Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Joe Jaeger. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Joe, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

Taking a risk is everything in business. When the fear of failure has you up all night I think that’s when you know you’re making the right decision. And in the end if it’s not the right move you get something more valuable then a return on investment – a lesson! It was last year actually that I took one of the biggest risks of my life. I closed on a commercial property next door to one that I purchased two years prior. It was double the size, double the price, and double the risk. I had no idea what it needed – but I knew we needed it in order to expand our business. I was in a unique position compared to others as it was my mentor who sold me the properties. Many people offered him money to purchase the properties which would have inevitably resulted in the closure of our businesses. But he declined the offers because he wanted me to buy them. I’m forever grateful. But that’s not to say I wasn’t scared. I was all over the place. Stressed, worried, tired – you name it. But I kept my head down and had help from a lot of people. The property investment is going well so far! We have tenants renting the downstairs spaces and we were able to open a fourth recording studio upstairs with a fifth one on the way.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I would say that my biggest characteristic as an entrepreneur is that I value my time over my money. If I didn’t have the freedom to be myself or take a trip whenever I wanted – I’d be flat out miserable. This is a lifestyle for me. I love the hustle and I love watching a business grow through strategy and creativity but as I get older I realize the most important thing is time with friends and family.

So in my path as an entrepreneur my biggest two businesses right now are GoodPeeples Studios and Jaeger Holdings & Properties.

GoodPeeples Studios is my music production and recording studio company. We offer studio time with professional audio engineers and actual rental of the spaces themselves. Established in 2015 we have now expanded to four studios and plan on opening a fifth one by 2025. Three of our studios are in Richmond, VA and the fourth is in Los Angeles, CA. I personally build all of the studios and that’s honestly my favorite part. It’s incredibly challenging resulting in 12-14hr days for 2-4 months but after that its smooth sailing (for the most part). I run the company alongside my fiancé Joyce and our co-owner Aaron Horowitz who invested last year after being our lead engineer since the company started in 2015. There’s no shortage of crazy stories when dealing with four 24hr rooms but my favorite part of this company is providing a space and a service that people truly love.

Jaeger Holdings and Properties is my Virginia based LLC that I purchased the buildings under that house my recording studios in Richmond, VA. We have spare units that we also rent out to generate revenue towards paying the building off. All in all it’s pretty stable. The most important thing is maintenance / upkeep and having reliable people on the ground.

I recently just started a new company called Good Problims Design where I offer custom acoustic treatment and studio design all the way from consultations to a full buildout. With this I’m really putting my talents to work where there’s a demand for private home studios more than ever.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

I think managing a team of people can be the most challenging aspect of a business with never ending hurdles. It’s also the most rewarding for me. A business is ALL about the people. From my time managing up to 20 audio engineers at a time for our recording studio business I can think of a handful of important lessons:

‘Right’ or ‘wrong’ decision – stay true to your word. People respect that more than bending to everyone’s favor.

Respect people’s time. No one wants their time wasted and no one likes working for free. Pay people on time and pay them fair.

Accept responsibility and hold people accountable. Don’t email people something long or drawn out either. Pay them respect and give them a call or say it in person. If you’re going to manage a team you have to learn how to confront people in a constructive manner.

Don’t fight fire with fire. If someone is acting petty, acting petty right back is destructive. The best thing you can do as a manager is maintain professionalism and staying true to leading the business forward.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Word of mouth all the way. If you can provide the best service and customer experience each time your clients will do the work for you. People trust their friends and family over Google and Yelp reviews.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.goodpeeples.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/joepuedo
• Other: www.instagram.com/goodpeeples www.instagram.com/goodpeeples_la