Today's guest is Joe Young. For decades Joe has been making the world a better, happier place.
Joe is a cartoonist, filmmaker, producer, and educator. He is the president of Joe Young Studios, a multimedia agency which provides arts programming for organizations.
He's also the Founder & Executive Director of a youth arts non-profit.
His projects include Hartford, CT's first major film project, Diamond Ruff and the one-time Guinness World Record for the world's longest comic strip.
I met Joe nearly 10 years ago by chance of having just moved to Connecticut and networking at an open mic night.
We've watched each other's careers evolve from afar, but haven't been in touch in many, many years.
That is, until the 2020 pandemic.
Joe was gearing up for a massive $1 million fundraising event for his new documentary film project when the crisis struck. Forced to cancel the event Joe was faced with a choice: Give up the project he's been working so hard to achieve, or find a new way forward.
I reached out in that moment to invite him on the podcast to chat about his life, career, and new documentary project.
This conversation was so much more than I bargained for.
Joe explains why your gift is different from you passion (and what to do with either), thoughts on monetizing art, the evolution of cartooning from analog to digital, his new documentary project and what's going to happen now, how to connect with an audience in a non-live format like comic strips and films, how to handle negative feedback, the role of luck in success, advice for young professionals in an impossibly unpredictable world, and of course, Joe shares his story of a chance encounter with lasting impact.
Plus, Joe flips the script near the end and asks me about getting my TEDx talk, so you'll hear that story in its entirety for the first time.
This episode is a true celebration of art, beauty, and joy.
Remember to check the show notes for related links and stay until the end for my biggest takeaways from this episode.
And now I give you, Mr. Joe Young.
