Our Founder
Joe Biba’s dreams for the first 30 years of his life began and ended with farming. He was born and raised on a dairy farm outside Boscobel, Wisconsin. Living on a farm meant that from the time one could walk and carry a pail, one was considered a working member of the family. Joe was no exception. As the youngest of five children born to Joe and Jeanette, he cut away thistles under the electric fences and filled ice cream pails with hickory nuts. His parents made sure there was plenty to do, between chores and in-season crops.
Joe’s
teenaged goals were straightforward: get married, start farming with his dad,
be his own boss, and start a family.
He proposed right after high school to his
sweetheart Kim. They dreamed of eventually taking over the family farm.
On the eve of their wedding, Joe made a silent vow: I will never let anything happen to my wife or
children. A promise that, at 19, he thought a man could keep.
Within a few years, Kim and Joe were pregnant.
Twins, a boy, and a girl, arrived three months premature. Samantha
was born first, a tiny one pound fourteen
ounces and Thomas followed, barely heavier at two pounds four ounces. Joe
could cover the bottom of Sam’s foot with his thumb.
Even though,
at three days old, Samantha needed surgery to close off a vein on her heart, it
was her brother who the doctors worried over, saying his lungs were
“underdeveloped.”
One week later, Thomas died in Joe’s arms, his
eyes locked on his father’s.
“Normally, at 22, you think you’re pretty
smart. Until it comes time to bury
your son.”
Thankfully, Sam’s feeding tube came out on
Easter Sunday, and her parents held her for the first time on Mother’s Day. On
Father’s Day, Sam finally came home.
As a young father, Joe learned a painful lesson
about life’s frailty and that some things were out of his control. Despite this
heartbreak, he has always felt a strong responsibility to make a difference wherever
he can.
In 2011, Joe began volunteering with a private group that traveled to Porus, Jamaica, to build and repair homes for indigent families. Some homes were built from the ground up, while others had roof repairs or additions built to accommodate growing families and relieve gross overcrowding.
Getting firsthand knowledge of the desperate need for this mission drove Joe to return the following year. He forged ahead with the belief that no one ought to have to decide to pay rent or purchase food, incorporating nonprofit Creators of Hope so that they could “rebuild families, one home at a time.”
As a business owner and community leader, Joe has made a difference in the Cuba City, Wisconsin, area for more than fifteen years. As a construction industry expert, he brings vast practical and detailed construction knowledge as well as strategy, vision, and leadership to Blue Collar Coaching.
Our Story
In 2013, Joe made an investment in himself and his business and joined a year-long mentoring program. That decision radically transformed him, creating a ripple effect of change throughout every aspect of his life. He made life-long friendships, grew his mindset along with what he believed possible.
“If only other trade-based business owners understood what was possible–that everything they want, they can have,” Joe has said, “We could change the way we look at life and how we live.” Thus was the beginning of Blue Collar Coaching!
Next Steps…
If you’re ready to transform your business and your life, without working longer or harder, let’s contact us about how to make that happen.