Business Innovators Radio - Las Vegas Entrepreneur Spotlight: Joe Wittenwiler and the HydroShield Success Story

Episode Date: January 9, 2024

In this episode of Vegas Business Spotlight, host Tim Knifton interviews Joe Wittenweiler, the owner of HydroShield Las Vegas. Joe shares his inspiring journey and the remarkable work he is doing in the city. HydroShield is an eco-friendly surface protection coating that can be applied to glass and glass-glazed products, making them easier to clean and more durable.Joe’s passion for HydroShield began when he had the product installed on his own shower glass. He was amazed by its performance, especially in the harsh Vegas water conditions. Previously, he had struggled to clean his shower glass, resorting to extreme measures like using angle grinders. But with HydroShield, the calcium buildup became a thing of the past.HydroShield’s technology was initially developed by the US government, and Joe’s friends owned the business in Las Vegas for about a decade. Fascinated by the product, Joe seized the opportunity to buy out the partners and take over ownership two years ago. Since then, he has embarked on an adventure, spreading the benefits of HydroShield throughout Las Vegas.Being based in Las Vegas has influenced Joe’s business strategies and decisions. He understands the unique challenges of the local environment, where water quality can wreak havoc on glass surfaces. By offering an eco-friendly solution that not only makes cleaning easier but also reduces water and chemical usage, HydroShield is making a positive impact on both homeowners and the environment.In this engaging conversation, Joe discusses the applications of HydroShield, from shower glass to kitchen countertops, bathroom sinks, and even exterior windows. He also highlights the eco-friendly aspect of the product, reflecting the growing importance of sustainability in today’s business landscape.Join Tim Knifton and Joe Wittenweiler as they delve into the story behind HydroShield Las Vegas and discover the power of this innovative surface protection coating. Get ready to be inspired by Joe’s entrepreneurial journey and the positive impact he is making in the city of lights.Listen to the full episode on Vegas Business Spotlight to learn more about HydroShield and Joe Wittenweiler’s quest for eco-friendly success.https://www.hydroshieldlasvegas.com/About Joe Wittenwiler:Joe Wittenwiler is a former mortgage loan officer who became fascinated with the HydroShield technology in the nineties. He was introduced to it by friends who owned a business in Vegas that built a line of products based on the patented technology. After having the product installed on his shower glass during a bathroom remodel, Joe was impressed by its effectiveness and uniqueness. He has been involved with HydroShield for nearly a decade and continues to be passionate about its capabilities.About The Show Sponsor:“Vegas Business Spotlight” podcast is proudly sponsored by RSVP Las Vegas, your premier direct mail postcard service in the heart of Las Vegas. With a commitment to delivering outstanding results and effective marketing solutions, RSVP Las Vegas specializes in helping businesses connect with their target audience through direct mail.Visit their website at RSVPLasVegas.com to explore the range of direct mail services they offer. From designing eye-catching postcards to precisely targeting your desired audience, RSVP Las Vegas has your direct mail marketing needs covered. Their team of experts is dedicated to helping your business make a lasting impression and drive results.Whether you’re launching a new marketing campaign, promoting a special offer, or aiming to boost brand awareness, RSVP Las Vegas is your trusted partner in direct mail marketing success. Contact them at [phone], and their knowledgeable team will be ready to assist you.Experience the power of effective direct mail marketing with RSVP Las Vegas. Trust their expertise and enjoy the benefits of reaching your audience directly. Visit their website or give them a call today to start your next successful marketing campaign with RSVP Las Vegas, your premier direct mail postcard service in Las Vegas.Vegas Business Spotlighthttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/vegas-business-spotlight/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/las-vegas-entrepreneur-spotlight-joe-wittenwiler-and-the-hydroshield-success-story

Welcome to Vegas Business Spotlight, the podcast that brings you the brightest minds and success stories from the bustling business scene in and around Las Vegas. Join us as we journey behind the neon lights and uncover the strategies, triumphs, and insights that shape the entrepreneurial landscape of the city of lights. From visionary startups to industry titans, get ready to be inspired by the stories of those who've turned dreams into reality on this iconic stage. And now, your host, Tim Nifton. Hello and welcome to another episode of Vegas Business Spotlight, sponsored by RSVP, Las Vegas. I'm Tim Nifton, your host, and I'm thrilled to have you here with us today as we continue our journey through the vibrant world of Las Vegas entrepreneurship. Before we dive into today's conversation, I want to extend a warm welcome to our featured guest, Joe Wittenweil, with Hydro Shield Las Vegas.

We're honored to have him on the show today and share his experiences, insights, and wisdom. He has gained over his remarkable journey to success. So without further ado, let's get right into it. Joe, welcome to the Vegas Business Spotlight. We're delighted to have you here today. How are you doing? Great, Tim. Thanks for having me.

Appreciate it. Fantastic. Let's jump right in and start by hearing a little bit about your journey and the incredible work you're doing here in Las Vegas. So I always like to start out asking our guests. Give us your 30-second elevator pitch about who you are and what you do. Yeah, I'm Joe Wittenweiler, owner of Hydro Shield of Las Vegas, and we are an eco-friendly surface protection coating that goes on glass and glass-glazed products. So just about everything around your house, from shower glass to kitchen countertops,

bandies, sinks, even toilets, exterior windows. If it's not made of wood or plastic, we've got a solution that's going to make it super slick, super easy to clean, and eco-friendly. Oh, that's great. That's great. Yeah, can you tell us a little bit about your early days starting out with Hydro Shield in Las Vegas?

What inspired you to start the business? Sure, sure. Hydro Shield's been around since the 90s. It was actually a technology that it was developed back in the U.S. government. When the patent was released, HydroShield was one of a handful of companies that got that secret sauce and built a line of products based upon it. It was actually a couple of friends of mine. They owned the business here for probably about 10 years in Vegas.

And I was a mortgage loan officer and just always was fascinated by this product. They put it on my shower. I had remodeled my bathroom and had it installed on my shower glass. And it was about nine years ago now. And it just, I've never seen anything like it. I was blown away at how it performed because you live in Vegas. You know how the water is here. A shower glass is essentially a frosted piece of glass after a couple of years.

the calcium just sticks to it so bad. There's nothing you could do to clean it. I've actually taken angle grinders into bathrooms to try to clean shower glass before. Yeah, so this technology is fascinating, and I was blown away by it. So it took me years of weaseling my way in there to finally buy everybody out. So about just about two years, we're going on almost two years now. ago that I was able to negotiate and buy out all the partners. So took over ownership just a couple years ago.

And yeah, it's been an adventure, that's for sure. Yeah, definitely. That's great. How is being based in Las Vegas influenced your business strategies and decisions? Actually, I love Vegas, especially in this business with its construction. Look outside. There's building everywhere. And this works on residential applications, commercial applications.

So we're working on getting into the casinos, getting into hotels, motels, restaurants, businesses. Like I said, if there's a surface out there that you can see that's not made of water plastic, we've really got a solution that's going to keep it looking beautiful. Yeah, that's great. What advantages do you think Las Vegas? offers to entrepreneurs. Just growth. I mean, it is, it's a baby. This town still is as a baby, I think.

You look at the history. I'm from back east. Stuff was, has been there for hundreds of years so far. You know, 1776 is when the country was born. So we were here before that. So hanging out in New York and New Jersey, those buildings have been around for hundreds of years. the roads have been around for hundreds of years. That's why it's confusing.

It's why you can't find anything there because everything's just, you know, it's just been established for so long. Whereas in Vegas, it's a, it was a blank, it's blank canvas. And I love it.

I love it. It's clean. It's beautiful. It's well thought out. It's engineered properly. roads make sense, traffic makes sense. It's fascinating. Very intelligent people have built this town.

And I do love it. That's wonderful. What advice do you have for those who are just starting out on their entrepreneurial journey? Get ready. Work hard. It's not easy. You know, you think you own a business and tomorrow you're a million. there. Doesn't happen. You got to put the work in. It's,

it's a 24-7, 365. You don't get days off. You don't get time off. You are, if you're not physically doing something in the business, you are mentally doing something for your business. Are there any particular resources or networks in Las Vegas that you've found invaluable for your growth? Oh, I, I do a lot of networking. I'm a, I'm a B&I snob. I moved to Vegas 14 years ago now, and I knew three people. So I had to learn. I had to meet people. I had to do, you know, get out there and network myself.

And one of the first things I did was join a networking group. And I can honestly say this many years later, everything I have in Vegas is like, I call it the six degrees of Kevin Bacon. It's the six degrees of being I. a relationship, a partnership, someone I met through B&I at some point has influenced just about everything I have in this town today. It's crazy. So you got to get out there. You got to, network, you got to meet people, shake hands, kiss babies, and take some time to weed out the whackadoos. You know, there's some, there's some interesting people in this town. You just have to

do your due diligence and learn who's a who's top quality and and strap yourself to them and see where it takes you sure yeah absolutely building a successful business requires adaptability can you tell us about a time you had to pivot or make a major change to your business model mostly it's employees it's it's really trying to find the team that is going to with you. I think that's the biggest struggle so far is putting all the pieces in it and being a brand new business. We're building it from the ground up and the potential that's that's involved with Hydershield is is gigantic in this town. So it's finding the proper people that know the right folks. I mean, I'm a mortgage loan officer. I don't know anyone in the construction business.

I don't know anyone in building maintenance and any builders or anyone in the casinos or stuff like that. So it's all brand new to me. So finding the right people and the right connections, that's probably the hardest part right now. And trying to figure out where to put your resources, where to put your money in, you know, whether it's advertising or networking or, you know, whatever you're going to do. I think that's probably the hardest part of growing a business. Sure. networking's crucial for business growth. Can you share some tips on building meaningful relationships within the Las Vegas business community?

Yeah, that's, again, I'll go back to B&I. And I'm sorry if this turns out to be a B&I business spotlight here. But their philosophy of givers gain. I mean, that is so simple. And it truly means so much. when I first joined, I would show up to the meetings on a weekly basis and be upset when I would leave because I didn't get a loan. I didn't get a lead. You know, just rooms going around.

Referrals are going around and nothing's coming to me. And that went on for about six months and it was extremely frustrating. You know, what am I, what's wrong with me? Why doesn't anyone want to do business with me? You know, you get all these thoughts about why, why. And then I drank the Kool-Aid and listened to what was going on and the fact of givers gain, what can I do for you? It's not what can you do for me at these.

If you want to do that, go to a chamber mixer or any mixer and just hand out your cards and see what happens there. But if you want to build meaningful relationships, what can I do for you? And when I changed my focus of, you know, what, what can everyone do for me to what can I do for everyone else and truly started learning about their businesses and learning about their families and meeting them and hanging out with them and doing lunches and dinners and plays and whatever it is that you do to build meaningful relationships. Once those relationships started clicking, then the business started role. Because now they know me, like me, and trust me.

It's not rocket science here. You know, they know you like you trust you. And when you just show up and you ask for everything and you want, want, want, want, want, you're just a beggar. And then no one wants to deal with that. You're just going to kind of put your blinders on and move away. But when you go out of your way to help someone else, that's when the magic really starts happening, they want to return the favor.

Yes. Definitely. In the world of business, failures and setbacks are just part of the journey. Can you share a challenging moment in your career and how you overcame it? I don't know. I'll let you know when I'll figure it out. No, I mean, this past year has been very challenging. You know, in the mortgage business, that was really tough.

And it's just a challenge to kind of manage multiple things. This year, like I said, I'm a mortgage lender, been doing that for 15 years. That's my primary source of income. Purchase this business. So trying to get this off the ground, you know, essentially by myself is interesting. And then I'm involved in Rotary. I'm the president of my Rotary Club. So that's taken a lot of time as well.

So I think that's the biggest challenge is just kind of balancing those three major points in my, in my career, that's the biggest struggle, I think, is just getting everything balanced and figuring it all out. Sure. Sure. So, as a business owner, I'm sure you have a vision for the future. What are your goals and aspirations for Hydro Shield? World domination. Now, it really, with Hydro Shield, the true potential of this product, and there is nothing like it. It is absolutely fascinating and it really should be on every piece of glass in this town. There's certain pieces of glass that'll come from the factory with a coating or something on the glass to make it hydrophobic. But most glass doesn't come protected.

And it just under microscope, it's nooks and valleys and holes. and it's just it's so simple for dirt to cling to it. And once we put our solution on it, it just changes it. It is fascinating what it does. It repels water, repels dirt. So I do. I see it being installed on every piece of glass at casinos, on every piece of glass in new construction homes. I do want to make it a household name.

And you have to know is, you know, if I have a piece of glass or a kitchen countertop or something like that, has it been hydershielded? I just want people to ask, oh, did you guys hydr shield this one yet? No? Okay. Then we got to order it. The consumer needs to know about it. But it takes a long time to build that kind of name recognition. Oh, yeah.

Definitely. Can you share any upcoming projects or initiatives? you're excited about right now? This time of year, I'm excited about just getting outside, getting outside and working. The one thing about HydroShield, our solution does not like to be hot. So summertime, especially in Vegas, I have to keep it on ice. I have to make sure that we keep the temperatures cool, so it's a lot of interior work. So inside's fine.

We have air conditioning, showers, countertops, kitchens, bathrooms, stuff like that is easy. But doing exterior windows. So a lot of, you know, total home protection, every window around the house or all those beautiful sliding glass doors that are looking at golf courses. That's the immediate projects right now is doing that kind of stuff while it's still nice outside and not 100 degrees beating down on these pieces of glass. Because come summertime, I won't be able to do it until next winter. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Finally, a roofline. on your journey so far, what is one piece of advice or a mantra that you can share with others about your business endeavors?

I'm just, I'm a very simple man. Tell the truth. Do the right thing. I don't know if that's even advice. It should just be natural, but I don't feel like it is. Just do the right thing. Do a quality job at a quality price. treat the client the way the golden rule treat the client the way you'd like to be treated do it right

do it the first time correct you know don't sell snake oil that that's what i i absolutely love that about hydershield and this company is it is not snake oil it is something that truly works that there's there's nothing out there that you can compare it to um and that's just what i love and when the consumer gets it installed, it's just the look on their face is fascinating. And you talk to them a year later. It's like, I love it.

I just can't believe, why have we never had this before? It's just, it's truly amazing. And I love, you know, hearing the testimonials and listening to people talk about it. So it's,

that is just something I love. But yeah, honesty is the best policy. It's very simple. Don't lie. Lies are hard. You got to remember them all. Yeah, absolutely.

So if somebody in the Vegas Valley's interested in getting Hydro Shield, what's the best way to get hold of you? You can either call the office at 702-609-6388 or just go right online to our website, hydroshield,LV.com. Perfect. Wonderful. All right. We're going to be signing off.

Thanks again, Joe, with Hydro Shield Loss Vegas for being on this week's Vegas Business Spotlight. Thank you for joining us on this episode of Vegas Business Spotlight. For more inspiring stories and insights from the Las Vegas business community, be sure to subscribe to our podcast on your favorite platform. And remember, you can catch new episodes each week at Vegas BusinessSpotlight.com, where we keep the spotlight shining bright on the entrepreneurs who make Las Vegas thrive. And don't forget to like and subscribe.

See you next week. Thank you.