Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Ashford.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Josh. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Grew up in Los Angeles. Never lived in the hood but if the hood was a house, I lived in the one next door. Got into a lot of trouble as a kid. Eventually got arrested at 12. At the same time, my brother’s friends were literally dying from gang violence. My decided that was enough. So when I was almost 13, she moved me and my two siblings to Texas and my dad stayed in California. He eventually followed us this way a year later.
I remember making the decision when we moved to Texas that I wasn’t going to be the same kid I was in LA. I was going to make some changes for the better. It turned out to be harder than I imagined but I did it. Graduated high school and went to the University of North Texas were I earned a Bachelors degree in Marketing.
Once I started working and making “real money” it hit me that there are a lot kids that look like me and come from similar backgrounds that need to know the steps I took to get where I had gotten to. So I started mentoring every chance I got. I was a part of a Texas Juvenile Justice Department mentoring program. We went into a local youth center in the Denton County area every week and poured into the young kids that many had already forgotten about. I also spent a lot of time at different high schools around the metroplex. Teaching classes. Doing mock interviews. Mentoring entire groups at a time.
Throughout all of the different scenarios, the same situation was always presented, there weren’t a lot of people that looked like me, came from my background and around my age. I think it’s so important for these young students to see other “young people” coming back to help them and not just those that have reached retirement age.
This went on for some years and eventually I realized that I could make a lot more impact if I helped the fathers learn to connect with their children than me connecting with them. Also, this would allow the father to be involved at a younger age and avoid a lot of the obstacles that our kids face. So I created Teach Love Connect. We believe that fatherhood should be celebrated everyday. Also, we help fathers connect with their young children and challenge the stigma that fathers are emotionally distant, impatient and unapproachable. We do this through the merchandise that we sell and through the content we put out on various platforms.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The process has been relatively easy but the engagement has been tough. There is so much content in the world that it’s not easy to be heard. What we have found is that if we just stay in our lane, those that are looking for the solutions we provide will find us. And they are starting to find us a lot easier because we just keep doing the work and don’t look at the “results”.
Please tell us about Teach Love Connect.
At the very core, our business is to create a community for fathers to feel comfortable, learn and grow. We have our apparel line that features three designs. Some might say that you need more but why add more when those three get the messaging across? 🙂
We are building a private online community called Dads on Purpose where dads can join the conversation at their own leisure and just listen/learn from other dads that have been through whatever situation they’re at. Whether that’s potty-training or how to get the most money for college. Lastly, we are recording for our podcast titled Dad on Purpose. We will feature guest and talk about different situations that dads face in life. From being a girl dad to being a dad that is a nurse in the middle of a pandemic.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
One of my favorite childhood memories is from my football playing days 🙂 I wasn’t the best athlete but I could hold my own. As I got older, competition got better and it was a little harder to hold my own. I remember this one game though where I was on defense. The game was almost over and we were about to lose. The other team just had to keep running the ball. Well they happened to run my way and instead of tackling I went for the ball. We struggled for a few seconds and I eventually took the ball from the other guy and ran about 50 yards for a touchdown. it was like the highlight of my career. Everyone knew who I was for that game. It was super cool cause my dad was in the stands (he always was but it was just cool that we got to share that because we were so different that we didn’t have a lot to share all the time.)
Pricing:
- Shirts – $25
- Hoodies – $50
Contact Info:
- Website: www.TLCbrand.com
- Email: Info.TLCBrand@Gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/dadonpurpose
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/TLCBrandCO
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