We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Josh Gross a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Josh, appreciate you joining us today. Can you tell us a bit about who your hero is and the influence they’ve had on you?

My mom is my hero. Sure, this might sound cliche. A lot of people might pick one, or both, of their parents. Let me tell you about my mom.
Her parents (my grandparents) fled the Holocaust and built a new life for themselves in New York City. They had little money, and raised my mom and her sister. Both chose careers in the arts – my mom becoming a music therapist while my aunt chose dance therapy.
For decades, my mom taught children with special needs including those with autism. The patience she learned in that profession spilled over into our personal lives. Throughout my childhood, she was so incredibly patient with my dad, my sister and me.
While I wasn’t necessarily a tough child, I was a kid! And patience is vital in parenting. My mom never lost her cool and was always a role model for me.
For my entire life, she’s been the most supportive person and my biggest champion.
In 2001, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her treatment nearly cost her her life. But she never complained, never asked for anyone’s pity, and continued to lead our family by example.
Now, as she nears her 80th birthday, she’s the caregiver for my dad. He’s been battling Parkinson’s for years, and his condition since the start of COVID has deteriorated rapidly. My mom gives everything she has to make him as happy and comfortable as possible.
As the parent of a 14-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter, they test my patience regularly. Sometimes, I think back on how my mom reacted and responded to me when I was being a challenge.
In my industry – corporate partnerships – I get to meet and work with truly inspirational people and brands. But the process, from start to finish, can last months or years. Plenty of relationships result in ‘hurry up and wait’ scenarios. These require patience. I have to think that my mom’s patience and resiliency have helped me start, and slowly build, my business. And that they play a role in my everyday life connecting brands with interesting ways to reach their desired audiences.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Like so many kids growing up, I aspired to be a professional athlete – to play second base for the New York Yankees. By the time I was 13 years old, it was apparent that wasn’t going to happen. But I loved the idea of team! I pursued a broadcast degree and a career of play-by-play.

While I spent 20-plus years working in the business of sports, 10 of those years were also spent as a broadcaster. I had the most amazing job in the work – getting paid to talk sports.

After two decades in pro and amateur sports, I started my own partnership marketing agency. I represent properties that have sizeable/desirable audiences that brands want to engage with.

The first order of business is finding people I want to work with, and properties I believe in. My first client – and one I’m proud to still work with – is Belmont Park, the 100-year-old beachfront amusement destination in Mission Beach, San Diego.

In my role, my job is to identify the brands that would benefit from the guests/fans of the properties I represent. Once I get the attention of a marketing decisionmaker at a company, then the fun begins. This is the most joy I have in my job. I get to brainstorm unique and creative ways to bring that brand to life at one of the properties. This could mean a unique weekend activation, a seasonal relationship or a long-standing partnership.

When I hear feedback like “I love the creativity,” and “This is one of the most clever ideas I’ve ever seen,” that’s when I know I’ve won! While both of these are actual quotes from the past couple months, I haven’t finalized deals with either of these companies. In fact, one of them gave me a No For Today. But that doesn’t matter – I got their attention, enjoyed the process, and made a lifelong connection. One day, the No For Today may become a yes. If it does, great! If not, I’m still happy that they appreciated my process and can tell that I listened, learned and cared.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I first started One44 Group, I expected that the first few years of my business would be working with local/regional rightsholders and eventually I’d grow to represent national properties. The process was unexpected and pleasantly expedited.

Within six months, I was working with my first national property. Six months later, a second came on board – or so they said.

The second property had dozens of locations throughout the country, and a growing international footprint. And I was a fan and customer of theirs well before we ever talked business.

We finalized the relationship details and agreed to terms. All I needed was a final signature on the agreement and we’d be off to the races. Long story short, that signature never came. I met with the company owner and others. Eventually, they backed out.

It was a tough day, a challenging time. I knew I’d have success working with them while opening new windows for revenue and relevance. And just like that, it was gone!

Personally, I could have used the win. My company could have really used the money. But we stuck it out, and months later found two new clients we’re taking to victory lane. For bandwidth reasons, I probably couldn’t have delivered value to either of the two clients if I was working with the international one at the time.

If you give it your all, it’s possible that when one door closes, another one opens. And sometimes the one that opens is a much better fit!

Have you ever had to pivot?

‘Retiring,’ if I can call it that, from broadcasting at the age of 33 was a big career pivot. It was a dream of mine for 20 years.

Balancing a full-time career with being a husband and father of two young children was a juggling act. I was rushing to get my kids to bed each night just so I could open my laptop and start preparing for my next on-air assignment. It wasn’t fair to my kids.

A month before signing off, I got a full-time job offer in Denver (where I was living at the time) from one of the top local stations. And I respectfully declined.

My wife urged me to take the job offer. She said I was too good to give it up. But in my heart, I knew what was in the best interest of my family. While I miss calling games live on TV, I don’t miss the prep time and the stress of balancing work, with work, with being good to those I love the most.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://One44Group.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-gross-57888b4/ AND https://www.linkedin.com/company/one44-group