Before the stage, there was a decision.
Every keynote Joshua delivers today traces back to a single choice. This is the fuller story behind the message.
The Moment
In early 2019, Joshua was laid off from his job. Weeks later, a motorcycle accident took his leg. Two losses, stacked on top of each other, in the space of a few months.
Lying on the freeway before help arrived, he found a clarity he did not expect, a brief, grounding moment of faith that steadied him before anything else did. It did not erase what had happened. It gave him somewhere to stand while he decided what came next.
He refused to let the accident become the story of what was taken from him. He chose, deliberately and early, to make it the story of what he built with what remained.
The Turning Point
The choice did not remove the hard part. In the months that followed, Joshua faced real anger, real grief, and real uncertainty about his identity and his future. Recovery was not linear, and it was not fast.
Part of rebuilding was physical. Joshua had spent years skiing and snowboarding before the accident, and two years after it, he returned to the mountain, this time as an amputee, relearning a sport he already loved. What began as a way to reclaim something familiar became a genuine competitive pursuit, and he now trains with his sights on the 2030 Paralympics.
What changed most was the question he kept asking himself. Not "why did this happen," but "what do I build now." That question became a discipline, then a framework, then the material for every keynote he delivers today.
What He Believes
Your past does not define you. Your response does.
Strength is not found in avoiding hardship, but in how you face it.
Real leadership means helping others grow, not just yourself.
Faith, resilience, and discipline carry a person further than fear ever could.
From Recovery to the Stage
Joshua's path back was not a straight line into speaking. Before he ever took a stage professionally, he spent years working across healthcare and project management, work that demanded the same discipline he now teaches from the front of a room.
Building the platform
Joshua built his speaking career from the ground up, developing his message, his materials, and his reputation one engagement at a time.Taking the stage
He has since spoken at engagements including Cannes Lions, MiPEERS Leadership Summit, and Shine Forth, delivering keynotes to corporate and leadership audiences across the country.Staying in it
Off stage, Joshua is still building. He trains competitively as an adaptive snowboarder and spends his own time learning new skills and working with his hands, always looking for the next thing worth figuring out.