Joe Moller of NELA on Life, Lessons & Legacy

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Joe Moller. Check out our conversation below.

Hi Joe, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: What is a normal day like for you right now?
Currently I am working on projects in Charlotte, Dallas, NYC, LA & Detroit. In addition to m workload, I started boxing again and have ramped up my work out program. To make sure I have enough time in the day to balance out everything I plan to do, Ive been getting up really early, spending 45 – 60 mins walking the dogs and listening to jazz. I find that hour really help me center myself for the day & land at my work station early enough to knock out a lot of east coast comm’s and then enough time to make breakfast & settle into west coast projects and then before I know it, its time for lunch. Afternoons are spent updating decks, proposals, budgets and doing all the throughput workload that keeps me connected with my teams in different markets. Another good dog walk before the gym & dinner. Rinse & repeat 5x – 6x times/week.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am Joe Moller, I like long walks on the beach & short walks to the bank. I own an experiential marketing agency based in Los Angeles that works with clients all over the US. Unlike most traditionally employed people, My days are filled with unique challenges that most people wouldnt even think about having to contend with, very rarely am I working on the same thing over an extended period of time as my professional landscape is in a constant state of new problems requiring new solutions. How close to the hot new restaurant can we set up event valet? Where can I get 2000 mini bottles of champagne & then have custom logos applied? How do I create a collaboration between a nail polish brand and a major award show? Why wont the management of a prestigious hotel let me apply logos on certain mirrors? These issue arent as important as everything else going on in the word, yet they are important to the clients and brand that engage my agency & someone has to figure them out. I thoroughly enjoy the challenges each new client and each new project brings, and have developed a unique skill set as a result of constantly having new issues to sort out.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
I have a friend, lets call him Chris. For years Chris has been telling me to value the services my agency provides at a higher rates, he chastises me when I share how much a project cost versus how much he thinks it should have cost & reminds that I am the expert that brand and clients turn to when they want to achieve success but cannot with the resources they currently have. He is definitely the best corner man a business owner could ask for. Our longest conversation, almost 2 decades at this point, is which one of us has it better? Myself for choosing the entrepreneurial lifestyle, or him, for taking the traditional W2 employment route. One of the funniest, smartest guys I know, and his belief in me and counsel over the years had definitely helped me through many tough times, he is definitely my go-to 1st call in any situation where I need a second opinion. He also always know when I’m going the wrong way in the subway too, he has a sense of direction like your wouldnt believe.

What’s something you changed your mind about after failing hard?
A couple years ago my agency was hired to white glove produce a national hair care pop up tour, we were hired by another agency pretending to be an experiential agency. Looking back, working for a group of people who explicitly wanted to present my work as their own, since they did not have the creative capital, nor the logistical experience to execute a national program of that scale was a mistake. While we created a successful, branded guest experience all across the country, dealing with my client, who was less then transparent about the budget & presented my work as their own throughout that entire project created a working environment for me that was plagued with dishonesty, passive-aggressive management, and financial issues related to an inflated budgets that I was not privy too, along with a slew of other poor-management related issues. I really let myself down accepting that project and having to deal with everything that goes with that. Since then, I have listed to myself in such a way as to no longer end up working for people who arent authentic, capable & sincere.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
Creating a culture internally that allows all the JME Team members to grow & flourish. Literally to be the best version of themselves they can be, and to help them apply that to the career of their choice. That growth period as an adult isnt often fostered or nurtured in corp America, so I pay a lot of attention to making sure everyone knows they are supported, can grow, change & more on with out any restrictions.

Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What will you regret not doing? 
I regret not embracing celebrity culture when I became an agency owner the 1st time. I did not appreciate the visibility that high-profile clients brought to the agency and how that could add rocket fuel to your growth as a business owner. I still believe I made the right choice focusing on businesses as customers, but looking back wish I had been more inclusive at the time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.joemoller.com
• Instagram: @joemollerevents.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joemoller/
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/joemollerevents