The Ultimate Jet Guide Podcast
Tom is a husband, father, and lover of aviation. When he first started learning about private jets, he noticed there wasn’t a lot of content available for people who wanted real, down to earth, information without any fluff or pomp. He knew that many people were curious before they buy a private jet, and he wanted to be a guide for the curious to the serious and those in between. Tom pulls back the curtain on private aviation to help individuals buy sell or charter jets without wasting time or losing money.
In 2021 & 2022 Tom was the top producer of his former agency completing over 20 sales each year. In 2023 he started his own agency, Jet Life Aero where he looks to inspire the next generation of private jet brokers. As a former youth pastor, Tom wants to share his experience as a jet broker with others who aspire to change their lives through private aviation, like he did.
The Ultimate Jet Guide Podcast
The Aviation Sales Mindset - Interview with Joe Peebles
What does it really take to move from turning wrenches on helicopters to closing high-stakes aviation deals? We sit down with Joe, a former Army maintainer and crew member, to unpack the gritty, unfiltered path from technical mastery to building a business in a safety-first industry. The story starts on the flight line, where meticulous maintenance and responsibility for lives in the air forged a mindset that later shaped his entire sales approach.
Joe shares how he discovered that being great at the craft is only a small slice of entrepreneurship. Quitting multiple jobs after a few big wins seemed like the right move—until three months passed with no calls. That drought became a lesson in pipeline, positioning, and patience. We walk through the real work behind a sustainable aviation business: marketing that educates, sales that protects safety and profit, accounting basics, insurance, branding, and the crucial habit of consistent follow-up. If you’re eyeing aviation without a pilot license or A&P, you’ll learn how to add value by building trust, asking better questions, and partnering with maintenance and operations teams who keep aircraft flying safely.
We also dive into coaching and community. Joe invested in mentorships and observed top performers across industries, borrowing tactics without losing his voice. Success leaves clues—habits, systems, and standards you can adapt to aviation’s tight-knit ecosystem. And for veterans leaving the service, we highlight resources to rebuild your network and find your footing in business aviation. The big takeaway: if you become truly good at sales, you’ll always have a job, but in aviation the bar is higher—because every deal touches safety.
If this conversation sparks your next move, subscribe, share with a friend who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway. Your feedback helps more people find their runway.
Learn more about breaking into aviation through SALES - https://avsalestalent.com/talent
The problem is like nobody else out here can like hear the sound effects. So they're just like, what do they do? Nice. What was the value of working for the army, working for a gold shoot? What was the value of doing that first?
SPEAKER_01:I think I had to build confidence. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Not only that, I'm I'm kind of stupid. So truth be told. And I was like, I'm just a number, but I'm a damn good mechanic. Uh sorry for my friend.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, you're a what mechanic? I'm a mechanic.
SPEAKER_01:And uh I was really good, and I thought I could run a company, I can run teams, I know how to do this. And then I realized, holy crap, this is a lot of work.
SPEAKER_00:Hello, everybody, and welcome. My name is Tom Lully. I'm your ultimate jet guide, and today we're pulling back the curtain on aviation sales to help you get started with no experience. That's I got the man, the myth, the legend, Mr. Joe Peebles. How's it going? What's going on, man? What's up, Tom? Great to see you. Kind of curious how you got into aviation. And then I know at one point in the story, you know, it's your own business now. Yeah. And so what was that like? And just painting the picture for someone that is looking from the outside in. They're like, you want to get into aviation. I know you had the mechanic background. Yeah. Um, but some of these people they want to get into aviation and they don't have a pilot or they're not a mechanic. And so they're looking at maybe the sales side. That's why they're stuck with me. Yeah. Otherwise, they could have you as a mentor, but now I'm sorry, you're stuck with me for the sales side. But uh, can you take us through that journey real quick?
SPEAKER_01:I cheated. I joined the army, you know, and I learned I learned how to be a mechanic in the army. And that was interesting. Um, but I I did fall in love with maintenance at that point in my in my career. And before then, I wasn't mechanically inclined. I didn't work on my cars. I didn't even, I didn't even have a car. I didn't work on my parents' cars. I was 18. I didn't do anything. I just played video games and kind of uh, you know, did teenager things, right? So I joined the army, figured out that I could be a mechanic on it helicopters. I actually joined the army to be a a grunt. My dad, okay. My dad was infantry. I was like, I'm gonna be Rambo, you know, that's what I wanted to do. And uh my dad was like, no, you're gonna go work on helicopters. So I did it, and I was actually really good at it. Really eye-opening for me. I really started to like it. And then uh I started crewing helicopters as well as a door gunner, and that's where I found out I liked flight. I did that and uh really enjoyed it. Found out the real purpose of why I do my work because before before I before I ever flew, I took my job very seriously as a maintainer, right? There's two guys getting in a helicopter, I'm gonna do the maintenance on that helicopter, and there's no stopping at 2,000 feet, 3,000 feet to check your tires, you know, or to check your engine oil, or to check that bolt to make sure it's in right. So you've got to be real meticulous in that job. And I really respected it before I started flying, but after I started flying, I was working on something I really understood like the importance of doing my job right. And I think that, you know, you're talking about what's the mindset of coming into aviation. I think that the biggest mindset on the maintainer side and the operator side is safety. You know what I'm saying? You have to understand that every time that airplane goes come goes up, it's got to come down safely.
SPEAKER_00:By extension, when you're working with sales, you're relying on that team for safety. You're sure because because I don't want to have to know so much about a jet that I can fix it. Yeah. Like that's I'm not going to the army to go through that. Um, I'm relying on you. Yeah. You know, and so having those relationships, I think is huge. And so I think for the sales side, it is that taking responsibility for that safety that comes with it. So you're not just selling anything. Yeah. You want to sell a good product. Yeah. You're not just selling, you're not just doing whatever it takes to get the deal across the line. You make sure you're doing the deal right. Right. You know, and so I think that's that's huge. And I appreciate you know you sharing that. Yeah. What has it been like for you to transition from the guy that fixes things to the guy that not only has to fix them, but first has to go find the clients, has to market to the clients, has to close the uh the clients, and then you get to fix, you know, do what you really like to do.
SPEAKER_01:Well, it's it's really interesting because the problem is I thought I was a really good mechanic and I thought I could run a business. Because you're a really good mechanic. I can run a business. Yeah. I can fix airplanes, I can literally fix airplanes blindfolded at this point in my life. That is only five to ten percent of owning a business. You've got to jump into sales, you've got to jump into marketing, you've got to learn some accounting, you've got to understand what profit margins look like, you gotta find insurance, you know, you've got to get a business card, set up an email, you gotta make how to do a website, you gotta make dope hats, you know. And so it's like there's so much stuff you gotta network, people gotta know who you are. So I I first started, I first started trying to start a business in 2015. I lost my job at Gulfstream. Okay, and I was like, I'm just a number, but I'm a damn good mechanic. Uh sorry for my French, but I'm I'm a really good mechanic. So yeah, man, I uh I was really good and I thought I could run a company, I can run teams, I know how to do this. And then I realized, holy crap, this is a lot of work. Um and then you realized yeah, well, I had three I had three full-time jobs. I was a director of maintenance, I was a quality insurance manager, so two different jobs right there, and then I was also AHG technician, right? So I was doing that and I was doing the side hustle of JPRO trying to create this. I started the business and I I started to get some traction on work while I had the other jobs. And I thought I thought, okay, I can get this figured out. We made we made like one or two jobs where I made like my monthly salary in three days, and I was like, okay, I've got this, I can do this. So I quit the job.
SPEAKER_00:I know where that's going. Yeah. So I quit the jobs.
SPEAKER_01:I called my wife, I'm like, babe, we're done. I'm quitting. You know, uh, I'm calling all my bosses today, I'm quitting. So I quit the jobs, and we didn't get a call for three months, not a single call for three months. And I was just like, holy crap, what am I doing? But I think the mindset of the entrepreneur is both feet in.
SPEAKER_00:Both feet in. No matter what. Yes, I like that. Okay.
SPEAKER_01:Like you just got to jump and do it. And I felt like I had my jobs and I had my business, and I was like one foot in and one foot out of both. And I was half, I was giving half to each. Um, and like I said, I I got a little ballsy and it was like, I'm gonna do this, you know? And I think you gotta have a little bit of tenacity, you gotta have a little bit of drive, you gotta be a little crazy, you know, because you're not gonna have that security anymore, you know. And that's what kept me at that job.
SPEAKER_00:What was the value of working for the army, working for a Gulf Stream? What was the value of doing that first? And do you wish, do you wish you started out on your own before, or did you kind of have to go through or saw saw value in working for somebody else for a little while? Because a lot of people they come into AB sales and they're like, Yeah, there's no license certification to be a jet broker, a charter broker. Like, I'll just go do, I'll just go start my own brokerage.
SPEAKER_01:I think I had to build confidence. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, not only that, I'm I'm kind of stupid. So but truth, truth be told, and that's just how I feel, right? A lot of people think, oh man, you're so smart, blah, blah, blah. You figure all this stuff out, but really I just mess up a lot and I learn quickly from those mistakes. That's it. Just gotta have a little bit of courage, a little bit of self-confidence, and you've got to be able to sell the crap out of yourself, um, even when nobody believes in you, and even when you don't believe in you.
SPEAKER_00:And I think I think there's value in, like you said, that confidence and and building that first. Because like I said, a lot of people want to jump in and and I just don't think that's I don't think that's the best thing for a lot, especially if they've never been in aviation before. Yeah, they don't know what they don't know, they don't know who they don't know. Yeah, and I feel like they're just gonna make mistakes.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I I will say this, man. Every course that I've ever taken, every everything that I've ever done, I've failed at least three times. I'm super hard-headed, but if I put my mind to something, I'm I'm probably gonna end up doing it. I'm gonna learn really the hardest way, and it's just the way I'm built.
SPEAKER_00:And you've also invested in yourself with other sales training or um uh mindset coaching and stuff like that, right?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, for sure. I did a lot of coaching. Um what I did was I saw people who were doing really well in business, and I said, I want to be around these people. So, how can I get around these people? Who are the people that you know are influencing me and how can I get close to them? So there were a couple coaching groups that I joined. Um, there were a couple of um people that I met and I try to get in the same vicinity as them just to learn. If I can't learn from talking to you, maybe I can learn from watching you, you know, because there's a saying that success leaves clues. Yes. If you see anybody who's successful, if you watch them, there's habits that they have, there are certain things that they do, there are ways that they carry themselves, there's ways that they dress, there's certain things that they do that you can probably pick up off of. And if you start emulating that, you will be able to find success in that space. Yeah, you know, um always remember there there is also there has to be some authenticity to it. You have to kind of find your own path, your own way of doing it. But you know, profit margin is profit margin, yeah, right? Sales is sales, yeah, marketing is marketing, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So you can go from somewhere else and not be aviation specific.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and you can you can learn tactics that they are doing in order to boost their sales so that you can emulate that, so you can boost your sales, you know. So that was it, man.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, but wouldn't it be great if there was a company out there that did all the business and the and the training and stuff that you learned, but it was a it was about aviation. Wouldn't that be awesome?
SPEAKER_01:Hit hit wait wait, which I'm really excited about for you.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, man, I'm excited, dude. It's gonna be it's gonna be really awesome. All right, man. This is awesome. I'm sorry we went over the 10 minutes we just said we were gonna do, but let's talk good. Let's let's let's close it out so we can flip flip the script a little bit. Okay. What's one last piece of advice you would give to someone who's looking to get into aviation? Maybe especially like as sales goes, like can you speak to this idea that aviation sales is not just selling private jets or charters, but there's a whole ecosystem and people can find passion and purpose and and just be successful successful in aviation through sales.
SPEAKER_01:Well, if you're trying to get into sales, I can promise you this if you're good at sales, you'll always have a job, no matter what, whether you're in aviation or not. But in aviation, we're super tight-knitted group. Yes, you know, I agree with you. Everybody tries to help everybody, and so if you want to be a part of a community of people that love to do things together, this is a this is a group for you. So great, Joe.
SPEAKER_00:Thanks for a lot. Where can people find more information about you? Find you online, find your podcast.
SPEAKER_01:Flight Level Zero Podcast. Um, you can also follow me on LinkedIn at Joe Feebles. And um, hey, if you're a veteran and you're out there and you're looking for any type of help, um transitioning out of the military, getting into business aviation, yeah. Let me get that flyer. This is it, hirevents uh.org. You can go there, you can sign up. There's also a QR code on this. And I don't know if you can actually just chat the phone, but I'm gonna hold it right here for you. There you go. That's our that's our little funnel, man. We're not gonna spam you or anything. We're just gonna send you uh some questions about who you are, uh, what your email is, and try and get you tied into a group. One of the biggest things we one of the biggest things that we lose when we get out of the military is community. Really? Yeah, you lose your friends, man. Um and so I I'm trying to build a community of veterans within business aviation so that we can kind of get together and find our new family outside the military and uh always support our brothers and sisters. So that's cool. Yeah, man. I appreciate it. Sorry for the plug.
SPEAKER_00:No, no, I appreciate it. I appreciate it. Cool. All right, thanks a lot, guys. We'll catch you later.
SPEAKER_01:Later.
