Meet Joseph Moody of Moody Plumbing in Northwest

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joseph Moody.

Joseph, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started working with my father Jim Moody on weekends when I was 12 years old. At first I disliked it as all I did was hand him tools. I wanted to be the one doing the work. As time went on, I learned more and more and was always eager to work on weekends and in the summer when I wasn’t in school. When I was 16, Jim started his own company and as I continued to work and as I get closer to the end of high school all I wanted to do was work full time. After I graduated high school in 2000, I started working full time. By the time I was 20, I had my own van and was helping my Dad build the reputable company that he always dreamed of. At 24 years, old I got my state of Illinois plumbing license. At that point in time my childhood best friend Tom Weaver had been working with us as well as a few other employees. The business was growing year after year. In 2010 at the age of 28, I started to take over all the bidding, scheduling and hiring of employees for the business. I was lucky enough to find trusting employees in a few high school friends as well as a referral from a general contractor that we worked with. We started getting bigger jobs such as restaurants, bars and a yoga studio. As the years have gone on sites such as Angie’s list and YELP have gotten us more and more business as customer reviews have helped us grow. As of 2016 I bought the business from my father. I now have 6 employees and a great rapport with customers. All of my guys take pride in their work and are eager to continue to learn each day. There is no job too big but more importantly no job too small. I never envisioned Moody Plumbing being more than a 2-truck shop but with the physical skills we have, the customer service skills we have and the ability to do every job to the best of our abilities we now have 4 trucks and a bright future ahead helping people out with small plumbing issues or helping plumb in the house of their dreams.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The life of a plumber on a daily basis is like a roller coaster. You really never know what you’re going to get on a daily basis from job to job. A new kitchen faucet install could take 20 minutes or hours due to shutoffs not working, space to work, etc. It is hard to schedule an exact time to show up to a job unless it is the first job of the day due to situations like that. As a kid, I was always interested in puzzles, games, etc. that challenged me. I think bringing that to running a business is a huge benefit for me. There are smaller challenges every day but the biggest challenge for me to date was in 2008 when the economy crashed. As a small business with only 3 employees at the time most small businesses may have folded when the economy crashed. We got stiffed out of around 25k from contractors at the time as well as all the construction jobs slowed down big time. Basically, we were left just doing small service calls such as faucet repairs, toilet repairs, pump replacements, etc. It took years of sacrifice financially and long hours to keep afloat trying to make up for the money we got stiffed out of. It was not easy but I always had confidence and the 3-year span between 2008-2011 taught me incredible patience as well. At the beginning of 2012, we got a large bar/restaurant build out downtown that really helped me realize that my confidence and patience was paying off. That job was the turn of things really starting to head in a positive direction after a rough 3-year span. Since then the business has been on the rise only having to deal with daily challenges rather than yearly challenges.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Moody Plumbing – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
My business is known for many positive things. ALL of my guys take pride in their work and their goal is to do the best job possible 100 percent of the time. I have taught them to treat every job like they are working in their own home. Our customer service skills are top notch as well as the caliber of work. We specialize in service work, water heater replacements as well as bathroom/full house remodels. I personally am the proudest of knowing that all 6 of my guys respect me and listen to me even though some are older and some are younger than me. Getting emails, texts or in person compliments from customers about my guy’s attitude, personality and workmanship is always a proud moment. A quick story that I am happy to share that I think sums up me and what I am all about: I have been doing plumbing work for an older woman for many years in the neighborhood. She lives nearby and calls me roughly every 4-6 months for a small repair. For the past two years, she talks to me about her family and how old she is getting. For a few years when she would ask what she owed me I would say nothing and I would tell her all I wanted was an invite to her 99-year-old birthday party. In January of this year, to my surprise I got an invite to her 99-year-old birthday party. I was surprised she remembered or that she even really thought I was serious. I went and had a good time talking to her and her family. It may not be orthodox business practices but a story like that is what separates me from others. I’m not driven by money or greed, I’m driven by pride, trust and doing the best job possible at a fair price for good honest people.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
My plans for the future are to keep the business going strong as it has for many years now. I don’t plan to get any bigger at the moment but who knows what the future holds. I have 6 trustworthy guys and I know that finding people you can trust is usually not an easy thing for many companies. My guys have been taking on more responsibility as the years go on and that is a huge plus for me as I have my first child (Finleigh Jane moody) on her way very soon so being able to rely on my guys is a huge bonus. They will be relied upon to start doing more things coming up and I am at a good point where I have the utmost confidence that they will succeed as my life changes in a huge way. Life is about timing; the time may come to expand but as of now Moody Plumbing is in a good spot and keeping busy.

Contact Info:

• Website: moodyplumbingchicago.com
• Phone: 773-777-1614
• Email: moodyplumbing98@yahoo.com
• Facebook: Moody Plumbing
• Yelp: Moody Plumbing

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