Hidden Gems: Meet Joseph Bongiovi of Spiritual Warriors

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joseph Bongiovi.

Hi Joseph, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Joseph L. Bongiovi
A Spiritual Warrior

I was born in 1962 and raised in a small town in New Jersey as the youngest of four children and the only boy. Ironically, I later had four children of my own, with my youngest also being a boy. I have spent much of my life surrounded by feminine energy, growing up with three older sisters and raising three daughters, which has given me a rare and expansive perspective on life.

At twenty-one, I made the decision that would reshape the entire trajectory of my life. I got clean and sober. Choosing sobriety at such a young age required radical honesty, deep introspection, and the willingness to build a spiritual foundation from the ground up. With no substances left to escape into, I learned that any habit I could not live without was a habit that would eventually need to go. From that moment forward, I committed myself to evolving one day at a time as a spiritual being having a human experience.

Sobriety demanded that I take honest personal inventories, face my character defects, serve others, and consciously choose perspectives and behaviors that support a loving, empathetic, and meaningful life. Early on, I immersed myself in self-help literature, journaling, and meditation. While my practice was not as consistent then as it is today, those early experiences of clarity and presence planted seeds that would grow into a lifelong spiritual path.

In 1984, I moved from New Jersey to Southern California and entered the entertainment industry, beginning in film and television production, then music merchandising, and eventually executive leadership. Over the years, I owned two marketing and merchandising companies and served as an executive for several organizations including Sony Music, Clear Channel Entertainment, and AEG Live. I’ve worked with and represented iconic artists such as The Beatles, Madonna, Pearl Jam, the John Lennon Estate, KISS, Britney Spears, Ozzy Osbourne, and The Who, among many others. I also managed Bob Newhart for over two decades. By every external measure, I was successful. Yet internally, I found myself endlessly chasing more. More success. More money. More validation. And it was never enough.

About fifteen years ago, I began to feel deeply disillusioned, not only with the industry, but with who I had become within it. I would often fantasize about something happening that would be so disruptive that it would force everything to stop and reset, freeing me from the treadmill I had lost myself on. When the pandemic hit and my company shut down within six months, that moment arrived. It turned out to be the greatest gift of my life.

With everything paused, I devoted myself fully to spiritual study, personal growth, and wellness. I studied at The Chopra Center and became a certified Primordial Sound Meditation instructor. I trained under Jay Shetty and became an licensed spiritual life coach and mentor. I immersed myself in Tony Robbins and Dean Graziosi’s Knowledge Based Business program and Gabby Bernstein’s writing program. I even began training toward becoming a yoga and fitness instructor, though I ultimately chose to focus on building my wellness brand instead.

That calling became Spiritual Warrior. I built a website at www.myspiritualwarriors.com, created two online courses, launched coaching programs, and expanded into social media, posting content consistently for the past five years across Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. I knew I had a voice that needed to be heard and a book waiting to be written. My path was no longer in the corporate entertainment world I once inhabited.

At the same time, I had responsibilities. As resources tightened, I made the conscious decision, after much deliberation, to continue consulting within the entertainment industry while building my wellness platform slowly, authentically, and with integrity.

Today, I am a devoted daily meditator and a lifelong student of spiritual and emotional growth. I continue to deepen my understanding of mindfulness, heart centered living, and the true nature of consciousness. Most recently I finished writing my first book entitled “Wake The F*ck Up!”. The book is a direct and compassionate invitation to stop sleepwalking through your life and start living with awareness, honesty, and purpose. This book explores how denial, fear, and unconscious habits quietly shape our choices and keep us disconnected from who we truly are. Through personal stories, spiritual insight, and practical tools, the reader is guided toward self-awareness, authenticity, and inner freedom. This is not about fixing yourself. It is about remembering yourself. Awakening is not a destination. It is a daily practice. And it begins the moment you decide to see clearly. It is my plan to launch the book this coming May, 2026.

Among the many teachers who have influenced my journey, Dr. Wayne Dyer has had one of the greatest impacts. He showed me that being a strong, grounded, spiritually centered man does not mean hardening. It means opening. It means living with honesty, empathy, emotional courage, and a heart forward approach to life.
My spiritual path has given me the greatest gift of all, love. A deep love for myself, for others, and for the world. Pema Chödrön teaches that a true spiritual warrior meets life with courage, vulnerability, and an open heart. By that definition, I have spent a lifetime becoming exactly that.

Beyond spirituality, I am a single parent, a committed pescatarian, a fitness enthusiast, and lover of spending as much time as possible outdoors trail running, hiking, mountain biking, street biking, pickleball, skiing, and boogie boarding. Nature remains one of my greatest teachers.

My journey continues to be one of remembering who I am, returning to what matters, and helping others awaken to their own inner wisdom. We are all the same. We come from the same source. We are all walking each other home.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has been an amazing, beautiful, and messy journey, one I wouldn’t have had happen any other way. We are all here to evolve and grow, and growth doesn’t come from a life that is easy, effortless, or painless.

My path has been filled with challenges. Divorce after 20 years of marriage while raising four kids, the highs and lows of my career, financial windfalls and devastating losses. I’ve slept on couches and owned big homes. I’ve been reckless and I’ve had abundance. Every bit of it has shaped who I am today.

Finishing my first book after more than four years was one of the greatest accomplishments of my life. But beyond the pride, the process itself was deeply cathartic, more than anything I’ve experienced before.

None of us knows what the future holds. But whatever comes will serve a purpose for our growth, our awakening, and hopefully, for helping others along the way. The best we can do is be as awake and self-aware as possible in order to experience this life and the lessons it can teach us.

In the end, our purpose is simple: to be of service, and to leave this life having made some kind of positive impact.

We’ve been impressed with Spiritual Warriors, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Spiritual Warriors is more than a wellness platform; it’s a way of living. It’s built on the belief that life isn’t meant to be easy or perfect, but meaningful. And meaning is found through growth, awareness, and the willingness to face whatever comes your way.

At its core, Spiritual Warriors exists to help people reconnect with themselves mentally, physically, and spiritually. It provides guidance through life’s inevitable challenges: stress, loss, uncertainty, lack of direction, broken relationships, and the quiet feeling that something is missing. Instead of avoiding these experiences, it teaches you how to move through them, learn from them, and evolve because of them.

A “spiritual warrior” isn’t someone who has it all figured out. It’s someone who shows up anyway. Someone who is willing to look inward, take responsibility, and do the work, even when it’s uncomfortable. Especially when it’s uncomfortable.

Through tools like, life coaching, meditation, fitness, and mindset work, as well as releasing books like “Wake The F*ck Up!, Spiritual Warriors helps people build strength from the inside out. Not just physical strength, but emotional resilience, mental clarity, and spiritual awareness. It’s about creating balance—aligning your thoughts, your actions, and your purpose. And it doesn’t stop there. Future plans include speaking engagements, retreats and a podcast.

The foundation is simple: every experience you go through is there to support your growth. Nothing is wasted. The highs expand you; the lows teach you, and everything in between shapes you into who you’re becoming.

Spiritual Warriors encourages you to stop resisting life and start engaging with it fully. To let go of what no longer serves you. To face your fears. To trust the process. And to understand that the path you’re on, no matter how messy, is exactly the one meant for your evolution.

Ultimately, the mission is to help you become the strongest, most aware, and most authentic version of yourself and then use that version of you to be of service to others.

Because that’s what a true spiritual warrior does.

Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
Vacations down the shore in New Jersey.

Pricing:

• One hour Coaching sessions – $250
• Book – $12.95

Contact Info:

• Website: https://myspiritualwarriors.com
• Instagram: a_spiritual_warrior2
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joseph.bongiovi/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbongiovi/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@josephbongiovi9938
• Other: https://substack.com/@spiritualwarrior2?r=447100&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=stories&shareImageVariant=blur

Image Credits
David Barton