Today, as Joshua T Berglan, The World's Mayor, I advise the United Nations. I sit at tables with the World Bank. I produce award-winning omnimedia content and mentor leaders across the globe. How did I get from the pit of hell to a platform of global influence?

I didn't do it by polishing a fake persona. I did it by taking a sledgehammer to the mask.

We are living in a crisis of authenticity. The digital landscape of 2025 is littered with the corpses of "influencers" who built castles on the sand of public opinion. If you want to build a legacy that outlasts the algorithm, you have to stop faking it. You have to start bleeding truth.

The Great Deception of the "Creator Economy"

Let’s be real for a second. The "Creator Economy" is booming, but it’s also full of noise, smoke, and mirrors. You are being lied to.

You are told to "niche down" until you suffocate your creativity. You are told to "dance for the algorithm" like a puppet on a string. You are told that if you just use the right hashtags, buy the right presets, and smile bright enough, the world will listen.

The world is tired of polished. The world is starving for real. We are drowning in content but starving for connection. We have an entire generation of leaders and creators who are spiritually bankrupt because they are trying to serve two masters: The Truth and The Trend. You cannot serve both. Trends vanish like vapor. Truth stands eternal.

I see so many of you—brilliant entrepreneurs, gifted artists, visionary leaders—paralyzed by the fear of being "cancelled" or "misunderstood." So you dilute your message. You sugar-coat your testimony. You hide the scars that actually prove you survived the battle.

Your audience doesn't need another hero. They need a witness. They need someone to look them in the eye and say, "I have been through the fire, and I didn't just survive—I learned how to control the flame."

From Psych Wards to the World Stage

My redemption story isn't a marketing tactic. It is the bedrock of my existence. When I speak about being a voice for the voiceless, it’s not a slogan. It’s because I was the voiceless. I was the guy people stepped over on the sidewalk. I was the statistic. I was the "hopeless case."

But God doesn't make junk. And He certainly didn't wire you for mediocrity.

Through the grace of God, I found my way out of the darkness. But I realized that simply "getting sober" or "getting a job" wasn't enough. I had to repurpose my pain. I had to take the very things the enemy used to try and destroy me—my intensity, my obsessive nature, my loud voice—and sanctify them for a purpose greater than myself.

I decided to build a personal brand that wasn't about "Look at Joshua," but rather "Look at what is possible when you surrender to Truth." This is why I became The World's Mayor. Not because I won an election, but because I chose to serve.

The Death of "Fake It 'Til You Make It"

In 2025, audiences have a BS detector that is finely tuned. Search engines like Google and AI algorithms are prioritizing E-E-A-T(Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness). You can't fake experience. You can't fake the authority that comes from walking through the valley of the shadow of death.

When you build a facade, you have to spend all your energy propping it up. It’s exhausting. It leads to burnout. It leads to spiritual gaslighting where you tell yourself you're "blessed" when you're actually just performing.

Vulnerability is the new currency.

I wrote A Fight for Me not to brag about my sins, but to show the roadmap of my salvation. That raw honesty didn't repel people; it drew them in. It created a "moat" around my brand that no competitor can cross. You can copy my website, you can copy my business model, but you cannot copy my testimony.

The World’s Mayor Framework

How do you build an omnimedia empire that honors God, serves people, and generates wealth, all while remaining 100% authentic? Here are my 4 Pillars to Unshakeable Authority.

Spiritual Gaslighting vs. Radical Hope

I want to address the elephant in the room. The "Christian" marketplace. I have seen so much manipulation in the name of faith. I have seen "prophets" who are really just marketers.

Garbage. God is not a slot machine. He is a Father.

My faith is not religious; it is relational. It is redeemed. We need leaders who are willing to call out the broken systems—in the church, in the government, in the media—while maintaining a posture of love. We need lions who know how to be lambs.