Humans of SSB: Mike Joyce and Joyce, Inc.

Born and raised in the North Hills of Pittsburgh, Mike Joyce has established a wealth of experience, connections and success over the years through his personal and professional endeavors. Mike’s business, Joyce, Inc., is a Pittsburgh-based web design, development, and digital marketing company supporting local businesses. Mike and his team have extensive experience in the industry. 

Taking on his first website development client at the age of 16, you could “technically” say he’s has been in business for over 20 years! From a young age, Mike not only had an interest in technology and website development, but exhibited the entrepreneurial gene as well. This eventually lead him to attend Duquesne University for Information Technology and Business, continuing his website development work on the side until graduation. His college “side-gig” became a “full-time” gig in the living room of his house in the Southside in 2005.

In 2010, Mike renovated an old plumbing warehouse in Mt. Washington and opened his first professional office space. Over the years a lot has changed and evolved about how his business supports individuals and their digital endeavors. In addition to expanding his team, the list of projects and areas of expertise continues to grow. His company provides website development and programming, as well as digital marketing and strategy due to the close relationship between the clients’ websites and the other places they can appear online. The team’s abilities, especially with their proprietary real estate products, landed them clients across the country, which is impressive for a company in such a competitive industry.

Even with the changes and rapid growth, Mike’s business continues to provide an unmatched level of support to their Mike Joyce, owner of Joyce, Inc.clients. When people meet with their team, they get the chance to work with almost everyone at Joyce, Inc. It is an extremely personal experience. Everyone on the team is vested in providing the best solutions for their clients, which is why they take pride in asking a lot of questions. They like to wrap their heads around and understand client goals so they can create the most comprehensive and efficient plan for the client. That brainstorming allows the team to take a proactive approach and develop solutions that will keep them from hitting unexpected barriers down the road. 

Aside from helping clients reach their goals, Mike and his team want to make clients feel comfortable with the support they are provided from beginning to end. The goal for the process is always to create a mutually beneficial partnership between the client and the Joyce, Inc. team. Each client relationship is very important to the team, so they do their best to provide support that is unique to each client’s needs. For that reason, Mike works to align the team with clients that match their areas of expertise and strength. 

Managing and scaling a business is not an easy feat and there are definitely challenges along the way. One of the biggest challenges Mike has experienced thus far relates generally to staying ahead of the curve in the digital industry. Things change so quickly in relation to advances in technology, analytics and general technical expectations. It’s tough to stay strategic when you are battling against the “unknown”, but they manage to make it look easy. Additionally, with growth comes decisions about new staff, expansion of office space and adjusting your business plan. With a small business such as Mike’s, one decision could put you in the red.

Work aside, Mike has done a wonderful job managing his other simultaneous full-time roles as “dad” and “husband”. Mike lives with his wife and their three children in the suburbs of Sewickley. His wife Ashley is an occupational therapist and as Mike puts it, “She is so understanding and flexible. She stays on me to make sure we do fun things as a family as often as we can. One thing we try to do is pick a day where I intentionally stay late at work rather than sliding in late to dinner every day. I want to be as productive as I can during work times so I can make sure I am there to spend time with Ashley and the kids.”

Talk to anyone who owns and runs a small business and you will find that it takes a large amount of sacrifice, commitment and passion to maintain growth and achieve success. Mike is the perfect example of that mix, allowing him to develop his passion into his everyday line of work. Mike hopes that his business will continue to grow, allowing him to improve his office space, add to his team and enhance their already vast menu of skills. This will allow the team to help more people and create more opportunities in the industry. It is clear that Mike and the team at Joyce, Inc. are a customer-first business that stands out above the rest.

For more information on Mike and his team at Joyce, Inc., please visit their website: https://www.joyceinc.com/ 

If you'd like to be featured as part of our Humans of SSB project, please reach out to us.