Josh Rossi, the viral photographer, is the man behind some of the most famous photos circulating the internet. Josh has worked for major brands and influencers such as, Good Morning America, People Magazine, Billboard, Nickelodeon, D.C. Comics, and Adobe, just to name a few. He also has some other pretty cool projects like taking photographs of kids who have cancer or other diseases then post-processing the photos to turn them into superheroes. In this episode, we talk about Josh’s upbringing, his view of success, and just basically, advice he wants to give to people who want to succeed in their own lives.
Let’s dive right into the episode and be motivated by Josh’s story.
[00:01 – 05:00] Opening Segment
If you’re a creative person, or just someone who appreciates art, you’re going to find this episode very interesting because Josh brings together business and art in this conversation. And if you also believe that having a formal education is not the only way to find success, I’m sure you’re going to love this episode because Josh believes more in real world education. He actually even built a company, Mentor Camp, for the purpose of helping people like teens or stay-at-home moms learn those valuable skills.
[05:01 – 14:55] The Viral Photographer Mentor Camp
One of Josh’s inspiration for Mentor Camp is meeting a person who makes $400,000 a year on Fiverr by doing copywriting and writing simple blog posts. When she found out about her work, he immediately set out to meet and film her. That’s how it all started, Josh said. The idea blew his mind so he came up with this idea to teach people through mini courses the skills that will help them earn better, especially in this world where businesses rarely thrive if they won’t do social media marketing.
Josh also shares some major realizations about how he stays on the cutting edge of what he is doing. He shares that “initial comfort turns into troubles down the road,” and so we must not settle for just being comfortable. He also stresses the importance of having an ambition and shares his thoughts on why entrepreneurship is one of the best ways to help you reach your ambition. “I also think entrepreneurship is one of the best things for personal growth in every aspect. Not just money but in every single thing like controlling your emotions, controlling your mindset, and helping other people. I mean, there’s so much that entrepreneurship does,” Josh shares.
[14:56 – 26:54] The Journey
Has someone ever discouraged you in the past to become an artist for fear that you might live the “starving artist” cliché? Josh tells us that that cliché, the “starving artist” is a real thing. However, he also reminds us that some artists are able to sell their art for millions and millions of dollars. Today, he tells us what makes the difference between them: marketing.
Although he hated it because he prefers just doing art if he can, Josh also tells us of the marketing stints he did in the past just to get people to notice him. His list even involves some embarrassing stuff like visiting Apple stores and pulling up his website on each of their computers; buying a bus, wrapping his logo around it and parking in front of a company’s building in the hopes that they will notice him; and a lot of other things. Although these tricks did not work, Josh did not get discouraged and pushed through. One day, he finally found a strategy that works: he contacted influencers, those that are really influential in their communities and provided them value in exchange of them helping him reach a bigger audience.
[26:55 – 38:21] The Viral Photographer mindset
With all the challenges that he went through before he succeeded as an artist, you’re probably wondering if he ever preferred something more stable. However, Josh shares that his biggest fear is actually “having a stable job and not having the potential to grow.”
About the starving artist cliché, Josh also shares that “Some people might become millionaires overnight, but like for the rest of us, you grow slowly in income, then you realize new things and you make a little bit more next year and then the next year after that, you drop, you know, 90% income and you lost all your money and then you got to do it over again.” When this happens, Josh advises us to just push through and do not quit. He adds, “One of the biggest debilitating things is when you have to start over again. And that’s when I think people quit.” Do not be afraid of a little failure. After all, in reality, that’s just part of the bigger plan. That’s what’s going to get you where you want to go eventually.
[38:22 – 44:06] The FOCUS FIVE Segment
The FOCUS FIVE are five questions I ask every guest on my show. Keep on listening to find out what book Josh gifts most often; who would he talk to if he can get an hour of any person living or dead, from the past or the present, and why; that one thing he believes but most people will disagree with; his morning routine; and lastly, where are the best places we can connect with him online. (See the links below for Josh’s social media links!)
Tweetable Quotes:
“Initial comfort turns into troubles down the road. If you’re just comfortable with whatever you’re doing right now, that usually turns out to be more hard times down the road.” – Josh Rossi
“Jumping straight into the dark and trying to do things, is always a good thing, it’s never a bad thing, unless you’re making stupid decisions.” – Josh Rossi
“If you want it bad enough it’ll happen, if you don’t want it bad enough, you’re just gonna sit back, be comfortable, and nothing’s gonna happen.” – Josh Rossi
Resources mentioned in the episode:
To learn more, connect with Josh Rossi on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, or send him an email at josh@joshrossi.com. Be sure to check out http://joshrossi.com/ and https://www.joshrossi.co/
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