From gang-adjacent teenage years and a forced high school transfer in New Jersey to meeting his wife in a bar, discovering Reformed theology, and moving to Pensacola — Josh Leone (East Hill Barbershop) joins Fuller Conversation for the most tattooed episode yet! Josh opens up about his wild past, his conversion story, marriage and fatherhood, an extensive tattoo collection (including one unforgettable head tattoo), motorcycles, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and what it’s like building a life and a barbering career in a new city and a new church.
Josh’s story is funny in places, painful in others, and ultimately a testimony to God’s grace.
Thanks for joining us for another Fuller Conversation—and thanks, Josh, for making our hair and our conversation a little bit fuller.
Chapters:
0:00 – Introduction & meeting Josh
1:53 – Growing up in New Jersey
3:15 – Childhood memories, baseball & hunting
7:16 – Siblings & adoption
9:09 – Married life with four kids
10:33 – Skateboarding & surfing
12:28 – Getting asked to leave — the fight and arrest
14:14 – Falling in with a rough crowd
16:01 – The friend who took him in
16:33 – Growing up in church without deep roots
21:03 – Rock bottom: the party years
22:05 – Meeting his wife Kylie at a bar
25:11 – “I know nothing” — the conversation that changed everything
26:12 – His whole family comes to faith
26:59 – Discovering Reformed theology
28:02 – COVID masks and finding like-minded friends
31:03 – Leaving New Jersey churches behind
32:06 – Finding Pensacola & Providence Church
34:10 – Culture shock moving South
36:09 – What drew him to Kylie
41:19 – Kylie’s journey from New Age to conservative Christian
46:59 – Advice to his younger self
49:48 – First tattoo at 18
52:15 – His tattoo philosophy
53:32 – Skateboarding YWAM & stick-and-poke tattoos in Bosnia
1:00:26 – Favorite tattoos and their stories
1:03:39 – The infamous head tattoo
1:08:13 – The panther tattoo rumor
1:10:13 – More wild tattoo stories
1:11:39 – Tattooing his wife
1:15:26 – Motorcycles & Harley culture
1:20:47 – His hardtail Harley’s history
1:23:05 – Brazilian jiu-jitsu
1:31:05 – How he became a barber
1:36:01 – Barber vs. cosmetology license
1:38:47 – Life at East Hill Barbershop
1:42:56 – Shop culture & why it works
1:46:42 – The weight of being a husband
1:48:50 – The challenges of fatherhood
1:53:02 – Discipline as an act of love
1:54:14 – Legacy: what he wants his grandchildren to know
1:56:03 – BONUS: mannequin heads!
Make every conversation A LITTLE BIT FULLER!
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