Today we’d like to introduce you to Joshua Adlam.
Joshua, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Growing up in Chattanooga Tennessee I was forced to grow up fast. I was raised by a single mother who worked hard to provide for me and my brother. While living in Tennessee I was constantly surrounded by gang violence, and the pressures to conform to the environment around me. I grew up being exposed to sex, drugs, and violence at an early age without even knowing fully the implications of these things. Luckily I had a mother who did her best to keep me away from these things and emphasized education. Sports also became a big outlet for me and quickly became a way for me to express myself. At a young age, I knew there was more to life than the things that surrounded me. In 2014, my mother and I moved to Orlando Florida to start a new life in her hometown. Throughout high school, I struggled badly with depression and anxiety. I was a person who was super cocky on the outside but extremely insecure and scared on the inside. I was trying to be someone I wasn’t.
Luckily one day during my senior year a close friend of mine shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with me and it truly spoke to me. Soon after I gave my life to Christ and began to walk in my new identity. I realized that I didn’t have to pretend to be someone I wasn’t anymore because God loves me just as I am. Today I now run a faith based clothing line titled FearIsNotReal to encourage others to not let fear control their lives. I also have recently published a poetry book titled L.I.F.E (Living in Faith Everyday), detailing my journey while following Christ in college.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The biggest struggle that I had to overcome was fatherlessness. This created deep abandonment issues within myself that affected every part of my life. As a kid, I lived in five different states, which caused the desire for stability. Mentally not having my father around created a desire to be validated by others, which lead to a dark path of perversion and hopelessness. However, through God, I was able to overcome.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
My clothing line is FearIsNotReal. I created with the intention to motivate people not to live in fear. I think about how much fear dictates decisions in our lives. How many dreams and goals go unaccomplished because that voice in our head told us we couldn’t do it. I think about how many people do not have the body they want because they are scared to look in the mirror. I think to defeat fear you have to acknowledge what it is. False Evidence Appearing Real. Essentially fear is what I make it and what we allow it to control in our lives. This line of t-shirts, hoodies, leggings and socks is for the person who is tired of letting fear ruin their lives. 2 Timothy 1:7
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
My future plans are to graduate college and continue writing books. I am currently working on my second book, which is set to release on June 2020. I am currently working on developing a faith based YouTube channel, detailing the life and the different challenges we face as humans. I am planning for a big 2020!
Contact Info:
- Address: 1000 Holt Ave
- Website: https://teespring.com/en-GB/stores/fearisnotreal-2
- Phone: 4072598155
- Email: adlamjosh5@gmail.com
- Instagram: @BeGreatJoshua
- Facebook: Joshua Adlam
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