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Conversations with marketing leaders on how collaboration and creativity are completely free power-ups for their team.
I'm a big believer in in creating those spaces and prioritizing getting into that state, in those spaces to be able to to critically think.
Brian Meyer:Hello, and welcome to Building Creative. I'm Joel Carter. And today, I'm joined by guest Brian Meyer of Flow Home. Brian, welcome.
Joel Carter:Thanks, Joel. Happy to be here. For folks
Brian Meyer:who are meeting you for the first time, could you share a little bit about who you are and and what you do?
Joel Carter:Yeah. So I'm a cofounder and CEO visionary of Flow Home. So we build luxury houseboats and offer them a short term lodging experiences, currently in the Delmarva region in Baltimore, Washington DC, and Annapolis. However, we are going to expand eventually nationwide. It it's really just a one of a kind experience where we connect people to water, use design forward spaces, and really curate a, an experience that people haven't had before.
Brian Meyer:Man, I love it. I I as I was looking into Flow Home, I was fascinated by the idea of it. And what I learned was that this process wasn't necessarily easily or it you you didn't just stumble into it. It actually came as a result of a challenge. And, you know, I think the folks that listen know that building creative is about how do we use creativity and collaboration to to fight through problems that traditional methods aren't working.
Brian Meyer:So why why don't you kind of maybe share a little bit about that that obstacle that you faced, what you were looking for in life, and and and what obstacle you ran into?
Joel Carter:Yeah. So I, my entrepreneurial journey started when I was 24 years old when I created a company called Capital Sup, which was a a paddle boarding business, a rental business, in Annapolis, downtown Annapolis, Maryland. I had no business experience at that time, but what I did have was passion, the love of the water. I'd grown up surfing. I went to school in Hawaii, and, then in in 20 or in 20, 12, I got into the sport of stand up paddle boarding, eventually became a competitive, paddler, which then kind of inspired me entrepreneurially to start Capital Sup.
Joel Carter:And for me, when I started the business, it it was a whole lifestyle play because I personally was on the water every day paddling, and I was like, oh, it'd be really cool to start a business and connect other people to the water. And, that, that business, significantly grew over the years, became one of the the the top water sports business in the country, and then that was kind of the moment where I was like, okay. There's something here. Like, I could start building businesses around the water where they're still connected to my lifestyle. And how Flow Home came to be was when, I was fortunate that my wife and I and friends were able to live at the marina where Capital SUP was, and then the marina was gonna be redeveloped, so we had to move.
Joel Carter:And at that point, you know, I wanted to continue living on the water, or by the water, which I fortunately have done in my entire life. And in downtown Annapolis and and a lot of, you know, cities or desirable places, you know, I'm 37 years old. You know, my age group and younger really have been priced out of of the housing market in these areas. So, you know, while most people probably would have just accepted, oh, you know, hey. I'm just gonna go, you know, rent or maybe go find a home that isn't in downtown Annapolis proper or just not in a desirable area, I got inspired to look at it at another angle to see what other possibilities were out there and just you know, one day I was paddling in downtown Annapolis and and came across a houseboat.
Joel Carter:And, you know, the houseboat didn't look great from the outside. It was it's pretty old, but it had and it was just interesting enough for me to go over their paddle over there and actually just knock on the door to see see who live there, and and the people that own the place were nice enough to to let me in. But when I walked into that place, light bulbs went off because they had redeveloped the whole interior to really look like a really nice modern home. Floor to ceiling windows with a dining table overlooking the water, modern kitchen. And that was a light bulb moment of when I was like, oh, wow.
Joel Carter:This is this is how I wanna live. So I went through the personal journey of actually trying to acquire the houseboat to live on and went through personally the limitations of why it's not really modern where people can just buy a houseboat. One, it's an older houseboat. It was in, like, the 19 eighties or seventies. So it was really hard to get any financing for that in general for a houseboat, but especially one that old, same with insurance.
Joel Carter:And then also too, the the owners wanted to sell the boat, for more than from what it was worth, and we just couldn't come to a number. So I ended up moving along and got and got lucky and actually found a found a house, in a waterfront neighborhood. So check that box off on a personal level. But the whole houseboat idea always stuck in my head. And so fast forward a couple years, COVID, you know, we're all sitting around wondering what we're, you know, doing in our lives, and I just kinda went down this, like, deep thought process and hold just like, you know, what do I wanna do?
Joel Carter:I was kind of in a place in my life where, you know, I I was successful, but not truly happy of of what I was doing. I I, at the time, wasn't, wasn't working on a company that I had started. So, like, that whole entrepreneurship bug was, like, getting at me. And I just felt like there's something else that I needed to do to bring back that purpose in my life. And my wife, and I just were talking one day and and really just got inspired to be like, you know what?
Joel Carter:Like, I feel like something's here. Like, I'm gonna give this houseboat idea a try. And when I say houseboat idea is taking a houseboat and then, using it as a short term rental or what most people call as an Airbnb. And so, you know, I I'll stop there because saying houseboat and and short term rental or Airbnb are 2 very polarizing, words that I can talk about how, you know, the roadblocks and kind of the things that I had to go down to actually get to where we were. But that's kind of what led me to the creation of Flow Home.
Brian Meyer:That's fascinating. There's there's kinda 2 things, if you wouldn't mind, I'd love to dig into. So and I'll actually start with the most recent one. You you talked about during COVID, you kinda went down that that deep thought, you know, hole of just kinda digging and processing. Do you think that moment or that like, was that a little bit of space, or did you just did you, for weeks or days, just process what was happening in your life, what you wanted out of it?
Brian Meyer:Like, I I guess this is a lousy I'm I'm asking you the question lousy, but did you really make space to discover this idea that you're you you began to explore, or was it more of just like a a light bulb spark, like, you know, you know, they sort of show in the cartoons?
Joel Carter:There's different phases. Like, there's that initial spark that then I got into a thought process of, okay. Well, how do I take it from just an idea in my head to at least get it in front of someone that could help me make it some more meaningful than just, you know, just thinking about it? And so, so I did that, and that was a, call it, a month process where, you know, I called a couple contacts of mine and had, forward or, positive feedback from them to motivate me to take the next step. And, and then at that time, I really got, fortunate to meet one of my business partners, through my nonprofit called Live Water Foundation.
Joel Carter:So post Capital Sup, my partners and I created a nonprofit where we teach local veterans, how to paddle board and kayak. We also do the same for the underserved youth communities that live in Annapolis because many of these kids live close to the water and and don't know how to swim or or paddle, so we have programs for them. And then thirdly, we do our best to help clean up the waterways here in Annapolis and and around Maryland. And through one of our clean water activation programs, which is, growing oysters off of commercial and residential peers in Annapolis, oysters are are a great resource to help clean up the water. They can filtrate up to 50 gallons a day, a male oyster can.
Joel Carter:Had a just a chance encounter with the owner of, Butler's Marina. His name's Marcellus Butler. And, you know, he was interested in the idea of allowing me to grow oysters. And when I went to go see him, I naturally put my entrepreneurship hat on and and pitched them this houseboat idea. And, you know, funny enough, about a decade earlier, he had kinda thought of the similar business and, you know, didn't move forward with it.
Joel Carter:But when I pitched him, he immediately was like, oh, this is this is cool. So when I got him on board, that was when I took the next phase of, like, really spending time to think deeply about this and how we go about that. And, and so there are different phases of the thought of the deep thought process of, like, once I reached, a milestone where I felt like, okay. There's a next step here that I can continue moving. It's like I would go back down and really, get to think.
Joel Carter:The the awesome thing about my life is that it's all related to the water, and so my thought my thinking time is when I'm on the water paddling for 1 to 2 hours. You know, I got my headphones in. I got my music going. I'm in the in the zone. You know, I'm in my, quote, unquote, flow state.
Joel Carter:And that's really when I'm in my best thinking is when I'm by myself on the water paddling the music, and, really, my thoughts just start to to fly all over the place.
Brian Meyer:So, that that's fascinating to me. Now with your history, with you having grown up your whole life pretty much on water, I don't I don't imagine there there's a way where you could say that there's a point in time where you realized that the water was your your zone for great thinking or deep thinking. But now that you're aware of it, I mean, when you're facing a tough challenge and maybe you don't have time for the water or maybe you've already gotten off the water, but you're facing a new challenge, do you specifically seek out that space, in your case that happens to be water, but a space knowing that it will help you think around things in a way that makes your brain feel more free and open?
Joel Carter:I do. I'm a big believer in in creating those spaces and prioritizing getting into that state, in those spaces to be able to to critically think because, you know, like, this conversation with you, while I'm talking to you, I have, one of my employees messaging me about something going on in one of the flow homes. You know, I just had 2 calls. You know? So things are happening, like, all over the place.
Joel Carter:So, you know, even when this conversation is kinda hard to, like, rethink, it's that's why I gotta, like, get out of, get out of the the state of all this all, you know, technology and what have you and just get out and just be free and and just think because, you really gotta be in that that space, in that state to really be successful in in thinking to to have those big thoughts that can turn into actionable items that can really make progress, not just in business, but in life.
Brian Meyer:Yes, man. So you shared some other things that I thought was fascinating, which is, you know, you had this chance encounter. But what I heard, from that was just you were constantly expanding your your surface area, so to speak. So it's it's not that luck happened to you. It's kind of that you made your own luck by constantly seeking, constantly thinking, and asking.
Brian Meyer:You know, you you ask to see the houseboat. You introduce yourself, you know, to to talk about the the muscles. So is that a way of life for you, or or is that something that you, like, trained and learned over time of, like, I just need to spread my surface area out as large as I
Joel Carter:can? That actually came as an entrepreneur is is getting the confidence to connect with people, network with people, and and be personable where I I I wasn't, scared or timid or nervous to to have conversations. Because I think in life, just at least my life, at least the last, like, 4 years, is just, you know, putting myself out there, talking to people like yourself, telling my story, and just, you know, every day, I get a new message, email, or LinkedIn message from someone who listened to my story, who has, you know, similar stories or has an interest, or maybe there's a business opportunity there. So I think that's my biggest thing as an entrepreneur as I as I look back is the confidence that I have just to be able to speak to people and and get up on stage or, you know, talk to someone totally random and just tap them on the shoulder and say, hey. My name is Brian, like and and just see what happens.
Joel Carter:And I I can't tell you how many interesting conversations and and people that I've met doing that.
Brian Meyer:Sure. I bet. At the very beginning, though, you you said that you kind of were determined to figure out how to live on the water, and you refused, you know, you said that, you know, we just we didn't give up. Where does that come from though? Is that now I'll just ask.
Brian Meyer:Where does that come from?
Joel Carter:It comes from just I for me, it's the addiction to the lifestyle. You know, in in business, right, like, it's amazing when you start your own business. Right? And but 99% of the time, like, you could love your business, but it's not your lifestyle. It's not, like, how you wanna live personally.
Joel Carter:Right? For me, for Flow Home, it is truly a lifestyle. It is much bigger than just building a business. It's it's what I'm doing to to create the lifestyle for myself, which I've realized many other people wanna live too. So I am purely focused on succeeding and making that dream, that vision I have into reality.
Joel Carter:And so to me, it's very easy to be focused because that is my mission in life, to be able to accomplish that. And everything else I want in life is will come with it once I achieve that. And so for me, it's easy because I have a goal. I I see the finish line, and it's just executing to get to the finish line.
Brian Meyer:Sure. It sounds like then you're not obsessed with your job as much as just focusing on living the life that you want comes with. So then then what was next? What was next on the on the journey of Flow Home, and what kind of obstacles did you run into that you had to think your way around?
Joel Carter:Yeah. Well, you know, although you could go on Airbnb and and find houseboats they are in different areas, there hasn't been a company to really build a brand and and scale. So Flow Home is the first company to do that. And the approach that we took was to raise have a a seed round. So we raised 2 and a half $1,000,000, which fundraising in general, as as anyone listening knows, it's it's hard.
Joel Carter:But then to take a business that doesn't really exist and there's really no comparables and and fundraise on that, as well as post COVID when, you know, the economy, you know, came back to life. A lot of a a lot of roadblocks. It was extremely hard. But at the end of the day, I knew that once I got the flow homes open and allowed people to rent them and get their feedback, that all would be well because I knew that they would love the experience, and that is just what happened. You know, we have you know, this past summer, we were nearly at a 100% occupancy, with 3, you know, thriving, you know, 5 star reviews, and just everyone is loving it.
Joel Carter:I mean, it's just everything I could have imagined is happening, but fundraising, the the regulatory challenges around our business, being a houseboat, being in short term rentals. Every jurisdiction has its own rules around both. Some of them in in a lot of areas, it's gray. So you gotta navigate, you know, gotta talk to city officials. So there's so much there, that at the time were roadblocks and and very frustrating and very nerve wracking.
Joel Carter:But now that we've achieved that, it's now become our advantage because we've broken through, and those, as we know, because we experienced it, are are significant barriers to entry. So, those are just a few examples of what we had to to go through to actually get to the point of being able to open the business that at any point, we could have failed. But, you know, myself and and the team that I have around me, we're able to to push through and and get to where we are today, which we have a long way to go. Sure. No doubt.
Joel Carter:But, you know, getting past that initial stage is is quite an
Brian Meyer:Would you would you care to share the obstacle that made you believe it wasn't gonna happen? Like, was there a point where you're like, I think this is it. We're done. It's it's it's we're not getting past.
Joel Carter:No. I never had that thought. And the reason why is because my two partners are incredible entrepreneurs who have started, grown, and exited successful companies, and they've been through this over and over again. And so if it was just by myself or by, you know, say, my partners at my my first company, which, again, they were great, but we were in experience, then probably, yeah, there would be a high likelihood that we were not we would not, be successful. But because I have the experience and the support on my team that I always had confidence that we would figure it out.
Joel Carter:And so, again, that's a choice I made at starting the company is to find experience that would allow me to build because I know what I'm great at, and I know the things I need to get better at. And I found the things I need to get better at. I just got them on the team to help me and and fill those gaps so I can focus on what I know I'm great at.
Brian Meyer:Sure. Do you find that that you you you and your partners collaborate pretty well, like like, truly attacking a problem as a group to take different views and angles? What does that look like?
Joel Carter:Yeah. We do. I mean, you know, they're, you know, they're older. They're more old school, but they, I mean, they have such experience in just, like, strategy and and negotiation and company structure where I'm, you know, the day to day. I'm I'm the marketing, you know, genius and the the visionary.
Joel Carter:I'm the operator. I am the leader of the company even though I'm the youngest. Like, I I stand tall with the rest of them. So we really, have a a great dynamic and work extremely well together. So That's Yeah.
Joel Carter:We we got a we got a great team.
Brian Meyer:That's wild. Brian, here's here's what I hear. I hear that you had a dream, and it didn't look like it was possible. And you said, I'm not gonna give up. I will make this happen.
Brian Meyer:You said that, that I need to sit there and think on this problem. You you made time and place for yourself in terms of, you know, you found the the place where you think best, and then you continue to spread your surface area, which got you around people that could help you, that could collaborate. So I just what I hear is a lot of creative solutions that came through kind of a a brute force, maybe even like a not a no stress mindset, but just a I will do what I can do mindset. And I think that's pretty powerful. Is there anything else you you wanna add before we wrap this up?
Joel Carter:I would probably say just the last thing. And, again, you know, my situation is very unique just because, like, the pure passion and just the lifestyle fit, like, fit so well with me. But I would just say I'm just a I'm a representation of the American dream and also just an example of, you know, I didn't, you know, take school seriously. I did enough just to get by. My my application, my skill, everything that not everything.
Joel Carter:I mean, obviously, you know, taught me how to read, write, and and all that good stuff. But, really, like, the real world skills and and the way I am as a human being was was built from my own personal learning. So, 2 things. 1 is always be curious and always keep learning. And then 2 is if you have an idea and you're really passionate about it, go for it.
Joel Carter:Like, even if you fail, it's like, at least I gave a try. Like, the most important thing is purpose. It is a very addicting feeling to have purpose in your life because you wake up every day with a mission. And I've been in phases in my life where I didn't have that, and I know obviously plenty of other people in the world that don't have that, and I can't fathom feeling like that ever again. And so, you know, it's just like, just go for it.
Brian Meyer:It is addicting. And I I think you noted, I think, a fascinating concept, which is when you said just go for it, I think there's power in that because it's it's, I would assume, it's the journey that changed you. It's not the destination. It's not that this company has launched and doing well. It was the journey to get there that made you ready for what's next.
Joel Carter:That's correct.
Brian Meyer:Man, Brian, this has been great. Where can people find out more about you online?
Joel Carter:Yeah. So you can find Flow Home online through our website, flowhom.com. We're on all social media, primarily on Instagram, and our handle is flowhom_ofc. You could also find me personally. I spend most of my time on Instagram too.
Joel Carter:I I love photography, videography, so I'm always posting all of my water sports activities, through there. And, my handle is, Brian, b r I a n, Meyer, m e y e r, underscore. And, you know, if anyone has any questions, feel free to send me a DM and happy to chat.
Brian Meyer:Love it. Alright. Well, folks, thanks for listening today. These Building Creative conversations are a partnership between Building Creative and Oddity. Learn more about us online at buildingcreative.coandprojectoddity.com.
Brian Meyer:I'm Joel Carter, and I hope you join me again next time at Building Creative.