Rabiah Coon (Host):

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.