August 19, 2025 • 10 mins
Fearlessly Failing Hot Seat with Joshua Curtis Friedman
What does it take to fearlessly chase your dreams? In this rapid-fire interview, Lola gets vulnerable with director, writer and executive producer Joshua Friedman on fearlessly failing, finding confidence, and living authentically.
Joshua shares his daily rituals, biggest inspirations, and advice for aspiring creatives who want to turn their passion into a career. Get ready to be motivated.
2:30 - The key to avoiding imposter syndrome
5:15 - Why you should take action despite fear of failure
7:45 - Joshua's daily non-negotiable routine
9:30 - The mindset shift that changed Joshua's career
Dive deeper into Joshua's journey by listening to the full episode. Don't miss this honest, heartfelt conversation.
Big love,
Lola
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to fearlessly Failing hot Seat. In this EPP, I
fire rapid questions at one of our fearlessly failing guests. PS,
I'm gonna be aswing you. I'm not so good at
the rapid part. I get too intrigued by the awesome answers.
Now a new EPP is going to drop every Wednesday,
so enjoy this shortest style episode of fearlessly Failing Hot Seat.
(00:28):
Welcome to the hot seat, my friend, a full name,
introduce yourself.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
My full name is Joshua Curtis Friedman.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
It's gorge great name.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Would you say sweet? Mor savory is your vice?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Oh? Sweet?
Speaker 1 (00:44):
What would it be?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Chocolate?
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Are you Aussie chocolate?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I mean caramel? Koala? I'm all about it.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
You're me both you and me both Okay. I'm only
asking this to you because we've had a match a date.
What is your match? Because I remember when you texted
it to me.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Yes, I get an ice manto latte made with almond milk,
and I get honey in it, and then I love
when they shake it. So it's already like fully sweet throughout.
But it's it's not like super sweet. It's just like
a little bit of honey and then it's you know
and get all like my my green bits and stuff.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Does it?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Does?
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Some people stuff it up?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Though?
Speaker 1 (01:23):
I feel like it's a very specific order, like do
you have do you have to go to the right
spot to get it good?
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Well? I do have like a go to spot for sure.
And they like definitely know me and Linda by now
we're basically considered regulars. But and they like once in
a while if it's somebody new and they forget the honey,
I'm like, it's fine, I just didn't didn't deserve it today.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Oh no, go back get that honey.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
No I can.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
I'm too kind, Okay for a favorite city, Oh.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
My god, like in the whole world.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Yeah, it's not fair. It's not a fair question.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
I know. Yeah, there's two. I love New York City
and I love Barcelona so much. I just love it.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
There's something about New York. It feels like there's it's
just bubbling all the time, like it's so carbonated as
far as the city goes.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yeah, and I don't know, I like, I love that
New York has like seasons as well. Yeah, so going
in certain times is like my favorite part, Like if
I get to go in the winter and I'm like, this.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Is fine, so christmasy in the winter time.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yeah, and then the park is just so beautiful in
the summertime, and yeah even in the fall. So yeah,
I like New York in Barcelona.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Now, since you said that nature is like one of
your favorite things, especially for resetting and reinspiring yourself, do
you have a favorite place like nature wise, You've obviously
shot in some beautiful locations.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Yes, and I'll never tell you.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Yeah, no, really.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
No, No, I definitely have spots for sure. And I
love nature so much. I feel like there's poetry in
it and it's beautiful and I find it to be
I'm biophilia, yes, yes, yes you are. But yeah, I mean,
I'll tell you a couple that I love. Like, I
(03:08):
love Malibu as of like, I spend a lot of
time by the beach there, beautiful, but like away from
like where people like like, I like my little private
little spots. Yeah, and I like to to walk in
the trails there too. I find that relaxing to go
like really high up and then also be close by
the water.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Here's my thing. Whenever I've hiked Malibu, though, can I
be really honest with you.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Tell me right now.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
I've seen rattlesnakes.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Yeah, I like to poke them. I fight. If I
there's a stick and a rattlesnake, I will poke it.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Why to get it to rattles?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
I just feel like I need a little danger to
keep me going.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Absolutely not, my friend. I'm Australian. We know not to
go near snakes.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Yeah. I mean I think Americans know that too, But
I still just want to have something.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
You know, they're quick, right, They're quicker than us.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Rattles Yeah, I just feel like in my mind I
could be quicker.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Oh wow, Okay, okay, remind me not to hype with you. Yeah,
would do something else by failure. Okay, this can be
a hard question for some people. But what is a
quality about yourself that you really like?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
I really like? I don't know whether to be like serious.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Or like fun, give us one of both.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
I feel like I think I've got great taste in food,
and that's an amazing quality I have. And I also
feel like I am kind. Yeah, I don't know. Is
that a good quality to say?
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Like obviously?
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Well, I don't know, Like it's hard to say, like,
I think I'm a nice person.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
It's a very hard thing to do, isn't It's hard
to like?
Speaker 2 (04:45):
But I do. I feel like I'm empathetic. I'm sorry,
I'm jumping in.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Yeah, no, I know you're empathetic.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
But like to a point where I'm like, how do
I I just love it. I love being nice to people.
I love when people feel good, and I love to
be a part of making the or having them feel good.
I don't want to make anybody feel anything, but.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
I love it. Okay, So this question I was going
to ask you now long form chat, but we run
out of time, so I'm going to ask it here.
Ask me, do you ever get imposter syndrome? And if so,
how do you deal with it?
Speaker 2 (05:16):
You know, right now I haven't. I think right now,
I'm actually really proud of where I've gotten to and
where we're going as like a team and a unit.
So I'm actually focused more on like enjoying the moments
that I've worked so unbelievably hard to achieve. I think
(05:39):
that if I'm being like extremely honest, like you can't
walk onto a set with four hundred people and actors
and have all of these things kind of happening around
you without thinking to yourself like do I deserve this?
Like the you know what I mean? So I think
that you it makes you kind of question your sense
(06:03):
of self and you take the responsibility seriously that way,
But in doing it in your truth and in your
own way, you find that, I don't know, there's like
a confidence that comes with it. So right now it's
less like I don't feel like, I don't feel like
I'm an impostor, but I do feel like I've worked
(06:25):
really hard to get here. But I know the feeling
that you're talking about, I just don't relate to it
much right now, do you know?
Speaker 1 (06:31):
As you said that like when I which is why
I didn't ask it, you don't feel like you have
it to me. And I think you answered exactly why
you don't. You come from truth, and my mantra at
the moment is to be relentlessly honest and live from
that place. And I think when you're just in your
truth or honesty, you don't really have too much to
lose because you've got that like as your cornerstone, like
(06:55):
it's where you're coming from, and it kind of negates
any kind of I don't deserve this or doubt or
because you're just like this is who I am, and yes,
I've worked very hard to be here, and I'm going
to give it a red hot crack. That's a very
Australian saying. But you know what I mean, You're gonna
give it a shake, You're going to give it a try,
and yeah, there's confidence in that.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
And I can tell that you've thought about this before
because I love your response and I relate to what
you're saying. So I think it's I am I yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Love it, love it. Okay, So do you have a
non negotiable? You've got the creative and the business combo
so perfect. Is there something that you're just like and
you mentioned this earlier, like, no, my non negotible is
like to be in nature once a day, or to
something that you have to do that is really important
for you on like a multitude of levels. Or is
it just like that alone time.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
In the sense of being creative, or just like something
I must do every.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Day, like I think something you need to do date,
like that's important just to your value system.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Well selfishly matcha and if it's not with my big
sister and Miss Linder, I feel like I don't even
know what I'm doing today. We go for like I
want to say, like not joking, We walk like between
like fifteen thousand to seventeen thousand steps every monthing, which
is like eight miles. But we get so much done.
She makes me happy as a human. We get reproductive. Yeah,
(08:16):
and we get to have a macha and laughs and
giggles and connection. Yeah, totally. I think that that's kind
of the foundation that I love about life right now.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
I think that's that's a great nonmago to. Well, you
told me when we first hung out. You were like, oh,
this is what I do every single day. Yeah, I
love it. Final one, it's going to feel like a
repeat question. But advice for someone greener that is like, oh,
I've got this creative dream. I don't know what to
do now, Like what advice do you have. Do we
(08:48):
just go out and make the thing or should people like, yeah,
sharpen up their business smarts.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Well, yeah, I think that you do it. And whether
I know that that sounds like people just say that
and it sounds so easy, But attempting to do it
is also going to be informative and you're actually doing it,
so like, be brave, be courageous, and allow yourself to
(09:17):
live your truth and don't be afraid to fail and
fail again and fail again until you feel like you're
getting to where you're going. And even in the failures,
I don't think that you're gonna see right at that
moment that you learned something and if you didn't have
that failure, that's why you like, when you get to
(09:39):
where you're going, you'll see that those were all necessary.
So I think it's about just doing like taking action.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
And they call it connecting the dots when in the
moment when you're getting that like hit or that failure
and you're like, oh, why didn't I get that role whatever,
and it's not too you look back and connect the
dots and go hang on. If that rejection or that
thing didn't go to play, I wouldn't be sitting here
right now, you.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Know, and you know what, you might even do it,
and you might be like it might not even be
a failure, it might be a success, Like why can't
you look at it from that perspective? Too? Oh? I
love that you know, like you do it, and you
might be really proud of what you've done.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
And there's always growth with failure, I think.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
For sure, and there's growth in achieving as well.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
So yeah, can I be your friend? I feel like
thank you my friend. He neiled it. Thank you for
jumping on the hut seat.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Thank you, thank you for having me. This is so fun.
Welcome to fearlessly Failing hot Seat. In this EPP, I
fire rapid questions at one of our fearlessly failing guests. PS,
I'm gonna be aswing you. I'm not so good at
the rapid part. I get too intrigued by the awesome answers.
Now a new EPP is going to drop every Wednesday,
so enjoy this shortest style episode of fearlessly Failing Hot Seat.
(00:28):
Welcome to the hot seat, my friend, a full name,
introduce yourself.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
My full name is Joshua Curtis Friedman.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
It's gorge great name.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Would you say sweet? Mor savory is your vice?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Oh? Sweet?
Speaker 1 (00:44):
What would it be?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Chocolate?
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Are you Aussie chocolate?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I mean caramel? Koala? I'm all about it.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
You're me both you and me both Okay. I'm only
asking this to you because we've had a match a date.
What is your match? Because I remember when you texted
it to me.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Yes, I get an ice manto latte made with almond milk,
and I get honey in it, and then I love
when they shake it. So it's already like fully sweet throughout.
But it's it's not like super sweet. It's just like
a little bit of honey and then it's you know
and get all like my my green bits and stuff.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Does it?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Does?
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Some people stuff it up?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Though?
Speaker 1 (01:23):
I feel like it's a very specific order, like do
you have do you have to go to the right
spot to get it good?
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Well? I do have like a go to spot for sure.
And they like definitely know me and Linda by now
we're basically considered regulars. But and they like once in
a while if it's somebody new and they forget the honey,
I'm like, it's fine, I just didn't didn't deserve it today.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Oh no, go back get that honey.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
No I can.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
I'm too kind, Okay for a favorite city, Oh.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
My god, like in the whole world.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Yeah, it's not fair. It's not a fair question.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
I know. Yeah, there's two. I love New York City
and I love Barcelona so much. I just love it.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
There's something about New York. It feels like there's it's
just bubbling all the time, like it's so carbonated as
far as the city goes.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yeah, and I don't know, I like, I love that
New York has like seasons as well. Yeah, so going
in certain times is like my favorite part, Like if
I get to go in the winter and I'm like, this.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Is fine, so christmasy in the winter time.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yeah, and then the park is just so beautiful in
the summertime, and yeah even in the fall. So yeah,
I like New York in Barcelona.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Now, since you said that nature is like one of
your favorite things, especially for resetting and reinspiring yourself, do
you have a favorite place like nature wise, You've obviously
shot in some beautiful locations.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Yes, and I'll never tell you.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Yeah, no, really.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
No, No, I definitely have spots for sure. And I
love nature so much. I feel like there's poetry in
it and it's beautiful and I find it to be
I'm biophilia, yes, yes, yes you are. But yeah, I mean,
I'll tell you a couple that I love. Like, I
(03:08):
love Malibu as of like, I spend a lot of
time by the beach there, beautiful, but like away from
like where people like like, I like my little private
little spots. Yeah, and I like to to walk in
the trails there too. I find that relaxing to go
like really high up and then also be close by
the water.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Here's my thing. Whenever I've hiked Malibu, though, can I
be really honest with you.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Tell me right now.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
I've seen rattlesnakes.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Yeah, I like to poke them. I fight. If I
there's a stick and a rattlesnake, I will poke it.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Why to get it to rattles?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
I just feel like I need a little danger to
keep me going.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Absolutely not, my friend. I'm Australian. We know not to
go near snakes.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Yeah. I mean I think Americans know that too, But
I still just want to have something.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
You know, they're quick, right, They're quicker than us.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Rattles Yeah, I just feel like in my mind I
could be quicker.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Oh wow, Okay, okay, remind me not to hype with you. Yeah,
would do something else by failure. Okay, this can be
a hard question for some people. But what is a
quality about yourself that you really like?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
I really like? I don't know whether to be like serious.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Or like fun, give us one of both.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
I feel like I think I've got great taste in food,
and that's an amazing quality I have. And I also
feel like I am kind. Yeah, I don't know. Is
that a good quality to say?
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Like obviously?
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Well, I don't know, Like it's hard to say, like,
I think I'm a nice person.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
It's a very hard thing to do, isn't It's hard
to like?
Speaker 2 (04:45):
But I do. I feel like I'm empathetic. I'm sorry,
I'm jumping in.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Yeah, no, I know you're empathetic.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
But like to a point where I'm like, how do
I I just love it. I love being nice to people.
I love when people feel good, and I love to
be a part of making the or having them feel good.
I don't want to make anybody feel anything, but.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
I love it. Okay, So this question I was going
to ask you now long form chat, but we run
out of time, so I'm going to ask it here.
Ask me, do you ever get imposter syndrome? And if so,
how do you deal with it?
Speaker 2 (05:16):
You know, right now I haven't. I think right now,
I'm actually really proud of where I've gotten to and
where we're going as like a team and a unit.
So I'm actually focused more on like enjoying the moments
that I've worked so unbelievably hard to achieve. I think
(05:39):
that if I'm being like extremely honest, like you can't
walk onto a set with four hundred people and actors
and have all of these things kind of happening around
you without thinking to yourself like do I deserve this?
Like the you know what I mean? So I think
that you it makes you kind of question your sense
(06:03):
of self and you take the responsibility seriously that way,
But in doing it in your truth and in your
own way, you find that, I don't know, there's like
a confidence that comes with it. So right now it's
less like I don't feel like, I don't feel like
I'm an impostor, but I do feel like I've worked
(06:25):
really hard to get here. But I know the feeling
that you're talking about, I just don't relate to it
much right now, do you know?
Speaker 1 (06:31):
As you said that like when I which is why
I didn't ask it, you don't feel like you have
it to me. And I think you answered exactly why
you don't. You come from truth, and my mantra at
the moment is to be relentlessly honest and live from
that place. And I think when you're just in your
truth or honesty, you don't really have too much to
lose because you've got that like as your cornerstone, like
(06:55):
it's where you're coming from, and it kind of negates
any kind of I don't deserve this or doubt or
because you're just like this is who I am, and yes,
I've worked very hard to be here, and I'm going
to give it a red hot crack. That's a very
Australian saying. But you know what I mean, You're gonna
give it a shake, You're going to give it a try,
and yeah, there's confidence in that.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
And I can tell that you've thought about this before
because I love your response and I relate to what
you're saying. So I think it's I am I yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Love it, love it. Okay, So do you have a
non negotiable? You've got the creative and the business combo
so perfect. Is there something that you're just like and
you mentioned this earlier, like, no, my non negotible is
like to be in nature once a day, or to
something that you have to do that is really important
for you on like a multitude of levels. Or is
it just like that alone time.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
In the sense of being creative, or just like something
I must do every.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Day, like I think something you need to do date,
like that's important just to your value system.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Well selfishly matcha and if it's not with my big
sister and Miss Linder, I feel like I don't even
know what I'm doing today. We go for like I
want to say, like not joking, We walk like between
like fifteen thousand to seventeen thousand steps every monthing, which
is like eight miles. But we get so much done.
She makes me happy as a human. We get reproductive. Yeah,
(08:16):
and we get to have a macha and laughs and
giggles and connection. Yeah, totally. I think that that's kind
of the foundation that I love about life right now.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
I think that's that's a great nonmago to. Well, you
told me when we first hung out. You were like, oh,
this is what I do every single day. Yeah, I
love it. Final one, it's going to feel like a
repeat question. But advice for someone greener that is like, oh,
I've got this creative dream. I don't know what to
do now, Like what advice do you have. Do we
(08:48):
just go out and make the thing or should people like, yeah,
sharpen up their business smarts.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Well, yeah, I think that you do it. And whether
I know that that sounds like people just say that
and it sounds so easy, But attempting to do it
is also going to be informative and you're actually doing it,
so like, be brave, be courageous, and allow yourself to
(09:17):
live your truth and don't be afraid to fail and
fail again and fail again until you feel like you're
getting to where you're going. And even in the failures,
I don't think that you're gonna see right at that
moment that you learned something and if you didn't have
that failure, that's why you like, when you get to
(09:39):
where you're going, you'll see that those were all necessary.
So I think it's about just doing like taking action.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
And they call it connecting the dots when in the
moment when you're getting that like hit or that failure
and you're like, oh, why didn't I get that role whatever,
and it's not too you look back and connect the
dots and go hang on. If that rejection or that
thing didn't go to play, I wouldn't be sitting here
right now, you.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Know, and you know what, you might even do it,
and you might be like it might not even be
a failure, it might be a success, Like why can't
you look at it from that perspective? Too? Oh? I
love that you know, like you do it, and you
might be really proud of what you've done.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
And there's always growth with failure, I think.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
For sure, and there's growth in achieving as well.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
So yeah, can I be your friend? I feel like
thank you my friend. He neiled it. Thank you for
jumping on the hut seat.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Thank you, thank you for having me. This is so fun.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.