* This article was originally posted Oct 2013.
Some may know him as John Robinson Jr., but to me he’s J.J.
I met J.J. for the first time over 10 years ago when we were paired together for the radio talk show, The Cutting Edge on York University’s CHRY 105.5 fm (now called Vibe 105). I think we were both overly thrilled to be on radio – that’s probably one of the reasons why we acted like two kids with a microphone! But between giggling and joking around, we did manage to speak about things that mattered to us – music, hip hop videos, and occasionally, politics.
But all good things must come to an end. He was gone from the show and I was given a new host.
Fast forward 12 years.
I attended Trey Anthony’s Millionaire Artist workshop (a workshop designed to help you pursue your passion) earlier this year and guess who I saw sitting just two chairs away from me………? Yep, it was my ex co-host J.J. from back in the day! We hugged and quickly caught up. He told me that he was in real estate now, and also had a life coaching blog called Joy and Love. I told him it sounded exciting and that I would love to write about it.
That was early on in the year and we finally made it happen on October 3, 2013. Even though it seems like it took ages for us to reconnect, as J.J said (I mean John), “it was the perfect day.”
We met at 1:00 pm at a cafe, but I found it too cramped to conduct the interview. I wanted John to be free with his answers and I also didn’t want to disrupt the other patrons. We opted to leave and find another comfy spot. We strolled up and down Yonge and Eglinton, peeking in random restaurants and cafes trying to find the best setting, but then agreed that it would be even more fun to do the interview outdoors. We walked around looking for a quiet place, and finally located a secluded area behind a high school. We both sat down, I pushed REC on my voice recorder and began the interview.
Were you always interested in radio?
Straight out of high school I wanted to be a Broadcast Journalist. The idea was to host RapCity. I went to the National Institute of Broadcasting and I put together a demo reel. I thought it was pretty good….so I stepped to the host at the time—Master T, and I had a one-on-one lunch with him. And he was like, “I like your style, I like your swag, but it’s not up to me.” Time went by and I got lost in the shuffle. So I said, let’s not just focus on this one demographic. Let me check out CBC and others.
What did you do after our show?
After university I got my Real Estate license and I’ve been doing real estate for 10 years now. Eight years local residential real estate, and for the past two years I do international real estate where I do beachfront property in Costa Rica as well the Caribbean coast of Honduras.
Why did you decide to be a life coach?
As I was touring around buyers showing them homes, the conversation would go further than real estate. They would ask questions about my spirituality, my health, even relationships and wealth. During those house tours in the car, I would actually give pointers to people that wanted to hear it. I had more than one client tell me that I should really write some of these things down. Life coaching always came natural to me.
How important is it to have a life coach?
Every successful person has had a mentor or a coach. There’s no Michael Jordan without Phil Jackson. It’s not necessarily someone to pat you on the back and say way to go, good job! It’s more than that. It’s about you holding yourself accountable to your targets. It helps you stay on track. Besides that, it’s always good having good energy around you.
What is the Joy & Love movement?
It’s a lifestyle. I wrote a book titled Joy & Love. The idea is to maximize the joy in your life and love in the world. I broke it down on how to achieve these goals using one formula.
The formula is love energy. The way I describe love energy is like breathing. When you inhale, inhale faith, confidence, gratitude, and when you exhale, exhale empowerment, compassion and a guiding hand for others. As this flows that’s when answers, clues and rewards really start opening up in your life on how you can achieve your desired end result. This love energy can be applied to different elements of your life.
What do you think is your life’s purpose?
To continue to empower others. There are two ways inspiration works– 1. To inspire someone to be the best that they can be, 2. You can also inspire someone by showing them that YOU lived your life to be the best that you can be. And when they see that they feel like it’s possible for them.
What’s next for you?
I am releasing the e-book on October 15, 2013. I’m doing an e-book launch party on the same night between 7-10pm. I am launching a video this evening…it’s like a documentary about me speaking about my philosophy. The video is not just me though; I have 4 guest speakers speaking on how love energy has worked in their lives and how it has garnered them success.
Looks like John has a lot going on.
So proud of you J.J. I definitely love your passion and drive and I had a blast reminiscing about our old radio days. CHRY105.5fm 4 life, yo! Thanks for the chat!
For more info on John Robinson Jr. and the joy and love movement, visit www.joyandlove.ca
Updates!
Happy to say that Joy & Love is no longer just a book – it’s a company with 5 projects. An app, a book, a charity, and academy and a retreat.