Listen to the Episode Here
Meet Our Host
Dr. Kim R. Grimes is an emotional literacy coach, life-changing speaker, author, and ordained minister, and the host of You Are You, Unapologetically.
Her mission is to help people stop shrinking under pressure, reclaim their identity, and show up fully, without apology.
Through honest conversations, practical tools, and mindset-shifting guidance, Dr. Kim empowers listeners to uncover their greatness, live abundantly, and pursue purpose with confidence.
Her message is shaped by lived resilience, including a transformative season of loss and rebuilding that deepened her passion to serve others, especially young people, through faith, emotional growth, and personal development.
Through every conversation, Dr. Kim reminds listeners that identity is deeper than a role, a title, or a season.
Who you are is not limited to what you do.
Why This Matters
We live in a world that constantly pushes us toward the next thing.
The next promotion.
The next accomplishment.
The next opportunity.
But very few people stop and ask:
What has this season created inside of me?
There is a difference between a next step and a true calling.
A next step is often about movement.
A calling is about meaning.
Many people walk away from powerful seasons believing they have nothing left to offer because the chapter they were known for has ended.
But sometimes the end of one chapter is actually the beginning of the most meaningful one.
Your experiences have value.
Your wisdom has value.
Your story has value.
Someone else may need exactly what you learned while walking through the things you thought you had to survive alone.
Host Reflection: Turning Survival Into Service
I believe one of the hardest transitions we experience is moving from being needed for what we do to understanding that we are valuable because of who we are.
For many of us, our identity becomes connected to our responsibilities.
The role we carry.
The title we hold.
The people who depend on us.
And when that season changes, it can leave us asking:
“Who am I now?”
But I have learned that God does not waste seasons.
The moments that challenged you.
The moments that stretched you.
The moments that required courage you did not know you had.
They were forming something inside of you.
Sometimes the very thing you are ready to move past is the thing that equipped you to help someone else.
Your story is not just history.
Your story is a resource.
Your pain can become wisdom.
Your experience can become guidance.
Your survival can become someone else’s roadmap.
The question is not only:
“What did I go through?”
The question is:
“What am I carrying now because I went through it?”
Meet the Guest:
James is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Maryland Global Campus in Homeland Security & Intelligence.
He has more than twenty-five years of subject matter knowledge and field experience as a Fire Marshal, Fire Life Safety Officer, Arson Investigator, Explosive Technician, and Hazardous Material Technician.
Throughout his career, James investigated complex incidents involving explosions, fires, arson, and hazardous materials.
He was also one of the first responders to the September 11 terrorist attack at the Pentagon, where he worked closely with the FBI in evidence collection, incident documentation, and identifying property and human life loss.
James has also worked alongside federal agencies, including assignments connected to presidential protection details with the Secret Service.
After years of serving in high-pressure environments, James transitioned into education, bringing his experience into the classroom to encourage students to engage, communicate, collaborate, and make a difference in the lives of others.
His story represents the power of transformation:
Taking everything you have learned and using it to impact the people coming behind you.
What We Unpack in This Episode
1. The Soul Question After a Defining Season
After years of intense responsibility, James shares the importance of asking a deeper question beyond career advancement:
Who am I becoming?
This conversation explores the identity shift that happens when a major season ends.
2. What Happens When You Finally Slow Down
Many people fear slowing down because they believe they are losing momentum.
But sometimes the pause is where clarity appears.
James shares the importance of creating space to recognize what you truly carry and where your life is leading.
3. Your Story Is More Valuable Than You Think
Many people underestimate their own experiences.
They believe their story is ordinary.
They believe nobody needs what they have.
But someone else may be standing exactly where you once stood, needing the wisdom you gained.
4. The Difference Between a Job and a Calling
A job is something you do.
A calling is something you are connected to.
James’ transition from protecting lives in high-pressure situations to educating future leaders shows how purpose can evolve across different seasons.
5. Turning Experience Into Legacy
The greatest impact of your life may not be measured only by what you achieved.
It may be measured by who became stronger because you shared what you learned.
Your experiences can become an inheritance for others.
Key Takeaways
- After a defining season, the most important question is not always “What’s next?” but “What do I do with who I have become?”
- Slowing down does not mean losing momentum. Sometimes it is where direction becomes clear.
- Your experiences are not ordinary. Someone else may need the wisdom you gained.
- A title may describe what you did, but it does not define who you are.
- There is a difference between completing a job and walking in a calling.
- Every difficult season can prepare you for something that outlasts you.
- Your story has the power to become someone else’s survival guide.
Action Steps for Listeners
1. Reflect on your defining season
Think about the experience that changed you the most.
Write down three things it taught you.
2. Ask yourself a deeper question
Instead of only asking:
“What should I do next?”
Ask:
“What is the most meaningful use of who I have become?”
3. Identify what you carry
Your knowledge.
Your wisdom.
Your experiences.
Your lessons.
What do you have that someone else may need?
4. Release the belief that your story does not matter
Someone does not need a perfect story.
They need an honest one.
5. Speak this truth:
“What I carry is not ordinary. It is exactly what someone else needs. I do not need permission to pour it out.”
Closing
The world will always encourage you to chase the next thing.
The next title.
The next achievement.
The next recognition.
But sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is stop and recognize what you already carry.
Because your life has been preparing you.
Every challenge.
Every lesson.
Every difficult moment.
Every season that required courage.
None of it was wasted.
You were not just surviving.
You were becoming.
And now, what you have become can become a gift to someone else.
You are You, Unapologetically.
And your story matters.
Your experience matters.
Your wisdom matters.
Stay rooted.
Stay true.
And let what you have survived become someone else’s survival guide.
Keep rising.
Keep trusting.
Keep being you—unapologetically.