S5E16 - Josh Young
This week’s guest is Josh Young, Chief of Staff at New Story Charity.
New Story is focused on looking for innovative ways to solve the global housing crisis and homelessness. New Story Charity is the first such organisation to be part of Y Combinator. In 2018, they built their first 3D printed home and since then have built over 3000 homes in 4 countries. Looking for a place to give? 100% of donations go to the actual building of homes.
During college, Josh was a two sport Division 1 athlete and double-majored. He went to work on Wall Street right after graduating and you’ll hear why he moved on from that career and went to work on the State Senate campaign for Barry Finegold before getting accepted to Harvard for grad school and eventually taking his role at New Story Charity.
Losing his dad at a young age affected how Josh has lived his life and the role he has played in his family. We talk a bit about that too. He shares advice that I think a lot of people need to hear during what has been a time of transition. Listen up!
Note from Rabiah (Host):
Josh is one of the kindest and most centred guests I have had on the podcast so far. I have so much respect for the discipline and though he has about how he lives his life and how he has pursued his path. Let me know what you think and if you feel like it, send a donation to New Story Charity. I did.
Rabiah (London) and Josh (Atlanta, GA) having a chat about what’s important.
Find Josh
Mentioned in the Episode
Transcript
[00:04:13]
Rabiah Coon (Host): This is More Than Work, the podcast reminding you that your self worth is made up of more than your job title. Each week I'll talk to a guest about how they discovered that for themselves. You'll hear about what they did, what they're doing and who they are. I'm your host, Rabiah. I work in IT, perform standup comedy, write, volunteer and of course podcast. Thank you for listening.
Welcome back to More Than Work, everyone. Or if this is your first time listening, thanks for being here. I really appreciate you tuning in. This week's guest, Josh Young, is someone I heard on a different podcast actually. And I decided to reach out to him because what he did for work sounded so cool to me.
He works for New Story Charity and they are building homes that are sustainable and enabling people to get homes who normally wouldn't. They're working to eradicate [00:05:13] homeless in certain parts of the world and are expanding probably even as I speak here. So I really just kind of want to focus your attention to the fact that Josh didn't start out working for a charity, but you'll hear the story about how he got to where he is.
And again, it comes down to saying yes, and to seeing opportunities and taking them, but also for him having a service oriented mindset and heart. That's something that resonates with me. I've talked a lot about charity work on, on this show and had different nonprofit people on. I also like that the charity he works for is doing something really innovative.
It reminds me of the chat with Manik Suri very recently when from Therma, where we talked about what they're doing with supply chain. So if you're interested in the environment and innovative solutions for that tune into that episode too. Um, if you can like subscribe, review, share anything you can do for the [00:06:13] podcast of course, that's greatly appreciated. I know all the podcasts you listened to ask you to do the same thing, but that's because it's really important to us. I'll leave it at that. I want you to just get into the episode and enjoy it and have a great day.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Hey everyone. So my guest is Josh Young. He's Chief of Staff at New Story Charity. Thanks for being on Josh. How are you doing?
Josh Young: Yeah, it's a pleasure to be on. Thanks for the invite I'm doing well and you?
Rabiah Coon (Host): Doing fine. Thanks. And where am I talking to you from?
Josh Young: I am in Atlanta, kind of a layover between where I was and on my way to Mexico.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Are you going to Mexico. for work?
Josh Young: Yep. We have a community we're building down there a few actually. So I'm really excited to check it out, work with our local partners.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Amazing. So why don't we just dive right into what is New Story ?
Josh Young: Yeah, for sure. I'm the Chief of Staff at New Story. We are a nonprofit organization [00:07:13] that is focused on pioneering solutions and global homelessness. That's our mission to look for innovative ways to solve the housing crisis globally. Our focus is on new innovations. So each community we build, we have a different concept we're trying to prove. All of that goes towards lowering the cost of construction, increasing the speed of construction all while maintaining or even increasing the quality of homes being built. And we're bringing it to the world's most vulnerable families when typically innovation reaches them last, if at all.
Rabiah Coon (Host): That's amazing. And I mean, just so in talking about homelessness, I mean, that's something. Is a problem. I grew up in California. It's a big problem there. Everyone knows about San Francisco. I think it's like famous for, for that.
But then I'm here in London now. And there's definitely a problem here too. And more of a, I would say more [00:08:13] socialized country, right? And so I think around homelessness too, there's a big stigma around people because there's the mental health aspect, maybe the possible substance abuse aspect, but then also there's just people who lose their jobs and stuff that, and for any of them, no one really deserves to not have a home or to be unhoused.
So what, what for you, I guess, do you say maybe if someone, if you tell someone you work with the homeless and they kind of make a derogatory comment, or do you hear that? I mean, I do. So I don't know if you do, but I I'd be curious.
Josh Young: Yeah, for sure. I mean, there's always going to be someone with the perspective that they're in that situation for a reason that they have some control over which most of the time is not the case. Specifically the work we do, we're focused in Latin America where we're building. There's a few reasons I could get into, but there, there is simply no path to home ownership, [00:09:13] one of the reasons being that 70% of the population in El Salvador and Mexico, where we build, they're unbanked. So there are, there's no access to affordable loans, especially long-term housing loans. There's not opportunities for land ownership and identifying who actually owns the land and the documentation.
So really what we're actually pivoting towards is just making affordable housing possible for families who, you know, have some level of income, are working towards making a better life for their family. And how just having the opportunity to be able to buy your own home at an affordable rate is something that's unheard of in a lot of the world.
So, I mean, housing affects [00:10:13] more people than any crisis other than arguably climate change, which affects everybody. But the housing crisis, 1.6 billion people in the world live homeless or in inadequate shelter. That means ground floors dirt floors, tin walls, tarp roofs. Just something that doesn't provide dignity and respect.
And we are working towards bringing that total number down, but unfortunately it's actually going up. So the UN is projecting that number to grow to 3 billion by 2030 part partly because of natural disasters, different economic situations. But the number's going up, so we realized we needed to do things differently.
And that's kind of what New Story was set out to do. So named New Story for two reasons, a new story for families who are receiving the gift of home, the beneficiaries [00:11:13] of housing. And two, a new story for nonprofits. So a nonprofit that operates with complete transparency. We guarantee and promise that a hundred percent of all donations go towards construction costs.
None of it goes towards operations. And, on top of that, we are doing things that are innovative. Typically non-profits play it safe. They don't take any risks, but when you're working with something as prominent and global as housing crisis, you need to do things differently it to, change it.
Rabiah Coon (Host): That's great. And thanks for sharing all that. And especially those stats around homelessness, because I think everyone becomes aware of what's going on in their community and what they see in their community, but that's not necessarily like the full view. And then culturally it is different in other countries like, if you're talking about Latin America. But even if you look at the U S the housing market is so insane at this point, right?
Josh Young: Absolutely.
Rabiah Coon (Host): I don't know. I mean, [00:12:13] I don't know how people can afford anything
Josh Young: And there's lots of predatory practices, not just internationally, but domestically too, like everywhere, the people are taking advantage of the most vulnerable population so th you know, just being able to offer opportunities where someone can have a path to home ownership for generations.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Amazing. I know what one of the innovations is just because, and I just full disclosure, I heard Josh on another podcast and I was like, I got to get this guy on my podcast. So that's how he's here. But you were talking about like 3d printing. So can you talk about that innovation and then any other one, but that's the first one, just cause I know about it.
Josh Young: Yeah, no 3d printing is easiest, easily. Our flashiest innovation, like it makes people go like, hopefully you can 3d print an entire home. Honestly, one of the things that drew me to new story, or at least caught my attention when I joined. But yeah, 2018, we went [00:13:13] viral for creating the world's first 3d printed community.
So we led the the research and development of this product. And in 24 hours, a printer can completely. A 3d printed home. So it it looks a lot like soft serve ice cream. It comes out this cement mix layers on layers. And then you put on the roof afterwards. The algorithm leave space for doors and windows, electrical outlets that you put in afterwards.
And it's crazy. It's absolutely insane. And I'm going to brag on New Story a little bit. I'm really proud of of the organization, but we were one of the first non-profits to ever be accepted and graduate Y Combinator, which if you've never heard of Y Combinator is the premier startup accelerator in the world.
They produced Airbnb and Door Dash and Coinbase, a long list of for-profit companies [00:14:13] that everybody's heard of. And then we were the first nonprofit that they devoted time and resources to, and that really solidified our DNA. We were accepted into Y Combinator for the innovation for nonprofits that we completely separate our operations budget from our home building budget.
So, operations from impact and our operations are funded by a private donor group that we call the builders, but they donate to the things like they pay for my salary, different events we host. Things that enable New Story as an organization to grow. And then that expands our work. And they're part of the journey in that way.
And that allows us to promise that a hundred percent of all donations go directly to home building costs.
Being in Y Combinator, that really just solidified our DNA. We had to do the same course and held to the same standards as all these for-profit [00:15:13] tech companies that were thinking about things so differently. And we did the same, even though we were a nonprofit, we were doing that same thing.
And that inspired us to take a risk on 3d printing, which ended up being a huge success. But originally, you know, a lot of people were saying you're a nonprofit just worry about doing things the typical way, be safe with your money, blah, blah. But because of this builder group, that funds opportunities for us to take risks.
So they fund R and D on things. They paid for the 3d printing. That enables us to do things in that way. Take bigger risks. And since then we have been named one of the most innovative companies in the world, four years out of our six year lifespan. We were featured in an Apple TV documentary and we were featured on the front page of the New [00:16:13] York Times.
And even most importantly, we've built, over 3000 homes in poor different countries. And, completely changing the lives of close to 15,000 people so far.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Amazing. That's really cool. And just so I want to go back to the 3d printing now. Everyone listening may not have seen a 3d printer. I've seen one. And like, I have a friend who makes toys or whatever,
Josh Young: yeah,
yeah, yeah.
Rabiah Coon (Host): but to scale that to a house, is it building the whole structure?
And also maybe can you just explain the process the best you can I guess?
Josh Young: Yeah, for sure. So it's a mostly cement mix. There is a percentage that is proprietary that basically we have these engineers onsite. They stay on site the entire time while the 3d printer is printing. We played, paid for the research and develop. To make this happen. And [00:17:13] yeah, we displayed it at ASW.
And it's up to all U.S. Building codes, but all of the walls and like parts of the foundation are 3d printed within 24 hours, you can do an entire home. We pride ourselves on using all local labor and all local materials in our communities. So, you know, we don't want to be in a position where helping hurts and we're taking jobs from construction people within that community.
And we pay everybody at a profit. So not only are we empowering people to receive homes, but we're also. Empowering the economy to thrive so complete community buy-in we even sometimes train new people to have these types of skills. So then they can get construction jobs after as well. And the 3d [00:18:13] printing still leaves room for we buy the material.
To make the cement mix. And then we also have laborers who do the doors, the windows, the roofing, the painting, all that type of stuff.
Rabiah Coon (Host): That's amazing. And so when you guys have the home printed, I mean, as you mentioned, it looks like soft serve. I mean, if people haven't seen it, it just does layers like building up basically a 3d printer. And so do you have to, like, I guess you have to finish all the walls off to and stuff, right? Or do you just have like Lincoln log cabins looking?
Josh Young: They do. I think they look really cool. Lincoln log Cavaney there. We don't flatten it, so it is kind of rolled. It looks a little bit, It has a unique kind of look to it. Yeah,
Rabiah Coon (Host): But the material is insulated and like enough?
Josh Young: Yep.
Rabiah Coon (Host): It's so cool cause it seems even from a sustainability perspective, then you're not using like wood, for example, that is finite resource, as we [00:19:13] know, and things like
Josh Young: Yeah.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Huh.
And then as far as, so I'll just say, and I've said on the podcast, so people will probably are tired of hearing about it, but that's how it is. I hope they're not, I hope they're inspired, but I've been in this Public Leadership Credential program at Harvard Kennedy. And one thing we learned about is leadership building for change and, and part of that's like going into the community and understanding the community and understanding what the environment you're working in and the culture there and the norms and stuff like that.
And so it sounds like with you guys doing the whole job creation thing, you guys do that. So is that part of your work that you're doing is because you could just go in and start printing homes, but what if they don't want homes or something? Right.
Josh Young: Oh a hundred percent. So probably the thing I'm most proud of at new story is our innovation within. Serving. So we have a lean participatory design process is what we call it. And it's simply, we interview [00:20:13] all the families who will receive homes. Before we start construction, we make sure that we are building on desirable land.
We build homes that are appropriate for their culture that they want, that they need. And then they get to be a part of the design process, not just the homes, but of the community in general. We've found that this has so many tremendous benefits. And one of the reasons actually, we got named as one of the most innovative companies in the way.
Like it seems so simple. Like the compared to 3d printing, like this is just ask like, you know. Treat people with dignity and respect as people and allowed them to tell you what they need, what they want. So we host this big process where all the families come, every person gets to share their worries, their concerns, their hopes, and their [00:21:13] dreams.
And together, we design a community that works for them. So I'll share two quick examples, one you know, a nonprofit where. And they went and built homes in Africa and this particular village, they, they just built homes without asking first and they put toilets in the house. And in that village, you didn't go to the bathroom inside your house.
An outhouse separate. So literally nobody wanted to move into these homes. And th th that, it's just such a simple thing. Like if they had talked to anybody, they would have known, oh, we don't put a bathroom in the house. We'll make a separate room outside of the house that's for a bathroom. And then, you know, another example is the Mexican government set out to be.
2 million homes and in early two thousands and to their credit, they did build 2 million homes, but they focused [00:22:13] on building just as cheap as they possibly could. That meant building on undesirable land and using building materials that weren't made to last. So within a decade of those 2 million homes over 800,000 are abandoned they're oh yeah.
They're too far away from the cities where people need to go to work, there was no public transport kind of to, to go there. The, the, there were no schools in the area and. They just didn't provide a, a true community for, for these families to thrive. So they ended up having to abandon this dream, like a safe quality home and that, you know, kind of squat outside the cities, like it was starting over.
And it's just really sad to see that process unfold. So. You [00:23:13] know, one of our things is we'll never sacrifice quality for cost cutting. Although our, one of our focus is cutting costs, not at the expense of quality
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah.
And that's, I mean, it's funny because these problems occur in different sectors, like I'm in technology. And I'll see, for example, people wanting to cut a feature, but it would be useful for the users, but then it's saving money, but then you're taking away something they could use. And especially when you look at accessibility of websites and stuff like that.
Right. And it's very similar to what you're seeing in the housing and the physical space. And, and then at what point are you not serving the purpose of the client or the benefactor of the charity or, or whatever? So it's good you guys look at that. Is this like your, one of your first jobs out of school, basically?
Josh Young: I started out as a, I went right to Wall Street after school. So I did sports and [00:24:13] academics. Excelled. And that's literally all I did. Binders on kind of took advice from mentors. And everybody said, if you excel, you go work on Wall Street. That's what you do. And then, you know, different movements in my heart.
I ended up switching to move in with a mentor and work on his political campaign in the States. And we won that campaign and got introduced to a tech CEO. Ended up taking a job there and then got accepted to Harvard grad school right before the pandemic started. So I actually met New Story's CEO, on their last day in office before the pandemic shut everything down. And we just really hit it off. It was also during a, a time in my personal life where I was just like feeling moved and looking for where I was being called to next. And, when the pandemic happened, there was just so much chaos and something that the [00:25:13] entire world was struggling against.
It was within that chaos, a unique opportunity to lead and to love. And I wanted to do that on the front lines, not in grad school. So I ended up declining going to Harvard grad school to join New Story full-time.
It's funny too, because the CEO and the board just decided to do a hiring freeze. So like he, I remember emailing him cause he's like, Hey, can we put this off for a while?
Like we just did a hiring freeze and like, oh, no worries. Like, I'll just go to grad school. Kind of like we're both in flux. And then he ended up calling me right after he goes, you know what, we're going to hire you anyway. And so we both kind of took a big risk on each other, like him, him hiring someone with the biggest uncertainty of our lifetime and then me declining grad school.
So, it all worked [00:26:13] out because now it's, it's been a great ride. So far..
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah, that's incredible, incredible timing. So then I'm going to make you dive into a little bit of what you just skimmed through right now. Let's talk about when you were in school. So.
you were playing football and you did wrestling and you were doing well in school?
Josh Young: Yeah. I mean, it's something I'm super proud of is leading that type of disciplined life. And honestly, one of the most fulfilling times focused on a very clear goal. Had teammates. I still wear a bracelet that says I am second on it for a couple of reasons. I am second to; God comes, first family comes first and then my team comes first.
So I'm kind of needs of the collective over my personal preferences is kind of how I, I viewed that. And when I was younger, So I look, we lost our dad at a really young age. I was six years old [00:27:13] and my two younger brothers kind of look to follow my lead. So I took that very seriously. And that it basically, if it wasn't gonna help me in sports or helped me in academics, I ignored it completely.
So, I mean, I wouldn't recommend that necessarily. I think it's important to take risks, but not at the expense of ruining something that, you know, you know is good. So, as someone who felt the responsibility of leading and doing everything on a good path, I decided not to take any risks and I focused on school and sports.
My younger brothers, one of the most proud things of my life is that they got into Ivy league schools. One is just graduated from Columbia University. He was a football wrestler there. And then my youngest brother is a Harvard undergrad. So just kind of focusing on [00:28:13] setting a good example for them.
Rabiah Coon (Host): I'm sorry about your dad, by the way. That's something, even though it was when you were six, it's still not something to not acknowledge. Right.
And so I'm really sorry you went through that. I'll share with you, I mean, I've lost my brother. And part of that has led me to have service be a bigger part of my life.
I don't have the religious aspect that you do, but we can talk about that, but I have that kind of mindset as well. So I like that. I'm second. That's actually really resonating, but I know too, part of what I do is sometimes serve others kind of to honor him. And do you find that that's part of what you've done with your dad?
Or how, how has that shown itself.
Josh Young: For sure. Most of my adolescent time was spent emulating things I thought my father did, you know? It just kind of doing things that would make him proud. I still, to this day, that's kind of what I think about what what's gonna make my dad proud. Yeah. And in is a huge influence on my [00:29:13] life. My mom is one of the most influential people.
Ever and like you would, her personality is so bubbly, so kind. And she was my biggest cheerleader still to this day. Like she'll still retweet all my tweets and like comment on all my Instagram posts. Like anything I put on LinkedIn, like she's the first person to be like, oh my gosh. And share it with all her friends.
And you know, one time she asked me, Josh, let me know if it's too lame if I'm commenting on like your Twitter and whatever. And I'm like, are you kidding me? Like you're one, you gave everything to me, you provided me with every opportunity. When we were younger, she worked two jobs so that we could have somewhere to stay.
We all four of us shared one bedroom and you know, [00:30:13] if anything's the opposite of lame, it's what you have done for me. So I'm proud, like you're sharing my tweets, like you're proud of me. It's the opposite of lame. But it it's, we didn't have a lot growing up, but we always had each other and that love was enough.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah. That actually made me well up too so that, not every guest does that, Josh does a good job. And that's amazing about your mom. So, you went to school and you did what you did there and focused and did well. And then you went to Wall Street. And so what, how was that for you going and being really what you thought was successful at the time?
I mean, that was probably right. And it was successful, not just what you thought, but it is successful, but then, then going, this isn't resonating with me. Can you talk a little bit about kind of that, because I think that's, to me very interesting. And to know how you got into what you're doing now, from there?
Josh Young: Yeah, for sure. So with [00:31:13] being a two sport Division One athlete and I also double majored. I majored in business and then I double majored in philosophy for fun. There wasn't a whole lot of time to think about goals outside of my immediate things. Like I want to win the next football game. I want to put on 20 pounds. I want to, you know, like there's very disciplined life choices you can make for very straightforward goals. I want to win this match on this day so I have to do this, this, and this to prepare myself for that. Once sports were a non-factor, grades are the same way. Like you study, you put in the time you get a good grade at the end, right? Once I graduated then there was a lot more time to think about what goals am I making for myself in a longer term? So, you know, still ambitious, but my drive was never [00:32:13] money. So I found that on Wall Street, the drive for success was purely money . Like that was the factor of impact.
And it didn't resonate with me at all. I wanted to make a positive impact in the work that I do day to day. So it wasn't happening on Wall Street despite like being successful. I had to reflect on, is it more important that I to the outside world seem successful or like internally that I feel like I'm doing good work?
And ultimately I will knew I needed to be doing other work. So within six months I actually switched to, the man's name is Barry Finegold. He's a state Senator up in Massachusetts. I moved in with him and his family and helped run his political campaign. So he's a [00:33:13] former Franklin Marshall, a football player. He, he became my mentor and he's like, If you're interested in making an impact, why don't you try politics?
Like come, you can live with me and my family. And I said, sure. So I left my job. I moved to Massachusetts and that was that let's, let's make an impact together. So, you know, I'm very much moved by my spirit. It's different opportunities. If I I'm always looking for a way to learn and to grow. So, that's what led me to my position here.
Rabiah Coon (Host): That's really cool. And it's good to me just not that you're asking me for feedback, or I have to give you feedback, but good that you, that you figured that out because that's the kind of thing where, and what I try to talk about on this podcast a lot is just about, you know, not [00:34:13] basically not being afraid to say yes.
And you said yes, because that's a big risk to go work on a State Senate campaign, first of all. To move into someone's home, but also to leave what everyone's working for, which is a lot of money because like, are you nuts?
So for me, if I do something like that, I'm following something. And for you it's, you're led by something which is more your faith, right? But how do you. Do you relate that to other people who maybe if they say, well, they don't have that same faith, but they're still led by something like, how do you feel about that?
And also how is that resonating for you and what you're doing?
Josh Young: Yeah so, the biggest advice I could give to someone, especially early in your career. Don't worry about title or your salary. It is all about putting yourself in positions to learn and putting yourself in position to get different opportunities presented to you. So if you're [00:35:13] not learning, if you're not being pushed, you need to find a new place to, to work, right? I think that a lot of times, especially because of the way academics is set up, people are driven to one thing or another based off of things that shouldn't really matter in the longterm. So I think that although, yeah. I mean, well, for going from Wall Street to a political campaign was a like 90% decrease in salary.
Um, but the, you don't have to do anything that dramatic. But the opportunities doing that definitely spring-boarded my career afterwards. So. I don't think I necessarily get into Harvard grad school if I don't take risks. And maybe in some people's eyes, take a step back. But I'm [00:36:13] more concerned about writing a long-term story.
So you might be able to work yourself up very quickly to making six figures, but there might be a plateau right there, and you're not learning. You're not growing. You're not preparing yourself to be something greater, right? And that you need to be able to reflect on that. And if you need to take a salary decrease, or if you need to take maybe what some might feel is a title that's not a promotion it might be better for your long-term prospects. And especially when you're early in your career, the $10,000 that you might have in one position compared to another position doesn't matter. It's much more important that you have an opportunity to do something that other people aren't doing or getting [00:37:13] a, an experience that other people wouldn't get.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Hmm. Yeah. it's very, very wise really. but it's easy to follow that once you realize it, right? I mean, that's the thing like once yeah.
Josh Young: I mean, it's, it's, it's harder to recommend to somebody who has dependents. So it there's a whole lot of life factors that play play into this. But for someone who has just graduated college or, you know, early to mid thirties, even sometimes a think. Definitely. If you need to take a step back to be spring-boarded forward, that's usually how it happens.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah. And what was the grad school? What was the degree you were going to do as a business? Or what, what were you gonna do?
Josh Young: I was gonna so Kennedy school and the MBA program have a dueled dual degree type of thing where like you can't get three years in four years in [00:38:13] three and they're connected. They're connected.
Rabiah Coon (Host): With the public policy or public
administration one? Okay. Yeah. So that's the program I'm in is their credential that's basically. 18 months that you're doing the, the intro to the public pol... That's cool. Oh, see, we were almost, I mean, I'm like fake Harvard at this point, but yeah, we were almost in the same,
same similar programs.
Josh Young: I mean, I still want to, at some point go to the Kennedy school. It so much cool stuff happening. And I spend time with my brother. He's a undergrad. So, I can, as an accepted student, I can get into a lot of talks that are pretty exclusive, but just awesome opportunities.
It, it's pretty unreal the stuff that comes through Harvard and that you can take advantage of. So, you know, if my goals allow for it, I'd love to learn there [00:39:13] still
Rabiah Coon (Host): incredible. Well, good. So as far as one thing, I, I talk a lot about on this podcast, besides what we, what we've done which is your path and how you got to some where you're passionate about and service is what are you doing outside of work? Because you're a non-profit you're, I mean, you are in a space that it's not, maybe not necessarily life or death, literally, but it's really it's life and it's providing a gift to people.
How do you, what do you do to balance that especially after coming off of very intense academics and things that you did before, too?
Josh Young: Yeah. I love to compete in, in, in anything. So from board games to pick up basketball. One of my favorite games is Catan. And that's my, that's my like detached from the, from things trying to swindle people in trades in Catan and, you know, like, Yeah. I, I spent a lot of time with my brothers or, or [00:40:13] other friends doing either athletic competition or board games. I'm not much of a video gamer, although any time Super Smash Brothers comes up, I'm ready. Like I played, so I've played so much Super Smash Brothers growing up. And but other than that, don't really play much video games.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah. Cool. So at least you keep yourself balanced basically?
Josh Young: Yeah. More or less.
I mean, I also like to work out like, I mean, it's still part of my routine. It makes me feel good to get a workout in. So, that helps. And then obviously my faith is one of the most important pillars for me. So, being able to dive into that, or definitely watch church services more online now than a ctually attending in person, but yeah.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's how things went, which I think is good. I mean, I think it's good that in different [00:41:13] ways, one thing is like people were able to technologically connect like you're stable to do that and do what's important to you. Awesome.
Rabiah Coon (Host): So Josh, I mean, I normally I'll ask, like, do you have advice to share?
But you already shared advice. So. I think that we'll just kind of go into the fun five questions.
So it's the questions I ask everybody just because I'm nosy and want to put everyone in some kind of control group.
Josh Young: Cool. Sounds good.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Okay. So the first one, what's the oldest t-shirt you have and still wear?
Josh Young: Oh I still have a wrestling long sleeve t-shirt from my youth program days. So fifth grade, it, my mom bought it like super big so I could wear it for a long time. It has Young on the back and we were league champions. And I still wear that shirt all the time to workout or even go to bed.
And it reminds me of some really good [00:42:13] memories growing up wrestling, but again, that's something I haven't thought about in a while. Good question.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Well for mom to buy it that big, because I imagine you were not your height or
Josh Young: Oh, no. no. I mean, she sh she bought lots of things in men's larges that when, you know, when you're young, you don't even care that much. But now I can still wear it. So,
Rabiah Coon (Host): Yeah.
Josh Young: it's really cool.
Rabiah Coon (Host): But we all wore these big clothes. Like I have some t-shirts I had in junior high. I, I definitely gained something from them, but Yeah.
those so funny. All right, cool. And then this one is if everyday was like, Groundhog's Day
cause that's what it felt like for last couple of years. What song would you have your alarm clock set to play every morning?
Josh Young: Oh
Probably a worship song. Maybe something upbeat by Kirk Franklin. Like Smile would be a good one, I think. Yeah.[00:43:13]
Rabiah Coon (Host): All right. Good. And I have a Spotify playlist, so I'll add that to it. It might be my first worship song, actually. So
that'll be yours. All right. And then coffee or tea or neither?
Josh Young: Tea. My mom used to make us, me tea every morning and put milk in it. And yeah,
Rabiah Coon (Host): That's what you do. Do you put the milk first or after?
Josh Young: After I'd I don't drink coffee, but I still, I do love tea.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Okay. Cool. So can you think of something that just makes you like laugh so hard you cry or just cracks you up when you think about it or some incident that happened lately? I just, again, I told you I'm nosy.
Josh Young: Oh gosh. My youngest brother can make me belly laugh, like no other. So we would have dinners when we were younger and my grandpa would, would get so upset cause we would literally not stop laughing and like sometimes food would come out of our mouth. Like every once in a while milk would come out of our nose and he would always kick [00:44:13] out my youngest brother.
be like, all right, Joe, you have to go to the den. And he be like, no, Pap, please I'll be good. But it was like so sad, but so like looking back on it just so funny. Cause he wasn't even trying to be funny sometimes. just being himself and we, we would lose it. And he can still make me belly laugh, like over little random things, but I can still picture him being this cute little kid who just his older brothers won't stop laughing at.
And then he has to go in time out.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Josh, that was so us too, the three of us and my mom would get mad. I mean, my sister and I, my sister was a guest one time we were talking about, she was so mad at us and it was amazing
Josh Young: Yeah,
Rabiah Coon (Host): And only your siblings can really make you laugh like that, like in that way. Yeah. Oh, cool. That's great. All right.
And last one who inspires you right now?
Josh Young: My mom, she she's always going to be a huge inspiration to [00:45:13] me, just the way she carries herself. And she's actually getting back in the gym. I mentioned to you before the podcast recording started, but I bought her a trip to Italy. So, we're taking her there and she's super excited about it and wants to be in her best physical shape so she can enjoy it and do all the hikes that she wants to do and stuff. So, she's been crushing it and like for a big portion of her life, as she was raising us, she didn't have time to take care of herself the way she should. So I'm proud of her for finally getting to do that, but also just her, her selflessness and the way she just empowers people and makes people feel like they want to be their best self on her. It's something that inspires me.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Ah, that's a great. Cool, well, and if people want to find you and find the charity also, where do [00:46:13] you want them to look for you? And I'll have that in the show notes, obviously, too.
Josh Young: Yeah. Well, new story, charity dot org (newstorycharity.org). You can learn a lot about our organization. My Twitter and Instagram handles are both Joshua underscore, LC underscore Young (joshua_lc_young) just my full name and yeah, that's, that's where you can check us out.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Okay. Cool. Well, Josh, this has been an absolute pleasure. I really love talking to you and thanks so much for being on more than work.
Josh Young: Yeah, thanks. I really enjoyed it too. Thanks for having me.
Rabiah Coon (Host): Thanks for listening. You can learn more about the guest and what was talked about in the show notes. Joe Maffia created the music you're listening to. You can find him on Spotify at Joe M A F F I A. Rob Metke does all the design for which I am so grateful. You can find him onlineby searching Rob M E T K E.
Please leave review if you'd like to show and get in touch if you have feedback or guest ideas. The pod is on all the social channels at, at more than work pod (@morethanworkpod) or at Rabiah comedy (@rabiahcomedy) [00:47:13] on TikTok. And the website is more than work pod dot com (morethanworkpod.com). While being kind to others, don't forget to be kind to yourself.
