Joshua B. Lee

yesterday was my birthday
forty seven years around the sun
and I spent it sick in bed
missed dinner with Rachel
and if you know me you know that means I was really sick

but even sick I felt lucky

the last couple years have been heavy
I went full-time dad mode while my kids were fighting through a tough season
every night I went to bed worried
every morning I woke up holding my breath

this year that weight finally feels lighter
the kids are smiling again
and that’s the best gift I could ever ask for

and as I was laying there
I kept seeing people talk about AI and how it’s going to take jobs away from everyone
but there’s one job it will never take from me
being a dad

AI can do a lot of things
but it can’t show up at midnight when your kid needs you
or to love them unconditionally

that’s the job that actually matters

so what about you
what’s something you’re grateful for right now that most people don’t even know you’ve been carrying
that weight that finally feels a little lighter

#YOUmanize #Gratitude #Fatherhood #FamilyFirst #LeadershipWithHeart #RealTalk

I’m not the same entrepreneur I was a decade ago. Hell, I’m not the same man I was last year. Life, leadership, and legacy, they don’t happen in a vacuum, they get built in the middle of the mess.

I’ve been in rooms with billion-dollar brands and broken through ceilings with some of the smartest minds in the game. But it’s in the days when nothing makes sense and you still show up.

This year, gratitude hits different, it’s not the surface level “thankful” we toss around in meetings. It’s the deep, soul-level appreciation for the humans who keep this ship afloat.

My wife, Rachel B. Lee, she’s not just my co-CEO. She’s a full-time warrior raising our 2 year old, guiding our teens through some of the toughest battles with mental health, and still showing up every day with power and purpose.

Our kids, Skylar, Jayden, and Ava, have taught me more about strength than any leadership book ever could.

Our team, spread out across the globe, who continue to give their best, believe in our mission, and bring YOUmanity into this digital first world we’re building.

Entrepreneurship is often sold as a highlight reel, but it’s lonely sometimes, it's chaotic, and it's real. And yet, I’m grateful for every moment. Because every late night, every hard decision, every conversation where we choose to lean in instead of check out… that’s where leadership lives.

If you're in it right now, doing your best to hold it together, lead with heart, and not lose yourself in the chaos, same here, this is where the real growth happens.

Gratitude isn’t just about what’s going right, it’s about choosing to keep going, even when it’s not.

#Gratitude #Leadership #Entrepreneurship

We didn’t break the AI, we just stopped asking the right questions. A recent research paper out of Stanford, Northeastern, and West Virginia quietly flipped the AI world on its head. Not with a billion dollar model or some shiny new tool, but with a simple insight that challenged everything we thought we knew.

It turns out, it’s not that ChatGPT and other models have lost their creativity. It’s that we trained them to be “helpful,” and we taught them to be predictable, repetitive, and boring. The creativity isn’t gone, it’s just buried underneath the way we prompt it.

The research introduced a technique called Verbalized Sampling, and with it came a ridiculously simple workaround: “Generate 5 responses with their probabilities.”

No, I didn’t come up with that line, credit goes to the research team. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized this isn’t just about AI, it’s about how we’ve trained ourselves.

We’ve started showing up online like bots, polished, safe, and predictable. We’ve been optimizing for visibility instead of connection. And trust doesn’t come from playing it safe, it comes from soul.

🔵 Instead of asking, “Write a LinkedIn post about leadership,” 
🔵 Try this: “Generate 5 LinkedIn post angles on leadership, each with their probability of being chosen by a high-growth founder audience.”

That small shift changes everything, it reintroduces possibility where most people only see limits. It invites creativity, voice, and unpredictability back into the process, whether you’re using AI or writing your next post.

Whether you’re building your brand, your business, or just trying to think differently, maybe it’s time we stop asking for the answer and start asking better questions. 👊

#AI #ContentStrategy #Marketing #Branding

Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot of talk about how AI is “replacing leadership.” That it’s going to automate the way we make decisions, manage people, and run companies. AI isn’t replacing leaders, it’s challenging them to show up differently.

The real shift isn’t about machines taking over, it’s about whether leaders are willing to rethink how they lead, with more clarity, more intention, and more trust.

AI can help you make smarter decisions, it can remove the busy work and give you more signal in the noise. But it can’t build culture, it can’t coach a struggling team member, and it can’t replace the emotional intelligence required to navigate real human conversations.

The leaders who thrive in this new era won’t be the ones who rely on tech to do their job, they’ll be the ones who use it to create more space for the parts of leadership that actually matter. 

It’s not about having all the answers, it’s about being more human than ever, while letting AI support that journey, not steer it.

#Leadership #AI #BusinessAdvice

Yesterday’s election results say more about people than politics

voters showed up because they’re tired
tired of noise
tired of division
tired of leaders who feel out of touch

democrats had a strong night in places like Virginia and New Jersey
but this wasn’t about party
it was about people asking to be seen again

the economy
jobs
the cost of living
those are human issues not partisan ones

whatever side you’re on this moment is a reminder
leadership has to listen

let’s YOUmanize before trust becomes the thing nobody can win back

#YOUmanize #LeadershipWithHeart #RealTalk #FutureOfWork #HumanFirst

AI can write a LinkedIn post in 30 seconds, but can it build trust with your audience? Not a chance. Every day, I see more AI generated content flooding the feed. It’s slick, it’s optimized, and it’s everywhere. I get the appeal.  
Who wouldn’t want to save time?

But people do business with people, not algorithms. If your content doesn’t sound like there’s a human heart behind it, no amount of keywords or polish will make real leaders pay attention. 
 
I’ve always believed LinkedIn runs on a trust economy. You might fool the algorithm for a while with volume or clever hacks, but you can’t fool the people reading your posts. They know. We all do.

The best content on LinkedIn isn’t the most perfect or polished, it’s the most real. It’s the founder sharing a lesson learned from a failure, or the manager admitting what their team taught them. Those posts might not read like a press release, but they make you stop, think, and remember the person who wrote them. 
 
So yes, use AI as a tool, let it brainstorm or handle some grunt work if it helps. But never hand over your voice. Your human truth is your competitive edge, visibility isn’t about cranking out posts, it’s about showing up in a way that people trust.

At the end of the day, a thousand automated posts can’t replace one genuine conversation. And that conversation only starts when someone out there can sense the real you coming through in your content.

#AI #ContentStrategy #Marketing

You don’t need to yell to stand out. That’s the reminder we all need in this AI everything world where louder often feels like better. But sometimes, the most powerful voice in the room isn’t the loudest, it’s the one that’s consistent, intentional, and real.

🎙️ Rachel B. Lee and I had the honor of sitting down with the incredible Goldie Chan, yes, that Goldie, green hair, Forbes column, LinkedIn legend, and now, author of Personal Branding for Introverts.

We got into it on the latest episode of the YOUmanize Your Brand™ Podcast and this one hit different.

From surviving cancer to building a brand that’s instantly recognizable, Goldie breaks down what it actually takes to show up online when you’re not the “look at me” type.

Here’s a little bit of what we chatted about: 
🟠 Why introverts don’t need to be louder, just more present 
🟠 The story behind her signature hair  
🟠 Building trust in the age of AI without sounding like a damn robot 
🟠 How going through hard things gave her a stronger voice, not a louder one

If you’re a founder, exec, creator, or just someone trying to find your lane on LinkedIn without losing your soul in the process, this is the episode for you. Goldie doesn’t do fluff, and neither do we.

And if you’re an introvert who’s ready to show up more fully? This might just be your permission slip. Because trust me, real always wins. 🎧 Listen here https://lnkd.in/ghdvh3Xp

#Podcast #Introvert #Leadership #PersonalBranding #Marketing

Everyone’s chasing algorithms, fewer people are chasing authenticity. After 20 years in digital marketing, I’ve learned that being seen doesn’t mean being trusted. You can buy visibility; you can’t buy credibility.

That’s why this episode of YOUmanize Your Brand means so much to me. Rachel B. Lee and I sat down with our dear friend Alex Cattoni, founder of Copy Posse , marketing powerhouse, empathy driven leader, and honestly, one of our absolute favorite humans in the famiLEE.

Alex has built a global community of more than 500,000 people without chasing trends or playing the algorithm game. She built it through integrity, empathy, and a mission to de-douchify the internet. 👊

In our conversation, we got real about what it actually takes to grow a brand without gimmicks. We talked about imposter syndrome, slow growth, AI’s impact on creativity, and why human connection, not hacks, is still the ultimate growth strategy.

Because if your content could’ve been written by anyone, it’s not saying anything worth remembering. 🎧 Episode 6: What It REALLY Takes to Grow a Brand Authentically is now streaming wherever you listen to podcasts, or check it out here 👉 https://lnkd.in/gZFexvUt

If you’ve ever questioned whether being real still wins online, this episode is your reminder that trust travels further than tactics.

#PersonalBranding #Leadership #Marketing #AI #Podcast #LinkedInStrategy #Entrepreneurship