Building Community, Not Kingdoms

A few months ago, I had the privilege of serving on the Young Professionals Council panel at DeSales University. At the time, I didn’t know Carter McKinney. Later, while scrolling through Instagram, I came across a photo from that event. It was one of those moments where you stop because someone captured something special. I noticed it was taken by Carter, so I reached out to introduce myself.

That simple Instagram message led to a conversation at JOSHWAY.

It didn’t take long to recognize Carter’s passion. As a young entrepreneur and photographer, he has the drive to create meaningful work and build something bigger than himself. I left our meeting thinking about how important it is to invest in the next generation of creators and leaders.

Around that same time, another unexpected connection happened.

During an event at JOSHWAY, Darnell Scott stopped by. We introduced ourselves, and through our conversation, he mentioned Dr. Hasshan Batts, a leader I’ve admired from a distance for years. I’d followed his work on social media and respected the impact he has made in our community, but I never imagined our paths would cross so soon.

Then everything came together.

Carter had the idea of hosting a Headshot Happy Hour at JOSHWAY, a gathering where entrepreneurs could network, build relationships, and support one another while highlighting nonprofit impact. I immediately loved the vision.

I suggested something that felt ambitious at the time, “What if we invited Dr. Hasshan Batts to speak?”

What started as an idea quickly became reality.

Watching our space fill with entrepreneurs, creators, nonprofit leaders, and changemakers was something I’ll never forget. It wasn’t just another event. It was a room full of people committed to making their communities better.

Sharing the stage, even briefly, with Dr. Hasshan Batts was an incredible honor. His story of resilience, leadership, and service challenged everyone in the room to think bigger, not only about success, but about significance.

What inspired me most, though, wasn’t any one speaker.

It was watching people connect.

Conversations were happening everywhere. New friendships were forming. Ideas were being exchanged. People from different backgrounds, industries, generations, and experiences were finding common ground.

It reminded me why JOSHWAY exists.

We’re not building kingdoms.

We’re building community.

We’re building bridges between generations, backgrounds, industries, and perspectives. Every person carries challenges. Every community has needs. But when people come together with humility, purpose, and a willingness to collaborate, incredible things become possible.

One of the greatest joys was seeing JOSHWAY become the place where those connections happened, a space where people left inspired, encouraged, and ready to make an even greater impact.

I want to thank Carter McKinney for dreaming up the event and bringing his creativity to our community. Thank you to Darnell Scott for helping create connections that made this possible. And thank you to Dr. Hasshan Batts for generously investing your time and wisdom into the next generation of leaders.

Most of all, thank you to everyone who showed up.

Every conversation mattered.

Every connection mattered.

Because when our young people see adults working together instead of competing, collaborating instead of dividing, and building bridges instead of kingdoms, they receive a powerful example of the kind of world we should all be working to create.

That’s the kind of community worth building.

If you’d like to relive the event or see the incredible moments Mckinney Media captured, you can view the full photo album here: View Here

Sometimes the best way to appreciate a community is simply to see it in action.