We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Joseph Panico a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Joseph thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Where I am today is not where I started and that is important to point out. In the beginning of my company’s life, I created a business plan, researched my competition, price points, etc., all the things you’re supposed to do when considering a new venture. What is important to understand is that these are projections and a lot of adjustments need to be made along the way. You may come to a point in time where you are successful or you may not. Success is different for everyone so take small steps in the beginning until you are comfortable then take bigger and bigger steps until you succeeded. There are so many things not in your power to control, you will need to constantly solve problems, make adjustments to get where you want to be. Giving up control of certain aspects of your business is not giving up the desired outcome that you want so if there is a person or company not giving you what you want you will need to look for one that does.

Joseph, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

As a kid in elementary school, I knew early on that I needed to work with my hands creating things, not spend all my time in a classroom. Instead of going to a regular high school I went to vocational high school where I was taught welding and related techs. I have been in several careers in my lifetime, restaurant, lending, and metal fabrication. The one most satisfying is where I am today.

I am mostly a self-taught artist, who started doing metal art in my spare time. I learned a few things from my old shop neighbor in N.C. who was a metal artist and the rest is just figuring out how to make things happen. I am a little difficult to work for because everything here is custom made and has to be done right which is expected from our customers. I am in my early 50’s and loving life. I spend a lot of time at the beaches here in Florida enjoying nature. Seeing my metal art become a reality is amazing because this was always the plan when I got back into the metal business in 2009.

My brand is everchanging metal art, the one thing that is constant about my brand is the quality and craftsmanship that goes into each creation. Another thing we strive to keep in the art is made by hand not a lot of laser work.

The products we provide at Stainless Steel Joe are all custom-made metal works including, custom made countertops. I have a saying I relay to customers sometimes when they start talking about finding it cheaper on the internet, if you can find it on the internet you should probable get it there. Metal art is our main product and can include restoration of existing metal art sculptures.

One of the projects I am most proud of is the last kinetic tree sculpture I did for a private residence in Boca Raton Florida. Making metal to form like a tree is hard to do and requires a lot of energy. I saw a lot of trees made of metal while researching the project but to make something like everyone else is not my thing. I created the top of my tree differently, artistic yet following the tree branch outline of a tree.
That’s it, creating things that others have not is what art is about to me. It’s important to see what’s out there so look at other art pieces constantly. Creativity comes at weird times and not always when you need it, that’s why metal art takes some time to create because mostly you’re processing ideas and processes on how to make something look original, that will be unique, yet different enough to make a statement while engaging feeling from your audience.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I started Stainless Steel Joe during the financial crisis in 2009 so conventional financing option were not an option for me being straight out of bankruptcy. My first problem was to find a place in the country where there was enough work to support us while we ride out the storm. When looking at spots around the country there were 2 places booming at the time, one was Raleigh N.C. and the other was Salt Lake City Utah. Being from the East Coast I chose Raleigh. I used my savings, a lot of credit cards and a small personal loan from my family to make the move happen. From day one in the Triangle area of N.C. I was busy making money. It was hard in the beginning but cold calling in the area worked because up there the people want to get to know you and I like meeting people so the Stainless Steel Joe just took off.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think my market was built in Florida and North Carolina by, always providing attentive service, if there is a problem just fix it, doing what you say your going to do, and keeping your customer informed all along the way so they are confident you are on it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.metalartsouthflorida.com https://www.stainlesssteeljoe.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stainlesssteeljoe
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/Stainless-Steel-Joe