When your audience wants to help, the next step should be easy.
That’s what we’re working on with Josh Liljenquist, who you might know as Joshlilj. Josh is a creator from Fairmont, Minnesota, and the person behind Live to Love. He shares people’s stories and gives his community ways to show up for them, from meals and everyday essentials to help with housing.
We’re proud to support that work. Through Pillar, we’re helping Josh make giving easier, put his best work in front of brands and give people a place to find him beyond their feed.
One story that captures Josh’s work is James Cowan Jr.’s. James, pictured with Josh above, was already helping his community when their paths crossed. After supporters helped James and his wife secure a home, James joined Josh’s team. Today, he helps the team support other people.
From Fairmont to millions of followers
Josh began making videos in 2019 while attending Minnesota State University, Mankato. In the background he shared for this story, he remembers filming on an old iPhone, moving between a script in his Notes app and the camera. He grew up in Fairmont and had pictured himself becoming a teacher. Making videos gave him another way to connect with people.
He started with entertainment. Josh recalls a turning point at a Fairmont grocery store, where an employee offered to pay for his snack. He surprised the employee with $200. He also began bringing extra restaurant food to people and getting to know them through those conversations. Over time, helping people became a bigger part of his work. You can explore that journey in Josh’s story.
Josh told us that adjusting to being recognized hasn’t always been easy. Everyday outings began to come with attention and expectations he hadn’t experienced before. He’s grateful for the people supporting his work, but the videos don’t show everything that comes with becoming a public figure. We think that’s an important part of his story, too.
Today, millions follow Josh across TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. His work has also reached people through the Star Tribune’s January 2024 profile and Parade’s coverage of James Cowan Jr. joining his team. GoFundMe features Josh on its creator page, with links to his fundraising profile and website.
There’s a record of his creator journey beyond social media, too. The Southern Minnesota Historical Center at Minnesota State University, Mankato holds a collection documenting his digital media career and community work.
If you’re discovering Josh through one video, his impact archive is a good next stop. It connects those first encounters with later updates on housing, mobility and everyday life, and shows how donors, collaborators and the people featured helped make those outcomes possible.
James was already showing up for others
When Josh filmed James volunteering at a grocery store, James was raising money for community outreach. Even when Josh offered him a gift, James wanted to use it to help other people.
Later, James and his wife faced losing their housing. Josh shared their situation and started a fundraiser. A $39,604 presentation check on February 4, 2026 marked an early milestone. In a follow up published on May 21, James said they had closed on a home that morning. Josh also offered him a job on the team. By August 10, the fundraiser’s reported total had reached $50,735.
Josh’s account adds context to that offer: he and Ben Steine had already spent months working with James and discussing a lasting role. James brought outreach experience and an understanding of the people asking for help.
There’s a team behind the videos. Ben works on filming, editing and production. James helps with outreach, nominations and work in the field. Josh leads the interviews. Each brings something different to the stories you see.
That’s a part of Josh’s work we want to highlight. Supporting someone can also mean recognizing the skills they already have and making room for them to contribute.
A community that shows up
You can see the scale of that support in Josh’s impact archive. As of October 13, 2026:
- $2.71M+
- Documented public support value
- 23
- Published impact stories
His 2026 impact report counts fundraising, direct gifts, sales and donated services. These figures cover the combined work of Josh, his collaborators and their communities. The amount raised through our integration is separate.
Here are two of the stories behind those numbers:
- $604,434 for Sheena and Baby Joseph. Josh and fellow creator ItsSozer rallied their communities to help. Their presentation check is dated November 21, 2025. Read their story.
- More than $300,000 raised for Chuck and Heidi, as reported on July 19, 2026. Josh’s follow ups show the housing and mobility support the couple received. Read Chuck’s story.
Azeza and Gigi’s story shows what support can mean for a family managing care and everyday bills. Their March 31, 2026 presentation check recorded $590,210. The help eased financial pressure while Azeza cared for her son. That’s why we want to show the people behind the totals: a fundraiser can give a family more room to focus on each other. These funds are part of the $2.71M total above.
Why Josh switched from Linktree to Pillar
Josh first came across Pillar in another creator’s link in bio. He was using Linktree at the time, and seeing someone else’s page gave him a reason to take a closer look.
What made the switch useful was having more of his work in one place. His Pillar page gives supporters a way to take action, while his media kit helps potential partners understand his audience and past collaborations. Those are two different jobs, and we built Pillar to help creators handle both.
Everything in Pillar just works. It has way more functionality than Linktree.
Make it easy for people to give
If someone watches your video and wants to donate, every extra step gives them a chance to get distracted. We built our GoFundMe integration to make that next step simpler.
Josh can put a fundraiser directly on his Pillar page. His supporters can give right there, while they’re already thinking about the person they want to help.
We featured Josh’s Pillar page in our GoFundMe launch video. Take a look at how supporters can donate without leaving a creator’s page.
Our July 2025 launch video, featuring Josh’s page and fundraiser. Watch on YouTube.
Across creators using our GoFundMe integration, we’ve seen more than 30% higher fundraising conversion and approximately 2x the donation revenue per visitor, on average.
For us, the goal is simple: help more of the people who want to give follow through.
Give brands the full picture
You might get a brand’s attention with one video. When it’s time to pitch, you need to show them more.
That’s where Josh’s Pillar media kit comes in. It puts his audience stats, past brand collaborations and press coverage in one link. A potential partner can see who he reaches and the work he’s already done.
Look at what a brand can learn before even getting in touch. When we reviewed his media kit on November 1, 2026, it displayed 31.7M total fans across five platforms, with Facebook his largest platform. That’s a combined count of followers and subscribers, so the same person can appear on more than one platform.
The kit also lists six brand collaboration case studies, including Lotus Restaurant, Keys Cafe & Bakery and OG Zaza. Alongside his audience numbers, those examples show partners how food and local businesses fit into his work helping people.
For Josh, that means he can send a pitch with examples behind it. For a brand, it’s an easier way to understand what working with him could look like.
If you’re pitching brands, make your work easy to see. Give them your audience, your best collaborations and a way to get in touch. That’s what we built our media kit to help you do.
Help people find you beyond the feed
When someone searches your name after watching a video, what do you want them to find?
For Josh, there’s a lot to explore. Josh Liljenquist’s official website brings together his story and community impact projects. His Pillar page gives visitors ways to support his work and connect with him.
Josh’s reason for keeping those stories online is practical: someone may find a family’s story weeks or years after the original video. A dedicated page can connect them with the context, later updates and a fundraiser if it’s still open.
We want creators to have a home for their work that people can come back to. Clear pages, a consistent name and links between your profiles help visitors find the right you. They also help search engines understand how your work connects.
Whether someone wants to donate, pitch a partnership or learn more, make their next step easy to find.
We’re here to build with you
Josh also counts Faisal Younus, our cofounder and CEO, as a good friend. That personal connection is part of his relationship with our team.
Josh works with Jack Davidson on our team. Having someone to turn to when he needs help is part of what he values about working with us. As he shares on his website:
What I value most about Pillar is the people behind it.
That means a lot to us. We want to be a team you can reach out to as you figure out what’s next for your work.
With Josh, that means making it easier for his community to give, helping him pitch himself to partners and supporting the mission he’s building through Live to Love. We’re excited to keep building with him.
Take a look at Josh’s community impact stories and official social accounts to follow along.