We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Joe Thaete. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Joe below.

Joe, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

We founded instaPronounce™ and invented NamePlayer because this is personal for us. Our family has a name most find very difficult to pronounce correctly. It is impossible to figure out phonetically. My name is unique. It is part of my culture, family history and identity. Like many with “difficult” names, school (and childhood in general) was very stressful. It is well known and widely accepted that students with “difficult” names feel anxiety, shame and embarrassment that can result in lack of participation and poor performance. Your identity can suffer, and the impact is long term. I have spent my life having my name mispronounced as have my family. Professionally, I am in sales and marketing where meeting new people, establishing communication and building relationships based on mutual respect and inclusivity is critical. Potential clients struggle with my name and many times I struggle with their name. Over the years I have tried phonetic name pronunciation tools or computer- generated synthesized names. All were ineffective and time consuming. It was a typical work-day, making calls to potential clients. My first call was to an individual whose name I had no idea how to pronounce. As always, I tried to figure out how to pronounce her name before making the call. Her company email signature line included her name, company name, title, phone. Then the solution came to me—– if only I could hear the person say their name……….what if her signature line included an audio feature that played her name as she wished it to be pronounced together with any other information important to her identity such as pronouns. That is when we came up with NamePlayer. NamePlayer is an audio name pronunciation tool. Simply record your name, as you wish it to be pronounced, and attach your NamePlayer audio file virtually anywhere: email signatures, shareable documents, social media. We invented it, we built it and because name pronunciation MATTERS, we made our Standard NamePlayer absolutely free for individuals.
We founded instaPronounce™ to help people reclaim their name.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

As we discussed earlier my family and I founded instaPronounce™, invented and built NamePlayer because correct name pronunciation matters. Learning to say names correctly does more than promote better communication. It shows respect, builds confidence, and bridges cultural divides. We believe so strongly that name pronunciation matters we made our Standard NamePlayer absolutely free for individuals. Our users love including their NamePlayer in email communications and other shareable documents. For hardcopy and digital use, we offer a QR code. One use we are particularly proud of is the opportunity for job seekers to include a NamePlayer and/or QR code in their resume or job application and help level the playing field.

“New research suggests that a person’s name, specifically hard-to-pronounce names, could make the difference between landing a job and ending up in the reject pile.”

“How Hard to Pronounce Name Could Land Resumes in the Reject Pile.”
https://www.npr.org/2022/10/31/1132766643/how-hard-to-pronounce-names-could-land-resumes-in-the-reject-pile
Source: Ma, Adrian & Wong, Wailing. NPR. 10/31/2022

We developed the perfect solution for resumes; an audio NamePlayer and/or QR code that plays the correct pronunciation of the job seeker’s name, recorded in their voice as they wish it to be pronounced. Not an artificial, synthesized, computer generated recording. Their name, their voice, their way. Job seekers can include pronouns, titles, and other information important to their identity. Potential employers, recruiters, HR staff can learn the proper pronunciation of each job seeker by hearing the name at the touch of a button. Attaching a NamePlayer and/or QR code to either a digital or hardcopy resume can make a profound difference in keeping those resumes out of the reject pile! We are very proud of creating a tool that gives job seekers, with names others find difficult to pronounce, a fair shot and helps to level the playing field.

We are also happy to offer companies, teams, organizations the opportunity to promote and demonstrate inclusivity, diversity, and respect by giving their team members a tool to learn how to pronounce the names of their colleagues, co-workers and contacts. NamePlayer can significantly improve the quality, effectiveness, and sensitivity of how an organization communicates. And we would like to stop the damage of name mispronunciation before it starts, in very early education. We would love to see NamePlayer in every school district from kindergarten to graduate school. We are actively working to introduce our products to academia. The days of being teased, bullied, and given unfair treatment because of your name can end before it starts beginning in elementary school.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

I have known one of my co-founders my entire life, my sister. Her husband is our third founding partner. Other family members contribute to the company on an on-going basis. We are an extraordinarily close family and together form a group of highly motivated individuals working together because we have a shared belief that correct name pronunciation matters. If I had to give just one piece of advice to a start-up, especially if working with friends and/or family: PUT IT IN WRITING! Develop and agree upon a business plan. Determine how the ownership will be structured. Will it be a partnership, limited liability company or corporation. If there is no budget for hiring an attorney use a legal service to assist. At minimum, put in writing the ownership structure and the roles each individual plays, whether capital contributions or “sweat equity” or a combination of both. Address what happens if someone with an ownership interest decides they don’t want to be involved any longer. Address every possible scenario and draft a partnership agreement or some type of agreement of organization and operations. Get everyone’s signature notarized and give everyone a copy. I cannot stress enough how important this is to a start-up, especially if friends and/or family are involved.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Our initial capital was raised privately, from friends and family. This can be very tricky. What happens if an original investor no longer wants to be involved. Was the money a loan or capital contribution? If they no longer contribute to the day-to-day operations but were involved in the start-up what happens to their ownership percentage? It is critically important that the set-up, organization and overall business plan be agreed by all involved and put in writing no matter the size of the start-up.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://instapronounce.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/instapronounce/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-kmGFIICIf_EJfF7tDKRKw