Today we’d like to introduce you to Joshua Wilson.
Joshua, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Anniston, AL, a disproportionately underserved city at the edge of Alabama. My entire life, I’ve always known two things that I wanted to pursue a career in the entertainment industry and that I wanted to graduate with a college degree. Both of my parents were singers and both of them were educated, so I grew up at the intersection of music and academia. I remember watching videos of Michael Jackson as a child, copying every move, singing every song, and studying every inflection. He was my inspiration. Through Michael, Beyoncé, and the likes, my passion for this industry grew, but I could never decide exactly how I wanted to manifest that passion. Over the years, through high school, I developed an even stronger desire to pursue music and entertainment but along the way, I allowed doubt to hold me back from who I aspired to be. I convinced myself that a degree in music was a waste of time. That I wasn’t good enough to make it; that I needed to focus my attention towards something that would increase my socioeconomic status.
I enrolled into Auburn University as an architecture major. My time at Auburn was amazing, but I internalized aspects of my struggle. I struggled to discover the path that I wanted to pursue, I struggled to survive and thrive on a broke college-student’s budget, I struggled to find value in the subjects I studied, and I struggled to come to grips with my whole identity. In this process, I picked up a lot of baggage in the form of depression, self-doubt, and debilitating anxiety—an anxiety that hospitalized me twice. Nonetheless, God had a plan for my life.
Spring 2017—my senior year of college—I was forced to withdraw from Auburn because of the financial burden schooling had become. I had little to nothing at this point no money, no car, disastrous grades. Life was taking its toll and my faith was weak. I made the decision to shift my life by changing my perspective, making room for mistakes, and activating the potential that I had buried in fear.
I left Auburn on June 1, 2017, and moved to Austell, GA to live with my older brother for a while. We struggled in transition together, holding one another up along the way. He was my rock. I never knew a palette on the couch and a shared one-bedroom apartment could make a person so thankful. Atlanta was foreign to me. My support system was two hours away. But when I left Auburn, I made the decision to fight for joy, wholeness, and peace of mind. I worked from 5:00 am until 10:00 pm daily—walking all the while; grind around the clock. I’m still not sure how four hours of sleep, every day of the week, carried me to this point.
Five months in, I garnered the courage to re-enroll into school, Kennesaw State University (KSU). The trauma attached to the first half of my stint in college made this a daunting process for me. At this point, I was also transitioning into a new position—Talent Coordinator for a national staffing agency. Things began to look up. I even purchased, with the help of my parents, a practically new car. But my new normal quickly took a turn when I learned that my brother would be relocating to Washington, D.C., for a new position. I was ultimately at risk of being homeless with a full-time job to commute to and a full-time semester of school ahead of me. Nevertheless, I kept the faith and pressed through. I researched a bit and connected with a service through my institution that supports low-income and homeless students. At twenty-three years old, I reacclimated myself to the “dorm-lifestyle.”
Over the next two years, I evolved in almost every way. I became a more focused and driven individual. My Public Relations program and Music and Entertainment concentration revived my energy for and confidence in education. I was accepted into a specialized program for Music, Entertainment, and Business. The program introduced me to the industry I’d dreamt of working in my entire life. I was afforded the opportunity to work with a former Sony Music Entertainment executive and for the industry giant Live Nation. Additionally, this pasted December, I earned a Bachelor of Science in Public Relations, accomplishing a dream that had been deferred for what seemed like forever.
I’m still becoming the person I want to be, allowing God to direct my path. It is my hope that my story inspires readers to find purpose in your uncomfortability and confidence in your truth.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Life definitely has not been a smooth road. I’ve had struggles with depression, anxiety, and identity issues throughout my life’s journey. In the past three years, I’ve been nearly homeless without a job or money to even pay for my next meal. Each time I met adversity head-on but my mental and physical condition suffered along the way.
The tougher the challenges got, the more I isolated myself from those closest to me. Fortunately, God sent me someone so lovingly supportive out of nowhere—someone who had been there the entire time. He helped me carry my burden. He helped me rebuild and for that, I am forever grateful. Through the challenges and the obstacles, I realized God is intentional. I realized I have to submit myself and my will humbly, vulnerably before Him.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
I recently launched a YouTube Channel as a way to build a personal brand and to share my life’s story. I wanted to introduce a new narrative the encompasses all aspects of my intersecting identity and interests. This channel is seemingly the first step towards an unclear journey that my subscribers and I are taking together. This platform isn’t just about me and my life. It is a shared experience, a tool that I hope will both inspire and entertain. My goal is to influence mainly myself and others to live differently. Explore the boundaries of thought and creativity, absorb knowledge, and live justly. That’s what I hope to get through this experience.
“LIVE DIFFERENT” is more than a tag line. It’s a reminder that being different isn’t a bad thing. The mantra encourages me to fully embrace all of the parts of my story and my identity—those things that make me one of a kind.
Subscribers to my YouTube channel can prepare to discover a whole lot with me! Hopefully, this channel will be enlightening! Expect travel, inspiration, lifestyle, advocacy, and everything in between! To anyone who has decided to read this far, check out my page by searching JoshDikembe on YouTube and if you enjoy the content, I graciously ask that you subscribe!
What were you like growing up?
My upbringing was relatively average. I was quite the introvert, despite my bold public persona. As a child, I studied music, theatre, and entertainment. Throughout my life, my parents encouraged me to seize every opportunity; to take hold of every dream. Because of them, I developed a grit that inspires me to challenge my own dreams.
Contact Info:
- Phone: (256) 454-5034
- Email: joshdikembe@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshdikembe/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/josh.wilson.505/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoshDikembe
Image Credit:
Tedric Davenport (@cirdet)
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