Every gathering starts with one person who says yes before there's proof it'll work.

Josh Woll was that person.

Josh Woll became our first Founding Builder for the Substack Unconference, and I want to take a second to say what that means to me.

Josh is an award-winning filmmaker with close to two decades behind the camera. He's also five years sober and building something quietly important on Substack: The Sober Creative, a space that challenges the tired myth that artists need substances to make great work. His interviews with creatives in recovery are some of the most honest conversations happening on this platform.

He knows what it costs to put your name on something before the crowd shows up. He's been doing it his whole career.

When we announced we were building this thing in public, no polished launch, no celebrity lineup, just an idea and a willingness to figure it out with the doors open, Josh didn't wait for more information. He didn't ask for a detailed agenda. He just said I'm in.

That's not a small thing. The first person to back something that doesn't exist yet is making a statement about trust, not logistics. And it set the tone for everything that's followed.

Founding Builders aren't spectators. They're the people who'll shape what this becomes. The speakers, the workshops, the feel of the room in Montreal will carry their fingerprints because they were here while it was still just a Google Doc and a gut feeling.

Josh, thank you. Sincerely.

If you don't already subscribe to The Sober Creative, fix that. And if you're curious about what we're building, or you're the kind of person who'd rather help build the table than wait for an invitation to sit at it, we're still looking for Founding Builders.

You know where to find us.