Meet Joshua Crisp

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Joshua Crisp a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Joshua with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?

Throughout my life people have said to me, “You’re the hardest worker I’ve ever met” or other similar statements. For most of my life I have heard that, but never really unpacked the statement. Where did it come from? Is it a compliment? Am I born with that work ethic or is it a developed or learned behavior? I’m not sure I know the answers to these questions, but the older I get, I can look back and see people and circumstances in my life that have helped to shape me and no doubt contributed to my work ethic. These people and circumstances, and both the good and the bad experiences have given me leverage to have a strong work ethic with an unquenchable motivation to get up every day and put my best effort towards whatever my hands and feet lead me to do in any given moment. I only really know one speed and that is 100 percent.

From an early age, I recall being one of the smaller kids in class, the slower to learn, the kid without the fancy style, and otherwise in most areas, not the most likely to be picked from a lineup for success. I never really established a strong friend group because my family moved a lot so I was used to having to dig in and re-adjust to seemingly always changing circumstances completely beyond my control. I was not raised in the digital era so when I moved as a kid, I literally lost touch with all things familiar and comfortable. Constantly having a feeling of having to start over and re-establish became my normal. Kids and in general humans can be really tough and mean. Adapting to change can be difficult. Finding motivation to get up and start over and face challenges every day became my normal.

Thankfully, I had a strong family (dad and mom) that required me to get up and establish a routine that was consistent regardless of the circumstances. To give an example, from my earliest memories, I was required to get up early whether or not I actually had anything that had to be done early. I had to take care of my responsibilities and I was held accountable to be responsible for myself and was always given some mission. It was never negotiable to prepare for my day the night before. I was to wake up at a specific time, get ready for success by getting dressed, making my bed (perfectly for inspection), fueling my body (whether I was hungry or not), and beginning my assignments and productive tasks each day. While this was never the norm of my peers and sometimes I was teased about these patterns and habits, it prepared me for the day and the life ahead. I look back now and am so thankful.

I also recall in first grade being placed into groups based on our reading and learning skills as assessed by the teacher. There was a turtle group and a rabbit group. You guessed it, I was in the turtle group. We were “encouraged” by the teacher that the turtles are “slow, but they always finish…” and I can tell you as a kid that was not the greatest encouragement. In today’s day that would not be allowed because we are too fragile as a society. As a kid that was tough, most of the kids in the turtle group didn’t look like me, didn’t talk like me, and had some visible frailty or disability that I didn’t seem to share. The kids that I seemed to identify more physically were in the rabbit group. But what happened from this tough experience helped to shape everything about my nature and work ethic. As I realized where I was and that I didn’t want to be there, and with my families’ support, I worked extremely hard to get out of this group because I saw another group I wanted to identify with that I believed was the better group. Ironically, as I spent time with my turtle group, I begin getting teased along with my peers from the faster group. Somehow, I became the defender of this group and learned that I actually identified more with the turtle group and having deep friendships and alliances to work together to overcome some of our challenges and individual weaknesses. I don’t think I could have done this without the support of the family infrastructure at home.

Sparing you many examples of stories that shaped me and my work ethic, I learned to leverage relationships and tough circumstances and to find motivation by obstacles and always fall back on my taught routine and ultimately my faith learned and exemplified by my parents. To this extent, I consider myself privileged and blessed that I was given an opportunity to succeed not because I was born into a circumstance; quite the opposite. My blessing and privilege was that I was told and encouraged and equipped at a very young age to know that I was a unique human, created by God, for a unique purpose that know one could give me or take away from me, and my identity was not in my strength or frailty but in my relationship with Christ. Through all of the good, bad, and ugly of life’s circumstances, my leverage for life was from who I am in Christ.

As I look back, I can define really good and bad experiences as leverage moments. These are the moments that I can mark as helping to strengthen me often through adversity and disappointment. These leverage moments have prepared me for my purpose of today and by getting up and giving 100 percent daily in work and life I become stronger with purpose and experience to help others that may be struggling. In my opinion, work ethic is within us all and realizing our potential to have a strong work ethic can be learned. Some have more “opportunity” than others and that is just life. But we all have unique purpose and our work ethic helps us realize and maximize our opportunities.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I own a family of companies in what many refer to as the senior living industry. Most simply, there is a development company, management company, and marketing agency. There are a few other ancillary companies and assets that I own in this space. Technically I develop, own, and manage senior care communities. Our global mission is to create housing, programs, and services for the aging population. My goal is to influence society to better care for the aging. Several passion projects have also turned into companies. One example is a podcast for the industry called Bridge the Gap. What started as a passion project to create a podcast for our industry that literally had no podcasts, now has become a full media company and podcast network with ambassadors across the country. Another passion project that later become an organization was derived from the desire to help fight Alzheimer’s. That organization, Pedal for Alzheimer’s, Ltd is now a 501c3 charitable organization and is the charity my companies give back to. The organization creates cycling and other similar events around the country as volunteers to raise money and support Alzheimer’s research, education, care, and support. That passion project turned volunteer organization now has ambassadors across much of the US and more than I ever imagined or intended. Outside of those businesses, I’m very involved in state regulatory affairs, lobbying efforts, and educational committees and boards for our industry, Universities, and States. As companies have spun up, brands, teams, and communities created, I more than ever am asked what I do and I just sort of smile and say, “I take care of older people” and refer people to company pages and my personal website to learn more. I’m less focused on profits and margins these days as much as developing leaders and platforms that inform, educate, and influence better aging.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Looking back, I think impactful qualities that I have been taught through example by some really great leaders have been personal accountability for taking responsibility for attitudes and actions. In my lifetime, it has become obvious to me that we like to be able to blame someone or something for the situation we are in rather than being accountable to take responsible action for it all. While good and bad things do happen to us, we have to move away from victim mentality and entitlement mentality. Being taught and understanding that there are wins and losses and not everyone gets a trophy is something that has prepared me to battle everyday.

I would tell any younger person to take responsibility for where they are and what they are doing and what they choose to do each day. Don’t look for handouts and always be looking for someone to help. Most of my successes have come from identifying a problem or a circumstance that I didn’t like and then working to help the person or myself overcome that obstacle without waiting for someone to do it for me or give me the money to do it. Go earn it. Every day.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

I am always looking for people to collaborate with as I firmly believe “we” are better together. I’ve found that it’s critical to find people who have a shared value set and in this world of polarization around religion, politics, etc., it’s more important than ever. My value set doesn’t come from “religion” but through “relationship” and is guided by Biblical principles that define my values which are used to define all of my organization and companies values. We believe it’s more important for people to be shown an example rather than told. We are difference makers energized and motivated internally.

More specifically, socially responsible investors looking to change the way we care for the aging we have created platforms for influence and investment. We welcome like minded individuals and organizations to join us on the journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.Solinity.com
• Instagram: @joshcrispofficial & @solinitynews
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/joshcrispsocial