Lost Tribe Esports intern Josh Heiman was first introduced to video games by his older siblings. Watching them play on old GameBoys quickly led to Heiman picking up games on consoles such as the Wii, playing games like Guitar Hero and Mario. It goes without saying that Heiman never expected his love for video games to result in a full internship with an esports organization.

Heiman first learned about Lost Tribe through his friend and Lost Tribe tournament participant Jacob Bassin. “I saw a promotional graphic and thought that I should totally compete. The first tournament I played was a Fortnite tournament that I lost pretty badly. I knew I had to join another tournament afterwards.”

Heiman then decided to join an Xbox Madden 21 tournament, where he took home first place in just his second tournament through Lost Tribe. Following his victory, Lost Tribe posted the winner graphic that led to the beginning of Heiman’s journey with Lost Tribe.

The story of the infamous Lost Tribe winner graphic first started off as a simple meme. “My friends were making fun of me for being a Madden tryhard,” he said, “so they were just reposting the graphic as a joke. I then realized that a lot of people were seeing it and the graphic was gaining popularity.” The Lost Tribe team noticed the fame behind Heiman and approached him to join the streaming team.

“I had been streaming a bit on my personal channel, and then Lost Tribe approached me asking if I was interested in streaming for them. It was an opportunity I was not going to pass on.”

Heiman, known as LT Joshzj on Twitch and Discord, was one of the first streamers to join the team, accompanying LT members Ethan Karlin, Jesse Shrier, and Jake Offenheim. With Heiman’s help streaming, Lost Tribe now holds over 1,000 Twitch followers as they continue to grow. After streaming for a couple of months, the Lost Tribe team knew it was paramount to ask Heiman to join as an intern.

A simple winner graphic resulted in an internship.

Now working for Lost Tribe, Heiman’s role has greatly expanded after first joining as a streamer. Heiman has since joined the Social Media Intern team, creating content for TikTok and helping strategize for different social platforms. Heiman also represents Lost Tribe as a brand ambassador and works with the gaming team to ensure quality of Lost Tribe Twitch streams. “I started off slowly, only streaming a few times a week back in September, and now I work as an full intern. Crazy the difference a few months can make.”

While still unsure about where he plans to attend university, Heiman is interested in studying business after high school graduation. “I have always enjoyed business-oriented classes, and I plan on studying and pursuing a career in finance.”

Heiman hopes that his experience working for Lost Tribe can help prepare him for school and any future career. “The great thing about this work is that I am not treated like a student. I am receiving real and meaningful projects and experiences throughout.”

Heiman also hopes to continue interning for Lost Tribe when starting school next fall. “Without Lost Tribe, it would be hard for me to find time to play games or even find people to play video games with. Lost Tribe is going to help me stay involved.”

Heiman has never looked back since joining the Lost Tribe team, and has grown close with the community. “Spending time with members of the community, and knowing that there is always someone to game with is truly something special. Lost Tribe has helped create an atmosphere where I want to play games because I want to interact with members of the community. Lost Tribe welcomed me with open arms, and the overall experience has been amazing.”

Lost Tribe Senior Stories highlights active members of the Lost Tribe community as they graduate high school.