Meet Josh Pritchett

We recently connected with Josh Pritchett and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Josh, 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 think I was lucky enough to be born with a slant towards optimism. More often than not, when times have gotten hard, my natural instinct is to look to the positive. That being said, there are certainly times in life, where optimism is a challenge, and at those times I often reach for one of several books that I keep on my nightstand as mementos. When it comes to optimism specifically, I love revisiting “Finding Ultra,” by Rich Roll, and “North” by Scott Jurek. They are both ultra-endurance athletes with incredible stories full of wisdom and perseverance.

Ultra-endurance events are a literal grind, where top athletes are pushing their bodies far past what was ever thought possible. Both of those books detail tremendous physical feats, that required even greater mental fortitude. You can’t start a race like that without the optimism that you’ll finish, and it’s that same mindset that keeps pushing you through. One of my favorite lines in “North” is from the authors friend, David Horton, who says “It never always gets worse.” Such a strange turn of phrase, but way more impactful than the trite sayings we find on classroom cat posters.

Ultimately, my continued optimism is strengthened by a decades long mindfulness practice, where I strive to exist in the present moment. It’s always practice, never perfection, but I am so thankful for the moments where I recognize that sacred space between stimulus and response. This is especially true with my two young children, who love to test the patience of mommy and daddy!

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?

Having grown up in the midwest, my response to the relatively boring Indiana suburb was to be as active as possible. Whether I was riding my bike around town with friends or learning new musical instruments, I was a pretty non-stop kid with a healthy passion for the outdoors. That attribute has continued into adulthood and ultimately inspired my move to Los Angeles after college.

My twenties in LA were spent surfing, riding motorcycles, and going to as many concerts as possible all while focusing on growing my career in technology and advertising sales. Ultimately, my passions did not align with that career, and I found myself unhappy and dreaming about escaping the 9 to 5. One of my favorite hobbies of the time was baking sourdough bread, and while that didn’t provide an obvious escape, it was a creative outlet that brought me a lot of pleasure.

I eventually started using my bread dough for pizza and promptly fell in love with the results. Neapolitan style pizza was not available where I grew up, so this world of pillowy crusts with minimal toppings was exciting and new. I quickly started inviting friends and family over for pizza nights, which led to catering birthday parties and other events in friends backyards. This provided a fun side hustle to my advertising job, until I was laid off on April 15, for the second year in a row. Yes, the same date twice!

I took this as a sort of sign, and decided to pour myself into the launching of Fat Nattys full time! I took over as our primary childcare during the day, while catering pizza events on nights and weekends. It’s been a ton of work, but since April, I’ve been able to book over 50 events, and while I’ve never been more tired, I’m not sure if I’ve ever been happier either.

Without a culinary background, I can’t help but feel imposter syndrome at times. But I know the amount of sweat equity I have put into my process, and I believe in the quality of my pizza. At the end of the day, I’m creating what I want to eat, so it’s been really special to see other people get excited about my product as well.

While I do mostly private events, I also do various pop-ups each month, all of which are posted on Instagram at @fatnattys. The business is very much in growth mode, and I’m enjoying every second of the ride.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The three qualities most impactful to my journey would have to be confidence, perseverance, and a love for problem solving. Although these are personal characteristics, none of them would make much of a difference without the strong support network of family and friends. Especially that of my wife who truly makes everything possible. Having someone who believes in you, makes believing in yourself so much more accessible.

I’ve always been a fairly confident person, which has allowed me to try a lot of different things in my life. I’ve been in bands, moved across the country, run marathons, performed at the Staples Center, started countless hobbies, and most recently launched a pizza business. None of those things are because I’m particularly talented or brave, they are all simply because I am willing to fail. Don’t get me wrong, I hate failing as much as the next guy, but in those situations my confidence allows me to move forward and keep trying. I believe in myself, and my ability to learn and adapt.

That leads me to perseverance. One of my favorite concepts is that people overestimate what they can do in a day, but underestimate what they can do in a year. Sometimes things look so big and scary that we don’t even start, but starting is the most important part! The second most important part is to keep going. You have to show up, and keep showing up every day if you want to get better at anything.

And finally, problem solving. I was a curious kid who loved to take things apart and put them back together and not much has changed as an adult. I love tackling new projects and am always looking for ways to optimize. It’s probably my love of problem solving that gives me the confidence to persevere through some of the trickier times in life. And in reality, all three of those attributes are feeding each other and giving me the fuel to push through the self doubt and negative thoughts that I experience just as much as anyone else.

A book I love to revisit in those self-doubting moments is “The War of Art,” by Steven Pressfield, in which he talks about his concept of Resistance, being essentially the universal force trying to maintain the status quo. It’s a beautiful book and one I highly recommend to anyone who is feeling stuck or unable to achieve to their potential.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

I love to read, if that isn’t clear from my other answers, but I would have to say that the book that has played the most important role in my development is “Man’s Search for Meaning,” by Viktor Frankl. This is a devastating real life story of his own experience in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. While reading this I was overwhelmed with the reality of how blessed my life has been.

My biggest take away from this book is his assertion that we are able to choose how we react to any situation. “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” It’s such a powerful concept, and one that I truly love and try to carry with me each day.

A few other favorite quotes from the book include: “Happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue,” “Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’,” and “In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice.”

Frankl is full of wisdom, and his book has had a meaningful impact on my daily life. It is a relatively fast read and one that I whole heartedly recommend to everyone. If you enjoy that book, I would also recommend “The Four Agreements,” by Don Miguel Ruiz. Similarly quick read that provides a wonderful base for how to approach life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.fatnattys.com
• Instagram: @fatnattys
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuapritchett/