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

Alright, Josh thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

At IDEAS xLab, we use the art of storytelling and community collaboration to impact public health – ranging from racial healing and reconciliation to advancing health equity through culturally-responsive communications. My husband Theo Edmonds and I co-founded the organization – which I now lead as CEO – in 2013.

(Un)Known Project, which I co-lead with my friend and IDEAS xLab Chief Creative Officer Hannah Drake, is really meaningful to me. I believe in racial equity and justice, and this project is part of how I can support achieving that and working toward a multiracial democracy.

Through the project, we are unearthing and honoring the names and stories of Black enslaved people in the United States. We created (Un)Known Project at a critical time in our nation’s journey, drawing on our life experiences and travel together to places including Dakar, Senegal, Natchez, MS, Montgomery, AL, and deep connections to Louisville, Kentucky. Research into the transatlantic slave trade, our collaborative work, time at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Alabama, and ideas from partners including the Frazier History Museum birthed the idea to create the (Un)Known Project and to start exhuming the names and stories of the enslaved that America had buried and hidden.

What started as a project focused on Louisville, KY quickly grew with people reaching out from other states. Since (Un)Known Project’s launch in 2020, we have unearthed over 1,000 names of enslaved people (as of spring 2023), and created public art, art exhibits and immersive experiences – engaging people in that history and supporting racial healing and reconciliation.

We are now expanding (Un)Known Project to be a national initiative through our Soros Equality Fellowship, having launched our new website to crowd-source history about enslavement [https://unknownprojecttrail.com/]. This includes calling on the descendants of enslavers to share sales ledgers, wills and other documents and stories that include the names and information about people their ancestors enslaved. We want to make this information public so we have a fuller telling of history and so that people can have access to the data, especially if they are searching for answers to their family’s past.

Through our (Un)Known Project survey, we’ve been able to hear from people about how our project is impacting them. Responses to the prompt: “Something I learned through (Un)Known Project” included:

– Understanding not just the emotional history but the experiences that helped shape and mold who people are. Experiences of ancestors don’t just shape who you are but how you feel
– The number of unknown family members of those within the state of Kentucky and imagining what it could be like to see ancestors as property. Just heartbreaking.
– …how many people have little knowledge of their family history and that information that could be helpful to them is hidden in yet unseen records.
– The role the river played in the lives of slaves.
– The wide variety of talented Black artists and artisans creating right here in Louisville!

If you are interested in working with us to establish an (Un)Known Project site in your community, or have information about enslaved people or sites you want to share with the project – please visit unknownprojecttrail.com or email unknownproject@ideasxlab.com

Josh, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a storyteller and strategist, a leader who translates across sectors, and someone who believes in the power of art to shape the future. My work is grounded in my core values of courage, curiosity, creativity and connection – and informed by my experiences as a queer person, background in editorial production and storytelling, and quest to explore and understand the world around me. I was based in Louisville, KY for over 12 years, and now live in Denver, CO, traveling across the country for our work.

My work through IDEAS xLab includes (Un)Known Project, and work with the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health & Wellness where we use community engagement and arts activities to co-create public health messaging with community members. To date, the digital components of the campaigns focused on childhood lead poisoning prevention, health equity and housing justice have performed 300%+ above the industry standard – leading to increased access to public health resources and an increase in children being tested for lead poisoning.

Additionally, I offer public speaking and create Wearable Photos through the small business I founded, Josh Miller Ventures. My public speaking – from my TEDx talks to the Cross-Atlantic Creativity Congress (Salzburg) and more – focuses on topics including covering: downplaying, hiding, or filtering parts of ourselves at work and beyond, LGBTQ+ experiences and allyship in the workplace, and the role of arts and culture in driving change and transformation.

It’s been amazing to see how people respond to hearing – for the first time – words put to experiences they have had. When they can name what they have been through and talk about its impact. Like Sarah Alarcon said after my DisruptHR Denver talk on The Courage to Uncover, “Watching you speak inspired me to be my most authentic self, thank you. I loved that you gave a name to something that I’ve felt often in my life: covering.”

Part of my uncovering journey has included exploring new ways of presenting in the world, part of what inspired me to start creating Wearable Photos. Melding art, exploration and fashion, I create apparel and accessories that feature images from my outdoor explorations and travels – from Colorado to France, Salzburg to Louisville. What I love is that you’re creating an art installation each time you put them on. You can delve into my collections of Wearable Photos at https://wearable.photos/ or shop select and custom offerings at the Denver Art Museum Shop.

And don’t worry, if it feels intimidating to figure out how to wear them, you can checkout the tutorial I created at https://joshmiller.ventures/wearablephotos

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I’ve long believed that being visible can shift culture, and that sharing our stories can be the catalyst that changes how people see and move through the world. I’m using my platform as a queer changemaker, public speaker and artist to launch an uncovering movement, by inviting you to embark on a daring journey with me. To take bold steps to explore new frontiers, and, to create a more inclusive world through action, art and adventure.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn that there was only one way to be a man, and to be a professional.

Until I was 18, I lived on Lookout Mountain, in the Chattanooga, TN area. I’m the oldest of five kids and grew up in a conservative religious bubble.

A community where boys didn’t take ballet (because you’d be considered gay) and a place where being gay was a choice and a sin. My understanding of the world was shaped by the idea that a 9-5 job was the goal and that artists couldn’t make a living on their art (whatever that art may be).

I started wearing makeup my senior year of high-school after being kicked out and moving in with family in Southern Indiana, along with a mix of men’s and women’s clothing. For years I looked in the mirror and saw a beautiful man but didn’t think that man could step into the workplace and be respected and taken seriously the way he wanted to present. There was a fear when we started IDEAS xLab that being “too gay” might limit our funding options and who would partner with us. There was an internal message of tone it down, that’s not professional. And sometimes, the message came from others too. So, instead of platform shoes and a tunic, I’d wear a blazer and wingtips. Instead of eyeshadow and earrings, small flourishes like a custom bowtie

At the beginning – I didn’t notice the toll it took when I covered – downplaying, hiding or filtering parts of myself at work, with different social groups, at school or with family. But over time, the evidence became visible.

A few years in, and I could feel the impact it was having. Mentally, I was depleted, and I wasn’t enjoying our work like I could – because it wasn’t ME that was doing it, but a watered down and assimilated version of myself. My creativity, my leadership, and even my health were all being impacted. Coping mechanisms including drinking large quantities of alcohol had gotten a firm hold in my life.

I can remember a day when I took a mental inventory, asking why I wasn’t feeling fulfilled – why I felt so depleted. I didn’t have the words for it at the time but covering was the primary culprit. The question… Was it worth it? It’s a privilege to lead an organization and to decide overnight to start presenting differently. I started slowly, switching in scarfs for ties and remembering the joy I felt expressing myself through makeup. One thing I’d always wanted to do was grow my hair out, and I hadn’t because I knew it would further contribute to me being misgendered – called ma’am instead of sir. But, I took that step too.

In the years following the decision to begin uncovering, I also directly faced my relationship with drinking. This spring, I celebrated 5-years alcohol free – which has been another transformational decision I’m grateful for every day.

Now, almost 10-years since I began to uncover, I’m showing up as a far more authentic version of myself. And it’s one of those things that will continue to evolve over time – the more I’m able to rewrite outdated mental models about what it means to be a man, and what it means to be a professional.

In her radical imagination work, adrienne marie brown talks about how through imagination “we are shaping the future we long for and [have] not yet experienced.”

Seeing how many leaders and companies are choosing to look at the future of work, I wonder if they realize how much people have fundamentally changed? I wonder if they’ve asked themselves the question – whose imagination are we working in? Does it serve us now? Do they recognize that this is an opportunity to foundationally shift how we work, and why we work?

I was introduced to brown’s work as I was preparing for a photoshoot for the 2022 Nonprofit Visionary Leader Awards, which I was receiving from Louisville Business First. I had to travel in for the photoshoot, so I’d packed two options. The outfit I imaged would be great – including a Wearable Photos silk print and a beautiful silver and pearl earring I’d just gotten. And a backup, the safe option – a black tailored jacket and pants. As much as I have worked to overcome the limiting idea of what it means to be and look like a professional, I still find those old ways of thinking creeping in. I thought, ‘I’m being photographed as a nonprofit CEO, I know what the other people will be wearing, and it’s not in line with the outfit I imagined for myself.’

I asked myself, whose imagination am I working and living in? Just because someone else couldn’t imagine a queer man dressing like this and being professional doesn’t make it wrong or unprofessional – it just expands what’s possible for me, and for others. Remembering that, and my mission, I showed up in androgynous Wearable Photos ensembles for the photoshoot and awards ceremony because I’m here to imagine something new.      

Contact Info:

• Website: https://joshmiller.ventures/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshmillerventures/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmventures/
• Other: My public speaking and Uncovering Your Value work: https://joshmiller.ventures/public-speaking IDEAS xLab’s
• Website: IDEAS xLab https://ideasxlab.com/

Image Credits
Photo Credits: Paul Miller Photography Josh Miller Kriech-Higdon Photography Amanda Tipton Photography Roxanna Carrasco