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