Speaker 1: To put it simply, what Express does is we help
Speaker 1: people find jobs. Like if someone asked me what I do, Oh,
Speaker 1: I own an employment firm. What's an employment firm? Oh?
Speaker 1: We help people find jobs and we help companies fawn people.
Speaker 1: It really is that easy.
Speaker 2: Welcome to on the job. I'm your host, Avery Thompson,
Speaker 2: and today we're talking with one of Express Employment Professional's
Speaker 2: youngest franchise owners.
Speaker 1: My name is Brian Garvey. I am the franchise owner
Speaker 1: of Express Employment Professionals located in Greensboro, South North Carolina.
Speaker 2: So let's get into it to learn how this young
Speaker 2: whipper snapper has already found himself at the helm. Brian
Speaker 2: Garvey became the owner of his own Express franchise at
Speaker 2: only twenty four years old, an age when most Americans
Speaker 2: are still living with their parents and paying for their
Speaker 2: car in monthly installments. But before you go thinking that
Speaker 2: Brian is just one of those people that come out
Speaker 2: of the womb ready to conquer the world, I'll let
Speaker 2: him dispel that.
Speaker 1: When I first joined the program, I genuinely felt like
Speaker 1: I wasn't ready to become an owner, and I wasn't
Speaker 1: at all, Dear Lord, I was not ready.
Speaker 2: But that feeling of not being ready wasn't new for
Speaker 2: Brian Garvey. In fact, you might even say Brian's whole
Speaker 2: life has been a series of challenges, each forcing him
Speaker 2: to step up his game a little bit more so.
Speaker 1: I grew up in a town called Fairview, Tennessee. It's
Speaker 1: about forty five minutes southwest of Nashville. I think we
Speaker 1: lived on five acres, had some farm animals, you know,
Speaker 1: waking up early, tending to everything.
Speaker 2: Well, Brian began as a farm boy, he didn't stay
Speaker 2: that way. As a recipient of a scholarship. He was
Speaker 2: sent off to a fancy academy over in an affluent town.
Speaker 1: So I got to hang out with a rural very
Speaker 1: nice people and got the sh see their way of life.
Speaker 1: And then I got to go to private school and
Speaker 1: see the Brentwood, Tennessee style of living. And then I
Speaker 1: also got to see the other kids that were on
Speaker 1: financial Leiter scholarship that were Atperod Academy. So I got
Speaker 1: a healthy mix of a little bit of everything.
Speaker 2: That exposure to kids from all walks of life would
Speaker 2: come to serve Brian throughout his life, particularly in his
Speaker 2: current role with Express.
Speaker 1: I feel like it made me uniquely qualified for this
Speaker 1: industry because I can always relate to someone coming into
Speaker 1: my office.
Speaker 2: But there's still a fair bit of years between Brian's
Speaker 2: childhood and his present day at Express, and a good
Speaker 2: chunk of those years were spent playing sports.
Speaker 1: So I played football, basketball, baseball since I could basically walk.
Speaker 2: Eventually, Brian committed himself to football, which he excelled at,
Speaker 2: going so far as to play for the University of Tennessee.
Speaker 2: And I have to admit I never really had much
Speaker 2: sympathy for college athletes until I heard Brian explain what
Speaker 2: it was actually like.
Speaker 1: You are waking up at five, You have a lift
Speaker 1: at six, takes about an hour and a half. Typically,
Speaker 1: you've classed from eight to twelve. After your class at twelve,
Speaker 1: you have to walk over the facility and eat lunch
Speaker 1: because if you don't eat, you're gonna pass out during practice.
Speaker 1: So now it's one o'clock. You just finished eating. You
Speaker 1: have meetings at two thirty. You're watching film for the
Speaker 1: next two hours. Now it's four thirty. You're on the
Speaker 1: field at five. You get off the field at eight.
Speaker 1: You ice bath because you have to have your body
Speaker 1: heel you eat dinner and now it is at nine
Speaker 1: o'clock and you're just getting home. Well, now, yes, some
Speaker 1: homeworks from the other things to do, and that is
Speaker 1: your Monday to.
Speaker 2: Saturday intense, right, But as grueling as those days were,
Speaker 2: they instilled in Brian a relentless work ethic that benefits
Speaker 2: him to this day.
Speaker 1: If you ask any of my teammates about Brian Garby
Speaker 1: as a football player, I want them to say I
Speaker 1: was tough and consistent. I was there every single practice
Speaker 1: and they knew they could count on me, and I
Speaker 1: gave them the same effort every day. And I think
Speaker 1: that's a mentality translates to the business world so well,
Speaker 1: because there are some days you do not want to
Speaker 1: make that shales call, but you do. And the first
Speaker 1: business that Brian got to apply that gridiron grit to
Speaker 1: was the cheesecake factory. My sister had worked there and
Speaker 1: just put in a referral for me. I worked there
Speaker 1: buzzing tables probably four nights a week in between classes,
Speaker 1: and it was actually way easier because I was no
Speaker 1: longer on that six to nine pm schedule, believer or not.
Speaker 1: I was just going to class and working.
Speaker 2: I love the image of this three hundred and fifteen
Speaker 2: pound offensive lineman bussing tables at the cheesecake factory. But
Speaker 2: I wondered if Brian founded a blow to his ego
Speaker 2: to go from playing Division one football to scraping half
Speaker 2: eaten food off plates, and he said not in the least.
Speaker 1: I was happy for an opportunity. I take pride in
Speaker 1: my work, regardless of the work. Someone has to tick
Speaker 1: the trash out of my office, someone needs a sweet mop.
Speaker 1: I have no problem doing that. I feel like as
Speaker 1: soon as you think you are above a task, you'll
Speaker 1: have a root awakening in some way coming around the corner.
Speaker 2: Instead of feeling like the job was beneath him, Brian
Speaker 2: applied the same dedication of bettering himself that he developed
Speaker 2: as an athlete.
Speaker 1: I take pride in learning new things. It's something that
Speaker 1: I feel like everyone needs to be able to do. So.
Speaker 1: When I was working at cheesecake factory learning from a
Speaker 1: single mother, or I was learning from someone who had
Speaker 1: only done serving for fifteen years, I bet they are
Speaker 1: a better served than I am. Let me learn from them.
Speaker 2: When we think of coaches, we think of them as
Speaker 2: these archetypal figures with a clipboard in hand and whistle
Speaker 2: around their neck. But Brian knows that coaches come in
Speaker 2: all forms.
Speaker 1: One compliment that I've been given is I'm resourceful. I
Speaker 1: know who to go to with each type of question.
Speaker 2: So when we come back from the break, Brian seeks
Speaker 2: out some new coaches. In the world of business.
Speaker 3: Looking for a job is lonely, endless, searching phone calls
Speaker 3: that go nowhere, applications that vanish into thin air. What
Speaker 3: if you could link with dozens of local companies who
Speaker 3: are hiring right now with just one connection. That's Express
Speaker 3: Employment Professionals. Find us at expresspros dot com. One connection,
Speaker 3: endless opportunities and no fees ever for job seekers Express
Speaker 3: Employment Professionals expresspros dot Com.
Speaker 2: We're back with Brian Garvey, who, after playing football for
Speaker 2: the University of Tennessee and a stint bussing tables at
Speaker 2: the cheesecake factory, was preparing to go out into the
Speaker 2: professional world with his college degree in hand.
Speaker 1: So I was studying sociology because I was always interested
Speaker 1: in how people think in our society kind of functions.
Speaker 2: But as luck would have it, Brian graduated at the
Speaker 2: height of the COVID nineteen pandemic not exactly the best
Speaker 2: time to be cast out into the workforce.
Speaker 1: So the first job I took out of college was
Speaker 1: cutting down trees in Oak Island, North Carolina. I drove
Speaker 1: a bucket truck, I ran a saw, I was in
Speaker 1: bucket sometimes and we were cleaning up hercane damage.
Speaker 2: In typical Brian Garvey fashion, he applied himself fully to
Speaker 2: the task at hand, whatever needed doing, who was more
Speaker 2: than happy to jump in. And it was a federally
Speaker 2: contract job, so we would work seven to seven, nine
Speaker 2: ten days in a row, then get two days off
Speaker 2: and repeat, repeat, repeat. And while he enjoyed the physicality
Speaker 2: of the work and the relief that provided to the
Speaker 2: communities in need, he knew that it wasn't what he
Speaker 2: wanted to do with his life.
Speaker 1: Once I finished that, I knew I wanted to get
Speaker 1: into business and enterprise. The car Rental Company really had
Speaker 1: good feedback on their management training program, so I applied
Speaker 1: there and got accepted.
Speaker 2: And it was in that training program that Brian starts
Speaker 2: to develop his business skills.
Speaker 1: I started there in November of twenty twenty one and
Speaker 1: quickly learned that.
Speaker 2: I knew I could sell with his ability to chat
Speaker 2: up anyone and everyone, Brian flourished at Enterprise.
Speaker 1: If I tried to get number one of the leader boards,
Speaker 1: typically I could purely I'll take every single ticket I could.
Speaker 2: But despite that early success, he came to the conclusion
Speaker 2: that selling car liability and satellite radios wasn't the contribution
Speaker 2: he wanted to make to the world. What he wanted
Speaker 2: to do was use his sales abilities to help others,
Speaker 2: and he figured the best way he could do that
Speaker 2: was in the staffing field.
Speaker 1: But I wanted to sell something that I believed in
Speaker 1: because it made me more authentic and it made me
Speaker 1: a better shelgep if I actually spoke from who I
Speaker 1: am as a person. And the more I learned about staffing,
Speaker 1: the more I felt called to do it. I could
Speaker 1: help people that maybe wanted to get an opportunity through
Speaker 1: directly to the company, because I could call on their behalf.
Speaker 1: I could get them a dollar extra and pay And
Speaker 1: for a company, a dollar extra means forty dollars a
Speaker 1: week for that associate. That is a tank of gas,
Speaker 1: and that's something that I take pride in.
Speaker 2: So Brian starts casting the nets out, seeing where he
Speaker 2: might be able to get his foot in the staffing door.
Speaker 1: And that's when Jason Patrick, the head of the Emerging
Speaker 1: Entrepreneur program, called me and he said, hey, Express is
Speaker 1: launching a new program.
Speaker 2: And the more Brian listened to what Express was offering,
Speaker 2: the more he liked what he heard.
Speaker 1: Essentially, we want to train you for eighteen months and
Speaker 1: we want to fast check your path to ownership.
Speaker 2: But rarely does an opportunity to come without its set
Speaker 2: of challenges.
Speaker 1: The one caveat was Jason said, Hey, we're going to
Speaker 1: place you with the franchise e that we think is
Speaker 1: best for you, which involves relocation.
Speaker 2: So stepping up would mean Brian would have to move.
Speaker 2: But hey, one of the many benefits of youth is
Speaker 2: that you typically don't have a lot holding you down.
Speaker 1: So I signed up for it. I moved to Morristown, Tennessee,
Speaker 1: where I was trained by Sarah Bowman, Celia Smith, LaToya Miller,
Speaker 1: who is still my developer to this day, and just
Speaker 1: got surrounded by very successful people.
Speaker 2: And after that initial training period, Brian had the opportunity
Speaker 2: to become a franchise owner, which was a thrilling prospect.
Speaker 2: But the whole new level of responsibility, and that's when
Speaker 2: it hit him.
Speaker 1: The most shocking part. I guess you could say to me,
Speaker 1: becoming an owner is understanding that I wasn't ready.
Speaker 2: But if Brian's football career taught him one thing, it
Speaker 2: was that you don't have to face adversity alone. When
Speaker 2: in doubt, you reach out to your coaches and your teammates.
Speaker 1: My lease in my office space was like fifty four pages,
Speaker 1: and the leases I was used to were like a
Speaker 1: page and a half from the apartments I had lived in.
Speaker 1: So I was reading through it and I didn't understand
Speaker 1: most of the words. I reached out to Jason Patrick,
Speaker 1: LaToya Miller and Express HQ asking for guidance on it,
Speaker 1: and sure enough, they all agreed to hop on a
Speaker 1: call with me. Taught me through every single point. And
Speaker 1: that is the number one thing I'd recommend anyone considering
Speaker 1: buying a business is the franchise network within ex is unparalleled.
Speaker 2: Well, he occasionally still reaches out to his fellow franchise
Speaker 2: owners for guidance. Brian is getting more comfortable with his responsibilities,
Speaker 2: and like any good athlete, he's not above a little
Speaker 2: friendly competition to keep things interesting.
Speaker 1: I talk a little smack to other owners, and sometimes
Speaker 1: they like it. Other times they try to beat me back,
Speaker 1: which is something I want because once again, iron sharpens iron.
Speaker 1: If we're all competing with ourselves and the only way
Speaker 1: to win is to help more people find jobs, it
Speaker 1: sounds like an every one wins type of deal to
Speaker 1: me at least.
Speaker 2: Though Brian claims he's fueled by conflict, it's obvious from
Speaker 2: talking to him that he's also driven by something much
Speaker 2: deeper than competition, something he refers to as his why.
Speaker 1: One of my wives is I want to provide a
Speaker 1: better workplace than my internal employees can find elsewhere, and
Speaker 1: I wanted that burden on.
Speaker 2: Me, and beyond being there for his entire employees, Brian
Speaker 2: remains committed to his ultimate responsibility, which is getting people
Speaker 2: out into the workforce.
Speaker 1: I also wanted to ensure that we were going to
Speaker 1: put our associates first, because I truly believe if you
Speaker 1: put the associates first, everything else will fall into place.
Speaker 2: Brian understands just how nerve racking that first day can be,
Speaker 2: because it wasn't that long ago that he was in
Speaker 2: their same shoes.
Speaker 1: I would say that when I first joined cheesecake Factory.
Speaker 1: I was nervous, But being nervous is something I don't
Speaker 1: take for granted because if you're nervous, it means you're
Speaker 1: doing something important and being able to suppress that feeling
Speaker 1: of like the anxiety that comes with the nervousness and
Speaker 1: just use the extra energy and boost it gives you
Speaker 1: as beneficial.
Speaker 2: Despite that belief that a few butterflies in the stomach
Speaker 2: can be a good thing on his associates first day,
Speaker 2: Brian makes sure to be there.
Speaker 1: I meet them at the front door, introduce them, and
Speaker 1: that way they feel better and more bought in to
Speaker 1: express because we put that extra effort in.
Speaker 2: So, Brian, you've benefited from lots of coaching throughout your life.
Speaker 2: Now that you're coming into your own or the tables turning,
Speaker 2: is the player becoming the coach.
Speaker 1: Man? That's a really good question. So I have had
Speaker 1: a lot of coaches, and I apply a lot of
Speaker 1: my leadership to my athletics and explain the why behind
Speaker 1: what we do. We're not doing this to all become millionaires.
Speaker 1: We're doing this because we're helping people. We are helping
Speaker 1: people find jobs. So is the role reversing I hope so,
Speaker 1: and I hope I am as right as often as
Speaker 1: the coaches that will mentoring me my entire life.
Speaker 2: From the job. I'm Avery Thompson.
Speaker 3: Attatatatatastas