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

Hi Joshua , thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

I hope my legacy is one that reflects a person that had a heart for other people. People may not remember my name. They may not remember what I’ve done; but they will always remember how I made them feel.

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

I am a Teacher, and Football Coach in York, SC. I also own Rock Hill Video Company, I’m the co-founder of a non-profit organization called Write Way Foundation and is the Co-Author of The Write Way To Heal.

At 5 years old, I carried my 7 year old brother down two flights of stairs after he was shot by our neighbor. Little did I know, this experience would influence my decisions for the rest of my life.

When my brother returned to school the following year, he was behind academically, so he acted out, and often got into trouble. This always bothered me because I always felt that teachers gave up on my brother and labeled him as just another low-income kid with a drug addicted mother.

This is experience ultimately compelled me into all the work I do and into education. As a teacher, my philosophy is “you never know what a kid is going through, so you treat every kid like they can be the next president”. This is what compels me to teach, and it is also what compels me to speak. My hope is that I can share my story with others that work with low-income students like myself.

How’d you meet your business partner?

Rodrekous and I met in college as roommates at Coastal Carolina University. We immediately became close friends, united by our similar childhood. Rodrekous and I both grew up as low-income inner-city kids. However, we used the power of their imagination to escape the reality of their environment.

After meeting in college, we founded Coastal Carolina University’s first ever PEACE Club (Performers Emerging Above Circumstances to Excel) to provide other students with a platform for expressing themselves. The organization went on to win multiple awards, including the NAACP’s Organization on the Rise Award.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Two months before I graduated college, I lost everything I owned–including the car I had just purchased–in a huge fire. In a moment’s time, I went from laughing and goofing off with my friends to sitting on the curb drowning in a pool of tears.

This was all while working to complete a 480-hour internship with the Boys & Girls Club. I could not graduate without completing it, and I literally could not afford to go back for another semester!

There were many times I cried in the hotel room, the car, in the bathroom, and behind my smile. However, what that moment did was allow God to reintroduce himself to me….stripped of all material expectations. I did not see it while in it, but God used so many people to reveal himself through this tragedy.

This caused me to pivot how I went about creating opportunities for myself and others in my life. Instead of just trying to create something to say look at me. I strive to create things that serve other people, just as Christ has served us. This is evident in how I run my company Rock Hill Video Company as well as the vision behind the Write Way Foundation.

Contact Info:

• Website: joshbovill.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshuabovill/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-bovill-mba-7bb0a23a/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoshuaJBovill