Speaker 1: This is on the Job, a podcast about finding your
Speaker 1: life's work. On the job, is brought to you by
Speaker 1: Express Employment Professionals. This season, we're bringing you stories of
Speaker 1: folks following their passion to carve their own career path.
Speaker 1: A year into COVID, the US has witnessed the highest
Speaker 1: unemployment rate since the Great Depression, and now as society
Speaker 1: begins to return to a new normal, there are people
Speaker 1: whose occupation it is to help Americans get back on
Speaker 1: the job. Today we talked to one of Express Employments professionals,
Speaker 1: very own about his work, how we got there, in
Speaker 1: the innovative ways he's giving back to his community. People
Speaker 1: are coming in here looking for work. UM. A lot
Speaker 1: of people take working for granted. It's not guaranteed, especially
Speaker 1: in these times. It's not guaranteed. In early April, I
Speaker 1: had the pleasure of talking with John John Calbaries. I'm
Speaker 1: a staff consultant with Express Employment in Utica, New York
Speaker 1: and UM twenty seven years old. Full disclosure. He works
Speaker 1: with his dad, John Calgary Sr. So this is John
Speaker 1: Calaries Jr. Yeah, I'm junior to which sometimes it helps,
Speaker 1: sometimes it doesn't. But don't tell him that for those unfamiliar.
Speaker 1: Express Employment Professionals is a franchise. The staffing company, the
Speaker 1: branch that John works at in Utica is a family business.
Speaker 1: John works directly with companies recruiting and finding good employees.
Speaker 1: On the flip side, I'm also helping people find work.
Speaker 1: So it's kind of like a two sided coin. So
Speaker 1: one side is helping our client businesses fill their openings,
Speaker 1: and then the other side is helping people find work.
Speaker 1: So like, your job is essentially giving people a lifeline,
Speaker 1: and a lot of people need it, and a lot
Speaker 1: of people are looking for a chance to prove themselves
Speaker 1: and we're willing to give people that chance, and we
Speaker 1: do every single day. John has a very personal stake
Speaker 1: in his work, not just because it's a family business,
Speaker 1: but because this is where he grew up, right here
Speaker 1: in Utica, in a suburb called New Hartford, great community.
Speaker 1: I had an awesome neighborhood. In my wedding, I had
Speaker 1: twelve guys. Out of the twelve, eight of them all
Speaker 1: lived in our same neighborhood. He was really into sports
Speaker 1: growing up, really into science and biology, so eventually he
Speaker 1: went off to college to be a dentist. I really
Speaker 1: liked the opportunity. It was just something that I always liked,
Speaker 1: but not necessarily passionate about. Part Way through college, his
Speaker 1: interest in dentistry and school itself was dwindling, and at
Speaker 1: the same time, his parents back home. We're making a
Speaker 1: pretty big move. My parents took the leap of faith.
Speaker 1: They both left their stable, normal jobs and wanted to
Speaker 1: be their own bosses and open up their own business.
Speaker 1: So in two thousand thirteen, John Sr. And his wife
Speaker 1: Laurie opened up their branch of Expressing Ployment Professionals, and
Speaker 1: I was pretty inspired by what they were doing, like
Speaker 1: the entrepreneurial spirit of it um. I also didn't want
Speaker 1: to be in school for twelve more years. I had
Speaker 1: an opportunity to work with my parents every day, So
Speaker 1: I rerouted my whole life and I said, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: work with you guys. Now, I feel like family run
Speaker 1: businesses are harder to come by in than they were
Speaker 1: even twenty years ago. Maybe because there's a lot more
Speaker 1: gig work out there or computer jobs, or maybe people
Speaker 1: feel like I do and think they'd go insane working
Speaker 1: with their family. That is definitely not the case for John.
Speaker 1: For me, it was the opportunity to like deal with
Speaker 1: my dad every day, which hasn't happened before this. When
Speaker 1: he was growing up, John's dad had a job where
Speaker 1: he was traveling all the time and he was away
Speaker 1: from home, which is part of the reason he and
Speaker 1: his wife started this business. So now you've spent more
Speaker 1: time with your dad than ever. Yeah, so in the
Speaker 1: last seven years, I've been with him every single day
Speaker 1: and my mom every day. That never happened before. As
Speaker 1: starting a small business goes, there were just a ton
Speaker 1: of jobs that always needed to be done, and I
Speaker 1: was very easy to find because I was living at
Speaker 1: the house with them. So basically, if someone didn't show
Speaker 1: up to work, they would call me and I would go.
Speaker 1: He kind of gained his parents trust doing all these
Speaker 1: odd jobs they had for him. Then it became more
Speaker 1: steady as he started working in the office. I did
Speaker 1: a lot of filing back then. I did a lot
Speaker 1: of data entry on the computers, learning the software. Then
Speaker 1: he got put on the task of streamlining their payroll system,
Speaker 1: which he did it's the same one that they used today,
Speaker 1: and then went into staff consulting basically full time. So
Speaker 1: you basically just had learned to do everything because you
Speaker 1: had to Yeah, so that's part of the family business.
Speaker 1: There's not a job description. You learn as you go,
Speaker 1: which is awesome because I'm const we doing new things
Speaker 1: and i have a lot of opportunity, which is amazing.
Speaker 1: But that's part of why I love it. We'll get
Speaker 1: back to our story in a second. First, a word
Speaker 1: from Express Employment Professionals. A strong work ethic, takes pride
Speaker 1: in a job well done, sweats over the details. This
Speaker 1: is you. But to get an honest day's work. Do
Speaker 1: you need a response, you need a call back, You
Speaker 1: need a job. Express Employment Professionals can help because we
Speaker 1: understand what it takes to get a job. It takes
Speaker 1: more than just online searches to land a job. It
Speaker 1: takes someone who will identify your talents, a person invested
Speaker 1: in your success. At Express, we can even complete your
Speaker 1: application with you over the phone, will prepare you for interviews,
Speaker 1: and will connect you to the right company. Plus, we'll
Speaker 1: never charge your fee to find you a job. At Express,
Speaker 1: we can put you to work with companies of all
Speaker 1: sizes and industries, from the product and floor to the
Speaker 1: front office. Express Nose Jobs, get to No Express. Find
Speaker 1: your location at Express pros dot com. Or on the
Speaker 1: Express jobs app now back to on the job. When
Speaker 1: John's dad established this branch of Express, one of his
Speaker 1: core goals was to give back to the community. So
Speaker 1: besides donating a lot to charity with the business, John
Speaker 1: got to see the community up close in the office
Speaker 1: every day. Some of the people that were coming into
Speaker 1: our office veterans in particular. They were coming in in
Speaker 1: in pretty rough shape. Utica has a pretty high veteran
Speaker 1: population and a lot of them have unstable housing and
Speaker 1: food and income, and to me, seeing that was pretty shocking.
Speaker 1: Both my grandparents served in the military and they were
Speaker 1: able to leverage that into great careers. And seeing someone
Speaker 1: who's basically homeless coming into my office acting me for
Speaker 1: a job and also letting me know that they had
Speaker 1: a military background was it was tracking to me. It's
Speaker 1: like a punch in the gut because you're wondering, how
Speaker 1: did this person get into the situation after everything that
Speaker 1: they've done for our country, how do they end up here?
Speaker 1: And what can we do about that beyond employment and
Speaker 1: helping them get work. This was the question that was
Speaker 1: rattling around in John's brain for a while, and one
Speaker 1: day he and his dad were browsing through used cars
Speaker 1: on the internet. They liked flipping cars, and they came
Speaker 1: across this enormous military truck, pretty low price with no
Speaker 1: special requirements for driving. It basically like a truck you
Speaker 1: would see in the movies. And it's like, well, that's
Speaker 1: pretty cool. The kid and me is like, that's a
Speaker 1: big truck. That's interesting. What can we do with that?
Speaker 1: What if we put Express all over it and we
Speaker 1: could food drives. I nominated John Jr. Because for such
Speaker 1: a young man to come up with such an impactful idea,
Speaker 1: I thought it needed to be recognized. The voice you're
Speaker 1: hearing is Beverly Napped, the Express Employment Professionals, corporate developer
Speaker 1: for the Calabrisas region. This is a video made about
Speaker 1: John when he was recognized at the company's annual conference
Speaker 1: after he and his dad made this military food drive
Speaker 1: truck a reality. And you just did it because why not.
Speaker 1: It's a crazy idea at the time, but it was
Speaker 1: less than a year later we had the truck and
Speaker 1: it was very real. In the past year, we've donated
Speaker 1: roughly seventeen tons of food and that goes to local
Speaker 1: food pantries and they distributed directly to the veterans. In
Speaker 1: the video, John is driving this massive army truck through
Speaker 1: the streets of Utica. They've driven it in parades, They've
Speaker 1: partnered with local sports teams to do drives during games,
Speaker 1: and of course partnered with organizations that directly helped that.
Speaker 1: John's contribution and dedication to feed our bests is really
Speaker 1: open the eyes of the community and let them know
Speaker 1: what we really do here, who we're helping. And it's
Speaker 1: just and you're up to twenty tons of food. Now
Speaker 1: that's insane, it's unbelievable. It's it just shows how tighten
Speaker 1: it our community is and how giving our community is.
Speaker 1: This program has brought a whole new awareness and I
Speaker 1: really feel good about when we go to the schools,
Speaker 1: the young people getting infound they come out with cases
Speaker 1: of not just bigs. The truck is a symbol. When
Speaker 1: this video was made, John was honored with the Champions
Speaker 1: of Hope Award, something that Express gives out every year.
Speaker 1: The truck has been running for five years now. I
Speaker 1: believe that the truck is a symbol of hope for veterans,
Speaker 1: so they know that someone's looking out for them. And
Speaker 1: after they looked out for us. Despite getting recognized in
Speaker 1: this video with the truck, John is really behind the scenes.
Speaker 1: He delivers food to these organizations. He's the middleman. Like,
Speaker 1: you know, the people you're doing it for might not
Speaker 1: even know who you are. How do you feel about that?
Speaker 1: I think I would rather be like that. I'd rather
Speaker 1: be like the the batman that comes in and helps
Speaker 1: out and no one really knows who he is, drives
Speaker 1: around the spit truck. Who's this guy? I'd rather be
Speaker 1: like that, honestly. Yeah, I just want to help. I
Speaker 1: don't want to be in the spotlight because of this.
Speaker 1: I'm not doing it really for me. M hmm. I
Speaker 1: mean it's pretty crazy what you do every day. I mean,
Speaker 1: whether you're out batmanning and your truck and helping people
Speaker 1: get on their feet so they're healthy enough to find work,
Speaker 1: or actually in the office directly finding someone employment. Your
Speaker 1: job is to provide a livelihood. Yeah, I mean, that's
Speaker 1: the reason why I do it. That's the reason why
Speaker 1: I come in here every day. When you help someone
Speaker 1: find a job, it's probably one of the most rewarding
Speaker 1: things that you can do. You're basically changing someone's life
Speaker 1: through employment. It's probably true that the memories you have
Speaker 1: at the end of your life the really good ones.
Speaker 1: For most people, they're not memories from on the job.
Speaker 1: They're probably moments with family or friends are traveling. But
Speaker 1: in order to really enjoy those moments, or to be content,
Speaker 1: or to even make those moments possible, you need the
Speaker 1: security of work. Having a job gives you that security.
Speaker 1: We can give you shelter, food, warmth, comfort, the freedom
Speaker 1: to do the things that you want to do. A
Speaker 1: job can give you purpose and hope. That is the
Speaker 1: service that John provides. He knows that, and he's got
Speaker 1: a folder in his desk drawer just in case he
Speaker 1: ever forgets. I call it the Good Folder, different letters
Speaker 1: and cards people have written me, and going through it
Speaker 1: and looking back, you forget sometimes. But we've really helped
Speaker 1: through express so many people in our community. It's amazing.
Speaker 1: I asked John about one of his favorite stories from
Speaker 1: the Good Folder. He told me that one time he
Speaker 1: helped a couple find work when the odds were very
Speaker 1: stacked against them. Husband and wife, refugee couple. Their names
Speaker 1: are Son and Fienne, both hearing and paired. He said,
Speaker 1: on paper, these things made it pretty difficult but he
Speaker 1: did find them both jobs and they sent me a
Speaker 1: card which I found and I have here I can
Speaker 1: read if you want. It's kind of like he holds
Speaker 1: up a green card with neat handwriting all over it. Okay,
Speaker 1: dear John, thank you kindly for helping us find a job.
Speaker 1: We've worked there for a whole year. It was an
Speaker 1: enjoyable experience and gave us the work experience that we
Speaker 1: needed to move forward in our careers, and we wanted
Speaker 1: to say thank you so much for your time and
Speaker 1: your great service. Sorry, we can't stay. We're unfortunately moving
Speaker 1: to another state for a new adventure with family. However,
Speaker 1: once again, thank you so much for everything. Sincerely, some
Speaker 1: in Fien. I haven't looked at that since then, and
Speaker 1: this was in it's emotional looking at it. I don't know.
Speaker 1: At the time, you're in the middle of doing your job.
Speaker 1: I have to find these people for these jobs. You're
Speaker 1: not thinking of that, and then you read something like
Speaker 1: this and you really understand how you're impacting someone's life.
Speaker 1: It's something that happens here all the time. It's so rewarding,
Speaker 1: and that makes everything else just pay comparison. It's when
Speaker 1: things like that happen. It makes everything so worth it.
Speaker 1: For On the Job, I'm Otis Gray. Thanks for listening
Speaker 1: to On the Job, brought to you by Express Employment Professionals.
Speaker 1: This season of On the Job is produced by Audiation.
Speaker 1: The episodes were written and produced by me Otis Gray.
Speaker 1: Our executive producer is Sandy Smallens. The show was mixed
Speaker 1: by Matt Noble for Audiation Studios at the Loft in Bronxville,
Speaker 1: New York. Music by Blue Dot Sessions. Find us on
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Apple Pie podcast. If you liked
Speaker 1: what you heard, please consider rating and reviewing the show
Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts or rever you listen, We'll see you
Speaker 1: next time. For more inspiring stories about discovering your life's work,
Speaker 1: Audiation