Josh Clem: Vice President of Advancement

Intro: Hello and welcome. This is the LCU Podcast, a podcast that brings you stories, insights, and people from Lubbock Christian University.
I'm your host, Keegan Stewart, and I'm excited to be with you for another episode.
On today's episode, we visited with new LCU Vice President Josh Clem.
Josh has recently started as Vice President of Advancement.
We talked about his background, his leadership style, some goals that he has, and what drew him to Lubbock Christian University.
I hope you enjoy this conversation with Josh Clem.
Keegan Stewart: Josh, thanks for being here today.
Josh Clem: Hey Keegan, it's good to be here.
Keegan Stewart: Really excited that you're here at LCU now.
Been anticipating you for several months now after you accepted the job,
so we're happy your first day was last Thursday,
and you're in your first official week here now,
so we're thrilled that you're here.
How have your first few days been?
How have your first few days been?
Josh Clem: It feels like a lot more than a few days.
Man, it feels like a lot more than a few days.
honestly because I guess I got here well
or I guess as of this
recording right this podcast
we're going to be
a week
right at a week when I came
into town you know when I drove in
Keegan Stewart: Sure.
Josh Clem: when I hit Amarillo and realized
we're not in Kansas anymore you know
it was
crazy it's been a wild run
there's been a lot going on
I would say full it's been full
to answer your question
yeah I just you know
living right now on campus. And so I just see as many people as I can and meet as many people as I
can and go, go, go until I go to sleep. I get up and do it again. So a lot's happened in a short
time. I have many, many names flowing through my head right now. But it's been fun. I've really
Keegan Stewart: Sure.
Josh Clem: enjoyed it. So it's been a full week. I don't know if I was this busy on campus. Yeah, but
Keegan Stewart: Take you back to your college days, living on campus?
Flashbacks?
Josh Clem: probably more napping and Mario Kart during those days.
And I can't say I've played any Mario Kart this week.
Keegan Stewart: Nice.
Josh Clem: So, yeah.
Keegan Stewart: So let's start at how this came to be.
You were at Arkansas Tech.
Josh Clem: That's right.
Keegan Stewart: When did you hear about this opportunity?
What excited you about it?
Give us some of that story, if you will.
Josh Clem: Yeah, so sometime in, I guess it was,
maybe it was January, January, February.
So it was kind of a wild deal.
I was just, you know, minding my own business,
Doing development work there at, I'd say tech, but, you know, tech means a little different thing here than where I come from, right?
Keegan Stewart: Right.
Josh Clem: So Arkansas Tech, ATU, the Wonder Boys.
Keegan Stewart: The wonder boys.
Josh Clem: Yeah, see, it's probably the only, I bet you've never heard of the Wonder Boys before.
So we were, good things were happening and life was going on.
And I had actually a friend from Little Rock reach out and wanted to talk to me about an opportunity for a Christian school there in Little Rock.
And I was honored and thankful for the opportunity.
This guy and I went to Harding together and, you know, it wasn't going to be a fit, but it was a neat opportunity.
And then had actually, maybe two weeks after that, had a group of faith search partners reached out and asked if they could talk to me.
And someone had given us your name and thought this might be something you'd be interested in.
And so, of course, like I always do, I was curious.
I said, hey, I'll pray about that.
And it's kind of tough, Keegan, because you don't know sometimes if that's coming from, you know,
it's not odd through LinkedIn or something to get some kind of a headhunter group
or somebody reaching out telling you about an opportunity.
It felt like it was a little more targeted, like they were really seriously looking.
Keegan Stewart: Yeah.
Josh Clem: And of course, it was a university that I was familiar with.
So yeah, I just, I talked to my wife about it and prayed about it, talked to the person
that was working with that group that kind of connected with me, just said, hey, can we
talk?
And so I said, sure.
I never think there's anything bad from talking, right?
And so I'll be honest, after that conversation, I was really intrigued.
And, you know, still we weren't looking and, you know, life was going on there and didn't really think, you know, West Texas, Lubbock.
You know, I was like, wow, that's a long ways away.
And I've got a daughter that's about to be a senior and, you know, another one's going to be a ninth grader.
And so I talked to my wife and I just said, hey, this is happening.
I talked to somebody and, you know, I think we kind of both agreed that we were going to gently turn that down at some point just because it was our time in life.
You know, it was going on.
And so through that process, we prayed a lot.
We try to soak everything in prayer.
And I think the Lord just really, you know, what we believed was right and good in his eyes was to walk with him,
which is very interesting now, through this process.
And as he opened up doors, I think we just kind of committed to saying, okay, hey, we're going to walk through the doors that you open.
If at any time you want to close one, we'll be okay with that.
And as long as you open those up, we're going to go through them and at least see what's around, you know, what's through the door, what's on the other side in faith.
And so we did that and agreed to give our name to the search committee here at LCU.
It's kind of weird when you're going through this.
It's almost like a dating thing.
It's like at any time you could be like, hey, you're cool, but let's just be friends.
And I guess we just continued that process and had a great experience with the search committee.
Every step of the process, Keegan kind of took my curiosity to another level, and I wanted to know more, and I got more interested.
Oddly enough, at the same time, I actually had two other opportunities come my way from other institutions, and it was just a weird deal.
And I think that was, for me, I kind of took that as the Lord's way of, the Lord knows us really well.
Obviously, he made us.
And I think he knew it was going to take a lot to move us off of our spot because we were pretty comfortable where we were.
And so, yeah, I just felt like through that process that LCU was the one that just kept really just was very intriguing.
And so that led to, of course, an interview here.
And then I got to, you know, I got to meet Dr. McDowell.
I got to meet just all of the leadership team, people that were on that committee.
And that day was just a really sweet and special day.
And I felt like we got our answer there, that this was the place that we needed to be.
So anyway, you can ask anything you want, but that's kind of the long and short.
Then we had the windstorm the next day, so that was fun.
Keegan Stewart: yeah i was gonna say the the day you came the weather wasn't the best that it can be here in
lubbock but that did not deter you right
Josh Clem: Yeah, well, the Thursday we interviewed was actually a pretty decent day.
It was nice.
You know, just what I would just call a nice West Texas breeze now.
But Friday, wow.
Keegan Stewart: yeah a little different that's right
Josh Clem: That was something.
Yeah, we woke up in the hotel room and smelled dirt.
We thought, what's going on?
Keegan Stewart: Right.
Josh Clem: I think that was that day right before spring break,
And there was 60-plus mile-an-hour gusts.
Keegan Stewart: That's right.
Josh Clem: So that was pretty wild.
Keegan Stewart: Well, when you were here that day before, what stood out to you about this community?
What caused you to leave and on the way back home visiting with your wife be like, that
was good, and I'm really interested?
Josh Clem: Yeah, it was the people.
I mean, the campus is great.
Don't get me wrong.
I mean, we like the place.
You know, they treated us well while we were here.
You know, it's kind of cool.
There's more restaurants here than, you know, on just a little side of town than where we're at.
But it was, specific to LCU and our experience here.
It was the people, just good people.
I told my wife, it was like I kept waiting for someone that was kind of like questionable.
But it was like everybody was really great and genuine, you know, seemed to like one another and working together and seemed to be really ready for something.
You know, there just seemed to be kind of an anticipation of big things coming, which of course made me want to be a part of it, you know.
So anyway, it was just a really good experience.
A lot of good people, good experiences.
Now on the other side, I could say, you know, I didn't sleep well the night before my interview.
We got in late and the flight had some complications and things and my wife came with me.
And so we, yeah, it was one of those deals where it was like, this probably shouldn't go very well because I'm not functioning on, you know, much rest.
But I thought it went really well and enjoyed all my interactions with everybody.
I loved the mission.
So, yeah, there's a lot of things I loved about it.
Keegan Stewart: for maybe a student that's listening to this
and being like, hey, I saw we got a new vice president.
Not exactly sure what his role means.
How would you describe it to a student of what you're going to be doing in your role?
Josh Clem: Yeah, to a student, I'd say, hey, I'm the guy asking for money, you know, pretty simply.
Keegan Stewart: That's right.
Josh Clem: But, yeah, there's a lot that goes into it.
Advancement is huge.
I mean, we're measured by the funds that we raise.
And obviously, you know, if you walk around campus and you look at the nice facilities we have and, you know, the programs and as you as you get a little deeper, you find, you know, how how much we've been blessed by by people who have been blessed and want to bless others out of that blessing.
And so that's a huge part of it. I would let them know is just I build relationships with people that love the university and provide avenues for them to invest in the university.
So that's one part of what I do or what I guess we do. And I help lead.
Also alumni. So kind of the prongs of advancement would be a development, which is the fundraising piece, and then alumni relations.
And so we want to have very good continuing relationship with our alumni base.
We want to give them a chance to stay connected.
And obviously we hope that they'll send their kids and their grandkids and everybody will come back and they'll tell their friends.
And so we want to be an active, vibrant community that engages its alumni base.
And then I guess the third thing is just the operations piece.
So when people give, when things come in, when scholarships are made, you know, we have to steward those.
We have to take those in and receive them and do thank you letters and get, you know, we invest those funds.
And those, you know, that's how those scholarships are generated by people that are really good at investing those monies.
And so Jim Moudy in our group, and I guess I should say before Lisa Fraze is in our shop, does the alumni.
And then Jim and his team do a great job with the operations piece of that.
And then we have Donna, who does community partners, is really engaging the Lubbock community and trying to do the same thing, create foster relationship and goodwill towards LCU.
So that's kind of our shop, you know, and what we do.
So I don't know if a college student might be asleep by now, but that's what I'd probably tell them.
Keegan Stewart: How would you describe your leadership style?
Josh Clem: So I'm a real big believer in team, like operating in team.
And so as I kind of had some of our initial time with the team, the advancement team, I wanted to focus on, we had three C's that I brought that we went through, and one of those is just culture.
So the culture is something that I want to really be committed to just being Christ-centered in everything that we do.
I mean, this is a work of faith. And so I want to make sure that, you know, that we always operate knowing this is the Lord's work that we're doing, even if we're raising funds and all of that still the Lord's work. And so I want to be rooted in that.
So in that culture, humility and confidence working together, I think, is a big part of my leadership style.
I think sometimes people get those confused.
They think if you're going to be humble, then you have to let people walk over.
You can't have a strong opinion about anything.
That's what humility is, and that's not true at all.
Actually, you can be humble and confident.
I think my leadership style is to try to remember that we're all servants, right?
We're all operating under a much bigger power, greater power.
And so the other C is collaboration.
And so in that, working together as a team and involving other people on campus, in this case, to win together.
I think the humility comes in when you recognize that there are so many things that happen that have nothing to do with me, right?
In our work, we might have a really nice gift or someone in a state or something that comes in that has nothing to do with what I've done,
but someone before me, the work that they put in, or might just be a blessing that the Lord blessed us with.
And so the humility comes in knowing that it's his work and that we're stewards, right?
We're here to steward that blessing.
And so I try to lead that way.
That's my goal is to just, again, to be confident,
to know that we do have a great power that works with us,
and it is his business.
And so don't be shy or bashful.
If we think we have a good thing that we're doing, and I do here,
we ought to be confident in the way that we go and let people know,
hey, we want you to invest in support in this
because you're changing lives when you do it.
So yeah, just very team-centric, very collaborative, engaging, empowering.
My leadership style, I'm not a micromanager at all.
I really want to empower people to reach their capacity as leaders.
So I actually think good leaders raise up other leaders.
I'm not at all intimidated by having strong leaders.
As a matter of fact, I would prefer to have people that are a lot smarter than me,
working with me, a lot better than I am in certain things.
One area as we sit here in this beautiful studio with podcasts, technology is not a strength of mine.
So I'm so thankful for Jim and his team and others that are in the in the Chapdesk, you know, that can help with that because that's not my strength.
So rather than me trying to be good at things I'm not good at or, you know, out of some insecurity, thinking I need to be the best at everything.
I'd rather lift other people up that are that are better and and empower them.
So that's that's my leadership style.
Keegan Stewart: As you start your first week here, and you've had some time to think about it. What's your vision for your advancement team and lcu bigger picture for the years to come
Josh Clem: yeah i i a lot of just a lot of energy a lot of you know i think there's a lot of enthusiasm
towards things and i want to build on that i just i want some of the things that we talked about
in that culture. I want that to be the culture of what we see in the future with the university
and how we engage our donor base, our alumni. Some of my thoughts are just how can we broaden that?
You know, we've got some great people that have great supporters. Who have we not engaged?
You know, recently I was in town working with someone.
Of course, we'll be moving here, and, you know, there's a lot that goes with that.
You have to meet a lot of people, set up a lot of things,
and already finding people that are LCU alum, you know, that are talking to
and finding out that they're just hungry to be engaged,
especially like our young alumni base.
I think it's important, and it's a balance that we strike in the work that we do
is that you never want to lose sight of the people that have been there for you that have done these
great things. I mean, we need to be always valuing them and letting them know how much we appreciate
them and continuing to give them opportunities. But then there are people who may not be quite there
yet, but they will be. And the time to engage with them is now and not when they've quote unquote
arrived, right? So part of what I see is just working at all levels to be as open, openly
inviting as we can to say something good's going on here and we want more people to be
a part of it.
Keegan Stewart: Love that
answer. Thanks for sharing that, Josh. What are
some of maybe the practical goals
for your first 100 days as you get your
feet settled here?
What comes to mind for that?
Josh Clem: Yeah, I mean, a lot of it for me is just going to be, you know, as you can imagine, I talked to my team about this recently, but most people I'm interacting with here are, what do you call Lubbock people? Lubbockians? What's the word? Lubbockites? Okay, I like Lubbockian. Okay, yeah, Lubbock, Lubbock, Lubbockian. Yeah, I'm rolling with it. Yeah, I'm going
Keegan Stewart: Lubbockites?
Yeah, yeah, I believe that's what it is.
You should use that.
Josh Clem: There's so many people that have even been
been from Lubbock or from West Texas or from Canyon or from Amarillo. You know, it's just this
neck of the woods, as they say, right? So for me, everything is new. Like everything is new, right?
Like I'm meeting new people still every day. Every relationship is new. And I told my team,
I said, I'm not going to whine about this and I'm not going to just keep at this, but I need to tell
one time how I'm feeling, right? You know, there's just a lot of new in my life right now. And where
I came from, I'd been there for 12 years. So I knew everybody just like, you know, everybody and
everybody knew me and I knew the lay of the land and everything. So like every engagement is a new
engagement right now. Every, every time I shake someone's hand, it's a starting of a new relationship.
I don't even know where to get my haircut. You know, I just figured out where the grocery store
was a couple days ago. So that, you know, a lot of what I'll be working on in this 100 days is just
right now because my family is still in Arkansas and I am living here, I'm going
hard as they say. I'm going all in because there's so much to learn and I'm just using this time when
I'm doing this odd, you know, I haven't been a bachelor in 24, 25 years. So I'm using this extra
time that I have to just try to learn as much as I can. So one of the long way to answer your
question, I just want to learn. I just want to learn about the history. I've got the 60-year
history book I'm reading, you know, and the stories and all that, F.W. Maddox, and, you know, that's
been great because that's some of that stuff that I don't know the whole story to, and I'm trying to
talk to other people and say, hey, can you tell me your story? Can you tell me about your
experience at LCU? What is it about this place that you love? And so I'm doing a lot of listening,
a lot of question asking and listening. So over the next hundred days, I'll be doing a lot more
of that. And at the same time, traveling a lot to see some of our people who have been great
supporters and who are kind of our greatest cheerleaders. Who are they? And I want to have
that first handshake and that intro and just say, hey, I'm Josh. And thank you first and foremost.
and then to get to know them and hear their stories.
So it'll be a lot of that.
And that's kind of on the outside.
But on the inside, today I went over just because I was going to go over
and see Dr. Carey, and I walked over to the Bible building,
and lo and behold, they were having a luncheon for faculty,
which Tracy Mack was kind enough to say, hey, join us.
And they're having ribs, which that's a pretty good luncheon.
you know, and you can have some ribs, right? So yeah, I went over there and just joined in and
set at a table and here we go. I'm learning, right? So I think there'll be a lot of that when I'm on
campus, trying my best to get around to the deans or the faculty members and just learn what do you
do? You know, what do you need? You know, which people are very bashful in telling, by the way,
you know, and that's okay. I like that, you know, because I need to know when I'm out there talking
to people who want to fill needs what the needs are. So my next 100 days is just going to be a lot
of learning and getting my feet deeper in this West Texas soil and just really planning here
so that when I go out I can be effective when I'm talking to people and know a little bit about what
I'm talking about.
Keegan Stewart: Let's do a flyover on your careers before this. You were at Arkansas Tech for 12 years. You also
have history in ministry and development work at other places. So walk us through some of that.
You obviously could go for a while, but just give us the quick journey through.
Josh Clem: So my career got started out of Harding.
Sorry for anybody that, you know, that's a bad thing.
I got here as quick as I could, you know,
but that was the university I went to.
Honestly, Harding was great to me, and it was a good experience.
I was married my senior year at Harding
and interviewed on campus with the Hormel Foods Corporation.
Keegan Stewart: And what did you major in at Harding?
Josh Clem: Business Professional Sales.
Keegan Stewart: Awesome.
Josh Clem: Yeah, so it was kind of a sales-centric business degree,
management, marketing, all that good stuff.
And yeah, so I interviewed, got a job with Hormel Foods.
They were very known at the time and maybe still are with,
when you worked for Hormel,
one of the ways that you had a better shot at getting employed there,
And it was the, you know, it was the job I wanted out of all the ones I interviewed for, you know, starting salary and all that kind of stuff.
But just really opportunity was just a neat opportunity, you know, for a couple kids at that time, you know, newly married with no kids and footloose and fancy free.
And one of the things they said was, hey, if you'll tell them that you'll go anywhere, you'll have a much better chance.
What they don't like is when you say, hey, I want to be in this area because they have different markets.
So Bentonville, Walmart, right? California, East, all of them, they had different markets that you would go to based on, you know, the grocery chains that were there.
And so I did that. I went and I was like, hey, the lady's name was Cherise Curtis that interviewed me and she said, hey, well, what if they want to, where do you want to go?
Where do you want to be? I said, oh, well, I'll go anywhere.
So I did. I got the job and they moved us to Cincinnati, Ohio. Yeah. Which for a Texas kid,
I was born in Greenville, Texas. So I'm a Northeast Texas kid. My wife's from Michigan.
And so anyway, we did. We went to Cincinnati, lived there for almost three years,
worked with Hormel Foods. That was a great experience in sales, learned a lot, grew a lot,
Learned how to work hard.
So that was good.
And then I guess after that, we were a little homesick.
And I was really wanting to do something really more connected with ministry and business.
And so I had worked at the Bowles Children's Home in Quinlan, Texas during my youth as a teenager and a college student.
And I worked there in the summers with kids.
with these at-risk youth that we were, you know,
I don't know if people here listening to this would be familiar with how children's homes operate.
But so we were house parents, my wife and I.
So we actually cared for a house of at-risk teenage girls, wonderful girls,
which was crazy for a young couple because, you know, there was a lot of drama in the house.
But it was good as well.
And what I did is while we did that in ministry, I worked part-time in the development office raising funds.
That's how I got my start in fundraising.
And it was about a year in that the current or the previous, I guess, director of development and public relations,
He went back into industry in the Metroplex and recommended they hire me full time for that position.
And so I stepped into that role and did that for another two or three years before that organization merged, which really doesn't happen very often in that work.
But Bowles and Medina Children's Home merged together and formed an umbrella organization called Arms of Hope.
And the CEO from Arms of Hope, that newly formed organization, who was at the time in Medina and Kerrville in that area, said, hey, we'd really like for you to come and work closer to Medina, which was home base.
And we went to San Antonio and I covered that region, kind of central Texas, San Antonio, Austin, that area for Arms of Hope.
And so that was fundraising, and it was great.
And then I had an opportunity not that long after that to do similar work, really the same work, advancement officer for Abilene Christian University.
And so I did, I switched over, stayed and lived in the same place, same territory, but I started representing them.
And I really was fascinated with Christian higher ed, you know, as a product of that and really thought that was a great opportunity I couldn't pass up.
Um, we did that for another three years. And then, um, this is, you know, it's, I know this is crazy
because it's kind of, you know, I'm going from business to ministry, you know, and that, that
happened a few times in my life. And then, um, I had the opportunity to go and work for a church
in Russellville, Arkansas. And I had, I had another opportunity, uh, with ACU that was,
was pending that could have been, uh, you know, would have, would have maybe been a move to Abilene.
And that was also a great opportunity.
And we prayed about it.
The one that the Lord just kept stirring in our hearts was the ministry job.
So I left that, went and became a youth minister at Westside Church of Christ in Russellville, Arkansas, which turned out to be a great blessing.
Did that for, did youth ministry for a short time.
Directed an event called Christ Teens there, which is a large youth conference.
Had some great experiences with all that.
And I think, you know, a year and a half or so into that, I went and talked with the elders,
and I think we all kind of were on the same page that it might be good for me to step into kind of an executive ministry role.
So I was the associate minister there for the rest of my endeavor.
And so actually my almost 12 years in Russellville, six of those were with Westside.
So I did that with the church, mostly in that associate ministry role, doing all kinds of coordinating adult education, small groups, leading team meetings, working with the eldership and the ministers.
and just a lot of that collaborative work, again, kind of taking everything that I'd learned in through my journey
and then trying my best to make that something that was helpful to the church that I worked with
and met lovely, wonderful people there.
And right in 2020, which I guess 2020 is a year that rings loudly in a lot of our minds,
I made a transition back into development work with Arkansas Tech University.
and that was a hard decision just because we really loved the working with the church there
but just felt like it was time to do that and continue to of course everything got weird
because I moved over in 2020 started I was there January 2nd was my first day at Arkansas Tech
And then like, I don't know, the second or third week in March, you know, the COVID thing happens.
And they're like, okay, we're going to have you work from home.
So you can imagine someone who had like only started three months before that.
And my job was to develop relationships and raise money.
And it's just like, you know.
Keegan Stewart: It would be like if you had to start at home here, right now.
Josh Clem: Exactly.
And I just started meeting people.
You know, it was just a wild deal.
Keegan Stewart: Yeah.
Josh Clem: And so I had to do fundraising from my house when I really didn't know anybody, right?
That was a rough year.
It was a rough year for me in a lot of ways.
But, you know, praise God, we worked through that.
We got back, you know, to go in and the world came back to the new normal.
And so I ended up having a great time at Tech.
It's funny I say Tech.
You know, most people listening to this are probably thinking Tech.
Keegan Stewart: Yeah.
Josh Clem: Was he at Texas?
No.
Arkansas Tech.
ATU.
So, yes, disclaimer.
So anyway, yeah, I was there for five years total.
Worked with the College of Arts and Humanities.
Worked with the College of Education and Health primarily.
Did a lot with the music department there.
It was a really great band, choir, music program.
So great university, great people.
Loved my time there.
And, of course, we've already kind of got to what happened after that.
So it was just one of those deals where sometimes, you know, it's an adventure presents itself.
And yeah, I can tell you when I went back to after the interviews and knew this was this is where we needed to be.
It was really hard.
You can imagine, you know, my daughters, you know, that was home.
You know, I think Lily was three when we went there and Katie was six or seven.
So, I mean, their whole lives have been there.
Right.
And we have deep, deep friendships there.
My sister lives there.
And so it was a tough deal going back there and telling everybody, you know, hey, we're moving.
I think a lot of people just were shell-shocked.
What do you mean?
Like, you're not moving, right?
But everybody was really happy, I think, for the opportunity, but sad that we were leaving.
And that was a bittersweet thing, you know.
Way better than somebody just coming up and being like, well, you're leaving?
Oh, cool.
See you.
So I felt like that whole transition was, that's what I just came through.
So it really is, you've caught me in a kind of a, it's kind of surreal to go through that whirlwind so quickly and now be here and have them still there.
But it was, you know, the good news is that that place will always be a special place.
And my, again, my sister lives there, so we plan to visit and go back and see everybody there.
But we're all really excited about being here, you know.
and that's just kind of a
hard thing to even articulate
how you can just really love
a place but also be so excited about
what the Lord has in store for you
in a new place and so we do feel
like there's a new adventure opening up
and very excited to be here
now
Keegan Stewart: Well, you have a really cool journey, and we too are excited about this next adventure.
Josh, let's talk a little bit more about you and some of your interests.
I want to get into some quick hitters here in a moment, but first, tell us about your
family.
Josh Clem: So Tiffany, we've been married, like I said, 20, I think 24 is coming up August 11th.
We, uh, we got married a month before 9/11, like the 9/11.
Yeah.
So we were celebrating our one month anniversary at Harding university when that happened.
And remember when all that madness came about.
So, um, so yeah, 20 and I always know when 9/11, you know what the years are because
it's always connected to my anniversary time frame.
So we, let's see, we have two daughters, Katie, who is a junior, currently 17 years old.
Lily is 14, almost 15.
She'll turn 15 in July.
She's an eighth grader.
So yeah, that's us, me and our dog Buddy.
Keegan Stewart: And the dog buddy.
Josh Clem: You know, we had to get some more testosterone.
Do dogs have testosterone?
Do we need to get a science person in here?
Keegan Stewart: I'll have to defer to our photo video guy, Josh, and ask him.
Josh Clem: I think.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Keegan Stewart: He says yes.
Josh Clem: Well, we had to get another male in the house.
There's a lot of females in there.
Keegan Stewart: You're not alone.
Josh Clem: Unfortunately, that male poops on the carpet sometimes.
So that's, you know, we don't, yeah.
But he's an okay guy.
Keegan Stewart: That's cool.
Josh Clem: So, yeah, me and the ladies.
Keegan Stewart: What do you like to do for fun?
Josh Clem: Man, here lately I haven't got to do a lot.
Keegan Stewart: I bet not.
Josh Clem: I'll be honest with you.
Yeah, so.
I like to do a lot of things
and I kind of go through
you know I'm the guy
that like wants to learn to do something
I'll just go all in at that you know and do that
so that's been a few different things
when I was in Russellville it was disc golf
Keegan Stewart: Okay.
Josh Clem: yeah
Keegan Stewart: Have you seen this golf course here at LCU?
Josh Clem: I haven't
Keegan Stewart: Yeah, we'll have to show you.
Josh Clem: sweet
yeah I haven't played in a long time
I'd be rusty but I think I could still
throw a disc you know so I really got into that
I like regular what disc golfers
we call ball golf, which is funny, but no, I like golf, um, as well. Haven't got to do that much
either, but, um, but have, have played, uh, throughout my life. Um, yeah, I like, uh,
I like smoking meats. I need to make sure I get the meats in there. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Not smoking.
Keegan Stewart: Yeah, it was a little pause, but he said meets.
Josh Clem: That's right. I like smoking. No, I like, I have a, I got a, I got a smoker
last year and started, you know, doing ribs and ribs have come up twice now in this podcast.
That's pretty impressive.
I didn't plan on that.
Yeah, I just did my first brisket at Christmas time for the family.
You know, I kind of have moved away from hobbies that are just like, for me, you know, that
I just enjoy because it takes, you know, when you get kids to a certain age, you'll get
this one day, right?
and you just, it takes time away.
You only have so much time, right?
So I'm like, what of my hobbies could I bless my family with and be a hero, right?
So you make really good smoked foods and, you know, you become a hero in the family.
So that brisket was a winner.
Keegan Stewart: That's cool.
Josh Clem: And better than my brothers, if he's listening.
Keegan Stewart: You beat him.
Josh Clem: Way better.
Yeah.
Keegan Stewart: So my next question was actually, what's your favorite meal?
Josh Clem: Wow.
Teed that one up for me really well.
Steak.
I love.
Keegan Stewart: what's your what's your cut and how do you cook it
Josh Clem: Man.
And I like a good, I like it, well, like a New York strip, I mean, but really, you know, prime rib, T-bone.
Keegan Stewart: yeah there you go
Josh Clem: I mean, listen, I am an equal opportunity steak eater, okay?
Keegan Stewart: you're not picky
Josh Clem: Yeah, no, I love it.
And a really good one, you know, that gets it cooked just medium.
Yeah, maybe a little, maybe even a little medium rare.
but not too rare
right, you know, still want the thing
make sure it's out of its misery
and all that good stuff, but yeah
I love a good steak, I love potatoes
I love grilled veggies
I have kind of
a weird diet, so I've already tried to be
bringing people on board here with that
you know, I don't want to call myself out on the podcast
too much, but yeah, I eat a lot of
meats and veggies, I don't do the gluten and
sugars and different things like that, so
if it's
Yeah, meat, veggies, fruits, smoothies, all good.
Keegan Stewart: Nice.
Josh Clem: Yeah.
Keegan Stewart: Nice.
Josh Clem: Yeah.
Keegan Stewart: Favorite movie?
Josh Clem: Man, that's not fair.
Keegan Stewart: Too many to choose from?
Josh Clem: I don't like the favorite things.
Keegan Stewart: I'm making you pick.
Josh Clem: If you get to know me, I'm not a one.
Like I'm a diversity, you know, I like variety.
Keegan Stewart: Give us a few then.
Josh Clem: Yeah, I will.
I will.
Because if I gave one, I'd feel really bad.
Braveheart.
Keegan Stewart: Nice.
Josh Clem: It's a classic.
Great one.
William Wallace.
Westerns
I'm in West Texas
so how about Tombstone
R.I.P. Val Kilmer
Keegan Stewart: Classic.
Josh Clem: one of the greatest characters
of all time
Doc Holliday
yeah that's a great one
Lord of the Rings
love Lord of the Rings
still holds up today
Peter Jackson
yeah
and now
of course now
it's all the Netflix series
right so
So, you know, I think the series are probably as good as the films.
Keegan Stewart: Right.
Josh Clem: As a matter of fact, I've been a little let down by movies lately.
Hopefully that will rebound a little bit.
But, yeah, I like the new Ring series, Ring of Power series.
So, yeah.
But I haven't watched a lot of TV.
Not watching a lot of TV right now.
As a matter of fact, I was kidding with Dr. McDowell earlier because we were talking and Coach Duncan was over there.
And I said something about, they said, have you been keeping up with the playoffs?
you know and stuff. I said, well, I don't have a TV in my apartment. And I said, I don't think,
and Scott looked at me, he said, you know, I don't think they want, he said, yeah, we can't get him a
TV until he raises some money, right?
Yeah, yeah, we were all joking. It was all, it was, we were having a good time, but no, I just,
Keegan Stewart: but you're learning.
You're learning.
Josh Clem: I don't have a lot of time right now to watch TV, but the good news is a lot of people around that I
think have, you know, if I wanted to, I can go crash their pad and watch some playoff basketball
and stuff.
Keegan Stewart: there you go you're gonna have to
Josh Clem: So, yeah, which gets me to sports, right?
Keegan Stewart: yeah give us your favorite team
Josh Clem: Man, is this where I'm going to lose somebody if people are still holding on?
Like, it depends on what I say, right?
Keegan Stewart: well absolutely
Josh Clem: Mm-hmm.
Here's the deal.
Dallas Cowboys.
Keegan Stewart: that's the right answer
Josh Clem: Texas Rangers.
Keegan Stewart: that's also the right answer
Josh Clem: Dallas Mavericks.
That's where I'm at.
That's where I'm at.
Keegan Stewart: keeping it in Texas
Josh Clem: Listen, I grew up like an hour, a little over an hour from that place,
from Arlington, you know.
Keegan Stewart: yeah
Josh Clem: So I'm a diehard.
Keegan Stewart: that's awesome
so when you're in Arkansas
there was probably more diversity among
teams that people were fans of
Josh Clem: Listen, when you're in Arkansas, there is one team.
The Hogs.
Keegan Stewart: Yeah.
Josh Clem: That's it.
University of Arkansas Razorbacks.
That is the professional team of Arkansas.
Keegan Stewart: Right, right.
Josh Clem: When you turn on sports radio, they're talking about the Hogs.
When you go out and look in people's yards, it's Hogs.
Everything's Hogs.
Keegan Stewart: There's Cowboys fans there, I bet.
Josh Clem: There are some, but there's some haters too.
Oh yeah
Keegan Stewart: Really? Well, anywhere.
Josh Clem: Yeah that's true
And you know
It's been a rough go
Keegan Stewart: Yeah.
Josh Clem: I was there in the 90's
So
Keegan Stewart: I missed them, but for some reason, Josh, I'm still a fan.
Josh Clem: Hey
Keegan Stewart: And I tell people that all of these lows that we've experienced in the last 28 years
are just going to make that one high that we get someday feel that much better.
Josh Clem: It's coming
Keegan Stewart: And so I'm holding on.
Josh Clem: No you should
Keegan Stewart: I'm not jumping off.
Josh Clem: Hold on to faith because we're coming back
Keegan Stewart: Yeah, that's right.
Josh Clem: That's right yeah
Keegan Stewart: I loved your sports answers.
What's something that people might be surprised to learn about you?
Josh Clem: Well, I've already kind of ratted myself out of my diet.
I didn't tell everybody all the weirdness in there,
so there's that.
One thing might be that I like to sing.
Keegan Stewart: Cool.
Josh Clem: I don't just walk around singing and stuff,
but I really enjoy singing, and musical theater.
Keegan Stewart: Awesome.
Josh Clem: So I've been in some plays and done theater,
and there's a lot of people that probably don't know that.
A couple years ago, I got to be in Into the Woods,
was the narrator at our local community.
Keegan Stewart: Awesome.
Josh Clem: We have a really big,
had a big community theater program in Russellville.
And I hadn't been in one in a long time,
since like high school.
And so I kind of got back and did that,
had a lot of fun.
Again, it's time, right?
Keegan Stewart: Yeah.
Josh Clem: You know, I'd love to do that some more.
It's funny because I was in Little Rock
about the week before I came, right?
And I've been trying to get to know people
and call people while I was out, you know,
because it is weird when you accept a job
and then you've got a long time before you get there, right?
So I always want to talk to my West Texas people just to hear those voices
and, hey, I'm still coming and all that good stuff.
But I'm driving back, and I stopped somewhere and scrolled my LCU email,
which I got hooked up with that day, and I saw, like, Oklahoma, the musical was coming.
Keegan Stewart: Oh, yeah.
Josh Clem: And I've always wanted to be in Oklahoma.
And Laurie Doyle was on my search committee, so I knew her.
So I right there while I was driving home, just did a little voice recording.
And I sang a part from Curly, you know, from there.
And I sent it to her and said, here's my audition.
You know, it was, it was just a joke.
Keegan Stewart: Very cool.
I bet she loved that.
Josh Clem: Well, I don't know if she's, I think she thought it was a joke.
I think I sent it to, I didn't have her number.
I said, send it to Lisa Fraze
And I said, can you send this to Laurie?
And she did.
And I actually saw her today.
And I said, did you get my thing?
And she kind of laughed.
And I don't think she realizes I really did.
It's on there.
So I don't think she ever even got it.
Keegan Stewart: she hasn't listened to it oh you gotta follow up you gotta follow up
Josh Clem: I don't think so.
I don't think she thought that she thought it was a joke.
I was like, no, no, I got it on my phone right now.
I'm not going to play it.
We're not to that level yet.
But, yeah, I did.
Keegan Stewart: that's cool we need to make sure Dr. Doyle hears that
Josh Clem: Yeah, yeah.
I'm going to go play it for her.
Keegan Stewart: That's cool.
Josh Clem: Yeah, yeah, it was fun.
Keegan Stewart: So do you have the, like, the Church of Christ song leading ability in you?
Josh Clem: I've done a little bit of that.
Keegan Stewart: Yeah.
Josh Clem: I'm more of a get me on the tenor, you know.
Keegan Stewart: Okay.
Josh Clem: I really enjoy the praise team tenor part, right?
Keegan Stewart: Praise team.
We'll get you on the praise team.
Josh Clem: I think the lead could be there, but I would have to get some training on that.
I've got a good friend, Zach George, who sang with acapella.
He's more of the song leader guy, right?
Keegan Stewart: Okay.
Josh Clem: So I love singing with people that are great song leaders and being able to do harmony.
I love harmony, obviously, as any Church of Christ kid should.
I grew up listening to the group acapella.
Those were like the rock stars of my life growing up.
So matter of fact, when I came here, I left on a Tuesday morning early.
I left at 6 o'clock from Russellville.
the day that I did the whole trek here a week ago.
And for whatever reason, I was just like, man, it's just like some acapella.
So I put some old school acapella on there and just blared it as I was going.
It took me back to my youth group days.
It was beautiful.
Keegan Stewart: very cool
Josh Clem: It was fun.
Keegan Stewart: well just so you know now that you
you know on this podcast
community is going to listen to heard you say
Josh Clem: Uh-huh.
Keegan Stewart: like yep I'm a tenor I like to sing
Josh Clem: Uh-huh, uh-huh.
Keegan Stewart: you will be getting tapped on the shoulder for some
chapels and who knows what else
Josh Clem: Yeah, well, I don't know.
Keegan Stewart: just so you know
Josh Clem: I'm rusty, man.
Keegan Stewart: so we can edit that part
Josh Clem: We might need to.
Keegan Stewart: out if you want
Josh Clem: Yeah, we might need to.
Tell them I'm busy, but I'll keep sending in auditions and, you know, whatever I've got to do.
Keegan Stewart: yeah
Josh Clem: I've got to get back.
I'll get back in shape.
Keegan Stewart: yeah
Just two more things here, Josh.
Josh Clem: Yep.
Keegan Stewart: What are you most excited about for this upcoming season,
this new adventure, the things that you've described today?
Josh Clem: Man, I'm just excited to be on a team that gels and wants to do the Lord's work together.
You know, that I'm just excited to be around equally energized, excited people, really.
For whatever, I just feel like there's just a lot of opportunity here in front of us.
And all glory to God, you know, what I'm most excited about is just I get to be a part of it.
You know, it's not about me or you, but it's about what the Lord's doing through us.
Right.
And I'm just excited to see all that kind of come full circle and come to life here and to get to say, hey, look what the Lord did, right, at LCU in whatever time we have there, right?
You know, for all of us, I would think that should be what excites us most.
And if anything, maybe to re-energize some folks that are doing that here that just need to be reminded, man, you're doing awesome work, you know?
I think sometimes when you do something for a long time, it just gets a little rote and you don't realize the connection you have.
And so I feel like the Lord's just kind of put it on my heart to go up to some people and be like, wow, like what you're doing is making an impact in the kingdom, you know, and to see how they come to life, recognizing how important the work they're doing is.
So I'm excited about seeing more kids, students, I should say, probably, come to know the Lord because they've been here, get a great education, go out and do amazing things in the world.
One of the greatest parts of my job is that I get to see people that have already gone through that process.
We're going tomorrow,
Dr. McDowell and I are going to give an award to John Deloney.
You know, and it's just amazing to see what he did, you know, coming from here and where he's gone and the amazing things that he's doing.
And to know that this is his roots, right?
This is where a lot of that got stirred.
And you can tell that story over and over and again.
We get to be a part of seeing that come to life kind of on the front end.
So, man, if that doesn't get you excited, I don't know what will.
Keegan Stewart: Any final message to the LCU community
as we close out here?
Josh Clem: Thank you.
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you for allowing me to come and be a part of this sweet, wonderful place.
Please give me patience and grace as I learn the lay of the land.
I have 428 names in my head at any given time, while you might have three or four.
So I think I'm pretty good with names, but I'm just a normal guy that, you know, is going to mess up from time to time.
So if I misplace that, you know, your uncle runs this or that or whatever, you know, just have some have some grace with me as I get.
I'll get I'll get there. I'll get there quick.
But I would just say, you know, not being from here.
Sometimes it can be a little intimidating when you're around so many people that have all the history and stuff.
But just know that, like, we're all connected in Christ.
You know, like I feel like coming here like I know people here, even though I'm not from here, just because I know where you come from.
Keegan Stewart: Right.
Josh Clem: You know, we're all really bound, especially in this little small world that many of us kind of come from growing up in the churches.
And just, you know, I think that's what it's supposed to be.
You know, the Bible says we're supposed to be set apart, a peculiar people.
Right. And I love I love.
the fact that even though I don't know all the people, I kind of do know you, right?
And so, yeah, just say to the community, I want to get to know you guys better, and I
can't wait for my family to be here.
Please, please help us, help us get settled in.
Please love my family well, you know?
The hardest thing on a dad making a decision like this is like, you know, sometimes, especially
when we get to that midlife, you know, we're ready for the adventure, and we're ready to
kind of take another step in our career or whatever that may look like. But now, you know, as the leader
of your family, you're bringing, you're bringing your whole family into that. Right. And so the
bigger way, the weight is not, you know, am I going to be okay? It's, is my family going to be okay?
And so if I could just talk to the LCU, and by the way, I'm saying this, I just came from a
conversation with some sweet professors who were talking to me about a, you know, a spiritual
formation camp that they do in July, you know, and wanting to know if our girls would want to
be a part of it. So it's already happening. So I would just say more, please, you know,
Keegan Stewart: Yeah.
Josh Clem: just, uh, yeah. Love my family well and welcome them. And, uh, man, you'll make, you'll, you'll
make me a blessed and happy man. Yeah. I appreciate it. Keegan. Thank you.
Keegan Stewart: Josh, thanks so much for taking the time to do this interview today.
Thanks so much for listening to the LCU podcast.
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