Today we’d like to introduce you to Jon-Paul Ferrari.
Hi Jon-Paul, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
I often tell the story of how Puckmasters started to the many high school and collegiate athletes that we have work out with us because it’s a story that many of these young men and women will experience after their sports “career” ends…
Out of college (Oakland University- Rochester Hills, MI), I was set to change the world. I had just finished my degree in communications and marketing and was lucky enough to win 3 national championships playing ACHA Division 1 hockey at Oakland University. I had a job selling television commercials for Fox 17 in Grand Rapids, MI. In my mind, I was already spending all the money I was going to make… Well… That didn’t happen and I failed…BIG TIME. After 3 years of spinning my tires struggling to accomplish my goals, I packed up and headed back home to Sterling Heights. My life changed with one phone call and an impromptu interview.
My good friend and old college coach called as I was driving back from Grand Rapids and told me he had heard of a gentleman that was opening a hockey training center in Wixom, MI. You could have given me $1,000,000 to tell you where Wixom was and I would be out a million bucks. As I pulled up to 50950 Century Court – Wixom, MI, I thought I got nothing to lose… I walked in and was greeted by Scott Lavoie – He had been there for the last 8 hours putting in flooring by himself preparing the facility for opening day a month later. I told him my story and he told me to grab a pallet in the corner and I was starting that day.
Within a months’ time I realized that I by sheer luck and timing I had found my passion… Teaching the sport, I loved and the opportunity to grow a business from the ground up. Scott asked me if I had any interest in joining him on the business ownership side. I rolled the dice and took a loan out and became a business owner at 24 years old!
There is a reason I enjoy telling this “story” to the young men and women that we work with. Many are finishing high school or college and have passions, but do not know what options are out there. I was that person…I surrounded myself with smart, hardworking, and passionate people and with a little bit of luck and timing was given an opportunity to succeed and I am still running with it.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Ha! Smooth road…They say that 78% of small business fail within the first year and I can tell you that I can see why.
“You have to work on the business first before it works for you” – Idowu Koyenikan
Like many small businesses, we started from scratch. We have two sheets of real ice that require a chiller system that stays on 24 hours a day / 7 days a week. It cost a substantial amount of money to run that system year-round.
I found out early on that those marketing classes I took at Oakland University might actually pay off. We had a beautiful state-of-the-art-facility, we were located in a great spot with upwards of 50,000 registered hockey players and coaches within 50 miles. Now, all we need are clients…
We battled hard in the early years to get our name out into the hockey community. I was at the local rinks passing fliers and information out to families and managers. We had to learn how to cut cost on certain things while continuing to deliver the best product we were becoming known for.
In the first 2 years of being a business owner, I learned more about myself and what I was capable of than I ever imagined.
The long hours and the shop, the traveling from rink to rink to promote the business was part of why were are able to say we have been in business for 12 years, but the main reason for our success is strictly because of OUR STAFF!
I cannot say enough about the former and current staff that we have at Puckmasters. Most of the full-time employees have been with me for 8+ years – Steve Schaeffler, Colin Roanyne, John Houle, Mike Baker, and countless others have been the backbone of why we are in the position we are in today.
The on-ice coaches that we have had over the years include professional and collegiate men and women that put the time in to coach and educate these students no matter age or skill. Most of the time our on-ice coaches leave because they continue their hockey careers at the professional level. It’s always exciting when a coach comes into my office and closes the door and shows me a contract that was just sent and asks if they can have some time off while they go play the game they grew up with at the professional level!
Any obstacle that Puckmasters has come across from day 1 has been overcome because of persistence and professionalism of the instructors and employees who call (called) Puckmasters home.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Puckmasters in unique because we are a private facility that has two ice sheets, a full-size commercial gym, state of the art skating treadmill, and video room. We specialize in small group training – 1on1 and 2on1 personalized training programs.
We are able to take the players individuals specific needs and focus 100% of the attention on those areas on need. Our setup allows us to work with beginners who are learning to skate to professional athletes looking to stay in shape and train in the off-season.
What makes us stand out is our coaching staff – The connections that we have made over the past 12 years allows us to bring in young coaching talent that have the passion and energy to pass along their techniques and insight to the younger players.
One of the things I am most proud of is when we get a former student that has moved on to the collegiate or professional level calls and ask if they can get on the ice and become a Puckmasters coach. We currently have 7 male and female coaches that are playing NCAA Division 1 hockey on our roster. Our summer coaching roster is amazing. Once these coaches go back to school in the fall. our full-time staff takes over and we work with our in-season programs.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Personally, I think luck is a huge part of anyone’s private or business life. Both good luck and bad luck…
I am lucky that all of the bad luck I have experienced has taught me how to be prepared next time certain opportunities arise and how to avoid bad situations in the future. I am lucky that I have a family that supports me and understands the amount of time and effort it takes to run a small business. I am lucky that we survived the early years of operation – People said we were crazy to open a small business during the recession.
Mostly – I am lucky for the people that I had meet prior to ever hearing the name Puckmasters. It was countless people that somehow, someway pushed me to stop in and introduce myself to Scott Lavoie way back in 2009. Some call it fate, I will stick with luck…
Contact Info:
- Email: detroit@puckmasters.com
- Website: Puckmasters.com/detroit
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/puckmastersdetroit/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/detroit.puckmasters/
