I’m joining the IAHSP Family!
I’ve joined IAHSP to lead operations, with the goal of growing the community and creating more
opportunities for the global membership. But before we get too far into that, I simply wanted to re-
introduce myself.
My name is Joseph Haecker. When I was a kid, my dream was to work for Disney as an animator. My
parents poured a lot of resources into me and gave me all the tools to be as creative as possible. In high
school, I convinced a bunch of friends and coworkers to help me with my portfolio, but ultimately just
missed getting into the animation program I was aiming for by only two students.
I went on to hold several roles in a variety of companies and industries: utilities billing company, vending
food market research, security officer, resident artist, and lighting designer. It was as a lighting designer
that I paused for a moment and developed my first career. I worked inhouse for three companies and
went on to consult for 28 other independent custom lighting manufacturers, specializing in hospitality,
casino and high-end residential decorative light fixture design and manufacturing. If you’ve been to
Vegas, there is a 99.999% chance you’ve seen or even posed with one of my designs. (editor note: The Cosmopolitan Casino and Hotel Chandelier Bar – is Joseph’s installation and was the world’s 2nd largest chandelier).
In 2010, I had an “aha moment”, thinking that the future of design collaboration would be a social
platform. A failed attempt later, and in 2014 I formed an amazing team and became CEO of Dezignwall.
At Dezignwall, we created amazing features that to this day are still ahead of its time in the marketplace.
But I also learned so many of the skills that I bring forward into my business approach, that I would
never have explored had we not pursued Dezignwall.
There are many startup concepts that are amazing for all businesses, such as:
- Failing fast
- Learning to pivot
- Trusting your team
- Building to scale
- Solving one problem, really well
- Listening and learning from the data
- Solving your customers problem first
- Learning to take risks, and to learn from failure
Currently, I own 23 companies, hold license on a non-profit, host a podcast, and I’m very active in the startup, entrepreneur space in Denver and Las Vegas.
What I’ve learned through my journey is that community and ecosystems are so very important. If the
ecosystem can teach, be inclusive, support new ideas, gather, and grow, then the entire community
benefits.
This brings me to IAHSP.
In my new role as Operations for IAHSP, my job is to serve the community.
How will I do that?
Well, first off. I’m NOT a Home Stager. And I think that’s a good thing.
Not being a Home Stager, I don’t know what you know. Which means in order to do my job, I must be a
good listener and get to know each of you better.
But I also think that “Home Staging” is just one of the many hats you wear. In the past handful of years
that I’ve gotten to know the Home Staging industry, what I’ve found is that many of you run hybrid
business models. Many of you are also Realtors, Decorators, Interior Designers, Color Specialists, Short-
term Rental Owners, Retail Store Owners, General Contractors, and Instructors. Home Staging is in most
cases, only part of your business model. But the common link is that you are all business owners. And
most of you are also employers, with teams, vendors, and networks within each of your communities,
globally.
So my first initiative, in getting to know everyone, is to set up a podcast and invite you to share with me and the IAHSP community about you and your business. Let’s have a conversation about what makes
you and your business unique, and what you specialize in. I want this invite to go out to everyone. I
would like to meet the business owners in the IAHSP community that we rarely hear from. I want to
feature you and your business. This is an open invite to be featured by IAHSP.
I think we will all learn that the IAHSP community is very diverse and wears a lot of hats that most
people might not have realized.
Second, I believe in community. IAHSP has a unique opportunity through Chapters.
I would like to invite as many of our IAHSP community members to consider leading a Chapter.
Leading a Chapter is a unique way to both give back to your local community, supporting fellow business
owners, providing educational opportunities, connecting your community with brands, solutions and fun
events that inspire and elevate people in your own neighborhoods. But being a Chapter Leader is also a
great learning experience for you. As a Chapter Leader, you grow as a business owner, through unique
connections, thought leadership and a person that cares for your neighbors and fellow business owners.
and through our local IAHSP Chapter activity that we can connect with and help our neighbors grow and
succeed.
So, I invite you to learn about all the benefits and the ways that IAHSP can support you as you make an
impact in your local communities.
I have a ton of ideas on how we can grow the IAHSP community. But one of the last things I wanted to
mention in this article is that I would like to serve you in ALL the hats that you wear. That is why, I would
like to open up IAHSP to a larger community. Many of you are also Realtors, Interior Designers, and
operate hybrid businesses that offer many services. I would like to open IAHSP to serve all your business
needs. Though our core will be Home Staging, our education and conferences will cover the spectrum of
business models and network that makes up the way we actually run our businesses. I can see a future
where IAHSP Con & Expo is full of Realtors, Interior Designers, Short-term Rental Experts and a
multitude of business types and needs being served.
How?
I would like to invite you to lead online and in-person education through our Hyve program. Where you
can earn money through IAHSP, by leading a in-person, online and on-demand educational courses on a
wide range of topics, including Real Estate, Remodel, Interior Design, and even employee training
lessons. Hyve will be a community led education platform. Led by, and addressing the ever changing and
expanding needs of the IAHSP Community.
I’ll close with this…
IAHSP has grown to be known as an association that is more of a family, than a traditional “association.”
Let’s come together as a community, to open ourselves up to our networks, recognizing that we do wear
multiple hats, and that our needs include many other sources of support and a variety of educational
opportunities. But let’s open our doors to the people of our network, fellow business owners and local
communities, to provide education, resources and that community that IAHSP has developed over the
past 23 years.
Let’s expand our family, locally.