We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Troy Gregory. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Troy below.
Troy, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
I wanted to start off answering this question by acknowledging the gratitude I have for the higher power that governs the positive energy of the universe (other words known as God). In my life, I have encountered many people who do not have a purpose in life and I must say I am grateful that I do. Finding my purpose came from years of being homeless (15 years to be exact) and a lot of soul-searching. I once said in a different magazine article that there is a difference between ideas that we think of and ideas that come to us. One thing I know for certain through y experience is that purpose comes to you. The way I found my purpose was by going through some tough times and noticing that someone has to do right by humanity amid uncertainty and negativity. At times I feel as though I didn’t find my purpose, my purpose found me.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am originally from Brooklyn, New York. I left New York to change my life after becoming homeless at the age of 13. I remained homeless on and off for 15 years of my life…
I am now the owner of a company called The Ghost Project which owns HVMAN the multimedia platform/global community.
[Backstory] The Ghost Project was originally intended to be a drum and bass podcast shared between myself and a friend, but when I left for San Francisco in 2016, the idea transformed into a universal collective of musicians and creatives. While I was in San Francisco, I was again homeless for about six months. During that time, the idea tanked. When I returned to Florida, I turned The Ghost Project into an event management company and orchestrated two mansion parties. These both had amazing turnouts. It was these events, alongside an event that took place in 2017, that led to me getting featured on NPR. The event was called Incandescence | The Nightwalker Festival. Incandescence | The Nightwalker Festival was a glow-in-the-dark festival that incorporated a glow-in-the-dark mural competition, a glow-in-the-dark art gallery, amazing performances, and much more. An attendee at the time referred to the event as a million-dollar idea executed for under $1,000.
The Ghost Project
The Ghost Project values and embodies connectivity between people. The Ghost Project is a creative/innovative solutions company that partners with artists, musicians, start-ups, entrepreneurs, and anyone with creative needs to advance their careers and businesses. Knowing that an idea can change the fate of tomorrow for a better day.
The Ghost Project will not be rendering services until late 2023/early 2024. The reconstruction of The Ghost Project will start in late 2022. I would like for The Ghost Project to not only be known for how it can propel creatives forward in the future but also for the company’s capability to build and sell ideas.
The DBA and brand owned by myself and The Ghost Project is HVMAN pronounced (human).
HVMAN is a multimedia platform that encourages people to find truth in another person’s perspective, bringing people together one culture at a time, forming a global community. HVMAN is broken down into multiple segments. Let me introduce them to below:
1. HVMAN focuses on one on one interviews that capture the person’s life story where they answer thought-provoking questions, allowing them to be transparent, giving them space to be themselves.
2. HVMAN [Campfire Sessions] Campfire Sessions addresses events taking place in the global community, giving people from around the world a voice where they can share their perspectives and expertise on different subject matters. This segment provokes thoughtful conversation and provides resources that people can use in their everyday life. Below are some examples of Campfire Sessions we have done in the past.
[Campfire Session] Subject Matters:
The Confidence War
The Confidence War addresses moments where we are at war with ourselves internally/externally and how it affects our confidence. In this session, we will be looking at what triggers these external/internal conflicts while exploring what we can do to build our confidence.
Sonic Alchemy
Sonic Alchemy is dedicated to the effect that music has on our lives. In this session, we will discuss the conscious and unconscious impact music has on us, how frequencies relay messages to the human body, and how you can tell a lot about a person by the music they listen to.
The Will to Live
The Will to Live is dedicated to one of our supporter’s grandmothers who simultaneously battled pneumonia alongside covid-19 and persevered. In this session, we will be discussing what drives our will to live and the energy that goes behind it. The difference between those who strive to stay alive and those who unconsciously or consciously don’t put in the effort to survive.
HVMAN [Campfire Sessions] takes place on the last Sunday of every month. My team and I are always looking for people to participate in Campfire Sessions. You can come on as two out of three things: a feature, a presenter, or a performer. If you are interested in participating in Campfire Sessions reach out to us via email at: campfiresessions@hvman.world
If you would like to be interviewed or know someone who would like to be interviewed on HVMAN reach out to us at: interviews@hvman.world
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
1. Resilience
In my opinion, one of the most important qualities I embodied along my journey is resilience. The ability to persevere despite the circumstances you are presented with. I think resilience is important in a world that is constantly changing.
2. Communicating with Compassion
I learned the importance of communicating with compassion from watching a Youtube video online by a guy named Chris Do the owner of a company called The Futur. I’ve witnessed a lot of people communicate with one another and in my opinion, it seems as though compassion is often lacking in their communication, especially in business. I understand wanting the job to get done but when you’re conveying what it is you’re looking for are you keeping what the other person is feeling in mind? People say that caring too much about what others think is stressful but do you care enough about how you are communicating to keep the other person in mind?
3. Comparison can be the Thief of Joy
I find that social media has made people compare their lives to one another a lot but no one truly knows what the person is enduring, has gone through, or what they did to get where they are at. Comparing yourself to a snippet of a person’s life is never good. Everyone has their journey and moves on a timeline that works best for them. There is no need to compare yourself to someone else that you barely know.
Advice
1. Continue pushing forward in life no matter how difficult things may seem.
2. Always be ready to put yourself in someone else’s shoes to gain a better understanding of what they’re saying. Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes helps you to communicate effectively and serves as a premise for you to communicate with compassion.
3. No one is you, nor will they ever be you focus on the beautiful aspects of life and cherish what you. If you decide to compare yourself to someone else let it be for your growth. Remember we don’t know what people have done to get where they are in life. The only thing you can do is continue being yourself and focus on becoming better human beings with every waking moment.
Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?
1. I think it’s important to be well-rounded without feeling the need of feeling like you have to be great at everything. An analogy I like to use when it comes to this topic has to do with football. In football, you have to be prepared if there is a fumble. In life, especially when you’re in a position where you are a leader. You have to be prepared for the fumbles. There was a time when I put together events that the people I worked with started fumbling, and I had to make sure that I was prepared to pick up where they left off.
2. Being well-rounded is an educational process that allows you to grow in areas that you desire to improve on. I also believe, that being well-rounded can benefit your children as you teach them how to navigate life.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hvman.world
- Instagram: @hvman.world
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/hvmanworld
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/troy-gregory-wisetruth/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/hvmanworld
Image Credits
Casey Martin/Red Spade Media Jason Fronzneck Xavier Lee Kellie Batts
