My Story

Have you ever looked at your life and thought, “Is this it?”
Yeah, me too.
I’m a simple-living, multi-passionate, community-loving dude with an amazing wife, two great sons, and a clear sense of my gifts.
Through things like multipotentiality, Asset-Based Community Development, and quantum biology, I’ve befriended personal heroes and achieved things that “Past Joel” would've thought impossible.
But I’m not special. I’m just a regular person like you who made some big changes.
Cue the Personal Renaissance
Back in 2010, life looked “nice” on the outside. I had a good job, a good house, and all the adulting boxes checked.
Behind my disguise, I was sleep-deprived, addicted to video games, sugar-binging, and mindlessly chasing money with meaningless work. Then it happened: My wife, Melinda, told me she was pregnant with our first son.
That. Changed. Everything.

The key question was this: do I let the shadow of becoming a physically and emotionally absent papa sweep over me or do I let the light of reinvention shine in?
I chose to ignite a personal renaissance – my term for a rapid and expansive inner evolution – that’s still going strong.
Blogs and Experiments
Inspired by everyday people doing extraordinary things, I started blogging in 2010. I learned a ton despite my posts being crap-tastic and packed with drifting fascinations.
By 2012, I quit my comfy job without a backup plan and leaned hard into simplicity, creativity, and community. Slowly but surely, I started creating more than I consumed.
Yeah, my new worldview was messy and I stumbled along like a sleepy toddler. But participating in events like World Domination Summit and immersing myself in communities like Live Your Legend and The Puttyverse showed me a new promise.
Bring. People. Together.

Through purposeful sleep-deprivation this time, my second son was born in September 2013. That’s about the time I started a simple living event series called SimpleREV with my buddies, Dan Hayes and Anthony Ongaro.
It was short-lived but tree-mend-us – showing me the promise in my unique style of bringing people together.
These Days?

I'm happily focused on running The Puttyverse – a global community of multipotentialites – introducing more people to the Offers and Needs Market, doing hyper-local neighboring with NeighborGood, exploring consciousness and spirituality through psychedelics, and continuing to evolve.
But I still have my flaws. I lose my patience and focus. I battle with sugar-binging and needlessly impressing people.
What guides me through the dark moments is massive gratitude and purpose. There are opportunities to influence and be influenced … and dare I say change the world.
Want to Start (or Continue) Your Own Personal Renaissance?
If you’re feeling stuck, aimless, or like your potential’s gathering dust, I hope my story sparks something in you.
Let’s explore the simple, generous, wonderfully unsexy side of life together. We’ll stumble, high-five, maybe hug, and laugh a lot on the way.
Are you in?
Me, Briefly
I bring diverse communities together and (maybe) get you excited about spreadsheets. Let's explore how to live intentionally, embrace our multipotentiality, share our gifts, build authentic relationships, and have tons of gratitude. No prior experience necessary.