Growing up I remember being pretty good at a lot of things. I did well in school without having to studying much, I was never the last person picked in sports, and I wasn’t too bad at the piano either.

But the thing is, coming in “Top 5” or “Top 10” in a lot things isn’t always a great you might think it is. Instead, my “curse” of general competence actually drove me nuts.

What I actually wanted was to be AMAZING at something.

Like I said, I was good at stuff, but I was never the lowest score on the golf course, I got a 5 in AP Calc but I wasn’t anywhere near the top of the class, and I definitely couldn’t hold a candle to the rest of the kids in the piano competitions whose lives revolved around piano, then piano, and then in a close third, piano.

In fact, I can still vividly remember sitting in a Sam’s Club parking lot in college…almost in tears…telling my mom I felt like a “jack of all trade, master of none”. I was about to graduate with an engineering degree, but I didn’t know what to do with my life.

But, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to realize what I was missing in that rainy parking lot.

And it’s that I am amazing at something…

…being GOOD at a lot of things!

Sure, as a kid it bummed me out that I wasn’t obsessively the best at one thing. But to be honest I didn’t have the kind of brain that wanted to find something, commit my life to it, and then ignore everything else.

Those kids who practiced the piano 4 hours a day? They weren’t playing sports and taking pictures.

The top of the math class? Good luck having most of them be able to teach a complex concept to somebody off the street.

Instead, I’ve always loved taking deep dives into something…getting good at it…then moving on and figuring out how I can use that skill in conjunction with something else.

It’s how I’ve gotten great at recognizing patterns and figuring out systems. And become good enough at writing, photography, design, and enough front-end web development to be dangerous.

Or become the person that people love having in meetings because I always seem to ask the right question. The one that totally clarifies the issue and helps the experts in the room move forward with the right solution.

And so now I’m PROUD to describe myself as an engineer-turned-creative who’s obsessed with figuring out how to do things better. To help growing companies improve. To understand their problems. And to help brands of all sizes to tell interesting stories.

Now, what can I help you with?

Oh, you wanted a more formal bio? Well here you go!

As an Instagram Suggested User Josh has been recognized as one of the best examples among its 400 Million+ members of how to share compelling stories about the places, people, and brands he seeks out every day. With nearly 13,000 followers on Instagram, Josh consistently creates great content that has been featured by Food and Wine, Hipcamp, Seven Sunday’s Muesli, Design Sponge, Lanona Shoe Company, Tiny Atlas Quarterly and more. Beyond the app he has also used Instagram to develop relationships, connections, and experiences with people through Instameets.

→ Listen to Josh’s Interview on the Hashtagged Podcast

Calling back to his engineering days, he is also passionate about helping the companies he works with to elegantly transform their complex sales, marketing, IT, and business process using low-cost, off-the-shelf software, apps, and his ability to find creative ways to automate tasks. Most recently he has helped to implement a software platform that has introduced incredible efficiency into the HR, Sales, Marketing and Operations functions of his company.

I believe that success comes from having the skill to recognize an opportunity, the courage to say, “I can do that”, and then the ability to follow through.

Along with his wife Stasia, Josh is also the host of the recently launched “Our First Drink Podcast” that dives into the relationships of interesting, creative, and entrepreneurial couples always starting with the story of their first drink together.

Josh lives with his wife Stasia and their cat Basil in Madison, WI where he loves getting outside and a good single malt. Like his wife Stasia he graduated from Iowa State University and is a proud Cyclone.

Follow Josh:
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I can help you with: