Josh Liljenquist Talks Live to Love and Spreading Kindness on Twin Cities Live

Twin Cities Live transcript

Air date: August 11, 2026 Program: Twin Cities Live Outlet: KSTP-TV / 5 Eyewitness News

Opening clip

JOSH (clip): All right, Lamondo. Grab my hand. Okay, stay right there. When I count down from three, I want you to take your blindfold off, okay? Three, two, one. These are for you.

JOSH (clip): Thanks. I got one more thing.

LAMONDO: Yeah.

JOSH (clip): It’s $10,000.

LAMONDO: You’re joking.

JOSH (clip): You can stay wherever you want.

LAMONDO: This is just—this is jokes. Thank you. Thank you.

HOST 1: Wow. Wow. Gosh, if you’ve seen those videos on social media, they are just so inspiring.

So Josh Liljenquist is a Minnesota content creator. He’s behind Live to Love. He’s on a mission to spread joy, and he joins us now.

Josh, welcome in. We have long been followers of your work and always seeing what you’re up to. Six million followers on Instagram. You’ve got to give us kind of the background on this story, because everybody who starts something starts with one follower, and then you just keep going and going. What happened?

How Live to Love started

JOSH: Well, I mean, if you’re passionate about something, it doesn’t matter if you have one person watching or a million people watching. If you’re doing something out of passion and doing it for the right reasons, you don’t need an audience. You’re just doing it.

If I went broke by giving, it’s a win. And if I made a million dollars while giving, it’s a win. You can’t lose.

HOST 2: But how did it all start? I mean, what was the moment you were like, not only am I just going to do these random acts of kindness, but actually show the whole world your process?

JOSH: Well, I can say I got inspired by my family, first of all. My grandpa specifically.

When he passed away, people were going through the line, and they were saying—because he got back home from Vietnam, started a plumbing business, and he would do plumbing for free sometimes. And I didn’t know that until he passed away.

People were going through saying how much my grandpa meant to them and what my grandpa did for them. And I’m like, man, I felt so much pride.

I just thought to myself, if I can make my kids or my grandkids feel as much pride as I feel about my grandpa right now, then I feel like I made it in life.

The first kindness video

HOST 1: So then did you start just finding people? I mean, you can find people who are struggling on the street. We could walk out of this building right now. It’s not difficult. Did you start just finding people and kind of building relationships? What happened?

JOSH: Well, it started with—I just went into a grocery store. And I went up to a stranger, and I started talking to them and asked them if they had an extra dollar to spare.

The person who I was directly talking to actually didn’t give me the money, but the person who was running the cash register an aisle over actually ended up buying the snack.

And as it turns out, she was saving up money for an apartment. And so I gave her money, and she broke down and started crying. And I’m like, oh my gosh.

HOST 1: So you asked someone who was already struggling for help. This person overheard you, offered you the help, and then you said, okay, listen, I’m going to twist it back to you, and I’m going to just give it back to you tenfold.

JOSH: Yeah.

HOST 1: Wow.

JOSH: And she didn’t feel seen. She said, like, this is the first time I’ve felt seen in so long.

And so many people saw the video. It was like 35 million people saw the video. People were going in saying, “Hey, thanks for being a good person,” and that made her feel good.

More than 1,000 people helped

HOST 2: I think the coolest part of watching your videos is, especially the early ones, that you’re really getting a chance to see people’s genuine spirit when they’re not put up to something.

Like in that moment that you’re just describing, she’s just being nice for the sake of being nice. And then she doesn’t know that there’s something more behind it.

I think that’s a good reinforcement for all of us that there are some really good people out there amongst all this negative news.

How many videos have you probably done in total? How many lives have you touched in total doing what you’re doing? A thousand?

JOSH: Over a thousand, for sure.

HOST 2: Yeah. A thousand people. And then are you hearing from those people in terms of what they’ve turned their life’s purpose into?

JOSH: Oh yeah.

HOST 2: So I would imagine there is a bit of a pay-it-forward element. What are some examples of that?

James Cowan Jr.’s story

JOSH: The first one that comes to mind is actually my employee.

HOST 1: Yeah.

JOSH: James. So James, when I met him, I got a text message—a random text message—and I get them all the time. But for some reason, I opened the text message and I called the number because I never do it. I get so many.

So I talked to him, and I’m like, man, this is a really good dude. And he explained his story.

He was an addict for 30-plus years, prayed to God to take his cravings away for drugs, and 30-something months ago, God did that for him.

Fast-forward a few months: he came with me all the time. And one day I get a phone call, and he said, “Hey, I’m in a tough spot right now.”

I said, “What’s going on?”

He said, “Well, can we meet up?”

And I said, “Meet me at Cub.”

So I talked to my videographer—his name is Ben Steine—and I said, “Ben, please come with.”

We put the camera in the back of my car, and I said, “James, talk to me. What’s going on?”

He seemed shook up. And he’s like, “Well, my old roommate who just moved out told the landlord that I wasn’t on the lease, and I wouldn’t be able to be put on the lease because of my criminal history. So I’m scared for my wife. I’m scared for my stepdaughter, and I don’t know what to do.”

He couldn’t find a job because of the criminal history, which is really difficult.

HOST 1: And so you helped him overcome that.

JOSH: We raised him $50,000, which he actually used for a down payment for a house. So now he’s a homeowner.

HOST 1: Yeah.

JOSH: And he didn’t have a job, so he was worried about the mortgage payments. The same day that he closed on the house, I offered him a job.

HOST 1: Wow.

HOST 2: Wow. Good for you.

JOSH: And he’s actually right back here.

HOST 1: There he is.

Lamondo and the meaning of being seen

HOST 2: I want to real quickly go full circle with the video that we showed in the beginning. That was Lamondo. What was the story with Lamondo?

JOSH: So Lamondo—I literally sat on a couch and waited for somebody to help me out.

Randomly, a man named Lamondo came over, and he said, “Look, I’m in the same position you are right now. I don’t have anywhere to live.”

HOST 2: And he’s thinking you’re struggling.

JOSH: Yes. He has no idea.

HOST 2: Right.

JOSH: And so he shared some necessities that he had. And he’s like, “Hey, I can get you into the place that I’m sleeping. I can get you a bed. You should not be sleeping here.”

And so he shared half of what he had.

HOST 1: Wow.

JOSH: And so he explained to me that he’s been applying for jobs. He’s never been a criminal. He doesn’t have a criminal history. And the reason that he’s homeless is because his home got taken in a natural disaster.

Sometimes people just need to feel seen, and they need just one person to believe in them, and then it’s amazing what can happen after that.

Closing and nominations

HOST 1: Josh, you’re so inspiring. It’s really a treat to have you here. Thanks for all that you’re doing.

And you’ve got to follow him on social media.

HOST 2: Yeah, please do. It’ll change your life, if you’re not already one of the—what—six million?

HOST 1: Six million. Time to get after it.

So if you’re interested in learning more about Josh’s journey, and if you’d like to nominate someone who might need his help, we posted a link to his site with all of the information at TwinCitiesLive.com.