All it took was the look on his wife’s face. Brooklyn native Josh Rizzo had come out of a rough childhood with a steampunk father who was incarcerated. He graduated from West Point and was deployed directly into an army already at war in Iraq. Upon returning home, he went straight into construction and began a successful career focused on workplace safety. But the PTSD, anxiety and depression could only be suppressed so much before his wife realized it.
“In 2021, when I was 32 years old, I woke up to my wife asking if I’m okay,” he recalls. He didn’t realize that he had been crying in his sleep. “I said, I’ll go to the VA and fix it before lunch,” he says, motivated only by “the helpless look from the person I loved the most.” But when he got there, it took 45 minutes to get in. “The most heroic thing I have ever done [was] to walk through that door and say, ‘I’m so sad and scared and I don’t know why.'”
I knew I was far from alone in the industry, which is second only to mining in suicide rates in the US. “I was already running security teams; I’m on job sites talking about physical security,” he says. “But if workers aren’t there mentally, they won’t be able to work safely and with excellence.”
He left the corporate world to pursue his new mission full-time in 2021 and held virtual meetings where he recalls seeing men crying on screen. “The industry was ready for a bigger conversation about mental health,” he says.
Rizzo now travels the country, giving workshops and talks. He gives his phone number to workers at the site and says he spends about 10 hours a week answering their calls.
Kevin Hilton, CEO of the Ironworker Management Progressive Action Cooperative Trust, heard Rizzo speak. “He hosted the most powerful business dinner I’ve ever attended, which included laughter, tears and everything in between. He also delivered a heartfelt and emotionally charged presentation to nearly a thousand of our most important leaders. If you haven’t heard it, it’s a must.”
The mission includes not only personal outreach to workers, but also discussing organizational change with leaders. Last year, after several tragedies occurred among electricians, Rizzo convened a conference with 150 industry leaders.
A common question is, “What should we do? We’re not doctors or therapists. But we’re leaders in organizations where people might not be doing very well,” says Rizzo. Supporting them “has to be the first day priority for businesses. It takes collective attention in a big way. We need investment. We need people to lean on each other a little bit more.”
The Mechanical Contractors Association of America featured Rizzo as a speaker at its 20th anniversary conference, says Raffi F. Elchemmes, executive director of safety, health and risk management. “Josh Rizzo is a transformative presenter. Through a blend of industry experience, personal experience and high emotional intelligence, Josh is able to connect with people on a personal level,” he says.
Enerfab COO Jacob Snyder adds, “Whether it’s an organization trying to understand its team and get the best out of them, veterans trying to find their way, or an individual trying to find purpose or clarity, Josh has this innate ability to connect with people on a personal level and help them break boundaries.”
He adds, “I think everyone who meets Josh immediately sees his energy, passion, concern for those around him, and a servant’s heart. But at his core, Josh seeks to be his best self, that place where a person understands their purpose, challenges themselves, is loved, and can find peace. And I believe Josh finds purpose in helping others be their best.”
Rizzo emphasizes that simply showing care and empathy for someone can make a difference. “You just need that ray of light. It doesn’t take much.”
