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TFB 000 - How We Become Who We Are.
Episode 0: How We Become Who We Are
In this inaugural episode of The Fort Builders, host Lance Johnson shares the story behind the podcast — beginning in a backyard sandbox and stretching through decades of building, leadership, failure, growth, and reflection.
At five years old, Lance watched a new neighborhood take shape as lots were graded, streets were poured, and infrastructure emerged from open land. At home, he and his two younger brothers played inside a backyard-sized sandbox that included a concrete RCP pipe — turning it into tunnels, forts, and imagined worlds. Later, on five acres outside of town, they built increasingly ambitious forts over a drainage swale they called “The Draw,” using scrap wood and imagination to create something from almost nothing.
Those early experiences — watching land transform and building structures from imperfect materials — quietly shaped how Lance would see the world.
That thread continued into construction, engineering, entrepreneurship, and real estate development. He went on to help design subdivisions, build infrastructure, and grow a firm — only to face the Great Recession and lose the business he had helped build. During that same season, while serving on the Lawrence City Commission, he learned firsthand how success and failure both shape identity — and how humility reshapes the way we see people.
This episode sets the tone for the podcast’s core question:
How do we become who we are?
Through honest reflection, Lance explores:
• The childhood origins of creativity and leadership
• What building forts taught him about rebuilding
• Lessons from growth, risk, and loss
• The shift from building structures to valuing stories
• Why life feels more like a hiking trail than a straight road
The Fort Builders is a space for thoughtful conversations about identity, influence, setbacks, resilience, and becoming. It begins in childhood and follows the winding path that leads each of us to where we are now.
Because everyone started somewhere.
Everyone has walked a different trail.
And everyone is still building something.
Thank you for joining us in The Fort.
And thank you for your time.
View all episodes
By Lance JohnsonEpisode 0: How We Become Who We Are
In this inaugural episode of The Fort Builders, host Lance Johnson shares the story behind the podcast — beginning in a backyard sandbox and stretching through decades of building, leadership, failure, growth, and reflection.
At five years old, Lance watched a new neighborhood take shape as lots were graded, streets were poured, and infrastructure emerged from open land. At home, he and his two younger brothers played inside a backyard-sized sandbox that included a concrete RCP pipe — turning it into tunnels, forts, and imagined worlds. Later, on five acres outside of town, they built increasingly ambitious forts over a drainage swale they called “The Draw,” using scrap wood and imagination to create something from almost nothing.
Those early experiences — watching land transform and building structures from imperfect materials — quietly shaped how Lance would see the world.
That thread continued into construction, engineering, entrepreneurship, and real estate development. He went on to help design subdivisions, build infrastructure, and grow a firm — only to face the Great Recession and lose the business he had helped build. During that same season, while serving on the Lawrence City Commission, he learned firsthand how success and failure both shape identity — and how humility reshapes the way we see people.
This episode sets the tone for the podcast’s core question:
How do we become who we are?
Through honest reflection, Lance explores:
• The childhood origins of creativity and leadership
• What building forts taught him about rebuilding
• Lessons from growth, risk, and loss
• The shift from building structures to valuing stories
• Why life feels more like a hiking trail than a straight road
The Fort Builders is a space for thoughtful conversations about identity, influence, setbacks, resilience, and becoming. It begins in childhood and follows the winding path that leads each of us to where we are now.
Because everyone started somewhere.
Everyone has walked a different trail.
And everyone is still building something.
Thank you for joining us in The Fort.
And thank you for your time.