Barry Shore, Host of the “JOY of Giving”, podcast is here to share with us his journey and inspire!
Barry Shore was born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in the shadow of Fenway Park in Brookline, MA. He attended UMASS, Amherst for 3 years and then lived in Europe for 5 years, before returning to the US to graduate from UMASS/Boston with a double degree in History/Economics. Barry has lived in Venice Beach, CA since 1980 and has traveled around the world twice and throughout Europe. He is happily married to wonderful Naomi for 42 years now, and raised a fine son, Ezra, who married a delightful woman, Shoshi, and they have a 2-year old son with another in process.
Barry currently hosts the “JOY of LIVING” RadioShow/Podcast (www.barryshore.com) and is known as “the Ambassador of JOY.” Barry has survived two severe life injuries from a car accident and another illness that led to years of paralysis. He has now overcome such trials and is thriving to share with you JOY, Happiness, Peace and LOVE! Nothing stopped Barry in these trials, and he currently swims 2 miles a day 6 days a week, having accumulated more than 7,141 miles-to-date, swimming from LA to Hawaii, to Taiwan to Shanghai!
Barry is also a successful businessman in several industries from the diamond business to technology and beyond, and he has since created another business around the “JOY of Giving” using his talents, resources and heart to give back to the world we live in. What a champion! Barry uses many FUNN acronyms and positive phrases to express his overcomer mindset. Read along to find out what these power phrases are that helped Barry accomplish so much in his lifetime… and he’s not done yet!
MITH: Barry, you are known as the Ambassador of JOY. Tell us where you got this name from and tell us how you are contributing to spreading JOY.
Barry: A few years ago, an international magazine called “Mishpacha” did a feature story on my journey and titled the piece “The Ambassador of Joy.” Even I found the article interesting and compelling, and I adopted the moniker because it does accurately describe my persona and vision: to foster, promote and spread JOY, Happiness, Peace & LOVE. As the Ambassador of Joy, I have distributed over 1.2 million KEEP SMILING business-sized cards in 27 languages for wallet or purse. In addition, my company and I have created a number of messages that promote powerful and positive, purposeful ideas, such as the cards that read, “Did I tell You Today How much I Appreciate YOU?”, “EVERYONE You Know is Fighting a Battle You know Nothing About. Be Kind. Always.”, “Happy By Choice”, “Life is a 3D Process.” and “S.M.I.L.E. Seeing Miracles In Life Everyday”. All the cards are FREE. Let’s Give 10 million cards by 2020!! Details are available at our site www.barryshore.com.
MITH: What drives you to accomplish your mission and what are some challenges you had to overcome to accomplish your mission?
Barry: On September 17thof 2004, I was standing in the morning like everyone else, and in the evening, I was in the hospital paralyzed from my neck down. This was not from an auto accident or spinal injury at the time, but from a rare disease called Guillaine-Barré Syndrome. Imagine being fully capable and active and then a few hours later, becoming a quadriplegic. I endured total paralysis for about 2 years and am still not fully recovered 15 years later. I am presently unable to walk up a curb or step without assistance and I have assistance 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, my recovery was through PTL: Prayer, Therapy and LOVE.
If paralysis isn’t enough, I also had a head-on collision on the NY Thruway in Westchester County at 60 MPH in 1972. The doctors told my friend to contact my parents, as it was unlikely I would not make it through the night. My friend did call my parents and they and my then girlfriend drove for hours to see me. Suffice to say, it was years of therapy, prayer and LOVE to get me to walking again. And imagine this…. with nary a visible scratch!!! And YES, it WAS JOY of LIFE that elevated my Spirit and enabled me to KNOW that LIVING was the KEY to SUCCESS in overcoming these two strangleholds!
Indeed, in the process of regaining some of my capabilities over the years, I was to GO MAD…which in this case, is good. It means Go Make A Difference. Because of my successful business background, I was able to design and attract a team that built an innovative internet platform that enables people to give money at no cost. Our mission is making every day giving effortless and meaningful. Our audacious goal is to facilitate the giving of One Billion Dollars (Yes, with the B) without costing any giver a penny. For the first time in history, we can make small donations that make a difference. And it’s free. Details are available at www.barryshore.com
MITH: Tell us more about your successful business background: Barry: I retired for almost 2 years at the age of 30 after a highly successful stint in the Diamond Business, first as a teacher at the GIA (Gemological Institute of America). I wrote a book on diamonds, called “Precious Stones Newsletter: Investor Guide to Diamonds.” The book was $85 and 3,000 copies were bought. Then my partner and I sold tens of millions of diamonds at wholesale to other dealers. During that time, I trained over 1,200 business people in the Art of (Ethical) Selling. I had the first California Sanctioned Limited Partnership in Gems. After my brief retirement, I helped build an international telephony company which morphed into an online Telephony Company specializing in sending/receiving FAXES (remember those!) and I received a patent for the process. That company, Fax4Free.com, was acquired in the year 2000 for more than $10 million dollars. The acquirer still uses the technology and is a $4 billion-dollar entity today. I was then asked to head up an online telephony company similar to SKYPE (5 years prior to Skype), called SpeakForFree. Following that, I was asked to head up the integration of Broadband into a large Real Estate Company for their 20,000 plus units. And then I became paralyzed on September 17th, 2004. And as I mentioned, I had to GO MAD: which is GO Make A Difference, so we built an online platform that enables people to GIVE money to their favorite cause without costing anyone a penny. And this platform, along with the following two other variations, occupies my mind and heart: Mission: Making Every Day Giving Effortless and Meaningful. Goal: to Give One Billion Dollars
MITH: How do you connect JOY with GIVING?
Barry: The essence of the JOY of LIVING can be summed up in one word: GIVING. Whether it’s money or time or both, the ability to give and be a giver is essential to living well with JOY. With our platforms, people can now build the Giving muscle without costing money. It takes conscious awareness. This is especially powerful and beneficial for people in their formative business years of 18-29 who think they can’t afford to give. The very act of giving, even at no cost on a regular basis, builds the awareness of being what you want to see in your society. This is true JOY.
MITH: Tell a story about one of your first experiences in giving, and how this inspired your Giving movement.
Barry: Ah, the JOY of GIVING. One of my most fond and earliest memories… around the age of 6 was Giving/Sharing my sled with another kid who didn’t have one in snowy Boston. Not only did we both have FUNN, but we also remained friends for the next 25 years…all because I was willing to Give Freely. This made an impression on me, and Giving has been part of my life ever since… Was I ever betrayed for Giving too easily? YES….did it deter me? NO, and the active use of the Giving Muscle….yes, it is a Muscle… brings Bounty beyond description…
MITH: Tell us about your podcast and how it ties in with Giving:
Barry: Imagine a repository of positive, purposeful messages available to listen and share. For free. Imagine podcasts with powerful successful people who have insights for YOU. Imagine a wonderful world dedicated to engaging you and enabling you to SOAR. That’s The JOY of LIVING RadioShow/Podcast available at barryshore.com. I began the podcast on VoiceAmerica.com in January 2019 with a total of 18 episodes to-date. And they are stellar. Because they’re all about YOU. Enabling You to become the Best possible YOU. I have also been recording the MOL (Moment of LOVE), which is a two-minute podcast with over 158 episodes that focuses on daily inspirational tips and tools. For free. And then there’s FB LIVE every Mon/Wed/Fri exploring relevant ideas on Living Life to the FULL….with about 33 episodes. ALL productions center around Fostering, Promoting, and Spreading JOY, Happiness, Peace & LOVE. Of the 251,000 plus listeners, 45% are OUTSIDE the USA, including India, where we have a substantial following. The Purpose of these Podcasts is to EduTain (!)….educate and entertain at the same time by examining Ideas, People and Situations that matter to YOU.
MITH: Barry, thank you so much for sharing with us your wonderful journey. Before you go, could you lastly share with us some of your favorite books and quotes?
Barry: Most favorite Book: 1).The Psalms, filled with timeless wisdom and insights. 2). A regular read and reread is “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl 3). “The WHY of Business” by Simon Sinek is well-worn. 4). And my perennial favorite is the “War of Art” by Stephen Pressfield. Must-reads each one.
Useful Quotes: “May Goodness and Mercy Pursue YOU all the Days of Your Life.” (Psalm 23) and “Choice not Chance Determines Your Destiny” (Aristotle) and from Theodore Roosevelt: “Do what You can, with what You have, from where You are.” Find Barry on Instagram and Twitter at @barryeshore and visit his website www.barryshore.comto find out more about this Marvelous Ambassador of JOY!
Interview by Holly Glasser, Editor-in-Chief of MITH Magazine
