Failing Forward: John Gioffre on Carving a Path from Mistakes

John Gioffre likes to keep it real with his audience. His company is Austin, Texas-based Revent Builds, and they do everything from home remodels and renovations to full-blown custom homes. They get plenty of advertising from Gioffre’s own YouTube channel, John Gioffre Builds, where he has built an audience of over 35 thousand subscribers. He takes pride in showing the full process, warts and all.

“I want to show people what a sh*tshow this is,” says Gioffre. “I want to show them, ‘hey, the end product is perfect, but you don't get there by a perfect process, right?’”

Gioffre got his start in construction back in 2012, doing Section 8 rentals in Houston, Texas, where he learned all about the industry. He eventually found his way to Austin in 2016, branching off from the company he was working for to start Revent Builds the next year.

More Exposure Means More Money

Being a longtime fan of social media, Gioffre started hiring out a freelance videographer in 2019 to capture footage of the jobs. After a year of working together, his videographer became one of his best friends and was hired on as the full-time content creator for Revent Builds.

While the investment of hiring a brand new crew member certainly isn’t cheap, the gains that Revent Builds has seen from their Instagram and YouTube monetization have made this a worthy investment. The exposure is also great for the brand and has gotten them plenty of work alone.

Educating Through Entertainment

Business exposure and monetary gain aside, Gioffre simply has a blast creating his content. “It’s really, really fun to do,” he says. On top of the creative joy it brings him, he loves having the socials as a “time capsule” of their work to look back on.

Entertaining is in Gioffre’s blood, and his channel provides him with an avenue to do that all the while making a living. He claims to have always had a big personality and has a mentality that he’s always learning, with no fears of looking stupid on camera, a positive energy that he brings to his videos.

Once Gioffre has got the viewers reeled in, he hopes to teach them a thing or two while they’re watching. He believes in using entertainment “as a Trojan horse,” by educating through entertainment. While he’s certainly not the most knowledgeable building science expert around by his own admission, he’s picked up a lot from his years in the trades that he believes his audience will find value and insight in.

“There's always someone that is going to get value from what you're doing,” Gioffre says. “If you can inspire someone or just get someone to watch, you're doing what it takes.”

It's Not Just Business, It’s Personal

Gioffre started his brand all on his own, managing all his accounts prior to hiring his videographer.

That personal touch is something he strives to bring to all of his content. Even with someone else in that role now, Gioffre still takes a very active role in content development, overseeing the videos and working in tandem with his videographer to ensure that the content rings true and feels authentic.

Gioffre keeps his content personal and real by featuring his crew and showing some of the other activities and interests he gets up to when he’s not on the job.

While he advises against dedicating full videos to non-business-related topics (as they likely won’t perform as well or may be considered too niche for your audience), dedicating small segments within larger videos to show your hobbies/interests/personal life could give your content that authentic touch that resonates with viewers.

Dream Big and Expect Failure

Revent Builds has found lots of success in recent years, and they show no signs of slowing down. Their commitment to social media content has led to thousands of dedicated viewers, multiple TV pilot offers, and an endless number of jobs on the horizon.

Gioffre acknowledges that it was a grind to get to the level of online success that they are on the path of now, but promises that it is all worth the risk. It’s that struggle, those hurdles that smooth out the path ahead. “Fail forward,” as Gioffre calls it, is something that he feels is necessary.

“One of the biggest motivators is for me to inspire people to start on their own path,” Gioffre says. “Honestly, the biggest factor is us. We hold ourselves back, so just go out and take the risks… Sometimes you might fall flat on your face. It’s not if, it’s when. Just expect that.”

Beyond motivating others not to be afraid to fail, Gioffre spotlights being genuine, trustworthy, and honest, having integrity, and having fun as instrumental in his success.

“My mantra is there's always a path forward,” says Gioffre. “You don't need to be perfect. What you need to do is get out and get started.”