We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Josiah Corbin. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Josiah below.

Josiah , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you take us back in time to the first dollar you earned as a creative – how did it happen? What’s the story?

The first dollar I earned as a creative was when I promoted my very first show in 2003. I was so excited to launch a monthly showcase called “Good Music Night” and was certain that the entire city would show up. There were 13 people that showed up and I was devastated. I remember counting the money and reminding myself of the empty feeling after a very lack luster turn out. I made a vow to myself to learn from that moment and do whatever I could to never feel that way again. In 2 short months after this moment, I was selling out some of the biggest venues in Nashville at the time and quickly made a name for myself showcasing the most sought after emerging acts on the scene at the time. I’ll never forget how great it felt to put my heart and soul into what I was creating and get paid to do what I love so much.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started my own company right out of college promoting local shows in Nashville, which spotlighted emerging artists who I thought could make it big or should be known about. I’ve always been intrigued by the power of music and how it instantly brings people together, so my love for people and emerging music, made this career easier to pursue. I’ve always been drawn to the “what’s next” factor when digging and discovering new music to share to everyone around me. I truly enjoy the discovery of music and naturally promote anything I believe in. This allowed my time promoting shows to accelerate quickly and I was able to scale my love for music into a full time job. During my time promoting shows, I met many meaningful relationships that led me to bigger opportunities which continued to develop my specific discipline. These relationships allowed me to grow beyond promotion and I began to dabble in artist management, tour management, event management and live production. My goal every day was to be a sponge in any environment I was in so I could soak up more experience by surrounding myself with people more knowledgeable than me. I quickly realized I was growing in my skill set and discovering the power of relational equity as it pertained to anything I was doing. Early on in my career, I realized that creating experiences that utilized music, had the ability the change the atmosphere around me and become something much bigger than a concert or musical encounter. I gravitated towards this exercise in everything I did and pursued unique experiential moments which were built around music in some capacity. I began making a name for myself in the industry, not because of who I was programming on stage, but how I was curating each experience through the lens of the consumer. I often would ask myself “Is this a show I would purchase a ticket to”? and if the answer was no, I would reverse engineer the project until it became something not only I was passionately creating, but that was something I would want to attend. I firmly believe that creating anything sustainable, you must continually evolve, learn, grow and never be the smartest person in the room. I offer this type of thinking in my role as Director of Brand Experience and Entertainment Strategy at Go West Creative Group. Through years of creating musical and experiential moments on my own, I continued my style of thinking and creating into the corporate space. I’ve now been servicing multiple Fortune 500 clients the last 10 years of my career. I offer the same baseline principles to my clients now that I was offering myself at the beginning of my career – Strive to create something truly unique and not manufacture the creative process in each program. I push myself to stay on top of industry trends and continue to discover ways to bring people together utilizing the power of music. I’m passionate about the differences in musical genres and how all music serves it’s purpose when properly aligned with each program.

Have you ever had to pivot?

As most of the world had to do in 2020, I had to pivot in business, career and life due to Covid. I was laid off from my job based on the direct impact Covid-19 had on the entertainment industry. This directly impacted all areas of my life. I no longer had a career which allowed me to do business and I no longer had a reliable source of income which directly impacted my life and the lives of my family. I was forced to sell my house to stay afloat and continued to pursue any work I could find in the meantime. It was a very dark season, but I remained as optimistic as I could and while adapting to the ways in which entertainment would be handled moving forward. I firmly believe that this season created a new found strength and resilience in me that I have been able to carry with me in my professional life. I was beyond thankful when the clouds cleared and I was able to re-enter the industry that I love so much as I was hired at Go West Creative Group.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I refused to give up when there was no work for me during 2020. After being forced to sell my dream home in order to stay afloat, I vividly remember picking up any work I could in order to make money and support my family. One time I was scooping ice cream on an ice cream truck, to try and make a little bit of cash and remember thinking to myself, “sometimes you have to lose everything you love in order to gain everything you need”. This has been a very powerful thought that I’ve referenced many times since and it always reminds me that no matter how tough something may be in that moment, it’s not nearly as tough as it was back then. Perspective is everything in life and I choose to find the good in life, even when things may be bad. Every day from that moment on, I would wake up and send my resume to as many people as I could with the hope that one day things would bounce back. I was fortunate to have the help of friends and family during this season and surprisingly enough, I continued to find small jobs and work that was enough to support my family. Almost 1 year to the day of being laid off from another entertainment marketing agency, I was hired at Go West Creative Group. The inability for me to give up during such a turbulent season in life has instilled more discipline and gratitude in my daily interactions.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.gowestcreativegroup.com
• Instagram: @jojoraymojo
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josiah-c-68302470/