Chapman On Air
Chapman On Air is a Southwest Florida–based podcast presented by Chapman Insurance Group, designed to inform, educate, and connect the SWFL community. Covering everything from Southwest Florida living and local community highlights to practical insurance tips and in-depth interviews with trusted community leaders, Chapman On Air brings valuable insights straight to your ears.
Each episode dives into topics that matter most to Florida residents and business owners, including home insurance, auto insurance, flood insurance, commercial coverage, and real-world strategies to protect what matters
Chapman On Air
Most Won’t. I Will. | Inside Joe the Home Pro’s Rise in Southwest Florida
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
"Most won’t. I will."
That mindset shows up long before success does—and it’s exactly what we stand for at Chapman Insurance Group.
Insurance That Does means stepping up, following through, and doing what others won’t—every single time.
It’s the same mindset behind Joe’s story.
On this episode of Chapman On Air, we sit down with Joe Nugen founder of Joe the Home Pro, a Southwest Florida home inspection company redefining what clients expect from the inspection process.
After nearly 20 years in corporate hospitality, Joe launched his business in 2015—building it nights, weekends, and every spare moment while still working full time.
What started as a side effort is now a fast-growing home inspection company in Southwest Florida, setting a higher standard for speed, service, and reliability.
Joe breaks down what sets his company apart: a relentless commitment to service and a focus on guiding clients through high-stress moments with clarity and care.
Joe also shares how he approaches work-life balance, family priorities, and building a business with intention, even during rapid growth.
We also discuss his partnership with Chapman Insurance Group and why shared values around trust, service, and integrity matter in every referral and client experience.
This one is about work ethic, standards, and the quiet decision to do what others won’t.
Hosted by Chapman Insurance Group | Insurance That Does
Prefer video? Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/dQVqCD7gnuo
On this episode of Chapman on Air, we're sitting down with someone who saw a broken part of an industry and decided to fix it. After nearly twenty years in hospitality, Joe Nugent kept hearing stories of people being taken advantage of in the home service world. And instead of complaining about it, he created the solution. In 2015, he launched Joe the Home Pro here in Southwest Florida, perfected his process, built a reputation for honesty and thoroughness. And now he's expanding nationally with a licensing model that helps new entrepreneurs launch and grow inspection businesses the right way. We're talking about standards, systems, protecting people, and what it really takes to build trust in a space where the details matter. Welcome, Joe.
SPEAKER_00I got chills having you read that. Like that's really good. You might be like my new PR person. I'm just gonna have you follow me around.
SPEAKER_01That's all you know. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Cool. That sounds pretty good.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's nice to hear things about yourself right back. Like, I'm actually doing a good job.
SPEAKER_00Well, thank you for having me. It's such an honor to be here. We love working with Chapman, so this is a really fun uh opportunity for us.
SPEAKER_01Well, we love working with you, so the feelings mutual.
SPEAKER_00Good.
SPEAKER_01Take me to the moment when you said something needs to change in this industry, and I'm gonna be the one to do it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, July 2013 is really how this um all kind of started because I was working in corporate America and I unexpectedly lost my job. And I was like, I was married at the time, my kids were both my kids were really little, and I'm like, oh my gosh, like what am I gonna do? And I that was like kind of like the catalyst to say, I'm done with other people telling me if I have a paycheck or not. Fast forward a week later, I got another job, uh, but I was like, I'm gonna start my entrepreneurial journey. Like I knew that I had to work for myself. That was just like where I was destined to be. So my wife and I at the time were watching a lot of HGTV, and there was this home inspector on there, and I was like, I could totally do this. And she's like, You idiot, do you remember like when you tried to re-redo the master bathroom? And I was like, that's a fair point. I screwed that up. I'm like, but I would I know all the defects because I did them all. So I can now find them. So as I started to look into the home inspection industry in Southwest Florida, I just kept hearing a lot of really bad stories of people that were like, I had a really bad inspector, they didn't find this, they took advantage of me, whatever it was. And so as I started to talk to some of my realtor friends, they were like, Yeah, there's a need for home inspectors and good ones down here.
SPEAKER_01Wow. Yeah, I love that. And you don't really hear of home inspectors who have branded themselves in the way that you have. So there's something different and special there, which we're gonna dive into. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00It it my branding story is very fun. So we we should definitely talk about it.
SPEAKER_01I would love um as a marketing person. I would love to hear about that. So you were in hospitality for 20 years, right?
SPEAKER_0020 years to the day. Wow June 16th of 2000 to June 16th of 2020.
SPEAKER_01Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_00To the day. And so that's why I feel like it's so serendipitous that like I had like that 20 years there, and then uh I went so Joe the Home Pro was built the first five years, nights and weekends. So I would like fly down 75 at like 11:15 in the morning, change into my home inspection stuff, like go do a home inspection. I probably should have been fired from my job. Let's be honest. I should have fired myself. And then like came back and like, or like I would meet a realtor at five o'clock or 5 30 at night, or every Saturday and Sunday I'd be doing an inspection. So it was really, really like this random kind of schedule. And then COVID happened, my job went away, and I was like, that was what I needed to like again another catalyst for me to say, okay, time to go full-time into this. And that's what I did.
SPEAKER_01Wow. So 20 years to the day, it feels a little poetic. Very and then you're talking about something. Now I might as well just throw my questions out the window because we're just we're just we're going way ahead. So you built it on nights and weekends, and yeah, that is often what successful entrepreneurs have to do. Kind of what sets you apart, right? So talk a little bit more about that. Speak to the future entrepreneur, somebody who is looking to grow and make a name for themselves.
SPEAKER_00So uh, in I belong to a really awesome mentorship group that I've been involved with for like seven years. And there's a saying in there that we have, and it's called most won't, I will. And the saying really goes like successful people are willing to do the things that unsuccessful people aren't willing to do or don't know how to do, and that's what makes them successful. So anytime I was like, it's a Sunday, I'd rather be on a boat or on a golf course or whatever it might be. And I was like, nope, everyone else is saying the same thing, and that's what they're doing. So I need to do the opposite of that. And so the most will and I will attitude really is like what has propelled me into that. But being an entrepreneur means really you eat some dirt for a little bit, and I'm still eating dirt, I feel like. And even after we've been growing and scaling, it's still a constant evolving process, but it's really about what are your goals, what is your why, as corny as that may be, as cliche as that may be. Um, and understanding what that is, and then just remembering that uh each and every day as you're going out and doing whatever you need to be doing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, most won't. I will. I love that. I love that. I have a similar mentality. And I think of it kind of like when people get involved in in business or in the early stages, it's this much hard work. And I have my own mentor. So this is something that I've heard as well. But this much hard work, this much pleasure.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01This much hard work, this much pleasure. And over time, it's like this much hard work, this much pleasure. Yeah. Right? They they they start matching a little bit. But if you don't put in this much hard work for a very long time in the beginning and are okay with just a tiny bit of pleasure, you're never gonna get to the part in your life where it's this much hard work, right? You've built a system around you that now pays for itself and it's this much pleasure. And you can actually go lay on the beach, right? Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I mean, like I always look at it as like I wanna like I live where everyone else wants to retire. I say that all the time. Right? You're right. So it's like, why do I want to like sit there and like enjoy where I live for five, 10 years? No, I want to I want to enjoy for like 25 years. So like I know that there's a great entrepreneur saying that I love is that uh entrepreneurs are willing to do the things that others won't now so they can live like others can't in the future, right? Yeah, and so again, like cliche maybe, but very, very true. If you put in the work now and like the the the success and the good things are gonna come to you down the road.
SPEAKER_01Amen. I we can end the podcast right there. Light drop.
SPEAKER_00Light drop right there.
SPEAKER_01No, these are expensive. We won't drop it.
SPEAKER_02Don't drop them.
SPEAKER_01But okay, so I think there's also some balance there, and and you might disagree, but I want to hear exactly your thoughts here. Uh, because burnout does tend to come with that. So, how do you find that balance between what others won't or don't? I will do what other people aren't willing to do now, so you can live like they can in the future. I a hundred percent am bought into that, a hundred and ten percent bought into that. Uh, but there's got to be some balance. So speak a little bit to that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, uh, so I'm a really this is uh unfortunately gonna be one of your worst questions to me because I have no balance in my life. I don't know it's really, really, really bad. I have balance with my kids. I protect my time with my kids, and so when I have them, it's like I'm in dad mode, and that's like what's most important. Outside of that, though, I don't have much balance because we're in like this crazy growth mode and because we're really busy. And I hear it from our vendors all the time. They're like, you guys are the busiest inspection company, like everyone else that we work with, like they're not nearly as busy as you. And I'm like, you know, I I don't like hearing that because I want everyone to be busy, I want everybody to win. But the balance thing is tough. There are times it's like like Thursday nights. Like I have a ritual on Thursday night where I meet some of my friends. We go down to one of our sports bars that we love, and like we can watch the games and kick back, throw back a few beers. And it's like that's like my sacred time, right? Yeah, I try to do little things here and there, but I am really, really bad with balance, and it's because I'm in this growth mode and it sucks because you know what? It really comes at a cost. Relationships have come at a cost, friendships, like things I want to do for fun, like travel, like things like that I've had to sacrifice a lot on. And um, but I also know that it's a short-term for a long-term gain.
SPEAKER_01You're looking at the bigger picture for sure. But I but you did say something. So I know you said you're not good at balance. However, you mentioned something that you savor that time with your children, you protect that time. And I'm noticing that common thread with every successful entrepreneur I speak with, especially a family man, right? Or a family woman, right? Yeah, is that they protect a certain like they protect that time with their children or certain rituals that they have. And I think that is how you find balance or whatever balance looks like, right? Balance isn't really a thing. We have that whole debate going on, but I think balance is where you find peace in your life. It it doesn't mean that you know sometimes you're juggling a million plates and you have to put more emphasis on this one because that one's a little rockier than this plate, right? So it balance looks different to different people.
SPEAKER_00I think that not to interrupt you, but I think like the other thing that's really neat though is like like my kids are my son just turned 16, today's his birthday, and my daughter's 13. And so for me, it's like, hey, like let's do a blowout bash at Disney, like let's go on a trip somewhere. Let's just, it's like, okay, well, here's what that costs, and dad's now gonna go do a couple inspections to pay for that. And so they understand, like, if I have to go out and do an inspection on a Saturday or a Sunday, it's like, all right, dad's gonna be gone for a couple hours, but you know what? Because of that, yes, I can my son's like, I can get my new truck, or my daughter's like, I can afford dance classes, or we can go on a crazy trip to Disney or whatever it might be. So it's been fun for like going back to like the entrepreneur thing, like being able to try to instill some of that in my kids, like not just the value of a dollar, but the value of hard work and also letting them into my life of like, here's what dad does. Yeah, like here's what it takes, here's what's going on. And no matter what, like the life lesson for them is no matter what you do in life, and neither one of them want anything to do with Joe the Home Pro, which is kind of funny, but no matter what you do in life, this is what it's gonna take. And I'm gonna help set you up for success so you don't have to struggle the way I did for so many years.
SPEAKER_01I think that's such a beautiful gift to be able to give your children and for them to be able to witness that themselves and understand truly hard work and how that pays off. Yeah. I think it's su it's one of the best gifts. I love letting my kids see me work hard and see what they're able to, what type of life, it's not even material things, but what kind of life they're able to have because of that hard work. It's it's do as I do, not just as I say.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01And that sets them up, that gives them the leg up in life, no matter what they plan to do. Because I think no matter what business you go into, if you have that mentality, do what others won't. What is it? What they won't, I will. Most of what I will, right? Do live in a way now so that you give me the quote again.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, like if you can you can sacrifice things now and live like others won't, so you can live like others can't in the future.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. But then they get to see that firsthand.
SPEAKER_00100%.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and there's so much power in seeing things in front of you.
SPEAKER_00I think so. Right? Like, as you know, like as a parent, like there's no manual. Right. You're like, uh, what do I do now? Like, how do I do this? Like, right? And obviously, as a divorced dad, single dad, it's like, I'm like really trying to like navigate it, you know, and trying to figure out like what do I do? Like, I mean, it's it's just tough. So, like these kinds of like life lessons that I can provide. And I think, you know, our parents are like our gener their generation, they weren't like that. They weren't bad people, they just didn't know what they didn't know. And it's a totally different generation now, where like, how do we instill this in our kids? How do we show our kids this? Give them a peek behind the curtain that we never might have received, not through any fault of my mom and dad or anyone's parents, but like that's just how it was. So I'm just trying to figure out a way to set them up for success.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. I can speak a little bit differently there is um I did watch my parents gr grow businesses and be very successful in everything that they touch, not because of luck, very, very hard work, but they came from nothing, right? They came from absolutely nothing and they were very much self-made. Um, no investors, they did everything on their own. And because of that, my brothers and I have the work ethic that we do. So absolutely keep on keeping on. It's the one of the best gifts that I was ever given just to see that, also to have a taste of a nice life.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Because like once the I I'm not gonna say how I travel, but Steve Harvey talked about, he said, take sit in first class one time on an airplane. Do it once, do whatever you can to afford that because once you sit in first class, you will make sure that your income or your work rises to that level because you will never want to go backwards, right? So it's being exposed to certain things, being exposed to the the work ethic, being exposed to a nice life. You kind of raise yourself to that.
SPEAKER_00I always joke that I'm the worst example of a home inspection owner in the planet. Like I don't have a beard, I don't drive a truck, I'm I'm bougie as heck, like I'm a foodie, I like I like nice things.
SPEAKER_01Like beard a prerequisite?
SPEAKER_00I think like anyone in home services, I know, I know they're gonna kick me out probably. But it's so funny because I don't fit that mold. And it was interesting when I was going through my training, my my 20 years in corporate America absolutely set me up for success within home inspection. I didn't even realize it at the time. But when I was going through my training, the trainer was like, You're gonna blow these guys out of the water. And I'm like, what are you talking about? Like they're all like tradespear, construction people. Like, I don't come from that world, I'm learning all this stuff. He goes, Yeah, but he goes, you know the sales and marketing side. He goes, that's what you live for 20 years. He goes, you know how to talk to people. He goes, you're gonna be able to build relationships faster. And it took me a couple of years to like really understand that. But then I was like, oh, now I get it. And that's like that's one of our superpowers. And I love that. But like that, that 20 years in corporate America, as much as I don't miss it, absolutely gave me the foundation for what I needed for what I'm doing today.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And you mentioned, you know, the sales and marketing side, that is gives you a leg up for everything. I mean, a lot of people know either the sales or the marketing side, but when both can work in cohesion, that's where momentum happens for me.
SPEAKER_00That's where the magic is, right?
SPEAKER_01Where the magic is.
SPEAKER_00And it's exactly how like Joe the Home Pro and Chapman Insurance have been able to have this long-standing partnership and relationship that's been amazing, which I know we're gonna talk about, but like that's the kind of stuff that I really value. It's like, and then teaching that to my team and bringing on the right people, etc., those are all things that have really helped kind of set us apart in that regard.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure. Well, let's talk about that then. I'm gonna just throw my notes out the window. Let's go.
SPEAKER_00I'm blowing this entire thing up.
SPEAKER_01No, it's fine. I it's it's natural. I want to hear about that. Your relationship with Chapman Insurance Group, bring us back to the beginning. How did it start?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so uh a realtor that I work with, Denny Bowers, introduced me to Jamin, and he goes, Hey, Jamin's my insurance guy. Like, you gotta talk to him. Like, I think you should do some work with him. And turns out Jamin lived down the street from me. Our kids knew each other, and so it just kind of like started from there. But the relationship we have with Chapman is super special because not only are like all three of my vehicles are insured by Chapman, by the way. So we we give business back to Chapman.
SPEAKER_01You know what's up? That's right.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I didn't want to get yelled at today. So I was like, all right, make sure our policies are. But not all insurance agents are created equal. And when you can work with people, and every single person that we have worked with at Chapman has been above board, 110%. Amazing work ethic, great customer service on the ball. We know that, like when a client calls us and says we need a wind mitigation or we need a four-point, and they reference Chapman insurance, we know that this is gonna be a really simple thing for us to do. And it's not like that with everybody. Yeah, there's some big name national carriers that we don't work with for that reason specifically, because they don't get customer service. They don't help clients out. So for us, being able to partner with another company that has the same ethics, morals, values, service, and like wants to be of service, wants to be that servant leadership, like that's who we want to partner with. And that is what Chapman embodies in day in and day out for us. So whether it's on the commercial side, whether it's on the residential side, it's been literally the best partnership.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, the feeling is definitely mutual, and that's why we want to partner with you because we're talking about the rest. You really do. So and I love hearing what makes you different. You know, I love hearing more of the behind the scenes and let's dig a little bit into that, a little bit more into that. So the process, you've perfected your process along the way. Walk me through what makes your process different.
SPEAKER_00So I think 20 years, I'm gonna go back to the 20 years in hospitality, right? So I ran big sales and catering teams, or I was a regional sales director, or I had like 34 hotels in four states that I consulted with. Like, so I had like these really big experiences. But every one of those experiences was being of service to somebody else. And so that's why our first core pillar is relentless service, which means every single thing that we do is for the benefit of the client. Like if it doesn't benefit the client, why are we doing it then? And so we we constantly ask ourselves that question. I think on top of that, I was like, what is gonna separate us? I kept hearing from agents, oh, it's taking me 24 hours or 48 hours to get my report back. And I'm like, wait, what? They're like, yeah, it takes me forever. I go, well, we know there's this thing called technology, right? Like, there's still people out there with the clipboard and the paper that are doing this and writing, and I'm like, holy cow. So I was like, you know what? We're gonna flip this on its head. So I I studied and researched all these different software platforms that home inspectors use. And I came across one that I really liked. And the reason I liked it the most, not just because they had great service, not just because it's easy to use, I could get the reports out in two hours. So when we go and do uh an inspection, whether that's a general inspection, whether it's a winmit or a four-point, we will get that report out within two hours, nine times out of ten. What are the exceptions to that rule? We're slammed. We have back to back to back to back to back appointments. So it's like, all right, but people ask us all the time, will we get this by tomorrow? I'm like, if you don't get this by five o'clock, call for help. Something happened to us. Yeah. Like, we're in trouble. Like, so that's the biggest thing that we get. And I gotta tell you, that's the one thing that Jamin has constantly praised us on. And to the point that Jamin shared a story at our BI meeting uh a few months ago, that there was another home inspection company that did a report for Chapman, right? One of their clients, one of your clients. And Jamin needed something fixed on it. And he got it back within a few hours with it fixed. And he goes, Oh, wow, that was really quick. Thank you. And this inspection company said, Yeah, well, when you have companies like Joe the HomePro out there, we know how fast they get stuff done. So it's forcing us to adjust. And so that's like the best compliment anyone could give us. Because we're doing something really, really well and other people are noticing, we're helping raise that bar of all inspection companies. And like we talked about offline, I want everybody to win and there's enough business for everybody out there. So if we can help raise that bar and elevate the level of service in Southwest Florida, wow, what a legacy. If that's my legacy, then so be it. Like that's awesome.
SPEAKER_01I love that you're changing the standard or you're setting up we're trying to set a new standard, right?
SPEAKER_00And I I just think like that two-hour turnaround is probably our biggest superpower. Our second biggest superpower is about how we talk to people. Because, like on a general inspection, for example, if there are a bunch of cracked tiles on the roof or there's a double tap in the breaker where two wires are going into, you know, one breaker, like people tend to freak out. We have a way of calming them down. And I think that's another really big thing. Is like, again, 20 years of being of service to others, understanding how to talk to them, just walk them through. I gotta share a great story. This just happened yesterday, and this is like like it gives me like little goosebumps because this is why we do what we do. We went out, I I was out there myself. This lady has two condos in the same community. She just lost her husband a few weeks ago, and she needed two new four points to get her her insurance um renewed. And she was freaking out. And she shared with me, she goes, I had a glass of wine before you got here today. She goes, I was that nervous for you to come. And I was like, Why are you so nervous? I just have to make sure we get this policy done. I was like, All right, let me walk you through each of the steps of here's what a four-point is, here's what we're looking for, and I'm gonna this is gonna be really painless. Like, we're gonna be I'm gonna be in and out in 20 minutes, and we're gonna be all good. And so at the end, she was almost in tears, thanking me so much because she was so nervous about this entire process and getting her insurance, and her husband just passed away. They just had their entire house, the entire both condos re-plumbed. So they ripped out the polyabitulene, replaced everything with PVC, like pecs, all this stuff. And like she was really nervous, but then she sent us the nicest email this morning thanking us for everything. And it's like, when I can leave a a widow and a woman that is really having a hard time, who's a little bit on the older side, and she needs help. And we're there to help her because she's had a horrendous experience with other people that have tried to help her along the way. And so for us to go in there and be able to do that now. Am I bragging on us? 100%. But it's also because I'm really proud because that is exactly I told my office manager, I said, this filled my cup. This is exactly why we're doing what we're doing, to be of service to others.
SPEAKER_01I was just gonna say that. You you don't anything that you get involved in, you can be of service to others. You might now think of, oh, and inspections or oh, we're there changing lives, you know, or they're saving lives. But but if you do things the right way and you help build that trust between you and your client, give them peace of mind, you can. You can be of service to others truly, truly in a way that's meaningful and and changes their life, or at least changes a moment in their life.
SPEAKER_00You asked me when we first started about why I did this, and I found out that there was you know a hole in the service side. I'm from Ohio originally. In Ohio, you just ask people who's your AC person, who's your insurance person, who's your you know, electrician, who's your plumber. Down here, the question is who's a good plumber? Who's a good electrician? Who's a good AC company, right? We have to throw the word good in front of it because there are so many bad. And so that right there is exactly why we do what we do, because no one ever has to put the word good. In front of Joe the HomePro. It's who's your home inspection company? It's Joe the HomePro, right? And so that was that, like I'm destined and determined to grow and scale a service-based company in Southwest Florida without losing the service component. Everybody seems to lose the service component. They get bigger, they increase their territory, they increase their number of team members, and they forget what got them there in the first place. So I'm really deliberate with that. And that is really like that service side, I could harp on it all day because it is literally our driving force. It's our North Star. It's what we do and why we do it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and you're very passionate about it. It shows. I think the same thing goes for Chapman Insurance Group. What sets us apart? Why do people keep coming back? Why do people like Joe the HomePro send business to us and vice versa? It is that service component. It's actually showing up for people the way that you would want to show up for someone in your own family, right? Exactly. Is showing up for those people in the community and it pays off. Oh, it's like it's amazing. You know, you're doing something, you're going out of your way for someone, or or like you said, setting setting a new standard. You could have gotten by doing it the way everybody else did it, but eventually it all pays off. And all those referrals, it comes back to you. You put good out, you get good back eventually.
SPEAKER_00I agree. And by the way, it's not always about dollars. Yeah. Like the dollars will come.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Right? But it's really about just if you do good things, good things are going to happen to you.
SPEAKER_01So true. It's an investment. Everything is an investment. You you doing good for anyone is an investment. It comes back to you in one way or another. Absolutely. I truly believe that. Okay, so um, let's see. What other questions do I have that you haven't gotten to a little bit?
SPEAKER_00I've already hijacked this entire thing. I've thrown you off in every course you wanted to go on. I'm so sorry.
SPEAKER_01No, I love it. I I love words.
SPEAKER_00That's why you have to wrinkle shit because I just can go on and on.
SPEAKER_01You just, you know, you're the first one to really throw me off in a while. So um what is one thing most inspectors overlook but you would never skip?
SPEAKER_00Ooh, what would they overlook, but we would never skip? I think that little things. For example, you go into a bedroom and you need to inspect a bedroom. A lot of inspectors will look at a door and say, Yeah, door looks good. We open and close it and lock it, right? Something so stupid like that. Simple. I think like for us is we never mail it in. And I'm really proud about that. We're gonna go the extra mile, we're gonna do 110% on every single inspection, no matter what it is. So for us, it's not even about like what would someone else overlook. For us, it's let's make sure that we're doing this the way that we have been trained. Because I always say there's a way to do a home inspection, and then there's the Joe the Home Pro way. And my entire team has the Joe the Home Pro way of how we do an inspection. Detailed, thorough, efficient, lots of pictures, lots of pictures. Yeah. Right. And we don't get too wordy with it. Whereas some inspection companies, I respectfully disagree with them because they'll only put pictures in of the stuff that's wrong or deficient. Okay. And I don't, I'm like, I think you set yourself up for just massive liability when you do that. For us, we want to take a client through a visual journey of their home of what we looked at. Whether that's through a four-point inspection or a general inspection, a winmit, doesn't matter. We're gonna walk you through the entire home top to bottom.
SPEAKER_01Love that. Okay, that's a great answer. I love it.
SPEAKER_00That's the only one I have. That's good.
SPEAKER_01I'm glad. I'm glad. We don't have to throw that one out. We'll keep it. We will keep that in here. Um, okay, so let's talk a little bit more about your relationship with Chapman. You talk about so, first of all, who's your chatman?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, Jamin. Jamin's your chatman. Great. Great guy, great guy.
SPEAKER_01Gotta love Jamin, and he heads up the Naples location. Yes. Um, great at great at what he does. Absolutely great at what he does. Where is the value in having a relationship with a company like Chapman Insurance Group?
SPEAKER_00So I think it goes back to the trust of each other, right? You are trusting, like I I look at it this way: the amount of faith and trust you're putting into us to help a client get their insurance for their home, the largest purchase they'll probably ever make in their life, that's a lot of responsibility. There's a lot of pressure in a good way for us. So for us, we don't want to let anyone down. So when we can go out there and do a really good job and we can make you all look like rock stars, yeah, that's our job. Whether that's an insurance agency, whether that's a real estate company or brokerage, it doesn't matter. Our job is to make everyone else look good. We're not the star of the show. Like it's all about the clients, it's all about our referral partners. And so again, when you have really good people, they tend to gravitate towards each other. I think that's exactly why Chapman and Joe the HomePro have had this long-standing relationship for so many years, and why it's growing and flourishing as you grow, as we grow, we're and it's it that's like the fun part. We're growing together as a company, and I think that's really fun.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's it's incredible what happens when your values align. Yes. You do gravitate towards each other because you're similar. Exactly. You treat your clients similar.
SPEAKER_00But it's such a big thing. Like my team knows like when when the office, when Joe in my office gets a call or a text or an email, and they're like, I need this, Chapman's my insurance agency. I mean, the bells go off. And it's like, okay, we'll be there in 24 hours. Yep. Nine times out of 10. And they're like, wait, what? And I'm like, sometimes we'll get somebody there the same day, which is unheard of. But again, going above and beyond like that and wowing people, because they're thinking, like, oh, you'll be here in five days. They go, Can you give me a range of when you're gonna be? We're like, listen, this isn't Comcast. Yeah, this is not the cable company, no offense to Comcast or X Fanny. I'm just saying, like, we're not giving you like a we'll be there between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. and you can just wait around all day. Or it's like, no, we're gonna be there at 9.0, 9 a.m. We're not there at 9.15. Yeah, we're not there at 9.30. It's 9 a.m., if not 8 50.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And that's how my team knows like that's what they need to be like. But again, you need to expect that out of somebody like us because you're trusting us with a lot of data to make sure they can get this thing pushed through and get this policy written. That's a big responsibility.
SPEAKER_01It is, it is. And I think about all the different key players in selling a home and buying a home and the people who you refer them to, it reflects on you. It reflects on you. So if we refer them to a horrible inspection company and they get, you know, a big issue down the road because they miss something so obvious, that reflects on us. Now, if a realtor is referring Chapman Insurance Group to their clients and we gave them a horrible policy because we just wanted to get, you know, to get them to sign off on the dotted line, which a lot of people unfortunately do. Instead of taking the time to explain to them where their risks are, I often say we we quote right, we do not quote reckless. So that reflects on the realtor because we're in South West Florida. You know, the the hurricanes aren't stopping. And when it's time to file a claim, do you want them to find out at that moment that the person you referred them over to did not have their best interest in mind? That doesn't just reflect on the insurance company, it reflects on you. But even if the buyer or the seller does not realize that themselves, like they're bulking that entire thing into one experience. So good luck getting referrals after that point. You have to you have to have the right partners in place because you care about your clients, sure. But also at the end of the day, you put them in the right hands, that's gonna come back to reward you. Yeah. If you put them in the wrong hands, you just want an easy way out, it's gonna come back to bite you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I think too, like, I'm a client. Like, again, three of my vehicles are insured through chapter. By the way, I only have three, but all three are insured. Okay, I was gonna say, what about the book? Where's that? But like, like that's the thing. It's like so I can speak to the experience, and I can't tell you how many times we are on an inspection and a client tells us that they need something, some insurance inspection, and we're like, no, you don't. Not for this age of home, not for what's going on, whatever. They're like, no, no, no, my age, I'm like, no, no, no. You need to call, call our friends at Chapman. And we do this all the time. We refer you guys out like crazy on the job because we hear things and people are talking, they're like, Oh, I don't have my insurance agent. Yeah, I'm like, I don't even understand how we're buying a home we don't have an insurance agent, but okay, scary. I'm like, all right, here's here's the name and number. Call this person. Like, yeah, like just they'll take care of you, right? So, like for us, it's also being able to refer you out because we have trust and confidence, but not just because I'm a client, but because of the experience we've had dealing with everyone in this office, whether it's the Fort Myers office, the Nables off, doesn't matter. Yeah, everyone that we come in touch with has absolutely been amazing and they've gone above and beyond. And so we want to deliver that right back to you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, love that. So, where do you see yourself, Joe the Home Pro, as a company in the next two years?
SPEAKER_00Okay, so we are actively trying to expand to Tampa. That's my that's my next big kind of push. I wanna right now we kind of cover Marco up to like Port Charlotte, Tornagorda area. Tampa is the next thing, and it's probably my final stop.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00So I want to have Tampa to Marco because I feel like that's still manageable. I can still keep my arms around it. We can keep our culture together, both internal culture as well as our external culture. Um, so that's the next big thing. On top of that, though, we are licensing out the company nationwide. We have Lynchburg, Virginia that just opened up earlier this year. Cincinnati, Ohio is coming on board uh Q1 of next year. And we have a new website and some new things that we're doing to really push this out and to help people that want to become entrepreneurs be able to show them here's what you need to do. And we're gonna give you the business in the box and we're gonna do it for a tenth of the cost of a franchise.
SPEAKER_01That is extremely exciting. Yeah. Extremely exciting. Well, obviously, you found success in what you're doing, and we've learned a lot, the reasons why you have been successful. I thank you so much for sharing that. Uh, but a lot of times there is a certain uh routine that people have that sets them apart from others, whether it's the way you wake up in the morning, your your go-to, do you pop some supplements, you go for a run, do you sit in in quiet, do you journal? Is there anything you can share here, any part of your day that you feel like helps set you up for success?
SPEAKER_00I honestly I love driving. So like there's a lot of times that I'll take like the back roads and go up to like Fort Myers Beach and just have like the windows down and some music on. And that's like a comforting place for me. Um, if I can walk, I have Livingston Park not far from me. I love to go walking around there. I love music is like just a big kind of comforting thing for me. Um, I love that. Now that my son is in high school, I'm up at 5 15 to make sure he's up at school. So I'm actually really enjoying my mornings of like I have like this little break between the time that my son goes and leaves for school and my daughter needs to get up. So I have like this hour of just like, okay, I can watch sports, I can like read some news or I can just scroll so. It's just about not working. It's like not looking at emails and not doing anything about work. And I think that's okay to take that time every now and again.
SPEAKER_01I think it's important to be intentional about that and find those pockets or create them.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And I love hearing I probably say this on every podcast episode where people mention the beach, but we live in such a beautiful area. I feel like it it just saddens me when people don't take advantage of that. And I love to hear it. I take a drive to the beach because that's what I do all the time. I know.
SPEAKER_00I love it. Yeah, and like I don't walk the beach enough, but that's why I want to live on the beach because walking the beach is probably my all-time favorite thing that I never get to do. Yeah, it's for whatever reason. But I'm like, okay, I need to be living on a beach. There's no question about it.
SPEAKER_01And it gets the juices flowing. Yeah. If you are stuck on an idea with work and you're like, forget it, I'm shutting everything off. I'm not even gonna think about work. Good luck with that. Because if you go for a walk on a beach, the ideas are just gonna start pouring in. Yeah. So that's one of the biggest hacks in life.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I love it.
SPEAKER_01It feels like you're taking a break, but you're actually starting, you're revving the engine. 100%.
SPEAKER_00Some of my best ideas have come from, by the way, being on the beach, right? Walking the beach. It's like, because you do like you drown out some of the extra noise, and then you start to like have clarity among certain things. By the way, same thing happens to me in the shower sometimes. I'm like, oh, that would be a good idea.
SPEAKER_01This is a family show.
SPEAKER_00Let me let me rinse my hair first. I I can't tell you how many times that's happened, right? It's like, but like you just have like these moments like that do come to you. And sometimes when you get out of that day-to-day routine, like there's a lot of people I know, successful entrepreneurs, they're like, all right, I'm part of the 5 a.m. club, I'm up, I'm at the gym by 5 30, I'm doing this. I I'm not as much of a creature of habit like that. Right. That I wish I could be somewhat. I think just because of whatever. I'm still in like that growth phase of like trying to figure out like what that looks like and having finding that balance wherever it may be. Hopefully one day I can. But I think those are really important things. I think like when you can set yourself up for success, and by the way, setting yourself up for success, it's also equally important to find out what doesn't set you up for success. That way you can avoid the that thing or those things that really kind of derail whether it's your day, your week, whatever it might be. And so I think that's important too.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, I love that for sure. We're gonna have some rapid fire questions before we end. Love it. All right.
SPEAKER_00I deserve that after what I've done to you today.
SPEAKER_01All right. Favorite tool in your toolkit.
SPEAKER_00Ooh, uh, probably the moisture meter.
SPEAKER_01Moisture meter.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01Ooh, exciting. Yeah, I know.
SPEAKER_00Very, very sexy. Very sexy. I know. I know. The moisture meter's probably it, because I mean, like, if you got moisture somewhere, like you need something that's gonna be able to give you the good, good read on it.
SPEAKER_01I have to say, I've like played with those before. I think they're really cool. They are. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00By the way, not cheap.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, okay. Just an FYI. I won't play with them too much then.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, be careful how much you play with that.
SPEAKER_01All right. I've handled it with care. Yeah, it's good. Um, your dream home style, you did mention something about living on the beach, so that kind of answers that. But modern farmhouse, beach cottage, modern condo.
SPEAKER_00No, I think for me, like um, I I and part of the reason why I love driving to the beach, like up to like Fort Myers and stuff, is you see like those huge homes and you pass by barefoot beach, and yes, you know, I'll go down like Gulf Shore and you know, all that. Like, that's like my dream to live in one of those, not for status or anything, just because I just think like that would be like if I can buy a house there one day, which I will, that will be where they take me out when I'm dead. Because I will not be like, that's it. So for me, it's having that beach, having nice open floor plan, so probably more beach theme, uh, but not necessarily like uh the beach cottage.
SPEAKER_01Right. Okay. I'm with you on that. Yeah, I like that. And I think it's so important to enjoy your life, like enjoy the things you work hard for. Like really like live.
SPEAKER_00Right. Live.
SPEAKER_01Um, okay. So one piece Good reminder.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Just live.
SPEAKER_00Just put that one out. I'm gonna put that on a book or sticker. You're welcome.
SPEAKER_01Write that down. One piece of advice Joe the home pro would give a first-time home buyer. Besides calling you.
SPEAKER_00Besides not skipping the inspection. Uh, preventative maintenance is key. Okay. Ask questions, understand how your home works. So, an inspection we did recently at Babcock Ranch, brand new construction, and they were like, I don't need to service my AC for a few years because it's brand new. And I was like, oh God, no, no, no, that's not how this works. Twice a year, get on a contract with an AC company. Your dryer vent, get your dryer vent cleaned out once a year to avoid lint buildup and have a potential fire. Like get your roof checked every two or three years. The preventative maintenance stuff, oh, and by the way, tankless water heaters, I'm on a huge education on this. Tankless water heaters need to get serviced once a year by a licensed plumber.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00They need service just like a regular tank would. Okay. Most people don't know that. But first-time homebuyers, it's yeah, first-time homebuyers, it's all about preventative maintenance. Whether you're a first-time homebuyer or you've been doing this for 50 years. The preventative maintenance stuff is key. Like, ask questions, reach out, find good people, and get on get a contract with them and get them on their books.
SPEAKER_01This is making me sweat. I have a lot of work to do. I'm gonna replay this for myself and do a little checklist. Um, okay, your favorite lesser-known Southwest Florida spot could be a restaurant, a shop, anything.
SPEAKER_00Lesser known. Um, you know what? There is a uh newer coffee shop called Acopio in Naples, and I love it. And I've been I've been meeting people there, and I love that because it's just a nice mom and pop place.
SPEAKER_01Well, catch me there next week then. A lot of people are mentioning that same spot. That's so funny.
SPEAKER_00That's a really good one. I mean, Boston Beer Garden is still like that's like my home, that's like my home kind of turf. Uh it's like my favorite sports bar.
SPEAKER_01Is that the one you go to weekly? Okay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's like I like we know the owner, he's a good friend of mine, and all the like the manager is a good thing. Now you know where to find him.
SPEAKER_01You just told everybody you're talking about. I know. That's all right. That's all right. Come out and say hi.
SPEAKER_00And it's funny how many people I see there though, because there's a lot of, it's it's a great spot. So those two are really fun. But I mean, living in Southwest Florida, we have some of like the best food scenes in the country, in my opinion, right? So there's a lot of spots on like third and fifth yes that I love going to. I'm a like I said, I'm a big foodie. So for me, it's like, you know, I want to I want to hit like the new spot and all that. And my my next my next goal is to join the private dining club that is getting ready to open up next. I think it's next week or the week after. That's a top um Coldwall or top uh compass and on that building. So that'd be something cool.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, you did great for your questions. Yes. Thanks. I'm gonna throw another one in there. How about that?
SPEAKER_00Please.
SPEAKER_01Uh anything like um informational that you're taking in, whether it's a podcast book, anything that you can throw out a recommendation.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so let me throw this out. Um Rich Dad, Poor Dad is the book that I read at 30 years old that changed my life. It completely flipped my entire mindset, my thought, everything. And that, like that book, and my best friend Joey in Cincinnati is the one that told me about it, who's gonna open up Joe the Home Pro in Cincinnati. Spoiler alert. Uh, but that is the book and the catalyst that really started my entrepreneurial journey. Fast forward many years later. And Sharon Lecter was a co-author of that book, and Sharon is one of my mentors. And I got to meet her. And like I was like a little fanboy going, Your book changed my life.
SPEAKER_01I read that book, I was 17 years old.
SPEAKER_00I've read it probably four or five times.
SPEAKER_01And I'm not a dad.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I wasn't rich or poor. Yeah, I know. I was living under my parents' roof.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I know. So like that was a really uh that was a good book for me. That I mean, there's a lot of books, like From Goodness to Greatness. Um Peter Kazadov, another one of my mentors. Like he's had some good books. The Power of Naivete, uh, Sean Thomas, who's my business coach and mentor, he wrote that. Like, okay. So those are some good ones. I think like no matter what it is, there's always like good podcasts and good things to find. Find topics, in my opinion, that you're interested in or that you want to learn about. Maybe it's about business, maybe it's about entrepreneurship, maybe it's about finance, maybe it's about love and relationships, maybe it's just about sports. Like, whatever it is, like there's a lot of stuff out there, and that's like what's really cool. I just found out, by the way, my son loves the Joe Rogan podcast.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00So my 60-year-old son is listening to Joe Rogan and sending me funny clips from there. Like, hey dad, did you hear about this?
SPEAKER_01And I'm like, no, I didn't think you're a big podcast early. Yeah, books. But I do a lot of them, like the audible books, because like I'm busy. So sometimes being on the road is the only chance I have. I go from work to pick up my kids and I'm listening to a chapter, and that's how I take in my knowledge. But I think taking in knowledge is so important. You gotta keep feeling that well.
SPEAKER_00I have a good friend of mine, by the way. He he listens to all of them on like a two speed.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so I've tried that and then I start rewinding. So Yeah, I can't do that.
SPEAKER_00It's way I even 1.5 for me is like a lot. Like, you know, it's gonna take it. He's like, oh yeah, I powered through this book in like three hours. I was like, how. He goes, I listen to it in like a two.
SPEAKER_0115 minutes. What did it say?
SPEAKER_00It said, Yeah, I know, I know. But there is there, there are so many great things out there, and um, I think you just have to like find them. Like it's not hard to find this stuff. What is hard is who to trust. And so you gotta be really careful of like following people on socials because there's a lot of smoke and mirrors. And the day, the at the age of the internet and the age of social media, everybody's an expert. Yes, and what they what no one realizes is they rented this plane, they rented this car, like they have seven dollars to their name. They're talking about the laptop lifestyle, and yet they've never worked a day in their life. They're 24 years old, and they're going, here's what you need to do to be successful. And it's like, have you ever started your own company? Have you scaled it? Have you made three million dollars? Do you know what eBeta is? Do you know how to sell like sell a company? Like, they don't have answers to these questions. So you gotta be really careful of who you're who you're uh who you're following. Yeah, there's nothing wrong with 24-year-olds. I'm just saying, like, yeah, there's a lot of like we still love 24-year-olds. Yeah, we want your insurance business, please, and your winmit. Can we get that? We want that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, thank you so much. I really appreciate you taking the time to sit here and letting us into your world. Yeah, the time has flown by because there were so much good nuggets from Nugent. I was I was trying to do something there, but it didn't work. That was good. Uh congratulations on all your success and your continued success. It's amazing. And yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, same to you and everyone at Chapman. We appreciate the opportunity. And like I said, it's just an amazing partnership. So everything that we do with you guys, it just really means a lot to us. And thanks for having me today. Yeah, this was fun. Jamin.
SPEAKER_01Jamin is your chat man. All right, thank you so much. So good to have you.