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

Hi Josh, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
For me it all began with wanting to redeem my childhood experiences. I made some terrible decisions between the ages of 15-17 that almost led me to throwing my life away and to the system. I said to myself at the age of 17, that if I ever had the opportunity to start something or give back to young teens, then I would do that. Thus, came the last nine years of my life spent walking alongside teens and young adults through the avenues of mentorship, youth and young adult pastoring, life coaching, coaching sports, teaching and speaking opportunities.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My Aunt Frances who passed away in 2016, was the first creative and artist that I knew. Her ability to see the world in art form led me to take on some of her creative writing skills. Two forms of art that I am passionate about is poetry and photography. I once said, photos speak, come and see. A photo may be captured in a moment, however, the same photo can have eternal impact. The same with poetry. What can be captured in short form, stanzas, creates powerful truths and storytelling. Put the two together, writing and photos become an outlet birth from inside the soul. The journey to expressing the art that’s been on the inside of me started in high school, writing poems for class assignments and as a young slickster to the girls I liked. What began as playful and educational as become a way of life for me. I want the world to know I am just getting started and I am planning to release my first poetry book to the world this December. So the greatest challenge has been to finally put all the pieces together and release words that I believe will have impact in the hands of the beholder of my words.

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.
The first thing I would do if my best friend was coming in town was first make them some fire pour over coffee using my Hario V60 pour over. Even if they didn’t drink coffee, they would have to start off trying some high quality black coffee from either Portrait Coffee, Methodical Coffee or Onyx Coffee. From there we would hit a breakfast spot, more likely a bougie brunch spot because the food always hits right. We would hop on the light rail and head toward Uptown Charlotte. From there we would have to explore the city, take photos, create stories for the gram and edit a quick picture to post for later in the day. We would hop on some scooters and stop by Duck Donuts and then take our donuts to Not Just Coffee. Yes, that is right, coffee number two for the day! We would then walk around, decompress the donuts and coffee and head over to Romare Bearden Park. After this, it would be time to find a good dinner spot. We’re either hitting a soul food spot on the first night or a good Thai or sushi spot. That’s a pretty full day, so it would be time to head back to the house, watch a movie and start the day all over again. For the rest of the week, we would repeat similar stops but I would add in a hike in there at Crowders Mountain, a day trip to Asheville, Greenville or Charleston, SC. We’re too close to some dope spots not to do a quick day trip!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to dedicate my shoutout to the homies that grew up on the same street as me. My brother Martin, James, KG and Jerred. Our brotherhood pushed each of us to make something out of nothing. I also shoutout two of my first mentors who saw something in me that I didn’t quite see in myself; shoutout to coach Erick King and Mike Brown. Lastly, I want to shoutout Pastor Brian Bennett for giving me the opportunity as I retired from playing sports to start my ministry journey working with teens and young adults.

Website: https://jscottsamarco.com/

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-samarco-01654450/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/joshsamarco

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/J.ScottSamarco

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDvYcliOUk44q_5I7yFfn3A

Image Credits
Cocostudios – Dom Thomas

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