Most people go to college, get a degree, and then start their professional life. But not Joe Pohlen. The entrepreneur and junior at Grand Valley State University is doing it all at once. As a result, the aspiring young professional spends his days attending classes, completing school work, and doing business with banks, merchants, and customers.
Pohlen, you may have guessed by now, is not the typical student. A native of Brighton, MI, the 20-year-old is double majoring in public and non-profit administration. At the same time, he has already established a growing real estate business and he is preparing to launch his newest venture, an innovative online shirt company, later this spring.
“I am always working on something until late in the evening,” Pohlen said. “I really enjoy the lifestyle.”
A Real Estate Mogul in the Making
Pohlen has had the entrepreneurial spirit as long as he can remember. He got his first taste of business ownership when he started a small T-shirt operation in high school. On to college, he eagerly participated in the first-ever Elevator Pitch Competition sponsored by the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization.
Pohlen pitched the idea of purchasing residential single homes and renting them out to college students in front of 13,000 people in attendance, including the founders of Jimmy Johns, Ubid.com, and Overstock.com. He had 90 seconds to pitch the idea, similar to getting in the elevator with someone important and having that brief time to plead your case.
The performance impressed the judges. Pohlen took fourth place and $1,000. At the time, he had already established Valley Properties LLC and owned one house. So he invested the winnings in the real estate business. Today, he owns and rents a total of seven houses.
Each house is a single home that Pohlen renovated by adding additional bedrooms and bathrooms and new appliances to create more upscale student housing. Five houses are located in the northwest area of Grand Rapids near the GVSU downtown campus. His two newest properties are in Eastown. And he’s looking to diversify his portfolio with a potential apartment building in Allendale.
“The business is going well,” says property manager Joe Crane. “It’s growing, so it’s going really well.”
On the Job Training
The success hasn’t come easy. Short on formal instruction and experience, much of his education has come straight from on-the-job training. When he first started he was afraid to ask the silly questions. But today’s he’s much more comfortable managing the complexities of income and expenses, filing official paperwork, and talking business with bankers and suppliers. He’s also grown more at ease trusting and bringing new people into his ventures.
“It has been difficult at times,” Pohlen says, “but you pick it up as you go.”
This spring, Pohlen will launch a second business – DormT-shirts.com – with partner Dan Tasman. The two met working in the restaurant industry and quickly realized they shared similar goals and complimentary talent. Tasman, a graphic design major, wanted to start his own T-shirt company. But he’s never taken a business class in his life. And it just so happened that Joe Pohlen, who had dabbled in the clothing business in high school, was accumulating all this business administration knowledge.
So the two joined forces. Their innovative online site will enable customers to upload their own T-Shirt designs. Shoppers can vote for their favorite styles. And the most popular entries go into production and on sale. What’s more, the designers will share a cut of the sales. The company, expected to go live in March, already has twelve employees, nine of whom come from Grand Valley State.
“We got each other’s back,” Tasman says. “What I don’t know, he usually does. The kid is a business genius. He got a lot of people involved in the entrepreneur club because he’s an inspiring kind of guy.”
After graduation next April, Pohlen plans to stay in the Grand Rapids area as long as the city and his business endeavors continue to thrive. He aims to become more deeply involved in real estate development and grow the T-shirt company. And he appreciates the affordability and quality of life in Michigan’s second largest city.
“The cost of living is low compared to Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and these other places where many of the young professionals are heading,” Pohlen says.
“But I don’t want to have a traditional job," he adds, "I want to continue doing what I am doing.”
Angela Harris is a freelance journalist who grew up in Livonia, MI. She's contributed to the Northville Record, Novi News, and Journal Newspapers.
Photographs by Brian Kelly - All Rights Reserved
Photos:
Joe Pohlen photographed at The Photography Room - Heartside
Brian Kelly is managing photographer of Rapid Growth.