Josh Lysne is director of digital strategy at Flint Group; he’s also a self-proclaimed “fishing foodie.”
At work
While Josh says there is no ‘typical day’ for him at Flint, his job mainly consists of strategic planning, writing new business plans, and leading internal and client training sessions. I was surprised to learn about his many speaking engagements—this guy is busy! He’s presented at a variety of events, such as the National Agri-marketing Association (NAMA) Conference, the Agvocacy 2.0 Training Conference, the FFA National Convention, North Dakota Rural Healthcare Conference and various chamber of commerce events.
Aside from being with his family and using his digital superpowers to help Flint clients, Josh’s greatest passions are fishing and cooking. The food and fishing fanatic has even started his own blog, The Fishing Foodie, where he shares his ongoing cooking and angling adventures.
In the kitchen
For Josh, cooking is an escape. Recipes may give him inspiration, but he never follows them.
“I just do what seems right to me. I think that same creativity follows me to work. All of my clients have different challenges, and every project is different. There is no one recipe for my clients to be successful; you have to be creative each and every time,” said Josh.
Josh and his wife have two young children—Mara (8) and Abby (7)—which means he has family commitments most weekday evenings. His culinary quests typically transpire on the weekends.
After catching a Wahoo in Curacao, Josh prepared a gourmet meal of Wahoo tacos with black beans and salsa fresco.
“I love to try new things in the kitchen, and I love it even more when I get a positive reaction from my family, who are usually my guinea pigs,” said Josh.
When I asked him what his favorite thing to cook is, he said, “anything on the grill.”
When Josh fires up the grill, he doesn’t mess around: Shrimp, Ribs, Walleye and crispy bread on a fly-in fishing trip to Ontario.
Josh openly admits he is a Food Network junkie, and, though his friends at Flint have tried to get him help, we’ve now come to accept him as our culinary-crazed colleague.
On the water
Fishing, on the other hand, is Josh’s way of unwinding.
“Sitting in a boat all by myself on a beautiful, calm morning is my time to just relax and think,” he said. “While it is my time to get away from the stress of work, some of my best ideas come while sitting in a boat. There is nothing better than a relaxed, clear head.”
Growing up, Josh spent his summers at his family’s cabin on Big Bass Lake near Bemidji, MN. He started taking the boat out to fish when he was just 10 years old and has been hooked (ohhhhh man) on the sport ever since.
Josh with a walleye he caught on Little McDonald Lake in Minnesota.
One of his favorite fishing memories is a day he and his wife fished off the coast of Zihuatanejo, Mexico. The two caught three yellowfin tuna, three blackfin tuna and the biggest fish Josh has ever caught—a 7 ½-foot sailfish.
Josh and his wife, Ann, with their sailfish in Mexico.
“It was the first real deep-sea fishing I had done, and it was amazing,” said Josh.
Since then, he’s been deep-sea fishing all over the world, from off the coasts of Jamaica, Curacao, the Dominican Republic to Florida, California and Alaska. An avid outdoorsman, Josh has flown into Canadian lakes, floated down rivers in Montana and gone ice fishing and winter camping in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA).
Despite his extensive fishing travels, Minnesota is home and where most of his fishing happens. You can find Josh on the water almost every weekend in the summer. His family schedule is busier during the winter, but he gets out on the ice around six or seven times a year.
“Anytime I can get on the water, or on the ice, is great,” he said.
Josh with a walleye he caught while ice fishing on Lake Ida near Alexandria, MN, last New Year’s.
Melding his passions for food, fishing and family
Fortunately, Josh receives no complaints about his cooking from his family—they love sampling his tasty kitchen masterpieces. And he’s even got his daughters on the water with him.
Josh’s daughter Abby proudly poses with a Bass she caught—all by herself she’ll have you know.
Josh and his daughter, Mara, with two Bass they caught together.
As long as Josh has fishing, food and family, life is good.
Get to know a Flintster: Q + A with Josh!
What’s your dream job?
Pro fisherman, fishing guide or own my own restaurant (coin toss).
Which job would you not want to have?
Anything that didn’t allow me to be creative or come up with new ideas or ways of doing things.
What was your first job?
Playground supervisor.
What did it teach you?
There is always a bully on the playground.
What is one thing you’d be willing to practice for an hour a day?
Cooking. I’d love to be able to cook for an hour each day.
What’s the best advice you ever got?
Do it right the first time.
What sound do you love?
My kids laughing.
What scent do you love?
The smell of a thunderstorm rolling in.
“Dancing—I love the chance to express myself through movement and interpretation of music,” Crystal said. “Dancing energizes my mind, challenges my body and renews my spirit. It allows me to open my mind and expand my creativity by letting new ideas flow.”
