Twenty-five years in the buildings. Fifteen on the stage.
Josh did not come to speaking from a stage. He came from operations, sales, and the people who keep schools running. That is why the people in the back row believe him.
Two guys named Pat and Scott
Josh starts working alongside Pat and Scott at ACT. Nearly thirty years later he still calls them his brothers, and the three of them are still building companies together.
Seventy-six clients that never left
He joins SchoolDude and signs 76 school districts in his first year. Sixteen years later, every one of them was still a client. He would spend 17 years there, learning operations from the inside and earning a reputation for exceptional leadership, customer service, and team development.
The first talk
Someone asks him to speak. Then someone else does. Chambers of commerce, banks, associations, anyone with a room and thirty people who needed to hear it. Hundreds of talks before he ever charged a dollar.
Be Au Sm is born
Three periodic elements, Beryllium, Gold, and Samarium, spell the phrase he had been saying to audiences for years. The mission launches. Merchandise profits go to charity, and they still do.
Thirty-nine keynotes, thirty-eight cancellations
With 39 paid keynotes on the calendar, the pandemic cancelled 38 of them inside 72 hours. He nearly closed the doors. Instead he went back to those organizations and honored many of the talks for free over the next two years, because he said he would.
Forty keynotes and a new company
Back on stage full time, with roughly forty keynotes in a year, and a new chapter with the same two brothers: Josh joins OperationsHERO as its first hire, helping schools run their buildings better, and takes the leap on commission alone.
Six years in the making
Be Au Sm: The Essential Elements to Living Your Legacy with G.R.A.C.E. is released on May 13, 2025, with Mark J. Resnick, and endorsed by Mike Eruzione, Howard Behar, Aron Ralston, and Jon Macaskill.
A thousand rooms and counting
More than 1,000 keynotes, two podcasts, eight industry awards, and a calendar that this month alone runs through Connecticut, Rhode Island, Kentucky, and Kansas. He still stays for the whole day.
See how he works a room