Meet Joshua D. Reed

We were lucky to catch up with Joshua D. Reed recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Joshua D., thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.
I believe my optimism comes from the amount of loss I’ve experienced in life. There have been points in my life where I experienced the loss of many people, material things, relationships, friendships etc. but things always worked out. Staying optimistic is what helped keep me going. Sometimes when I was surrounded by negativity, I had no choice but to choose the more positive outlook to help encourage not only just myself but those around me as well. When we go through tough situations in life sometimes, we tend to focus on the negative and what’s going wrong. However, it always helps to redirect that focus to finding the light in the situation. It may be really small but if there is just a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, we may be able to release the light we hold inside of us to expand to the light shining in the distance. I believe my ability to do this majority of the time, comes from my calling and God given gifts he’s placed inside of me.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Well, my name is Joshua D. Reed. I was born and raised in Dallas, Tx. I’m a true Dallas native and love my city to the fullest. In my early years I grew up going to all types of schools; private, charter and public. I graduated from Life High School in Waxahachie in 2013. I then went on to attend Navarro College in Corsicana then transferred and graduated some years later from Tarrant County College with my Associate of Arts Degree in 2021.

I’ve been a part of the Creative Arts community in the DFW since I was young. I had my start in church, at The Potter’s House and also in school. Later I trained at The Black Academy of Arts and Letters in Dallas, founded by Curtis King. There I met my coach Akin Babatunde founder of Ebony Emeralds Classical Theatre Company. My journey as an artist has been long but rewarding. I appreciate the grind from the ups to the downs, the good and the bad.

I recently have embarked upon a new journey in my career with being employed by The YMCA of Metropolitan Fort Worth. Working for a nonprofit has been new and exciting. I am learning a lot and loving the opportunity to combine my passion with working in the arts and furthering that experience with more community based efforts. The impact I have the opportunity to make in the communities around me is helping fuel this new season of my life. The initiatives with The Y of Metro Fort Worth, have allowed me to embark upon a new journey in the opening and continued development of “4All Studios”. The studio will offer classes to school-aged students throughout the metroplex. It will allow older teens and young adults looking for careers in creative fields to be able to be enrolled in certification courses. It will also provide a space for local artists to have access to state-of-the-art equipment to bring their gifts to life. One of the things I enjoy about my position working at the Y is our mission to bring Christian principles into practice through programs, services and relationships that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all. This is done for youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility. With that being their mission, this helps me understand more of what my purpose is in this season.

Sometimes I feel society looks at entertainment and the creative arts as just that. Just to be entertained or just “arts and crafts”, but it’s far more than that. The creative arts is therapeutic, it’s an outlet for healing, it’s a conversation starter towards change, it’s so much. When we use the gifts that God has given to us to give back to communities and build them up, the purpose becomes much greater. This has also been a full circle moment because I was able to be a part of my first professional show with Jubliee Theatre in Fort Worth back in 2008. Dallas and Fort Worth have both truly been a developmental piece of my story as an artist and human being.

I am coming up on my 3rd year as a millennial board member of The Black Academy of Arts & Letters in Dallas. There I am able to help sustain the creative arts and history of the institution in Dallas, along with other members of the board and our founder Curtis King. We assist with promoting events and programs at the institution as well as helping raise money on a consistent basis to pour back into the community as well as the institution. These efforts are to make sure the legacy and history of Dallas Arts & Culture is never lost or forgotten.

What I am looking forward to most this year is continuing my assignment with the YMCA, The Black Academy of Arts and Letters and a few other projects I’ve been brought on board with as well. These include another feature film titled “Father Forgive Me” written by Prince Beasley and Tony Comins, a stage play titled “The 50cent Jewelry Line” that begins it’s tour here in Dallas and a few other states this month. I am also one of the leads in a feature film that released on Tubi and Amazon Prime titled “Grimy Business”. This year I have hopes of going into pre-production for my own project by the end of the year.

As far as business endeavors I am also a Brand Ambassador for Level Up Haircare located here in Dallas, Tx. It’s a black owned Haircare line that provides high quality products for all hair types. It is still in constant production releasing new products on a consistent basis.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
One quality that I believe has helped me along my journey is self reflection and awareness, knowing that I didn’t and don’t know it all or do I always have things figured out. That has helped me and continues to help me along the way by reminding me that life is literal journey and not a destination. Something I remind myself of on a daily is that I’m constantly learning, constantly improving, growing, and bettering myself. I still have to stop to remind myself to be patient with my own progress and growth and again, to remember that it doesn’t stop.

Some of the skills I believe I posses that has been truly helpful is adaptability and optimism. Starting off in the theatre you have to be prepared for any and everything. Always staying on your toes and having to think fast and problem solve. If things go wrong or things start changing, you have to learn to stay positive and roll with the punches.

I remember a time I was traveling for a one act play competition and the show we were doing required lots of makeup. Well, our makeup artist happen to forget some of it before we left our home city. Now in a situation like this, most people would panic, which we may have for a brief moment, BUT since we had been trained and taught to “make it work” and that “the show must go on” we took some makeup some of the girls had on the trip and we “made it work”. We had an amazing show and ended up advancing to the state championship. Some may have looked at that as a setback, but it ended up being a set up for success. It was a hurdle placed in our way that granted us the opportunity to be innovative and creative, and we jumped right over it.

These qualities of always finding a way and making it work is also the same in everyday life, right? Things start going in a different direction that you hadn’t planned on it going, or take a complete turn for the worse, you must find your peace with it and bounce back. I also think having experienced a great deal of loss in my life has contributed towards this way of thinking as well. It was having this type of mindset that kept me going every day. Now, this doesn’t mean I didn’t have days where I just wanted to give up and couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. Honestly, I still have those type of days every now and then. However, 98% of the time, I had to keep telling myself to push through it and find every positive outlook I could to stay afloat. I believe my faith in God plays an even bigger role in this. Knowing that if God be for me than who can be against me? What circumstance can truly knock me off course, what situation can truly discourage me? If I know that God is on my side and has every step of mine ordered, then I know that even in my times of trouble, even in my times of need, he is still there providing and guiding me along the way. I may just have to take the time to sit still, process, regroup, find the light, and hit the pavement again!

The best advice I could give someone just starting on their journey is to trust their gut. When things change or go in a different direction than you originally planned. Just listen to that small voice deep inside, the voice we too often ignore and overlook. That’s God, and if we truly take the time to quiet all the noise and distractions that surround us and just listen to the direction’s his voice gives. We could all potentially avoid some of the struggles and difficulties we face that are sometimes self-inflicted. When we understand that God wants the best for us and his plan is better than ours, it’s a little easier to look at obstacles with optimism. It helps us understand that when looking at our current circumstance that may be negative, there could be a gem hiding in the rough that God wants us to find while we are in the thick of it. Read, meditate on what you read, pray about it then activate your faith and get to work. Always be open to learning. Even if it’s a lesson you feel like you’re having to repeat, it may just be an opportunity to build off what you learned the first time.

What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
I must say my biggest area of growth and improvement has been actually believing in myself and not doubting my abilities. To be honest, it’s still a challenge sometimes. I have made good and not so good decisions in life that have taken me down many paths, it’s caused a lot of doubt and lingering shame. When I look back over my life in these last 29 years, I can say I have not always put my best foot forward, even when I thought I did. I have been made aware of the areas in my life where I have taken a few shortcuts. The season I’m currently in now is forcing me to go back to those shortcuts and walk the path laid before me in its totality. It’s forced me to smooth over the rough edges I’ve created from cutting and moving too fast.

While doing so I have also been reminded that I am fully capable, I am fully equipped, and I am fully covered under the grace and protection of my heavenly father. All he has been waiting for me to do is believe it and be bold enough to walk in it and trust him along the way. I am grateful for the opportunities and doors that have been opened to me over the past year and even the year before that.

I look forward to what this year brings and what chapters I’ll have the chance to add to my story.

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