Meet Joseph Wayne

We were lucky to catch up with Joseph Wayne recently and have shared our conversation below.

Joseph, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

I’d say my resilience is rooted in three things working together: faith, creativity, and community.


First and foremost, my faith anchors me. I genuinely believe God created me on purpose, with intentional gifts that weren’t randomly assigned, things like music, being able to connect with people, sensing the emotional undercurrent in a room, and creating spaces where others feel seen. Knowing that God is the one who placed those things in me has carried me through some very real mental health valleys, general life challenges, and stretches of imposter syndrome.


When life has felt heavy, uncertain, or disorienting, my faith has been the steady reminder that the story doesn’t end at its lowest moment. There is a bigger narrative being written, one I can’t always see yet. That belief, that God is present, purposeful, and still working even when I feel stuck, has kept me from giving up in seasons where quitting would have been the easier choice. It has given me the courage to stay, to try again, and to trust that the moment I’m in isn’t the whole picture but part of a beautiful masterpiece still being written.


Second, creativity has been an outlet where my emotions find room to breathe. Growing up, I moved around a lot, and I was often the new person walking into a room. Being a creative gave me a way to connect beyond small talk. It gave me curiosity, made me interested in people and their stories, and gave me a voice when I didn’t always have the words.


Engaging with creativity, whether it was sitting at a piano playing, writing a song, or stepping into a character on screen or on stage, has always brought something alive in me. It gives me space to tap into parts of myself that everyday life doesn’t always make room for. There were seasons where music felt like the only place I could truly be myself, even if no one ever heard the songs, and acting became a way to explore new layers of who I am. Some of the moments that kept me going were fueled by melodies, half-written lyrics that lived quietly in my notes app, and the emotional honesty that performing invites.


The third pillar is community. I once read that people who have strong community around them are roughly twice as resilient because they recover from failure and stress much faster. I have seen that play out in my own life. Something I believe is that our greatest callings are often born out of our deepest pains. For me, seasons of feeling isolated in life became the very soil where purpose started to grow. A great example of that is when I began hosting Creative Coffee gatherings, creating a space where people could show up, connect, and feel less alone. What started as a way to navigate my own loneliness grew into a meaningful passion for helping others find the sense of community I once needed so deeply myself.


I know what it feels like to wonder if what you bring to the table is seen or valued. I also know the strength that rises when you have honest, faithful friends and family who show up for you, whether your latest project reaches a million people or a handful. They are the ones who remind you who you are when you forget, who help you see the brilliance you might hide, and who encourage you to take the leap even when fear tries to hold you back.


So in summary, when I look at where my resilience comes from, it isn’t from being naturally tough or endlessly confident. It comes from God’s grace holding me steady, creative outlets that restore me when I feel drained, and a circle of people who walk beside me in both the mountaintop moments and the really messy ones. Together, those things have taught me that I don’t have to be unbreakable to keep going. I just have to be willing to show up, stay honest, and take the next step.

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?

I am a music artist, actor, and creative community builder based in Atlanta, though by day you can usually find me in the very glamorous world of property and casualty insurance (insert sarcasm here) to pay the bills a little more steadily. Like most creatives, my life is a balance of doing what I love while also keeping the lights on, and every year I find myself leaning a little more into the creative gifts and passions that make me feel most alive.


This year (2025), one of the most exciting projects I had the chance to work on was my very first single — and holiday single at that — “A Little Less Cold”. Releasing it was a huge milestone, and now I am working toward putting out my first EP in 2026. Shameless plug: you can listen and follow me under Joseph Wayne on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and other streaming platforms.
When I am not filming or songwriting, I can usually be found with an iced coffee in hand, traveling somewhere new, getting outside for some fresh air, and hosting community-focused events.

Speaking of community events, I currently host a Creative Coffee gathering on the third Saturday of every month. It is a simple, pressure-free space where creatives of all kinds can show up, connect, and build relationships that will hopefully last a lifetime. Any and all creatives are welcome, and those in the Atlanta area who want to join in can reach me on social media at my Instagram handle below.

People often say you can’t build a life around creativity, but I’ve never really believed that. I think life is meant to be creative. It is meant to be lived with passion, curiosity, and courage, and I want to pursue everything the Lord created me to do as fully and deeply as I can.

Perhaps Gandalf said it best: “All we have to do is decide what to do with the time that is given to us.”


So here I am, doing exactly that, one step at a time, creating, connecting, exploring, and trying to leave a little more light in the world wherever I can.


For more information about my latest projects or endeavors, you can visit thejosephwayne.com or follow me on Instagram @joeycox91.

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?

While I would never claim to have things all figured out, I have learned that every creative path has its origin traits, the things that quietly shape who you become long before you realize it. For me, the three that have had a large impact are resilience, curiosity, and the courage to say yes even when I felt wildly underprepared.

1. Resilience

For me, resilience hasn’t looked like having it all together or powering through without feeling anything. It has looked like learning to bend without breaking. Growing up moving around a lot taught me early how to adapt, start over, and find my footing in unfamiliar places. Later in life, navigating seasons of loneliness, uncertainty, and creative doubt taught me how to keep showing up even when nothing around me seemed to confirm that I should.

What has made the biggest difference is learning that resilience is not built in the big moments but in the small, unglamorous choices. The choice to keep writing even when no one is listening yet. The choice to walk into the audition knowing courage matters more than perfection. The choice to reach out to community even when you feel isolated. Those small decisions are what quietly build a stronger foundation over time.

Advice:
Start by building small habits of showing up. Not perfectly, not impressively, just consistently. Give yourself permission to grow slowly. And remember that resilience is not about never getting tired or discouraged; it is about learning to pause, reset, and keep moving forward anyway.

2. Curiosity

Curiosity has been the quiet spark that keeps redirecting and expanding my creative path. It is the reason I’ve shifted from music to theatre to film to songwriting and beyond. Curiosity has a way of nudging you toward the next chapter long before you realize you are ready for it. It keeps you open when life shifts unexpectedly and helps you notice opportunities you might have missed if you stayed rigid or afraid.

Advice:
Nurture your curiosity like a muscle. Try things simply because they interest you, not because they guarantee a result. Ask questions. Spend time around people who are different from you. Explore art forms you have never attempted. Permit yourself to follow what intrigues you without needing it to be perfect. Curiosity expands your creative world in ways certainty never will.

3. Courage to Take the Leap

Many of the most defining moments of my creative life have come from choosing to take a leap even when I felt inadequate or unsure. Starting Creative Coffee gatherings, releasing my first single, stepping into new creative seasons — all of it required choosing action over fear.

Advice:
Begin with the small leaps. Say yes to the opportunity you are convinced you are not ready for. Write the first verse. Reach out to someone whose work inspires you. Host the meetup even if only two people show up. Small acts of courage create momentum, and momentum creates transformation.

If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?

If I knew I only had ten years left, I’d probably create as much as I could, music, film, maybe even a book, basically all the things I’ve let imposter syndrome talk me out of for way too long. I’d laugh as much as possible with those I love, travel the globe, drink even more obscene amounts of iced coffee than I already do (which is honestly saying something), and I’d one hundred percent go all in extra on Christmas. Those who know me know that Christmas is basically my personality, so with ten left on the clock, we’re talking a tree so big it needs structural support, twelve kinds of cookies, and Mariah Carey blasting like it’s a legal requirement. But I digress.


All kidding aside, though, I’d also really want to pour into people and lift them up. As a kid, I used to tell myself that if I ever experienced real success, I wanted it so I could care for others generously. That part has never really changed. The only difference is now I understand that you don’t need a lot of money to make the world better. You just need a heart willing to slow down long enough to show kindness to the person right in front of you. I don’t know exactly what that would look like with only a decade left, but I can promise you I’d find a way to put joy on as many faces as possible with whatever time I had.


And as the great Denzel Washington once said, “At the end of the day, it’s not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished… It’s about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.” So among all the laughter, adventures, and iced coffees, I’d want to finish my race knowing I did everything I could to give something positive back to the world and those around me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thejosephwayne.com/
• Instagram: @joeycox91
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephcox91
• Other: https://ffm.bio/thejosephwayne

Image Credits

Headshots – Ron Fallica Photography