About Me

As seen in: BBC | The New York Post

Meet JOYCE

My story

I've lived in 12 cities across 4 countries, and I haven't lived at home since I was 11 years old. That kind of upbringing means you learn quickly how to walk into any room, read any person, and find the common thread.

I take pride in the fact that I can connect with people from just about any background, and I believe that's exactly why my life's purpose is connecting people.

To each other, to the resources they need, and to the best and most desired version of themselves. I do that through my writing, my presence on social media, and most importantly, through Tribe Academy, the nonprofit I built from the ground up to make real friendship possible for ambitious adults.

Whether I was competing in a bodybuilding show, working on President Obama's campaign, or researching paper towels in South Korea, I have always had a deep, unstoppable need to make things better. People, places, experiences. All of it.

My Education

I've been fortunate to study at some of the world's most remarkable institutions: Penn State, the London School of Economics, the University of Southern California, and Oxford. Across those schools I studied Global Media and Communications, International Relations and Politics, Economics, and Philosophy. It sounds like a lot. But it all connects. Because at the end of the day, everything is about people, patterns, and behavior. And that is exactly what I do.

What I'm about

professional People watcher

I genuinely love what I do. I make a living asking questions and figuring out what people actually need versus what they say they need. Through interviews, focus groups, and the kind of real conversations most people avoid, I help brands get to the human truth behind their data. I draw constantly from my unconventional background, having lived across four countries and a dozen cities, to bring a richness and perspective to my work that you simply can't manufacture. Every culture I've been immersed in, every stranger I've sat across from, has made me a sharper, more empathetic researcher. It is not just what I do. It is genuinely how I am wired.

Connection architech

I got so obsessed with loneliness as a problem that I decided to do something about it, but not in just any way. I believe the antidote to loneliness isn't more events or more networking, it's the right people, in the right room. That takes intention and curation, and that is exactly what I do.

When my research unpacking why it's so hard to make friends as an adult was quoted by the BBC and the New York Post, it told me I am not the only one asking this question. So I built Tribe Academy, a nonprofit that takes carefully selected strangers and turns them into real friends in six weeks.