Special Feature - Success Story #2 - Joshua Vickery

Each month we at Building Leaders for Success are proud to share the story of someone or an organization that is making  difference in their lives through success as well as helping others to find their own success.

This month we are pleased to feature Joshua Vickery, Founder and Executive Director of Central Florida Community Arts.

I graduated with a degree in music and was involved in church music for 10 years. I then started career with Walt Disney World in 2010 as a Casting Director and a Vocal Coach. 2010 was also the year that we began CFCArts - after years of making music, we realized that Central Florida did not offer many cultural platforms for EVERY performance artist to use his or her talent, so we began the journey of creating an incredible community arts program. Over the course of my entire career I have been a vocalist, producer, conductor and a workshop facilitator. I also traveled on road for 2 years in a professional singing group.

What actions have you taken to create and achieve success?
Surrounding myself with other strong leaders, casting a vision that people can follow, being honest and doing my best to follow through, fulfilling promises, having a hard work ethic, and finally, encouraging and treating other people as I would want to be treated.

Who have been influences in your life to push you to success and achieving your goals?
My parents and the Disney leadership team, My musical influences have been Dr. Reith, Dr. Robinson and Gary Miller.

What are your tips for success that you would like to share for aspiring success builders?
Surround yourself with other strong leaders, cast a vision that people can follow, be honest and do your best to follow through, fulfill promises, have a hard work ethic, and finally, encourage and treat other people as you would want to be treated.

What are your tips for success as well as being the leader of a large organization?
Don't sweat the small stuff, try to focus on the positive and create a healthy culture for people, the environment and the community. Make sure that people are more important than programs and money. Finally, don't stray from your mission, regardless of what organization you're leading.

What is Central Florida Community Arts?
CFCArts prides on three key terms - Connect. Serve. Perform
We strive to tie everything we do into one or more of our three main purposes: connecting, serving, and performing.

Connect - Connecting is about building relationships. We aim to create a family that allows people to use their talents and abilities – to be able to sing, play instruments and perform together, all while building lasting connections.

Serve - Our heartbeat is serve and to give back to the community. To do this, we partner with local non profits and charities and perform at their fundraisers or for the clients they serve, at no cost.

Perform - Members of our Choir, Orchestra and Children & Youth Arts programs all have the opportunity to perform in seasonal productions. We also offer music lessons, workshops and classes at our School of Performing Arts, and thereby equip local artists to do what they do, even better!


Take a look at the history of CFCArts:
After years of music making, the founders of Central Florida Community Arts (CFCArts), Joshua Vickery and Jonathan Cole, came to the realization that Central Florida does not offer many cultural platforms for EVERY musician to use his or her talent. Therefore, in September of 2010, they decided to begin the journey of creating an incredible community arts program. They began reaching out to influential people in the Central Florida area and every one of them responded with overwhelming support – thus, Central Florida Community Arts was born. Since then, many people have been working hard to make this dream become a reality – the organization was molded into a non-profit 501(c)(3) entity and a Board of Directors and a team of staff members were both developed.

Success in the new venture came early – after a successful kick off in February 2011, CFCArts performed their inaugural concert to over 1,200 people in May of 2011, with a choir of over 130 singers and an orchestra of over 35 players. That choir has since grown into 3 separately-themed choirs with over 400 members total and their last concert reached over 5,300 patrons. CFCArts now also has a 130-piece community orchestra, 100 children and youth registered in their program for school-age performers, and a top notch vocal ensemble called Legacy!, that acts as the organization’s vocal ambassadors to the community. CFCarts gives back to the community by performing for other non-profit organizations for free, as well as hosts an annual performance summer camp program, at which underprivileged youths are enrolled for free, in order to introduce them to the arts. Most recently, CFCArts has opened a School for Performing Arts in order to offer affordable lessons and workshops in applied arts to Central Floridians of all ages.

CFCArts’ success continues, they are confident about their vision and look forward to the future.


For more information on Central Florida Community Arts or if you would like to get involved please visit them on the web at www.cfcarts.com.

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