Joe transformed his HVAC company from six to twenty employees by confronting a fundamental truth about entrepreneurial psychology: the tension between wanting to skip steps and learning essential lessons the hard way. This conversation explores the mental shift from fearing your first hire to actively seeking team expansion, and why some people are simply unemployable once they've tasted true ownership. The discussion reveals how providential relationships and honest self-awareness about personal limitations can become the foundation for unexpected business partnerships and sustainable growth.

BIG IDEA

I would make a terrible employee because I always think I can do it better, I always think I have the better way, and I'm usually not too shy about sharing that.

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Joe shares his journey from being a solo plumber trapped by fear and scarcity thinking to acquiring Northern Air and building a real team. He opens up about the mental barriers that kept him stuck doing all the work himself, even with part-time help, and how the opportunity to partner with an established company shifted his entire approach to growth. This conversation explores the psychological challenges of scaling a service business and the moment when everything changed.

BIG IDEA

"I was to a point with my original, my first company to where it I still couldn't grow even though I had a couple of part-time helpers. I was the one like in the trenches still doing all the work."

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Hiring his first employee forced Joe to rethink his work-life balance, productivity, and leadership style, revealing unexpected benefits and tough lessons about growth. The shift from solo operator to mentor and manager opened new doors for connection and efficiency, while also highlighting the challenge of finding and keeping good people. Tune in for a genuine look at the human side of building a business in the trades.

THE BIG IDEA
Bringing in your first employee isn’t just about getting help—it’s a catalyst for personal and professional transformation that reshapes how you lead, learn, and connect with others.

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DESCRIPTION

Joe and Melissa explore the emotional and practical challenges of scaling a small business, from Joe’s struggle to hire his first employee to the invaluable role their children played in the journey. This candid conversation reveals the tension between control and growth, and the importance of family in building a legacy. Perfect for entrepreneurs navigating the leap from solo to team.

BIG IDEA

Joe opens up about the overwhelming responsibility of hiring his first employee, grappling with relinquishing control while ensuring others’ livelihoods.

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Joe and Melissa Bates overcame their son Ian’s dyslexia by tailoring homeschooling to his needs, using tools like red transparency sheets and embracing his passion for manuals. They leaned on mentors and community support to navigate challenges in parenting and marriage. Their journey highlights how creative problem-solving and intentional relationships foster resilience and family strength.

BIG IDEA

Their story weaves a tactile, heartfelt exploration of how intentional relationships and creative problem-solving can unlock potential in children and strengthen family bonds, offering listeners a profound perspective on resilience and connection.

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Joe and Melissa Bates abandoned traditional schooling setups to tailor homeschooling to their children’s unique learning styles. They learned through costly missteps that education thrives on flexibility, like studying on a couch or with music, rather than rigid structures. Their journey shows how embracing individual strengths can transform learning into a mission of personal alignment.

BIG IDEA

Their story, grounded in trial, error, and eventual wisdom, illustrates how education can be a fluid, personalized mission to align with each person’s natural design, offering listeners a fresh perspective on learning and life.

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Joe and Melissa Bates defied convention by building a debt-free plumbing business through creative hustling and Dave Ramsey’s financial principles. Their relentless experimentation, from Menards aisles to social media, shaped a resilient family and business. Mentors and homeschooling reinforced their commitment to questioning norms and passing on financial wisdom to their children.

BIG IDEA

Their story, bolstered by mentors like Mike and Susan, illustrates how questioning norms and persisting through doubt can carve a unique path to personal and professional fulfillment.

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Joe and Melissa Bates share their journey of homeschooling and running a business while embracing differences in themselves and their children. Inspired by their church community, they defied traditional paths in education and pivoted their plumbing business to focus on service over convention. Their story is a vivid exploration of adaptability, resilience, and growing alongside their kids in a world that prizes conformity.

BIG IDEA

From drawing inspiration from their church community to questioning traditional paths in education and business, they reveal how embracing differences—whether in themselves, their kids, or their unconventional approach to plumbing—has shaped their family and livelihood.

BUZZSPROUT KEYWORDS

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Joe and Melissa Bates open up about their bold decision to homeschool their four children, driven by a desire to nurture independent thinkers who stand firm in their beliefs. They share the challenges of adapting to each child’s distinct learning style, from their creative eldest, Cassidy, to their sensitive daughter, Ella, and how these lessons reshaped their parenting approach. Through candid stories of doubt, growth, and perseverance, they illustrate how questioning conventional education led to a family of resilient, principled individuals.

QUOTE:  The beauty of what you’ve done with our kids is to help to see what they’re good at, what they’re designed for, and gearing their life to fit into what they’re naturally created to do versus trying to put a round peg in a square hole.

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Joe and Melissa Bates recount how a layoff sparked Legacy Plumbing and Heating, guided by mentors who shaped their business and family life. They reflect on the wisdom poured into them and their drive to pay it forward in their community. This episode captures the grit of entrepreneurship and the quiet strength of human connection.  

BIG IDEA

“When I see other people in a similar situation where I was, I always tell the kids, when I retire someday, I want to find me in 2009 and go find that guy and make a difference in his life because I just feel like I owe.”  

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Joe and Melissa Bates recount starting a business amid economic hardship, raising four kids while relying on faith to overcome fear. Sacrificing their retirement for a truck and growing their own food, they built a legacy of resilience and integrity. Their story shows how trust and purpose can transform struggle into strength.  

BIG IDEA

“God is bigger than our excuses.”  

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Joe  was laid off in January 2009, facing a bleak winter with a new house, four kids, and no job prospects. In a pivotal moment, Melissa countered his fear with “God’s got this,” sparking a shift from despair to determination. This episode traces their journey of resilience and faith through the chaos of the Great Recession.  

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Joe and Melissa Bates unpack his raw journey from hospital clerk to master plumber in Minnesota, shaped by a mentor’s patience and the humbling art of cutting pipe straight. Beyond the tools, this episode of Feel Northern Air reveals the gritty camaraderie of job-site hazing and the quiet pride of mastering a trade. Hit play for a tactile glimpse into plumbing’s human side, with plans to share its sarcastic soul on social media.

THE BIG IDEA

Beyond the tools, it’s a story of human connection: the camaraderie of job-site ribbing, the humbling sting of a thrown pipe, and the quiet pride of mastering a craft.

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How do you raise kids who stand firm in a world that pulls them to conform? In this episode, Joe and Melissa Bates peel back the layers of their homeschooling life, where faith, community, and conviction collide with real-world challenges. From multi-generational Sabbath gatherings to a teen selling HVAC to folks triple his age, they share how their kids learned to navigate life alongside people of all walks—not just their peers. Picture a shy homeschooler building a housecleaning gig or a football star choosing practice over Friday night games, all while lifting his team. This episode digs into the quiet strength of integrity—how it’s forged in a family that prays for a guiding word and lives it out through service, grit, and going against the grain. It’s a grounded, heartfelt look at parenting with purpose in a fragmented world.  

BIG IDEA

“We have to be able to live in and among people that aren’t exactly like us and I think that’s something that the kids really grew a skill… where they’re able to interact with.”  

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Picture this: a creaky 1972 pop-up camper swaying in a Minnesota storm, parked at the end of an airplane runway, with a family of six scrambling for safety in a mosquito-infested truck bed. In Episode 3 of the Feel Northern Air Podcast, Joe and Melissa Bates relive their wildest homeschool adventure—a trip to the Laura Ingalls Wilder pageant in Walnut Grove. What starts as a quest to bring “Little House on the Prairie” to life turns into a gritty lesson in resilience, bonding, and the unpredictable beauty of learning outside the lines. From wading in Plum Creek to braving Voyagers National Park’s rugged islands, they share how these raw, real moments—flawed plans and all—ignited a lifelong love for history and survival skills in their kids. This isn’t just a nostalgia trip; it’s a vivid testament to how hardship and wonder can coexist, shaping a family’s story one muddy campsite at a time.  

BIG IDEA

“But I think that is really what was a big neat part of the homeschooling experience was we were able to read books about things as a family and then go to these places and experience the literal Little House on the Prairie.”  

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What does it take to raise kids who thrive outside the traditional classroom? In Episode 2 of the Feel Northern Air Podcast, Joe and Melissa Bates dive into the uncharted waters of homeschooling after a move to Minnesota leaves them isolated and searching for connection. A chance encounter with a fellow homeschooling family sparks a lifeline—practical advice, philosophies, and a fresh lens on learning that reshape their approach. From clashing over desks versus “living books” to embracing a rhythm of service, work, and passion-driven education, they unpack how this journey forged their kids into resilient, engaged adults. Ian’s aerospace obsession, fueled by Civil Air Patrol, and the family’s commitment to a third-service model illustrate a striking truth: failure isn’t the enemy—it’s the teacher. This episode is a candid, textured look at betting on curiosity over conformity, with lessons that ripple beyond the homeschool bubble. 

BIG IDEA

“And I think one of the, one of the really huge points of the whole thing… was we wanted to instill in them a love for learning.”  

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What happens when two parents with opposite instincts—one a rule-following athlete, the other a free-spirited dreamer—face the daunting choice of how to educate their kids? In this raw, relatable debut episode of the Feel Northern Air Podcast, Melissa and Joe Bates unpack their journey from clashing perspectives to an unexpected homeschooling experiment that defied their own expectations. With candor and warmth, they trace the tension of their early marriage, the weight of their own school experiences, and the quiet triumph of watching their three-year-old daughter read—years ahead of schedule. This isn’t about perfection; it’s about the messy, human wrestle to nurture passion, purpose, and happiness in the next generation. If you’ve ever questioned the systems shaping your life or longed to carve a different path for your kids, this conversation will linger with you long after it ends.  

BIG IDEA

“And I think that's what I really was looking forward to is just her being happy about school and learning.”  

homeschooling, parenting choices, alternative education, early reading, family dynamics  

Joe steps out of an Illinois hospital gig into the raw, frostbitten unknown of Aitkin’s trades, where self-doubt gnaws as fiercely as the subzero winds. Picture a guy who’d never swung a hammer, now hauling pipe and digging ditches, his shiny new hiking boots laughably outmatched by the job. Melissa smirks recalling the ribbing from weathered crew guys, while Joe fumbles through a wardrobe rethink—cheap socks and jeans swapped for wool and layers, all to outlast a Minnesota winter. It’s a story of shaky first steps, camaraderie forged in the freeze, and the quiet grit of adapting to a life he never saw coming. Unpolished and real, this glimpse into fear, growth, and finding footing pulls you into the chill of change and the warmth of resilience. Watch to feel the sting of doubt and the slow build of belonging.  

BIG IDEA

“It’s a story of shaky first steps, camaraderie forged in the freeze, and the quiet grit of adapting to a life he never saw coming.”  

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Joe and Melissa unravel the jarring shift from Chicago’s restless pulse—where convenience hummed 24/7 and violence lurked too close—to Aitkin’s stillness, where shops shut at five and a fevered kid meant a 45-minute trek for Tylenol. They trade gang threats for woods deep enough to lose yourself in, swapping urban blocks for miles of silence. Melissa’s voice catches as she recalls a friend’s stabbing, a wound that fueled their escape, while Joe fumbles through the absurdity of no late-night stores after a lifetime of instant access. Yet, amid the isolation, a church embraced them, family lingered nearby, and their kids swapped city fears for tree-lined freedom. This is no polished tale—it’s the raw ache of leaving, the slow burn of adapting, and the steady glow of finding home. Watch to feel the weight of their trade-offs and the peace they carved from the wild.  

BIG IDEA

“This is no polished tale—it’s the raw ache of leaving, the slow burn of adapting, and the steady glow of finding home.”  

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Joe and Melissa Bates peel back the layers of their leap from a noisy, unsafe Illinois city life to the quiet, frigid unknowns of rural Minnesota. Picture this: a young couple, two small kids in tow, waking to bar fights across the street, clutching a baseball bat for peace of mind. Then, a vacant family home in Aitkin, a daughter’s medical needs, and a plumbing job Joe had no clue how to do beckon them north. They recount the bone-chilling reality of heating with wet wood, the sting of job rejections, and the warmth of friends who hauled their life into a box truck. This isn’t just a move—it’s a visceral unraveling of fear, hope, and the messy beauty of starting over. Raw, unfiltered, and steeped in the textures of human grit, their story pulls you into the weight of decisions that reshape everything. Watch to feel the cold, smell the smoke, and taste the relief of a hard-won haven.  

BIG IDEA

“This isn’t just a move—it’s a visceral unraveling of fear, hope, and the messy beauty of starting over.”  

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