Meet Jo Heil | Community Organizer, Healthcare Worker, Musician, Reverend

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jo Heil and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jo, what’s your definition for success?
Success means leaving this world better than I found it. Too often we equate success with money, notoriety and possessions and it sets us up for unhappiness. I choose to define success differently. If I can build upon the structures of those who came before and leave a better tomorrow for those who come after, I’ve been successful.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
What sets you apart from others?

I am a rather peculiar creature when it comes to my resume. My identities, education and work history often paint a confusing picture, but I promise, there is a throughline. I am a queer, trans, and spiritual man. I also have a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies and a Master of Divinity. I am a Reverend in the Christian Church Disciples of Christ. My jobs have included retail, farming, librarian, food service, maintenance, music and now healthcare. Throughout my life has been a deep desire to help people. These seemingly unrelated fields have made me uniquely suited to Community Organizing.

What am I most excited about?

Oh wow, lots of things!

I’m a member of an All-Transgender band, DreamStates who is experiencing a moment of adolescence right now. We’ve had a solid quartet for awhile now and we’re really starting to branch out on instrumental and performance configurations.
Our next album, “The Double-Time Dilemma”, a collection of double-time covers, is set to come out in June 2024.

I’m about a year into a career in healthcare and I am loving it! I work for an organization who focuses on harm reduction and sexual and reproductive health. This summer I will be going back to school to get my Community Health Worker Certification and I am simultaneously over the moon and terrified!

Life in general is exciting right now. There’s this saying that forty is the new twenty and I’m really feeling that. At 40 my life is nowhere near where I thought it’d be, and I’m here for it!

How did you get to where you are today professionally?

This is the hardest question to answer for someone who has had a non-traditional career path. I would say it all started at home. I come from a large extended family who were very religious and civically minded. The essential need for community was engrained in me from a young age.

I am the only son of an Elementary School Teachers’ Aide and a Software and Networking IT Guy. Both of my parents did not follow the high school – college – job pipeline. My Dad went back to school for his GED and associate degrees in information technology when my sister and I were very small. He went from coding by hand on steno pads to working for some of the nation’s largest companies. My mom got into education because she volunteered with our classes. They liked her work so much they offered her a position. Mom turned a passion for helping into an over thirty-year career. Their stories greatly shaped how I approach the world.

My education in Religion, Philosophy and Theology as well as my internships taught me a lot about what it means to exist as an authority figure and how to talk to folks. I learned a lot of humility and curiosity during my formal education.

More recently, DreamStates is how I came to be where I am today. I put a line out in social media world about looking for music opportunities and my friend got me in touch with Natalie Martin and Madeline Eckhart of DreamStates. I contacted Natalie and showed up to their studio for a tryout. I was terrified and shaking and by the time I left they offered me a position. DreamStates has offered me the opportunity to try and fail and try again and succeed (or fail in a different way) that I desperately needed. DreamStates connected me with Margie’s Hope (an organization for Trans and Gender Expansive Individuals I’ve had the privilege to work with). I met my partner, Madeline Eckhart with DreamStates. We challenge and encourage each other daily. We also have an adorable polydactyl named Professor Tobias Thumbs who is our pride and joy.

Most recently, my career in healthcare was the result of a career change. It was becoming clear that the ten miles a day on concrete, five days a week, life was not going to work for me long term, so I started looking for a job for the first time in six years. I saw a lot of programs offering to educate Community Health Workers or train folks for medical careers on the job, so I applied to a few and got the position I’m now working in.

Throughout my time on this earth, I’ve followed three words: curiosity, humility and persistence. Just stopping to think “Am I being curious, humble, and/or persistent?” has made my life so much more fulfilled.

Was it easy?

Absolutely not, and it still isn’t, but it gets more rewarding. The intersections of my identity, education and work experience are points of friction, but over the course of my lifetime I’ve learned how to embrace those intersections and make them a source of support. I also have a learning disability and struggle with a variety of mental health conditions that make emotional regulation, transitions and memory incredibly difficult.

How did you overcome the challenges?

The short answer “I get by with a little help from my friends,” but things are a bit more complicated than that. I crafted a series of redundancies and systems to best facilitate the outcomes I desire. This has resulted in a lot of weird workarounds and hurry up and wait. My friends, family and loved ones are helping me to build a life that is a bit more flexible and forgiving of my limitations.

What lessons did you learn along the way?

“Be the leaf”! There’s a scene in Avatar where Kora is trying to learn how to be an air bender and the master says “Be the leaf” in reference to how the leaf gracefully avoids obstacles and completes the task. Whenever I’m being particularly hard nosed one of my lovely band mates shouts “BE THE LEAF!” And I remember to relax and let things play out. The other lesson I learned is folks are way braver than they realize. I have found so much courage in this community.

What do you want the world to know about you / your brand / your story?

What I’d like people to know about me and my story is that you don’t have to be just one thing. Intersectionality is what has made my life as rich and successful as it is. Over the course of my life, I have been a part of countless projects and held about a dozen jobs. Each opportunity built off previous ones, even if the connection isn’t obvious.

I’d also like people to know that crying can be a good thing! Someone once told me “Tears are just the Holy Spirit working through you!” Whether you are spiritual, religious, or neither both, somewhere in between, know that crying can be a good thing! Every major decision I’ve made in my life, I cried over it several times and every time I’ve found strength in my tears.

Finally, no one is naturally great at anything. To master anything requires a lot of practice and self-awareness. Don’t give up if you fail, you’ve just found another way not to do the thing. You’ll find the way that works for you!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oooh! I have a friend coming to visit in May so this will be great!
* Aladdin’s Eatery – Local Lebanese Restaurant
* Artisan Coffee Shop – I remember when this place opened! Stop in for a lavender latte or affogato.

* ACME – To get a bag. My out-of-town friends find it hilarious that Acme is a real store and doesn’t sell anvils.

* Highland Square PorchRokr Festival – PorchRokr is hands down the best event in Akron. The Highland Square Neighborhood Association invites over 150 artists to showcase their talents on volunteered front porches. Word of advice: Don’t Park near the event. Park at a shuttle station and take the shuttle in.

*The Rialto – The Rialto Theatre is the best sounding and most well attended venue in Akron. The Vails have shepherded me and most of Akron’s music scene throughout our careers. That history permeates the walls of this community staple.

* Hale Farm and Village: Hale Farm and Village is a living historical museum set in 1848. My friend is a huge history buff and Hale Farm holds a lot of memories for me.

* Country Maid Ice Cream and Orchard: Country Maid has been a family staple since before I was a glint in my father’s eye. The folks met at Country Maid when they were teenagers for dates. My extended family would meet up there to pick apples in the fall as well as in the summer for ice cream. I’ve taken many folks there over the years.
* Ledges Overlook: After getting ice cream we’ll head out to the best sunset view the Cuyahoga Valley has to offer at the Ledges Overlook Trailhead in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
* Mom and Dad’s Trailer: We must stop by my folks’ trailer at Maple Lakes Campground in Seville, Ohio. My folks have a RV near my home where they summer. We must stop by and get some of Mom’s pot roast and listen to Dad’s stories.

* My backyard: My favorite place in the world is our backyard. We’ve got a clothesline, garden and firepit. There’s nothing better than hanging out with good folks around a campfire in our backyard.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My shoutout goes to those who came before me whose shoulders I now stand upon. And for those who will come after me who will one day stand on my shoulders.

Image Credits
Chevy Danger, Madeline Eckhart, Jasper Martin