Meet Josh Caldwell

We had the good fortune of connecting with Josh Caldwell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Josh, other than deciding to work for yourself, what else do you think played a pivotal role in your story?
Choosing an area where i had some tangential knowledge, a small amount of initial success, then singular determination that the company would be successful no matter what.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
-What sets me apart from others is a little hard to recognize because I never really had a job. That said, first thing comes to mind is I showed up which puts you ahead of 3/4 of people…if candy corn has taught the world anything it’s that execution trumps product or idea. Next, perhaps an obliviousness to certain rules and social norms which allowed me to break them. Last, attempting to be a good person over a good businessman, that one perpetuates the other, and the antithesis.
-Was it easy.. much easier then living a s***** life. Hard work when you have purpose is not hard.
-Challenges?.. mental toughness I would say.
-Lessons.. by the way sorry if I’m taking this too literally by answering everything like this, trying to take this seriously I suppose. lessons..? Don’t ask someone to give you what they don’t have, believe someone when they tell you who they are the first time they tell you, people notice when you do well.. I don’t want to f****** preach here so I apologize if i am. I mean there’s a lot of lessons. But success in business, in my opinion, is 90% emotional so I don’t think I have great answers for that one.
-What do I want the world to know about me? I’m not really concerned about that.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Me showing someone a good time to someone out of town is a bit of an anathema, but as cheesy as it sounds, if you’ve never seen the Stone mountain laser show, it’s fun.. chilling on a blanket talking with friends, your kids getting nuts with bubble guns, getting waffle house afterwards, there are worse things.  But it also depends on the person, you know.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d have to say my father for telling me if seemingly impossible acts could be done by humans, I qualify…an ex girlfriend decades ago who in the process of breaking up exposed me to the strange and odious nature people can have and how to identify these in others..and my wife. When I married her the invisible cinder blocks of sadness were removed from my backpack as I attempted to swim through life, and was replaced by a floatation device.