Joe Brown on Aviation, Craft, and Building with Honor | Season 2, Ep 8

In Episode 8 of Season Two of The Late Start Show, we sit down with Joe Brown ’85, lifelong flyer, community-builder, and former president/chairman of Hartzell Propeller. Growing up in Shaker Heights and arriving at US in seventh grade, Joe talks about middle and high school and its fake courts, and shop teachers who mentored him, and teachers who kept him going even when classes were challenging. He shares his favorite US memories and then traces his path to Middlebury College, where his professor’s response to his first paper reframed his thinking of what school was, and set the tone for a career built on curiosity and craft. From the plant floor to the corner office, Joe talks about discipline, his love of flight, and a family mantra, “Let’s go be somebody”, that shaped decades at Hartzell and later Tailwind Technologies. He talks about the company’s slogan, “Built on Honor,” its Wright Brothers roots, flying 500 hours a year to meet customers, and hard calls like selling Hartzell Aviation in 2023. We dive into Yellow House, the residential community he co-founded in Vermont for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and what he’s learned from his daughter’s joyful empathy. Joe reflects on US brotherhood that became a lifelong network, and why our generation must be the “restoration generation”. He closes with his “why”: to pay it back and pay it forward, showing up for his kids and new grandchild, and pouring gratitude into purposeful work every day.Credits to Theo Walter for Production and Editing, Russ Nobles for the Intro and Outro songs, Mr. Wickboldt for being our advisor, and you for listening to our podcast and keeping up with the latest US news