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

Hi Joe, how do you think about risk?
You have to take risks if you want to scale your career. I take risks all the time. Entrepreneurship is not easy at all, most people just do not want to admit it. I risk my time, my energy, and a lot of my money. I have dumped so much money into creating events, productions, and so many things without having any promise of seeing any profit. Also, most of the time, there is no profit in the beginning. The journey is a risk. But if you want to go far, you will take those risks and do the free work and build your audience. The amount of risk someone takes will determine how fast they reach their goals.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I dabble in my things within the creative world. I am a filmmaker, podcaster, graphic designer, marketing manager, and much more, however, with everything I touch I always try to really create with my heart and my experiences. I have been through so much in my life, so many things and I create through all of them. I understand how unique my heart is, my life journey has been and my overall mindset so I know my art is always going to set me apart from others. Not saying it is a good thing or even saying that to sound arrogant, but I know my work will always be different.

How did I get to where I am today professionally? At the age of 16 years old I started working in the restaurant industry since I knew film school was way out of my or my mom’s budget and I continued working as a server, manager, and dining room help in various restaurants such as Pizza Hut, Applebee’s, Chevys, Marriott Marquis and much more. I went to Bergen Community College between the ages of 21 and 23 and studied Restaurant Management.

Soon after, I got discouraged working in the field due to the unhealthy work-life balance and earnings so when I was 24 I stepped into the wireless industry and took a sales position. I quickly skyrocketed through the sales charts tripling quotes in my very first month. I never really realized how much sales I learned being in the restaurant industry, but it was a lot. I ended up making over 50,000 a year, more than I ever made and more than most of the people I knew at the time but I was still unhappy with the work-life balance. I was grieving the loss of my mother who passed away when I was 24 of heroin addiction and I was also in a rocky relationship. I was itching for freedom and I wanted out. I left the job when I was 26 and began working as a Uber driver full time. The money was good, but not good enough, I started the crumble financially but I loved the freedom. I quickly thought of the idea for my first business, ‘Therapy Without a Degree’. I started to pursue this business which started out as a podcast and continued to drive for uber. I did this for three years straight and it was for sure rough. I ended up homeless for some time but I kept on pushing and fighting for the freedom that I wanted.

3 years into doing Uber, my third car could not take it anymore, I had to give it a break and go back into working in sales within the wireless industry. In less than a year I became a Store Manager and ran two locations, one inside a town strip mall and another in one of the most popular malls in the United States. I did this while maintaining my first business, ‘Therapy Without a Degree’, and creating my 2nd business, ‘Jersey Media’. I created Jersey Media because I saw that my skill in the sales and marketing/creative industry was very rare and I had a unique approach to getting businesses the attention that they deserved.

Before you know it, 2020 came and we all know what happened. As of March 2020, I was unemployed and was able to manage my two businesses for the first time, 100% full-time with no ‘work’ distractions. In July 2020 I was offered employment at my previous job but I declined it and took a major major risk, I decided to only pursue my dreams and my businesses full time. As of today in 2022, the journey is still hard and I have to work very hard every single day to keep pushing to maintain a life as an entrepreneur that does not have to work a 9 to 5. It is not easy, I repeat, it is not easy. However, this is a marathon, not a race.

Since I declined the offer to go back to my previous job I have directed and written my first Limited Season TV Show available via YouTube titled, Therapy Without a Degree, I have helped over 10 businesses grow their audience and profits, I have directed a short film and created many different events in my community along with many other amazing things.

One of the biggest lessons I have learned from all this in my professional career is to trust the process and just add value in every area your in. Add so much value and don’t expect anything in return. Focus on your goals and put in the action that is needed to get there. I have learned to take my obsessive personality and drive it into my businesses and it has helped more than I can ever imagine.

What do I want the world to know about me or my story? I want everyone to know they can do whatever they put their mind to. Whatever the dreams and goals are they can do it. I grew up in low-income housing with a mother who was extremely loving and caring, yet suffered from addiction. I had to become an adult very very quick. I have had to work my a** off to get to where I am now and I am still nowhere close to where I am going to end up. I have had life make me feel like I was cursed for almost all of my life but I have continued to fight back and put my all into everything. When you give it your all, the world will give you what you want. Trust the process.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would start the day off in Lodi to get some pizza and met some of my amazing friends and family. Afterwards we would go to Hoboken to see the view and walk around to soak up the energy. In the evening, I would take them to Lolita’s in North Bergen or somewhere in NYC!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to shout out to the entire Jersey Media & Therapy Without a Degree community because there are so many individuals that have helped the journey and the business get to where it is today. We are still far from where we would like to be however we have for sure built an amazing foundation and it would have never happened without the support from our community of entrepreneurs.

Website: jersey-media.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joefucarino_/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/joefucarino

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joe.fucarino.79/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgoo0Ilz6TWStat2iQjxIvw

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