This is not an immigrant story. This is actually the story of a boy who grew up in New York and, I have to admit, when I heard him talking about his story on the train while he tried selling his book, I fell in love with what he was sharing and the fact that, this kid, is as much of a warrior as I am. Josh Johnson made it happen.
Here I am, on the train home after a full productive office day. One thing about me is that, as soon as I jump on the subway, I have my headphones on and I start playing games on my phone. I am that kind of bit*h who doesn’t like to talk to people on the train, but that day, in particular, I actually stopped the music on my headphones just to hear what he was saying.
A young kid who jumps on the subway and starts talking very loudly would normally be someone asking for money (sad, but true), but Josh had a different approach. He started saying “I don't want to ask you for money, I just want to sell you my book! None of you here knows who I am, but I am Josh Johnson, a kid who grew up in Harlem but made it happen in New York City, so now I wrote a book to share my experience and try keeping other kids out of the streets. My book is just $20 and you can buy it online too”. With no doubt, I opened my safari and googled him.
A young kid, who always liked music, discovered a special passion for tap dancing and now wrote a book, does tap dancing on the subway, and collects donations for his college funds and to help out his family. Most of the kids trying to dance or play instruments on the streets don’t have the pro-activity and the guts he had to write a book and, mostly, approach people saying “I have a book to sell you” instead of “can anybody help me with some money?”.
Since I promise to share real, inspiring, and helpful stories with you, I had to dedicate this blog post to Josh Johnson but I cannot spoil the whole story in his little book. So, if you want to learn more about a warrior kid who made it happen in NYC, you can find him here: Make It Happen! Josh Johnson, Tap Dancer.
One thing that I always love and appreciate is courage! My father once told me that conquering things when you have money is easy, but making things happen when you have nothing is the real challenge. So bumping into a kid with such a cool story and the balls to make it happen in NYC is inspiring.
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