Executive Air Space is wheels up. This first-ever episode introduces host John Traub, a proven sales and media leader turned private aviation franchise owner with Stratos Jets, to the marketplace and the podcasting world.
For most of my career, I have worked in industries built around communication, relationships, and trust.
I started behind a radio microphone, moved into advertising sales, led teams in Chicago media, and eventually found myself looking for a new direction after more than 30 years in marketing and business development.
That search brought me to private aviation.
The path was not direct, and I did not enter the industry with a background as a pilot or charter broker. I came into it with experience listening to clients, solving business problems, building teams, and staying composed when plans changed.
Those lessons now shape how I approach private travel and why I created the Executive Air Space Podcast.
Fresh out of high school, the host wasn't quite sure which direction to take, even flirting briefly with the idea of joining the Navy to fly. He chose college instead, moving from Moraine Valley Community College to the University of Iowa with a pretty specific dream in mind: a morning radio show in Chicago, some Rush on the airwaves, and enough free time to make the first tee by early afternoon. That dream led to a college radio gig and eventually his first real job with a local AM/FM station in Joliet, earning $5 an hour as an intern working nights and weekends. It wasn't glamorous, but it opened the door.
His move into sales happened almost by chance, after he landed a sports bar advertising deal that several other salespeople couldn't close. That success caught a manager's attention and pulled him onto the sales team, where he juggled daytime ad sales with his nighttime and weekend on-air work. When the station was sold in 1995, he learned firsthand just how quickly a career can shift, getting the news on a Friday phone call that he shouldn't bother coming back Monday. From there, a former manager pointed him toward a sales role at Jones Cable, later part of Comcast, where selling Chicago sports programming, complete with plenty of Michael Jordan name-dropping, opened plenty of doors. But he quickly realized getting the meeting was the easy part. The real skill was understanding what a business owner actually needed, a lesson that shaped every sales role he'd hold afterward, all the way through to private aviation today.
Long before radio or advertising, his very first job was at Palos Country Club on Chicago's South Side, a gig he landed after a friend called him in the middle of the night to ask if he wanted work. His first shift wasn't exactly inspiring: 13 hours digging through garbage cans on a 90 degree day, cleaning up after silverware had been thrown out following a 400 person wedding. Somehow, he stuck around for almost 10 years, eventually working his way into the kitchen and learning what it really takes to pull off a massive event. Guests only ever see the finished product, never the chaos and pressure behind it, and that experience taught him to stay calm when things go wrong, a skill that still serves him well coordinating private travel today.
Starting at Jones Cable with no client list to speak of, he built his book of business the hard way, knocking on doors and making cold calls until he became the company's first million dollar biller and a top performer for years running. That success eventually led to a leadership role at Comcast, taking over a team that had historically missed its numbers. Together they hit their goals in 2005, 2006, and 2007, and after the 2008 downturn, that same Chicago team came back to lead its market in 2009. He's proud of those results, but even prouder of the relationships that outlasted the job, some lasting nearly two decades. In fact, those same relationships are part of what sparked Executive Air Space, since sharing his new chapter on LinkedIn brought old colleagues and clients back into his life.
By the summer of 2023, after more than 30 years across radio, sales, and media leadership, he knew it was time for something new. Working with a career management firm, aviation kept surfacing as a possibility, though breaking into an entirely new industry after three decades elsewhere was anything but simple. He spent over a year quietly researching and reaching out to people, with progress moving slowly until he found an aviation conference in Miami. Rather than keep sending messages from his kitchen table, he decided to show up in person, attending the conference and a golf outing, asking questions, and mostly just listening. That trip paid off. After returning home and reaching out to his new network, he heard back from Joel Thomas, founder of Stratos Jets, who made it clear that showing up to that conference meant something and that they should talk.
A few months later, he sat down with Joel and his team in Orlando, and the conversation went both ways, with tough questions asked on both sides. The more he learned about the company's standards and franchise model, the more it made sense, especially since he was joining as the only franchise owner without a background in aviation. Joel saw the value differently: this new franchisee already knew how to build relationships, market a business, and lead a team, while Stratos brought the aviation infrastructure, safety processes, and operator relationships that would otherwise take years to build alone. Culture sealed the deal, too. Everyone he talked to described Joel's reputation the same way: transparent, professional, and deeply values driven, with faith and biblical principles woven into how the company treats its clients and team. After thoroughly vetting the opportunity, he signed his franchise agreement.
Private aviation may be new territory, but the core of the job feels familiar. Clients want to be heard before they're sold anything, they want honest answers about cost, and they want someone available when plans inevitably change. Whether it's a business owner juggling coast to coast meetings around a kid's recital, or a family trying to bring an aging parent home without the hassle of commercial layovers, the aircraft itself is only part of the equation. What matters just as much is understanding why someone is flying in the first place. That's the role now: listen first, understand the mission, then match the client with the right aircraft and operator through the Stratos Jets network, the same philosophy that guided every sales conversation of the last 30 years.
Executive Air Space isn't meant to be a show about one person's career pivot. Private aviation naturally intersects with hospitality, golf, automotive, finance, and resort businesses, many of which serve the same clients and face similar challenges getting their story in front of the right people. The podcast exists to give those business owners, aviation professionals, and career changers a real platform to talk honestly about what they've built and what they've learned along the way. At its core, the belief is simple: good business starts with trust, and letting people get to know who you are before ever booking a meeting is one of the best ways to build it. That's the goal behind Executive Air Space, one conversation at a time.
The Executive Air Space Agency is an independent Stratos Jets franchise providing private aviation advisory and charter brokerage services. Through Stratos Jets, established in 2006, clients have access to a nationwide network of vetted charter operators and Risk-Managed Private Aviation™ standards.
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