It was during his senior year of college, less than 6 months before his first marriage, that Joe's life drastically changed due to the onset of mental illness. In his TEDx Albany talk, Joe shares "How Mental Illness Made Me a Better Person and Enriched My Life."

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)