About — Joey Wilder

About Joey Wilder

The story behind the work.

From an 11-year-old selling stickers out of his grandma's house in Orange County to building and selling companies, coaching 1,400+ men, and founding Ascend Media — this is what shaped the work.

Filmmaker · Writer · Author · Consultant to 7-Figure Professionals · Truth Seeker

Forbes 30 Under 30 Nominee

0 Men Coached

$0 Combined Client Revenue

0 Client Views

0 TEDx Placements

0 First Exit

The Origin

I didn't wait for
permission to build.

I was 11 years old, living with my grandma in Orange County. We didn't have much. I wanted stickers for my skateboard binder but couldn't afford them — so I printed my own. Friends wanted them. I started selling them for $5 for two. That was my first business. The lesson stuck: you don't wait for permission to build something.

By high school I was selling clothes and skateboard decks, running a website on Yahoo Site Builder, writing a blog about skate meetups and giveaways. The hustle never stopped — it just evolved. Every chapter taught me something the next one required.

At 26 I founded The Protein Co. — a health food brand built around gluten-free, vegan Protein Donuts. We built it from scratch and sold it in 2018. That exit taught me more about identity, resilience, and what actually matters than anything I could've learned in a classroom. I later wrote about the entire journey — the lessons, the struggles, the victories — in my book Smile, Be Happy!

Through every chapter, one thread has stayed constant: I tell the stories most people skip over. The ones that happen at the kitchen table. The ones that don't make the highlight reel but shape everything that does.

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Joey Wilder · Carlsbad, CA

"The men most capable of leading others are often the ones who struggle most to lead at home. That gap is what I exist to close."

The Journey

Every chapter built
the next one.

Age 11 · Orange County, CA

First Venture

The Sticker Business

Couldn't afford the stickers I wanted. Printed my own. Sold them to friends for $5 for two out of my grandma's house. It was the first time I understood that a problem + resourcefulness = a business. By high school I was selling clothes, running websites, writing a blog — the entrepreneurial instinct never turned off.

✦ First Business · Age 11

2014 — 2018

The Protein Co. · San Diego Protein Company

Build, Sell, Learn.

Founded a health food company built around gluten-free, vegan, no-sugar-added Protein Donuts. Grew from idea to acquisition in four years. Featured on The American Dream TV series. That exit was the hardest and most formative experience of my professional life — it changed how I think about brand, identity, and what it actually means to build something worth owning. The full story lives in my book, Smile, Be Happy!

✦ Startup to Acquisition · 2018

2018 — 2020

The Idea Collective · Thought Leader

Authority at Scale.

Stepped into the CMO role and spent two years helping founders, executives, and thought leaders earn spots on the TEDx stage, build their personal brands from the ground up, and develop the kind of authority that attracts the right rooms. Over 250 individuals placed on TEDx stages. It was here I discovered my real skill: taking what someone had built privately and making the world see it clearly. This work became the foundation of Ascend Media. My writing also caught the attention of Entrepreneur Magazine — where I've been a contributor ever since.

✦ 250+ TEDx Placements · Entrepreneur Magazine

2020 — 2023

Empowered Man · Client Success Director

The Work That Changed Everything.

Joined Empowered Man and spent three years in the trenches with over 650 married men navigating divorce, disconnection, and identity loss. High performers in every external category — completely lost behind closed doors. I watched what actually worked. Not theory. Real behavioral change. Real marriages saved. Real families kept together. This experience became the foundation of the Marriage Breakthrough Method™ — and everything I now teach inside Executive Coaching.

✦ 650+ Men · Marriage Breakthrough Method™ Born

2023 — Present

Ascend Media · Executive Coaching · The Joey Wilder Show

Building What's Next.

Today I run Ascend Media — a done-for-you content and authority platform helping coaches, consultants, and 7-figure service brands turn expert knowledge into the visibility it deserves. We turn views into raving fans who become loyal clients. 22.2M+ views generated. $10M+ in combined client revenue across Ascend Media, Executive Coaching, and Marriage Breakthrough Method. I also work directly with a small number of high-performers through VIP Executive Coaching — where I bring everything from the kitchen table into a private setting. And every week, I show up on The Joey Wilder Show with the hard conversations most people avoid.

✦ Ascend Media · 22.2M+ Views · The Joey Wilder Show

What I Believe

The convictions that
drive everything.

Real success doesn't require a performance.

The men performing the hardest are often the most disconnected from the people they love. Authenticity isn't weakness — it's the foundation of every relationship that actually lasts.

Your career shouldn't cost you your marriage.

High performance and a strong marriage aren't competing priorities. They're the same skill set applied in different rooms. The man who leads at home shows up sharper everywhere else.

Expertise without visibility is a wasted gift.

If you've spent a decade building something valuable and the world doesn't know it exists, that's not humility — it's a distribution problem. Ascend Media exists to solve it.

The Book

Smile, Be Happy!

The personal side of everything I teach. A book about finding real joy and showing up fully — even when life is hard, business is harder, and the people you love need more than you know how to give. Written from the kitchen table. For the man who's built a lot but still feels like something's missing.

Get the Book on Amazon →

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