Josef Azam

JOSEF AZAM BIOGRAPHY

Josef Azam is a leadership coach, motivational speaker, successful entrepreneur who is passionate about giving back and a digital marketing guru who has assisted customers in generating 1.5 billion dollars in sales. He guides and encourages the next generation with the expertise he has gathered by building a distinctive approach to business management and breaking down industry obstacles.

Josef has been on a mission to improve and inspire the lives of people who come from similar hardships around the world.

Josef Azam is currently the President of Cloverdale Multi-Resources, a non-profit organization located on the West Island of Montreal, whose mission is to support lower-income families that have recently immigrated to Canada. He is also a board member of Yes Montreal (Youth Entrepreneurship Services), a non-profit community-driven organization that helps Quebecers find employment opportunities and develop their skills as entrepreneurs.

Occasionally, Josef gives entrepreneurship and leadership workshops at John Abbott College. He also dedicates a lot of his time to hosting free conferences and seminars for various organizations, children, students and entrepreneurs. He uses much of his personal experiences and struggles through school and business as a source of inspiration.

In the past year and a half, Josef Azam has given over 50 leadership and keynote speeches to organizations across North America and Europe. He has spoken to over 5000 underserved youth in communities and organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club, YMCA, JA centers, and school boards. As of November 2022, Josef will be speaking in prisons and juvenile detention centers in California and Georgia.

As a young child, he gravitated to combat sports like boxing, MMA fighting, and wrestling because he felt that if he became a strong fighter, people would look up to him as a tough guy and forget that he was a poor kid. In his early 20s, his goal was to be a professional MMA fighter and he started his first business, a martial arts school called Black Hawk MMA. In 2004, Josef Azam was offered a professional MMA contract from the famous Quebec TKO promotion, but he turned it down to focus his attention on business because the income would not allow him to support his parents.

As Josef started to achieve financial success, his physical health took the backburner. He gained over 50 lbs. and started becoming very insecure with his appearance. After his first child was born, he made a commitment to live an extremely healthy and disciplined life in order to set a good example for himself. Josef Azam now trains regularly with his oldest son. His transformation pictures went viral on a couple of fitness blogs in 2016.

Josef graduated from Concordia University with a BA in Sociology in 2007. His main goal was to study at the John Molson School of Business, but he was not accepted in the marketing program because of his low grades. At 24 years old and with very little experience, Josef Azam founded Design Shopp International, a web and digital marketing agency in Montreal.

He first learnt online marketing through the “Digital Marketing for Dummies” book. Josef is notorious for learning everything on his own and doing whatever it takes to make things work. In the early stages of the business, he also worked at the airport part-time, cleaning toilets and loading luggage to make ends meet.

DESIGN SHOPP INTERNATIONAL NOW HAS OVER 40 EMPLOYEES IN 4 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES AND GENERATES OVER 150 MILLION DOLLARS PER YEAR IN REVENUE FOR ITS MARKETING CLIENTS ACROSS THE GLOBE.

Josef Azam also has investments in various restaurants and SAAS companies and is the president of Imagination Holding Co.

Josef’s parents worked hard and tirelessly at building a life from nothing. Josef’s father was a factory worker throughout his life, mainly in the steel industry. His mother worked as an office clerk in different companies. Josef Azam’s parents later had their only child. Growing up, Josef struggled in school and suffered from dyslexia, which was only diagnosed later in life. In addition to having a hard time academically, Josef lacked self-confidence and had developed a lot of insecurities from growing up poor in an affluent area.

Everyone around Josef seemed happy, motivated, and financially stable, while his experience differed greatly. Growing up was a constant struggle, At the young age of 10 years old, every weekend, Josef would go to the St-Eustache flea market and sell second-hand jeans to help support the family. Seeing as his father spoke very broken English and not a lick of French, Josef would do most of the sales.

It was at this flea market that Josef Azam first learned about sales. Despite the ongoing financial and educational struggles that he experienced, Josef was the first in his family to graduate from post-secondary education. It was then, after being on academic probation twice and almost getting kicked out of college, that he met his future wife, who gave him the foundation and encouragement that he always needed.

Josef has been married to his lifelong business partner since 2012, and together they have 2 boys, one of 6 years old and the other 11 years old. Within his free time, Josef Azam has been running the Riverdale Wrestling Club program in Montreal for the past 6 years. To date, the club won 5 consecutive city championships and shaped many provincial and regional champions.

Josef Azam is dedicated to promoting fitness as a source of discipline and motivation to the children that he coaches. As a child and young adult, sports helped guide and motivate Josef, which is a passion he tries to share with the next generation.