Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue II, 2012 | Page 35

M U L

our girls are mature for their age and
interested in the business, so there’s a
lot of flow between our work and home
lives,” he says.
When they’re not attending their
daughters’ gymnastics, cheerleading, or
diving competitions, the couple often
can be found on the golf course. “I’d

T

I

-

B R A N D

“Don’t step over
dollars
to pick up
pennies.”

never played growing up. I wrestled and
played football, which I thought of as
more ‘masculine’ sports,” he says. “But
Kim got me into it and we tend to be
addicts. One of the great things about
golf is that even if you don’t play well,
you’ve spent four hours outside that day.
We’re real outdoors people.”

PERSONAL
Key accomplishments: Family is a big one. We have two great kids.
Business-wise, it comes down to the people. Over the years, we’ve influenced
and helped support hundreds of teens and young adults. We’re proud of staying connected with many of them.
Biggest mistake: Probably getting involved with businesses that go outside
our core. We took a number of other, non-restaurant businesses and tried to
replicate the success we had with our restaurant side. We had average success
but it was not fulfilling. We understand now what we’re good at and that we
should stick with it.
Smartest mistake: After we’d been in franchising, we went back and
opened an independent bagel shop where we did everything from scratch,
from the menu to the training program. And it was difficult after being used
to the support, buying power, and marketing/advertising of franchising. The
silver lining was that it brought me back in contact with good friends from college, who have become a big part of our company.
How do you spend a typical day? I’m in the car more than I like since
our stores are located throughout Indiana. I’m in the north part of the state for
two days and in the central and south for the rest. I visit as many restaurants
in the morning as I can. Then I have meetings with executive staff and key
leadership at one of our offices, either in Fort Wayne or Indianapolis.
Work week: 24/7. Something always pops up.
Favorite fun activities: We love to play golf, and we like to water ski

and snow ski. We’re lake people in the summer at our cottage.
Exercise/workout: I work out in my home gym for 30 minutes every
morning before work.
Favorite tech toys: My iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Air. All three go with
me wherever I go.
What are you reading? When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead by
Jerry Weintraub.
Do you have a favorite quote/advice? As we say at Dairy Queen:
Good isn’t good enough.
Best advice you ever got: Don’t step over dollars to pick up pennies.
Formative influences/events: I played football and wrestled in high
school, and I think I learned more about discipline, self-restraint, and dedication from wrestling than anywhere else. Our coach, Danny Tilton, was a big
influence on all of us.
How do you balance life and work? Since my wife is active in the
business—she does HR, was a trainer when we were smaller, and is a people
person with contagious, positive energy—our personal and business lives are
pretty intertwined. Our kids, who are mature for their ages, have grown up
with that. We’ll be at the dinner table talking about business and the kids will
ask questions, and we get input from them, too. We’re fortunate that we can
flow between both business and personal and not interrupt the other.

MANAGEMENT
Business philosophy: It’s pretty simple. We believe good people equals
good profits. We treat every employee as family, which creates loyalty and
an emotional connection and makes a lot of things easier. We have no theft
issues, our retention is good, and we have good employees taking care of
our guests. We find that when we treat our guests like family, they return
more often.
Are you in the franchising, real estate, or customer service
business? I think if you’re not in customer service, all these other things
don’t matter.
What gets you out of bed in the morning? I’m excited every day,
because there’s always something different happening. It also helps when
you’re proud of your product. When our guests come into Dairy Queen,

they’re coming for a treat and we’re hap