Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin Hoffman.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Everything I do today is because I am a recovering addict who is telling my story and my journey through creative expression. I just celebrated six years without a drink on September 12, 2026, and in the past six years I have harnessed my creative energy and turned it into various forms of art. My entire sobriety/creative arts journey is called the Alive On Purpose Project (www.aliveonpurposeproject.org). This includes my music, graphic design, acting/modeling, guitar restoration, woodworking, and others.
2018 was my worst year, having both a cardio version from alcohol poisoning and then getting arrested for “trespassing” 2 weeks later. These two events led my parents to put me involuntarily into a rehab program. 4 months later, I was sentenced for my arrest to 18 months of probation and random drug testing, which effectively ended my college partying days.
Once I completed my program later in 2018 and my probation in 2019 I tried to make a comeback, but it just wasn’t the same. The taste, the feeling, the hangovers — it was all worse. All of this, paired with COVID returning me back home to my parents turned me off of drinking for good.
2018 was my worst year, having both a cardioversion from alcohol poisoning, then getting arrested for “trespassing” 2 weeks later. I was already almost failing out of school at the University of Arizona, and these two events led my parents to put me into an outpatient rehab program. This allowed me keep attending school. 4 months later, I was sentenced for my arrest to 18 months of probation and random drug testing, which effectively ended my college partying days.
During my time without alcohol I had become more involved in my health — eating healthy, going to the gym, studying to be a personal trainer (never took the test due to COVID), etc. Once I completed my program later in 2018 and my probation in 2019 I tried to make a “comeback”, but it just wasn’t the same. The taste, the feeling, the hangovers — it was all worse. This, paired with what I learned about addiction in my program, and COVID returning me back home to my parents… I was basically turned off of drinking for good.
COVID was tough, but I got through it. I graduated from the University of Arizona with a bachelors degree in Communication in May, 2020, but I never got my personal training certification.
My last time drinking was with one of my best friends growing up who I have known since around 2007. We had had plenty of drunken debauchery together in the past, and he was going to CSU Long Beach so I figured I would go visit him and party one more time for old times sake. Nothing bad happened there, but it was another reminder that my body didn’t receive alcohol the same as it once did.
That was September 11, 2020, but I say September 12 because that was my first full day of sobriety.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Absolutely has not been a smooth road. Obviously, starting out from an addictive background doesn’t help, but even since then, I have found that art costs a lot of money. I’ve also realized that if I’m going to spend the money, I want it to be done a certain way. However, most times, it’s not done the right way (or how I wanted it to be), so I’m left unsatisfied. As a result, I lose time because instead of paying somebody else to do it, I try to learn it instead. Not to an expert level, but to a functional level. That’s not all bad though because it does expand my skill set. Doing this, though, means I can’t go and hang out with people; I have to spend extra money that I have on more resources to learn things, so I can’t go enjoy a nice dinner. Often times I feel like I’m failing, but I’ve learned that’s just part of the process.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I would say that I’m a multi-talented musician, or at the very least a multi-genre musician. The first music I started creating and releasing was rap music, but as I dig deeper into my creativity and move further in my sobriety journey, different things interest and inspire me. When I started making music, I always knew that I wanted to play instruments, but I didn’t really understand the fundamentals. I had played around on the guitar and piano for a few years, but never learned any chords. I started making rap music because it required the least amount of real instruments. As I was writing and releasing those, I was self teaching myself how to play the guitar — how to understand scales, how to understand progressions, etc. Not to a John Mayer level, but a level where I can pick up a guitar, play some chords, and write a song. Those songs haven’t come out yet though.
My first storytelling project was called “Hi, My Name Is Justin” which is about my experiences with alcoholism and addiction. This is a rap/hip hop project, but I wanted to make sure that the story I was living in real life was reflected in my music. I am most proud of this project because it provides authentic human experience in music form for people to relate to. I’ve had countless people come up to me and tell me that they resonate with the project, or they have experienced loss in their family from things that I’m talking about, or are proud of me for getting through it because they know someone who didn’t. It’s very therapeutic.
I also directed a music video for the first song of the project, also titled “Hi, My Name is Justin” which is from the perspective of somebody attending a support group meeting for the first time. The video was inspired by “When I’m Gone” by Eminem and can be found on my YouTube channel (@YoungHoffTV).
I’d say something that sets me apart from others is my willingness to learn new things and not being afraid to do things myself. However, a big hurdle that I’m finding is losing motivation if I get stuck. Sometimes, if I get to a point in a project where I don’t know the next move and learning is getting confusing, I will just start another project instead of seeking out external resources. This leaves me with unfinished projects quite often.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
It takes money to make money and everybody needs to get paid. There are two ways to do things: Relational or Transactional.
Transactional would be just stacking up a bunch of money and paying for the things you need.
Whereas I would rather go…
Relational, which is building relationships with the people around you who are willing to help you. This will usually be friends or students who are also looking to build their resume.
Acquiring a strong team early is crucial because they can help you organize and allocate duties/responsibilities, more funding if everyone pitches in, more outreach, motivation to complete goals, etc.
I would personally rather go relational over transactional because you’re working towards a common goal with a group of people that you were comfortable with, versus somebody who doesn’t care about your service or product and only wants your money.
I’ve realized that most of these people were available and willing while I was in high school & college.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.younghoff.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/younghoff4real
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/younghoff4real
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/younghofftv
- Other: https://www.aliveonpurposeproject.org
