54 Questions with Joshua Goldstein
Current cohort 13 intern Joshua Goldstein (Publicis Health Media) sat down with us to answer 54 questions about his likes, life, and experience with Year Up.
1. What’s keeping you busy these days?
Work. Internship, even outside of internship, just planning different goals and getting my life on track after Year Up. I really look forward to becoming more of an entrepreneur after internship. My mind is occupied. You have to be innovative.
2. What’s the most exciting thing in life right now?
Life itself. I’m glad to be here. I’m glad to still be here through this pandemic. It’s touched a lot of people and hit home for me because I have loved ones who have gotten the virus. So I’m just thankful to God that I’m still here, that my mother is still here, that my father is still here. We’re not sick, my family, my loved ones, even the ones who got sick, they’re still here.
3. What are you bored of right now?
Sitting in the house all day. This is different because I’m not used to being in the house this long. I’m just waiting on the word to tell me I can go back to work.
4. What is something that recently moved you?
This pandemic. It has moved me emotionally and spiritually. I feel like everyone has to stop and reset themselves mentally. The world has stopped. People are losing jobs, dying, stuck in the house, and just living in fear. The biggest thing that I get from that is that we have to stop and examine ourselves. It’s not good to live in fear. This time is showing you who has faith, and who has fear.
5. What’s the song you’ve listened to the most recently?
It’s called “King” by Jaquees. He’s and R&B artist, 26 years old, I think. He made an album called “The King of R&B,” so when I listen to the song “King,” it kind of speaks to my life, as far as where I’ve had to come from, the struggle. And then making it through this program, it makes you feel like a king at times.
6. Who is your favorite teacher?
I have a few. At the top of the list is definitely God. I’ve learned a lot of lessons throughout my life that I didn’t have to learn, but I chose to learn things the hard way. Sometimes you have to go through different trials to become stronger and more resilient. You don’t know that it was God at the time, but when you look back on it and think how did I get through that? only one person comes to mind, and it’s not yourself.
7. If you could teach one subject in school what would it be?
Gym.
8. What’s your favorite beverage?
Sweet tea.
9. What’s your favorite food?
Pizza.
10. What would you order at a drive thru right now?
Some chick-fil-a. A chicken sandwich, with the nuggets, with the waffle fries, with the sauce to go with it. And the sweet tea.
11. What was the best birthday you’ve ever had?
Two of them: my 12th and my 21st. My twelfth because I spent it with my mother and my father, we went to an amusement park, that was fun having them in one place together. And 21, because I went to Miami, and just that walk on the beach at night, it was awesome.
12. What was the last thing you cooked?
Oodles of noodles.
13. What’s one thing you still have from your childhood?
My sharp mind. I realize that I was blessed with a sharp mind to think moves ahead on the chess board, and out think people in general. Sometimes my survival was dependent on my sharp mind. I’m thankful I still have it now.
14. What’s your favorite TV show of all time?
Power.
15. What’s your favorite movie?
Training Day.
16. Have you ever googled yourself?
I did. Something popped up, too! [Laughs]
17. If you had a superpower what would it be?
Teleport. Either that or to read people’s minds, but I probably wouldn’t want to read people’s minds. I already pick up on people’s vibes, and you might hear something you don’t want to hear, so I’d rather teleport.
18. If you could do anything in your career, what would you do?
My dream career would be a fashion designer. I want to have my own clothing line. I want it to be based in Philadelphia, I want it to represent Philadelphia. You’re going to like it.
19. Do you have a cool or bizarre talent?
I can play chess. That might not sound like a huge talent, but it’s a thinking man’s game. You have to sit down and analyze every variation. That helps you in life, too, so the fact that I’m able to do that, and I was able to be so successful at it as a child, that means I had the ability to out think people.
20. What’s something you can’t do?
I can’t play basketball. Can’t dribble, can’t dunk, can’t do any of it.
21. What’s the best feedback you’ve ever received?
“Thank you for being you.” I hear that a lot. I guess I’m a pretty good person on the inside. I’m not perfect, but I treat people with love and respect, whether I like them or not.
22. What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?
Life. You take a look at people in my age group, a lot of people are dying, where I’m from. A lot of people are just stuck in a rut and they don’t know what to do. I’ve been blessed with a prosperous life. It took me awhile to get here, but I’m here, and that’s definitely the best gift overall, next to family, friends, and all the things that come with life.
23. What’s one habit you wish you could break?
Procrastination. [Laughs]
24. Do you have any nicknames?
I have two. When I was a child, my nickname was “Blue” because it was my favorite color and I wore it a lot. As I got older, people like to call me “Smooth.” I never called myself that until 20, 21. People were always saying, “man, he’s so smooth!” And I was like, “that’s a nice Instagram name!” So I took it. Smooth.
25. What surprises you the most about people?
Some people are really asleep. There are certain things that block their minds from success. You can see the gift in them, but they choose not to use it. That’s something that surprises me, because, you know, you can see the gift. But you can also see the blockage. And there’s not much you can do about it.
26. What makes you laugh no matter what?
Andrew. [Laughs]. Andrew, and Taymar. Taymar is really funny.
27. What does creativity mean to you?
The universe. When I look at the universe and everything that was created in it, it’s just, wow. I’m not trying to get too spiritual, but I really feel like we all have gifts to create. We come from a creator. Whether it be creating a sentence, a new home for yourself, or a career for yourself, you have to create it. You have to envision it before it happens. That is powerful.
28. What’s the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?
My first trip to Jacksonville, FL. I was 20, I went to Jacksonville, and that’s where I found out about Year Up. That’s also where I found my future wife, I met her through Year Up, and that was a huge blessing. The reason it was so adventurous is because I literally spent the last money in my bank account to buy the plane ticket. I felt like I had a purpose in going there. I went, and I came back with two very important things, and to this day, I still have them.
29. What’s your favorite lyrics of all time?
What’s meant to be is meant to be, I’d rather you than me.
That’s Rick Ross. It means whatever is going to happen is going to happen, and I’d rather it be you than be me. I don’t know what that means 100%, but it sounds good. I like that lyric because it’s the truth: what’s meant to be is meant to be and you can’t stop it.
30. What’s your most memorable moment of internship so far?
I’m going to do L&D and internship. My most memorable time in L&D is actually becoming an entrepreneur, which is something a lot of people talk about, but rarely put action behind. I got the chance to not just become an entrepreneur, but also to build up a clientele with my peers (outside of Year Up, I don’t want to promote solicitation!) That’s powerful because when you’re starting from ground 0, you need influence to have people support you. Over half of the cohort supported me! That was just a magical time.
In internship the most memorable time is when Andrew, Najae, Jade, and I went to New York City to Publicis Health Media’s HQ. I got to meet the CEO; it was amazing. The vibe, we all had on business suits, we went in there, I was well spoken and confident. The CEO and I had something in common, it was amazing to sit down and talk with them.
31. What’s one accomplishment (during Year Up) you’re most proud of?
Earning my internship. Because I know I earned it. I know no one gave it to me. I know I performed at a high level during L&D. The feeling of earning something like that: Priceless.
32. What’s something you’ve always wanted to try but are too scared to do?
Skydiving. But I can’t do it. [Laughs]
33. What animal do you relate the most to?
I would say a lion. The lion is the alpha male, that is what I see myself as, but I’m humble, to where I’m able to share my spotlight or my belongings. When you look at the lion, it likes to share. Especially with his family, the lioness, the cubs. That’s all I’m put here for, to share.
34. What advice would you give to a young adult who is looking for their next opportunity?
Do not cheat yourself. I’ll say it again: do not cheat yourself. A lot of people, they have dreams, they have goals, they have aspirations in life, but they allow different things to hold them back. Because of that, they never succeed in achieving those goals. I was a victim of that for a long time, before I joined Year Up. And even during Year Up, there are ways you can cheat yourself, so you have to be conscious of your flaws and your growth areas. You have to work every day towards bettering yourself. That is the only way you’ll be successful.
35. If you could raid one person’s closet, whose would it be?
Andrew’s. [Laughs] I need that suit. The blue one, and the maroon one. I need them both. Mainly the blue one. I don’t think we’re the same size, though.
36. Favorite professional clothing item?
A fresh button-down long-sleeve shirt. It has to have a Chinese collar or a regular collar where you can loop in the tie or a chain. There’s just something real professional about a nice button-down.
37. What did you want to be at age 5?
A professional wrestler. I wanted to be John Cena.
38. What did you wish you knew at 19?
Discipline. Between the ages of 17 and 20, I lacked a lot of discipline. Especially 19. Different things wise people told me, I wouldn’t take heed to — I was too prideful to acknowledge it. I had to go through different things the hard way and go through uncomfortable situations in order to come to that realization myself: I need discipline. I need to listen. I need to buckle down. Now, I have discipline to do what I need to do and not put things at risk.
39. What’s something you will NOT be doing in 10 years?
I won’t be dead; I’ll tell you that. I speak life over my life. I will live.
40. What is the most important life lesson for someone to learn?
Humility. Being humble is something that is not easy to understand for some people. They feel entitled to how they feel all the time. When you’re like that, you’re not being rational about things. A lot of times, you need to be brought down, to say, “okay, I need to humble myself, I need to admit that I’m wrong.” If everyone could be humble, the world would be a lot more peaceful.
41. Can you say anything in another language?
Hola.
42. What do you love most about Philly?
I love Philadelphia. It’s where I’m from. I was born in Center City. I love the environment, not just where I’m from, but everywhere. Especially downtown — I have a connection to downtown because I was born down there, but every time I’m there, it’s inspiring. Especially when I’m on my way to internship and I’m handling business, you see everyone doing the hustle and bustle, it’s so inspiring, I just embrace all the energy of the city before I go to work. I’m very proud to be from this city. It’s up there — people know Philly all around the world. People know New York, they know Philadelphia, it’s right next door. I love the overall vibe.
43. What’s one goal you’re determined to achieve?
I will get this job. After that, it’s to start my clothing line. I know it’ll take time and have rough patches, but I believe I’ll get there.
44. What is one talent you wish you had?
I consider myself the full package, but there are some things I lack. I wish I had the talent to codeswitch on and off. It’s difficult for me, I like talking the way I’m used to, but in the corporate setting, you have to adjust your language. I’m uncomfortable with that. I don’t like to be fake; I like to be real. But it’s not about being fake or real, it’s just about codeswitching. It’s something I wish I had the way Andrew and Hassan do. I don’t. But I can.
45. Can you do an impression of someone from Year Up?
I’m going to do the Hassan smile. [Beams & waves]. He loves to smile. He walks around smiling. He loves it.
46. If your life were a song, what would the title be?
“Overcome.” I overcame a lot, even when I was a child. I wasn’t supposed to be here, I was supposed to be dead. When I was first born, my heart rate kept dropping, they had to give my mother a C-section, and even when I was born, I had jaundice. If that isn’t treated, things can happen to the baby. All throughout my life I’ve had to overcome different situations to be who I am today.
47. Best way to decompress?
Go into your quiet place. Close the door, and just think. Don’t get on your phone, your iPad, don’t text anybody. Just you and your thoughts. I believe that’s when you begin to really hear yourself and hear how you sound. Different thoughts come to your mind. You have to dwell on the good thoughts and dwell on your future. Think about your life, the ways you can do better.
48. What was the biggest learning experience you’ve ever had?
Year Up. And UPS. UPS taught me what hard work was. Before that, I didn’t know what hard work was. Year Up because it taught me the business mentality. I already had the seed inside me, it just needed fertilization, and it needed to grow. Andrew has been a huge inspiration to me, he helped me become a true young professional. He helped me sharpen my tools and understand that I have all of the gifts necessary to be successful in business, and I’m grateful for that.
49. What’s the first thing you thought of when you woke up this morning?
God. Every morning I wake up, it’s because of Him. He keeps me here.
50. Three words to describe living in Philly?
Rough, inspiring, and motivating. Motivating goes hand in hand with inspiring. It’s rough living where I live. I live in the place where people don’t make it out. There’s a lot to overcome, especially as a child, whether it’s bullying, drugs, or killings. Anything. You have to overcome this. And I did it, and I thank God for that. It’s inspiring. And when I see the younger kids growing up, I can be there to motivate them.
51. If you could have anyone over for dinner, who would it be?
LeBron James. I want to ask him about his last championship, and the mentality going into those games. He had to come back from a 3–1 deficit, which means he had to win 3 games straight, which is a lot of pressure against the best team ever (on paper). I want to ask him, what were you thinking about during those games? so that I can go do it.
52. If you could switch lives with someone for a day who would it be?
Dionte Wilder. He’s a boxer, a heavy weight boxer. He’s the biggest KO puncher ever, has the highest KO percentage, and I’ve always loved boxing. We were always slap boxing growing up. I was one of those guys who had the hands. So, I want to learn how to throw the right hand like he does.
53. What do you hope to be doing a year from now?
I’d like to have a large clientele when it comes to fashion designing, and I’d like to be formulating a plan to have my own storefront.
54. What do you hope to be doing five years from now?
I would like to start my family. Have children, settle down, focus on the wife and kids. When you live that life as a man, you’re blessed.
