Undercover Boss (2010) s03e02 Episode Script

The Dwyer Group

This week on Undercover Boss The CEO and chairwoman of the Dwyer Group a parent company for seven franchises specializing in home and vehicle maintenance poses as an office assistant looking to find a job away from her desk and in the action.
Excuse me.
- Hi, I'm Faith Brown.
- Faith, - how are you doing? - I'm good.
How are you? Do you know anything about tools? - Not much.
- All right.
By working on the front lines - Sweat's getting in my eyes.
- Ah! she'll find out that the grass isn't always greener.
Had a guy that worked 60 hours.
When they gave him his paycheck, - he owed them $21.
20.
- Really.
Somebody's got to explain some things to me.
I don't know that something shady's not going on.
But just that comment alone really just stirred my stomach up.
'Cause I don't want anybody to use the word "shady" when they think about us.
Stay tuned for Undercover Boss.
Undercover Boss 3x02 - The Dwyer Group Original air date January 22, 2012 Headquartered in Waco, Texas, the Dwyer Group is the parent company to seven franchise brands specializing in home and vehicle maintenance, including Mr.
Rooter, Mr.
Appliance, The Grounds Guys, and Mr.
Electric.
Overseeing the 10,000 employees, and in charge of running this $800-million business, is one woman.
My name is Dina Dwyer-Owens, and I'm the chairwoman and CEO of the Dwyer Group.
The Dwyer Group is a collection of franchise companies that serve the homeowner and the small-business owner.
The Dwyer Group was founded by my father Don Dwyer, in 1981, - Hello, everybody.
- Hello.
We have an extremely special culture here.
Okay, so why don't we kick off with our code of values.
We live our code of values by treating others as we'd like to be treated.
We live our code of values by responding in a timely fashion.
The Dwyer Group has always had a code of values, and it started with my father's vision.
We live our code of values by asking clarifying questions if we disagree or do not understand.
Basically, it's four categories respect, integrity, customer focus, and one of my favorites We live our code of values by having fun in the process.
My dad grew up during the depression, so he was determined that he was going to work hard and make a wonderful living for his family.
Not that anything was given to us.
We always worked hard.
Every kid had to work for what they had.
My dad started us out at a very young age working in the business.
- Hey, Jennifer.
- Hi, Dina.
Since I really got out of high school, I've been pretty much full-time.
I served in several leadership positions, starting with managing the real estate division.
We need to get - your signature for legal.
- Okay.
I did franchise sales for a while and then became VP of Operations.
- Thank you very much.
- Thank you.
My father loved what he was doing and making a difference in people's lives.
Unfortunately he died a couple of years ago, so I miss him.
It was just his time.
You know, my dad taught me so much about business and about life.
He always told me I was a winner and that I could do whatever I set my mind to do.
And then he gave me the tools to do it.
After my father died, I became the CEO and President of the company.
Some of the challenges I experience as the "the boss' daughter" were probably some people wondering "did she really earn the position that she's in today?" Some days it can be very challenging.
Most likely we'll do an invite out to all the associates.
I try to keep very positive about who I am and what I do.
And I've worked hard, uh, to be in this role.
Okay, great.
Mikey.
Hey, buddy.
Making pancakes.
And you want some fruit? - Sure.
- Hey, Dan.
Good morning.
You know, it's going to be interesting for her.
I think she's going to have some "aha" moments with these technicians that she's going to be working with.
I'm assuming that they're all going to be male.
They're probably just thinking, you know, "are you kidding me?" "This lady is going to come in here and do what?" How do you think the techs will take to a female potential tech coming in? It'll be an interesting reaction.
You can show them that women can do it too.
- Yep.
I almost forgot my fuzzy slippers.
I think going undercover now is really important, for a couple of reasons.
Have the code of values really penetrated the front line to the degree that I think they have? And also in the history of our company, in 30 years, we grew through every recession until this one.
And it was a bit of a shock for us.
Uh, here, let me get that.
So I think we always have to be looking for what we can do even better.
- Bye, mom.
- Aw, bye, sweetheart.
And the people who can tell us that and help us with that are the people out there face-to-face with the customer.
Say bye? Since an early age, my dad grounded me in my faith.
I can almost hear him saying, "Dina, get out there and make a difference today.
" Heavenly Father, we thank and praise you for Dina and her journey that she's about to enter into.
We ask you to be with her.
We ask this - in Jesus' name, amen.
- Amen.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, father.
- We'll see you later.
- Okay.
While undercover, I'm posing as Faith Brown an administrative assistant for her husband, in Thousand Oaks, California.
Make sure my nails don't get in the way.
The people I'll be working with are being told that I'm a contestant on a new reality show called Keep Your Day Job, where I'm getting the opportunity to change careers, and try a job I've always dreamt of.
Faith has arrived.
Today I'm in Roswell, Georgia, and I'm going to be a plumber.
One of my nicknames is "queen of the plumbers.
" It has everything to do with the fact that I'm the CEO of a company that our largest brand is Mr.
Rooter.
It makes up about 27% of our revenues.
During the recession, some of our franchise owners did struggle.
We have a franchise owner here who's done an incredible job building his business.
So I really want to see how the best of the best is doing it.
As we do with every meeting, let's go ahead and get started with our code of values.
On your feet.
Company, atten-hut.
We live our code of values by Never saying anything about anyone that we would not say to him or her.
We live our code of values by Asking clarifying questions if we disagree or do not understand.
The code of values is clearly part of what we do.
But the presentation of it was was new.
At ease, gentlemen.
A little bit military style.
I wasn't sure what that was all about.
But as long they're working to live by the code of values, that's what matters the most to me.
My name's Wayne.
Huff.
Yes, ma'am.
- Faith.
- Faith Brown.
Nice to meet you.
- Ready to go? - Oh, yes.
- All right.
- When Faith walked in, I realized I was going to be training a female.
You know, not to be sexist or anything, but it's not something you get every day.
- This your truck here? - Yes, ma'am.
I'm not used to being called ma'am.
- Oh.
- I'm from California, so that's different for me.
They don't have manners in California? They stop west of the Mississippi? I don't know about that, but they don't say "ma'am.
" I was born and raised here in Atlanta, so I still feel like if I don't say "ma'am," my mother's going to pop out from behind this seat and Plumbers have actually saved more lives, in the history of man, than doctors.
Like the bubonic plague that wiped out 70% of the earth's population in their time all of those are waterborne diseases.
Water yeah, you're right.
And all of 'em were from poor sanitation, you know.
Here, I'm going to give you this.
This is like the most important thing - for us to learn.
- All right.
It's the 14 points, and we're supposed to follow those step by step.
You know, the arrival which is "park in the street," "in full view of the front door.
" I've worked at companies where you park in somebody's driveway and you leave an oil stain things like that.
The entry.
So you put a mat down before you go in? Yes, ma'am, to wipe our feet on.
Each one of our brands has what we call "front line steps," which is kind of the A to Z of how we want to approach the customer and how we want to leave their home.
At the Dwyer Group of Companies, my father wanted to provide consistency across the brands, across the globe.
So the idea is that if you're a customer who happens to be in Waco, Texas, you should have the same experience that you would in L.
A.
- Right.
- Yeah.
Hey, how are you? All right.
I'm Wayne with Mr.
Rooter.
- Paul Gwynn.
- Paul, nice to meet you.
And I'm Faith.
I'm a trainee.
Faith, nice to meet you.
And Miss Faith will get started putting in - your new water heater.
- Okay.
It's right through here, through the garage.
I've opened it up for you here.
- Thank you.
- Give you some booties, ma'am.
How long will this take? That's about a three-hour, uh, job.
We'll be inside if you guys need us.
- All right, thank you.
- Thank you very much.
All right, the first thing you want to do, Faith, is we're going to have to drain this water heater and cut it loose so we can get the new one in.
So what you want to do is you want to hook your garden hose - Mm-hmm.
- take the channel locks and try to tighten that thing up on the - This is the channel lock? - Yes, ma'am.
And it's "righty tighty, lefty loosey.
" - Tighten this? - Yeah.
- Oh, no, I'm sorry.
- No? Let me just show you one time.
- Okay.
- So you're really just - pushing with one hand.
- Oh.
The guys make the tools look so easy.
You know, without his instruction, I wasn't sure, you know, what level I should put the think it was called a wrench, or a I can't remember the name.
- There you go.
- God, that's so much easier than trying to do something with your fingers.
Ordinarily what I do is while the water heater's draining, I go to the truck and pull the new water heater off.
- Start prepping it.
- Okay.
That cuts down on some of your time.
I noticed how big this one was.
That was about 175, 180 pounds.
Uh-huh.
Voila! - This way? - Yeah.
I'm going to just kind of back you up.
I'm good.
I'm good.
To right there where maybe a 1/4 of it's sticking off the back.
That's good.
But now, if you can't handle it, - just - I got it, - thank you.
- Don't be shy.
I was impressed with Faith.
You know, she didn't hesitate moving the water heater, dragging the old one out, I like you even more and more.
If nothing else, you ain't scared to try.
I think it's interesting that a woman would want to get into the plumbing industry.
You know, if they can handle it, more power to them.
So what do you do when you're done with this job? - Are you - I have children.
- Oh, you do.
- I have a ten-year-old son - and a five-year-old daughter.
- Oh.
My son's name is Malachi.
- Malachi? How cool.
- Mm-hmm.
I like the biblical names, yeah.
It means "my messenger," which was really ironic.
Uh, he has non-verbal autism.
- He can't speak.
Yeah.
- Really.
- He just had a birthday.
- He did? - I still wanna call him now.
- Aw.
But for a ten-year-old autistic boy, he seems to be doing pretty good.
All right, Faith.
- Get this man some hot water? - Yeah.
So what do you think about the plumbing thing? I'm kind of curious about the meeting this morning, 'cause that was really cool.
A little military.
A lot of that stuff is not Mr.
Rooter.
Like with every job, every company you work at, there's things you like, things you don't like.
So what do you like? Mr.
Rooter's kind of sentimental, to me.
- My father worked for them - Oh, wow.
before I ever came along.
But then I take into account everything that actually goes on with this company behind the scenes, - and there's a lot of misery.
- Hmm.
You know, we're paid on commission.
You know, you expect you made $1,000 this week you get your check, and it's $500.
- Hmm.
- You go to the office, say "hey, y'all said you weren't going to take my material out.
" The accountant would say, "well, that's the way" "it's supposed to be.
And nah-nah-nah.
" You shouldn't find that out when Yeah, 'cause my husband has to.
He's got some employees, and he has to take like some payroll tax, - and other - Well, this isn't payroll tax.
Now, your income tax and all that - is completely separate.
- Social security This is off the top of the job.
The next week, get my check same thing.
If I expect my check to be $1,000, and it's $500 That's a problem.
Somebody's got to explain some things to me.
And this went on for eight weeks straight.
- Really.
- Yeah.
And you can count on it.
Every week, when payday, at least two guys are back there raising cain about their paychecks.
They had a guy who worked 60 hours, and they gave him his paycheck he owed them $21.
20.
- That's ridiculous.
- How does that happen? It's very frustrating to me to see here's a guy worried.
He needs to be able to take care of his family, not worry about whether his paycheck's right or not.
And we need to make a correction here.
I mean, I got a family I'm trying to take care of.
I'm expecting a $400 or $500 paycheck, and it's $60.
Don't know that something shady's not going on.
Just that comment alone really just stirred my stomach up.
I don't want anybody to use the word "shady" when they think about us.
I want to buy a house right now.
Most mortgage companies you need to be on your job two years.
But, at the same time, I'm not afraid to lose my job because of something like that.
Can you excuse me for a second? I really would like to go to the bathroom.
- Okay.
- Excuse me, just a second.
I need to make sure we get this fixed.
Hello, this is Mary.
Hey, it's Dina calling.
Um, I'm working with the technician Wayne.
He was just revealing to me some of his frustrations, uh, with his job.
Seems like there's a compensation issue in the way that they do the paychecks.
Seems like every week he's having to go to the office.
The finance guy doesn't seem to have a lot of respect - for his opinion.
- Can't fix anything - if we don't know about it.
- Exactly.
That helps, to know that.
So this is a great tech.
We don't want to lose him.
And we can't control everything a franchisee does.
There's an independent relationship there.
But we certainly want things to be done right.
So now you're ready to take it inside the house.
And he's going to know that we really do care and we're going to make it right.
- All right.
- Got it like you like it? Yep.
There we go.
Okay.
The boss loses control.
Watch out.
And later, Dina is shocked to learn that a franchise owner is not following the rules.
We don't do the steps, you know, A through Z, exactly like you should do them, because it's not something I really follow myself.
Hmm.
Dina Dwyer-Owens is a boss undercover in her own company.
It's "righty tighty, lefty loosey.
" She's currently posing as an office assistant thinking about trading her current job for a more exciting job in the maintenance industry.
But now, if you can't handle it, - just - I got it.
- Thank you.
- Don't be shy.
Her journey continues in Germantown, Tennessee.
Today I'm visiting a "Grounds Guys" franchise.
We call them "The Grounds Guys" because their responsibility's to take care of the lawn and the ground.
While our largest brand is Mr.
Rooter, The Grounds Guys is our newest brand.
We just started it last year.
We have 34 franchise owners, and our goal is to double that by year-end.
I'm just really curious to see is everything the way we hoped it would be, here on site? 'Cause that's what the customer sees and experiences.
Excuse me.
Hi.
- I'm looking for Jake.
- Yes, ma'am, that's me.
- Oh, hi.
I'm Faith Brown.
- Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you too.
When I first saw Faith, one of the things I noticed was she had her pearl necklace and the pearl bracelet on.
It's a hot day here.
- Yes, ma'am.
- Yeah.
I didn't know what she was thinking, but I definitely would advise people not to wear jewelry of any sort on a job.
I'm the supervisor, and what my job is is to train guys, and, uh, make sure the jobs are getting done efficiently and to the customers' satisfaction.
Uh, what we're going to be doing today is doing a few little projects on the King's Way Christian Church.
Let's get started on the lawn mowers.
- Okay.
- Turn your key.
Step one down.
Can you pull it? The left one? - Yeah.
- Pull it down.
- That will make you turn left.
- Left.
- Pull the right one down - to make it turn right.
Now you're going to push this forward.
Ah! Uh, touchy.
- Left.
- Oh, left.
Ah! Watch out.
Whoo-hoo! Watch out.
It felt kind of like I was riding a bucking bronco.
Whoa.
Wait, wait, wait.
Pull back.
Oh.
Huh! It was really hard to get a feel for how you controlled it.
Whoo-hoo! - Ah.
- When she was mowing, she didn't know what she was doing.
Try to do it straight, I guess, when you're mowing.
We try to, yes, ma'am.
She was going all over the place and the lines weren't straight.
You know, it wasn't as perfect as I expect out of any of my employees.
I was standing back, because just for safety issues.
I didn't want to lose a limb.
I saw you getting straighter at the end, but we've got these spots missed.
And that is an easy loss - of a job there.
- Right.
I'll go ahead and come back later to clean this up.
- Thank you.
- But we're going to go on to the next job, - and, uh - What's that? We're going to cut down a tree.
So how long have you been doing this? I'd say 13 years now.
I started when I was eight.
Eight? Did you have your own little lawn mower business? - Uh, my dad did.
Yeah.
- Oh, he did? - Yeah, okay.
- Whew! Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought.
- Not at all.
- I was a little giddy, actually, feeling very proud of myself.
But my arms are sore.
They're still sore.
I'm sure tomorrow they're going to be aching.
Yay.
I'm ready for a drink.
We encourage everybody to drink water whenever you think you need to.
Mm-hmm.
It's really hot in Memphis.
I've never had to sweat this much at work.
I have a whole new level of respect for the employees and the work they put into this.
So what's the hardest part about the job? Just exhaustion and the hours.
Yes, ma'am.
So I'm assuming you've probably planted flowers before.
My mother had a greenhouse, when we were kids growing up.
- Oh, wow.
- And that was one of the fondest memories I have.
It's pretty amazing that you're leading teams here, - and you're 20 years old.
- Well, I appreciate it.
Ooh! There's bugs in here.
Whoo-hoo, bees.
Attracting the bees.
So when you were working for your family business you have brothers and sisters? Five brothers.
Five brothers! - Yes, ma'am.
- Oh, wow.
So you guys really kept it in the family.
Yes, ma'am.
This was my dad's passion.
- Yep.
- And, um um, my father passed away last year.
- You're kidding me.
- No.
So What happened? If you don't mind me asking.
- Um, it was suicide.
- Oh, my gosh.
So sort of helping raising the boys now.
And, um, we tried to keep the company going, but everyone wanted to go their own separate ways.
- Oh, wow.
- So Well, I'm sorry to hear that.
- I appreciate it.
- Can't imagine what that would be like.
My heart's kind of racing, just thinking about what he just told me.
How do you handle that? I feel like, you know, he raised me to do this.
And it's something I enjoy it's something he enjoyed.
You know, this is keeping his passion going.
It sounds like he's still proud of his dad.
He wants to live his father's passion.
We're similar that way.
It's a scary thing trying to fill your dad's shoes.
So what do you think about it? It's hard, but it is rewarding when you get to see how pretty that looks.
Get to walk away and think you did that.
Eat a little dirt in the process.
Today I'm in Deer Park, Texas.
And I'll be working alongside a Mr.
Electric franchise owner.
When my father founded the company, he had a clear belief system.
I'm here to find out if our franchisee is, in fact, following the guidelines for how customers should be treated, making sure that we're leaving the customer in a place that was better than when we found them.
Uh, I'm a little nervous today, though, because I have a feeling this franchisee he may recognize me.
I teach the first basic training class, so I could get exposed.
Good morning, Brock? - Morning.
Yes.
- Hi, I'm Faith Brown.
- Faith, how're you doing? - I'm good.
How are you? Very nice to meet you.
Looking forward to having you here for the day.
Yes.
I'm looking forward to learning.
- Good, good.
- I like the, uh - Oh.
Yeah.
- The deer.
Um, try to get out when I can.
So tell me about what you've done before.
Uh, well, I've done mostly secretarial stuff.
And I'm just looking forward to getting out - and trying something new.
- Right.
Wow.
- It's a big turnaround for you.
- It is.
Faith was not dressed appropriately for today's work.
Uniform looked great, but the makeup and the pearls got to go.
Well, I guess I'll kind of give you just a - a general overview of what I do.
- Okay.
I've just recently purchased the business about a year and a half ago.
A master electrician by trade.
We try to do things here a little bit different and I say to try to streamline things.
We try to be as efficient as possible.
Not only do I, you know, come here and have to do some desk work, but I also have to get out into the field.
In the end, it helps the customer, 'cause they get it done - in a quicker timeframe.
- Right.
So today we have a few jobs to go look at.
- All right.
- So, you ready to go? - Yes, I am.
- All right, let's go.
Thank you.
- Really nice truck.
- Thank you.
So is this your business truck or your business and personal? - Yes, both.
- I was surprised that there weren't any Mr.
Electric signs on the sides of his truck.
It's a beautiful truck, but it's not logoed out like a Mr.
Electric truck.
He's losing an opportunity to be a moving billboard.
Do you know much about the Mr.
Electric, as far as it's being a franchise? - Not really.
- Basically what you're buying when you buy a franchise you're buying a system.
The franchise, you know, when they spoke of their things, was the 14 steps.
So what are "14 steps"? It's basically how someone should act, or it has a lot to do with integrity and respect.
All those are things that we should have learned - in kindergarten.
- Mm-hmm.
I'm more focused on the business aspect.
- Um - So you think there's - just too many steps? - Yeah.
I know our customers probably, in the back of their minds, are saying, "what in the heck are these people doing?" I have to help him understand step 1 to step 14 the approach to the customer's home, putting the doormat down, putting the shoe covers on I learned from my father how important it is to the customer experience that we're creating.
They're not hard.
We don't do the steps, you know, A through Z, - exactly like we should do them.
- Mm-hmm.
Because it's not something that I really follow myself.
Hmm.
I think my father would say that there's no excuse.
He should be following those steps, 1 through 14.
Certain customers, they're not really into all that.
They need something done, they want it done, they don't really care how it gets done.
That's ridiculous to me.
All the steps are imperative you don't leave a step out.
Doesn't work real good.
Dina Dwyer-Owens is a boss undercover in her own company.
- Faith, how are you doing? - I'm good.
How are you? And right now, the foundation of her company is being ignored.
We don't do the steps, you know, A through Z, exactly like we should do them because it's not something I really follow myself.
Who do we want as franchisees? We want people who believe the same things we believe.
Certain customers are not really into all that.
And I have to help him understand all the systems are necessary.
- It doesn't work real good.
- I am going to follow up on the situation.
But right now, I need to start working, - and deal with the customer.
- All right, see what we've got.
This is the, uh, the Stewart Magnolia Ballroom.
We're helping fix - some code violations.
- Okay.
Do we need to put the shoe covers on? No, don't worry about that.
This is the new exit sign we need to put up.
Snap this out.
- Like this.
- This goes first? That goes first.
And we have some screws here.
You ever put these in your mouth? No, not normally.
Make sure the screw holes that we have for this Yeah, I was going to say, so what am I screwing into then? Oh.
Do you still have that screwdriver? I do.
That's a better way to do it.
Come on.
You're going to have to turn it.
This is going to take a little while.
You're going to build up some strong wrists.
- Yeah.
- You're going "old-school.
" Faith seemed very new to actually using the tools.
Think I'm going a little crooked.
Oh, efficiency is not my game today.
You just get that side tightened down to almost equal the other one.
Sweat's getting in my eyes, and I can't see what I'm doing.
As you see, sometimes all the conditions - aren't always right.
- Yeah.
Faith took quite a long time.
And, you know, when you're trying to get a job done, - and and you're wasting time - Boy, this shouldn't - take so long.
- Obviously, that plays into your day-to-day operations.
Time equals money.
I'm going to go check on the other guys.
But what you can do next is take this off, install a new exit on this side.
I'll be back.
Getting the backside of the exit sign popped off was not anywhere as easy as I thought it would be.
And I was so happy he wasn't watching me, 'cause I was really struggling.
Whoo-hoo.
Ooh, I did it.
Brock? I think I did it right.
Then this should snap at the bottom.
- All right.
- There you go.
Yay.
Let's go.
- We got a lot to do here.
- All right.
"Brock, sorry I had to leave.
" "I placed two notes where I need the receptacles.
" - "Thanks for your help.
" - Outlet here.
Uh, want the outlet to match the other heights of the other outlets.
- Okay.
- So average is 13 1/2 so - Okay.
- All right.
You put that circle right on your mark, then you can trace the outline of your box.
Now we can cut our hole.
Just follow your lines that you cut.
- Got to stay straight.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Easier said than done, huh? Okay.
You need to go much faster.
Am I really slow at this? I'd have probably had it done already.
Yeah, I'm sure you would have.
Absolutely, I was frustrated with Faith.
I wanted to pull the tool from her hand and start cutting it, because we could have been done with that a whole lot quicker.
I don't think Faith would be suitable for this career.
Made a mess, but I think I did it right.
Should I clean up around here, maybe? No, it's okay.
Let's go.
No? What? I was disappointed Brock didn't think all the systems were necessary.
Each step the approach to the customer's home, putting the doormat down, cleaning I didn't get to experience that today.
We're kidding ourselves to think that everybody's following all the systems to a tee, - but it's important.
- And off we go.
I just have to make sure we're doing a better job, from the corporate headquarters down, instilling and educating the franchisees as to why those steps are so important and what value that's going to bring to them as a business owner.
I'm here in Conroe, Texas, working with a Mr.
Appliance franchise.
And I will be a service technician today.
Brock really caught me off guard yesterday, when he didn't think all the systems were necessary.
Today, I'll be working on the residential side.
So what I want to see today is that service tech making that customer feel comfortable from the very minute they open the door and see them.
Morning.
Morning.
How are you? Good.
I'm Faith Brown.
I'm I'm Tanna.
- Nice to meet you.
- So you're going to be - my trainee today? - Yes.
- Ready to have some fun? - Yes.
My first impression was "wow, I'm working" "with a female technician.
" We have so few female technicians in any of our brands.
So to see her was like, "this is cool!" - I just didn't expect it.
- Hello.
Hi, I'm Tanna, with Mr.
Appliance.
- Hi.
- We're here to fix your oven.
Okay.
Come right this way.
Can you tell me what's going on with the oven? Like if I go to make biscuits, it seems to take a lot longer and they still come out, um, gummy.
- Okay.
- And lasagna took - probably about 2 1/2 hours.
- Okay.
Well, we're going to get to work on it.
Okay, well, I'll just get out of your way, - and go in the other room.
- All right.
So you understand basic function of an oven? - Sure.
- Okay? So these get real hot and produce heat.
And then there's got to be something - to tell it to turn off.
- Right.
So see the thing in the back there? Okay, that's going to be a thermostat.
So what I'm going to have you do is test that.
- Okay.
- Do you know anything about tools? - Not much.
- Okay.
I mean, I can unscrew something, - but - All right.
Okay, so you see the screw holes - back there? - Yes, I do.
So, let's pull it out.
And then we're going to have to cut it.
So what do you want me to do? Cut it right down here? Uh, yeah.
Oh, voila.
So this is our temperature sensor.
So when they start to weaken - you get soggy biscuits.
- Right.
So on your own meter, you're trying to get a reading here.
Whoops.
So do you like your nails? I do.
I'm not sure Are you willing to give them up? I may have to if this is a job that you think I could do.
Obviously appliance repair people don't wear painted fingernails, so she'll learn quickly to pull her hair back and cut her nails.
How's that? Is that good enough? No, that's telling you that it's a bad temperature sensor.
So it needs to be replaced.
So, um, you'll go ahead and, um, snip it off - right at the very end.
- Okay.
- Wait, wait, wait.
Okay.
- I'm getting wire.
- Yeah, you're destroying it.
- Sorry.
So you said you worked in an office - before this? - Yeah, my husband's business.
- So what made you decide - I just wanted to try something different.
I'm 48 now, and I'm just at a point where I'm sick of being inside.
And I just want to get out.
It's kind of how I was.
I had, um, - I have four kids.
- You have four kids? You don't look old enough to have four kids.
Thank you, I'll take it.
I thought you were just a kid yourself.
Four kids.
And what were you doing? I was a stay-at-home mom and was generally going stir-crazy.
Losing your mind? And when all you have to talk to is a toddler all day, and they're going "mom, mom, mom" And you're like oh! So our refrigerator broke.
So they, you know, diagnosed the problem and told us what it was and fixed our refrigerator, and it was on a Saturday.
And the owner actually came out and started talking to my husband.
And he goes, "oh, we're always looking for good technicians," "and, you know, you ought to come apply.
" My husband's a firefighter for Houston.
And he said," thanks for the offer, but no thanks," "and I've got a job I want.
" And he left and I kind of sat on it for a couple days.
- And I said - You kept thinking about it.
"Would you be offended if I applied for that job?" And he goes, "no, no.
" And so I did.
- And - That is funny.
Okay, so we need to let her know that we're finished with that.
All right, so we finished the job.
Before we check out, I have an apartment on the property, and the ice maker isn't the ice isn't tasting right.
- Okay.
- Do y'all have time to check? - Sure.
- To check on that? Basically, to fix that, what we could do is put an in-line water filter on the back of the refrigerator.
We'll run out to the truck and get all the parts, and then we'll go ahead and start working on this.
- That sounds good.
- Okay.
This is an inline filter.
- All right.
- So we'll put that in.
So it was interesting to me when we came to the front door today that the customer seemed really comfortable.
Part of that is, you know, the upside - of being a female technician.
- Mm-hmm.
'Cause women feel a lot more comfortable around women.
But you'll get problems.
Like with the older generation of men.
Yeah, when they're the ones who are you're - Back then, women didn't - Women didn't do - this kind of work, yeah.
- Cook make babies, you know? They got to have a lot of respect for you.
Based on what I see, you really know - what you're doing now.
- All of the guys, um, treat you like one of the guys.
Tanna seems to be just fine working in a man's world.
You know, she cares so much about the customer.
She's just a great example of how women can do well in this type of a business.
So I think we're ready to finish the job out.
If I can just get your signature.
Thank you so much.
Thanks for your patience - with me today.
- Oh, you're welcome.
And thank you for coming out and fixing those problems.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
I would love for more women to understand if they love to work with their hands make a living for your family.
So, um, when I'm close to home, like there's times that I, uh, go check on my kids.
- Do you want to - So I get to meet your kids? - Yeah.
- I'd love to.
Yeah.
Took me a while, whenever I first started this job, to not feel guilty for, um, - having a job.
- Right.
And my second job that I'm looking at? - Yeah.
- It's very rigid, and very You're looking to do something in addition to this? - Correct.
- Why is that? When I started working, um, there's a little bit of a financial burden that I just that I kind of felt responsible for 'cause I hadn't worked for so long.
'Cause In the long run, we've got four four little ones that have to go to college.
And it's expensive.
It is so expensive.
Yeah.
- Well, you ready to go? - Yes, I'm ready.
Can't wait to meet your family.
- Hey.
- Mommy.
- Hi, guys.
- This is, um, the trainee I've been with all day.
- Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
What a beautiful family.
- What are you guys eating? - Uh, pepperoni rolls.
- Want one? - Are you hungry? Do you have an extra one? - Awesome.
- How are you? - Good.
- You having fun? - Yeah.
- Thank you very much.
Yummy.
How old are you? - Three.
- He's three? You know how many I am? How many are you? Let me oh, I was going to guess.
Five? Just to feed you guys is a lot, isn't it? - Right.
- And to clothe kids? 'Cause I grew up in a family of six, and my mom was on this really tight budget.
Well, and that's how we usually handle it.
We just budget everything.
And her paycheck - helps out, so - Right.
Yeah, she has an opportunity to start a second job.
Is that a strain? I mean, is that going to be a strain - on you guys, managing? - Yeah, we really have to worry about, you know, who's going to be home with the kids.
Right.
One of my concerns in listening to Tanna you know, her and her husband are working, and now she's going to take on a second job.
And just thinking back, you know, my father was just amazing.
But he wasn't home.
I mean, it was rare that he was home when we were all still awake.
Mommy has to go bye-bye.
Okay? They're such a special family.
It's kind of like the model the model American family.
You about ready to get back to work? Whenever you're ready.
Dina invites the employees to her family's ranch.
How will they react when they find out - she's actually the boss? - Hello.
I'm Dina Dwyer-Owens.
And I'm the CEO of the Dwyer Group.
All of the employees I've worked with have been invited to my parents' private ranch.
They think they're coming to vote on whether or not I should keep my day job.
Faith should keep her day job.
The heat's extreme.
It's hard work.
You know, the grass isn't always greener on the other side.
She doesn't seem to shy away or be intimidated by anything, so I can't imagine anything would stop Faith but Faith.
Good morning.
- Morning.
- Do you know who I am? - No.
- Well, I know you as Faith.
I'm really Dina Dwyer-Owens, CEO of the Dwyer Group.
- Wow! - Is that a surprise? That's a huge surprise.
The long hair won't be an issue if you're a plumber now.
I did say to keep your day job.
You did? I worked hard.
In a year and a half, Brock, you've really done well.
Um, but you really weren't all about the 14 steps.
It's not something I really follow myself.
You know, that's not something you're sure is necessary.
So, you know, as the CEO of the Dwyer Group, I'm going to encourage you to consider those and and really give them a try.
You know, if you've never tried them and seen the value of trying all 14 steps, you really don't know.
The slight difference those can make might just have that customer say, "wow.
" Right.
Maybe you should just give that a try.
And then also that's a great truck, and I love the air-conditioned seats.
But there's no branding on this truck and you're a marketing guy.
So here's a gift certificate for you to get a sunshade on the back of the truck that says "Mr.
Electric," with your phone number you know, it's personalized for you.
That was part of one of my plans.
Just hadn't got there yet.
Hadn't got there yet.
Well, I'm going to help you out.
It's not hard.
I think it would just give you that extra boost to become even a better leader - and a better franchise owner.
- Sounds great.
- Good.
- Trying to do my best here.
It's kind of hard to know exactly how to respond to something like that.
I think the, uh, I think it was a fair comment.
But you're never doing everything perfect all the time.
Any time you have an opportunity for improvement, um, you want to give it a try.
Wayne, so how do you feel finding out that I'm not really Faith? Well, now I'm I think, uh, I better start putting a resume together.
'Cause I tend to tell the truth, and that's That's one of the things I appreciate about you.
You know, you were very frank and up front about the things that you were concerned about.
If I expect my check to be $1,000, and it's $500, somebody's got to explain some things to me.
So I talked to Mary Thompson, who is actually the president of Mr.
Rooter.
I said, Mary, I'd like you to just check into this, 'cause Wayne's sharing a concern with me, and I'm going to continue to follow what's happening in this relationship.
And so we'll take care of all these compensation issues.
Well, thank you.
Do I believe my paycheck will never be wrong again? We'll just have to wait and see.
Something else we talked about was your dream of owning your own home.
I know it's something you've been thinking about, I know that you need to stay employed.
I have a record for a couple years of what you told me so that you could get a mortgage.
And I loved you sharing about your kids.
- I'm proud of them.
- I know you are.
That's what it's all for, as far as I'm concerned.
So what I'd like to do is to help you with your new home.
I'd like to give you $20,000 as a down payment on your new home.
So that'll make it a little bit easier for you as you're getting it set up.
- Really? - Really.
Will that help out? Oh, absolutely, that would help out.
I don't even know what to say about that.
- Thank you.
- My pleasure.
It's overwhelming.
The fact that she's giving me $20,000 towards a home is just I don't even know how to thank somebody for something like that.
- You were incredible, Jacob.
- Well, thank you.
I mean, it was it was a really fun experience for me.
You know, what I really liked was the pearls.
That was a classic, right? Pearls, out on a landscaping job.
- That was great.
- That was funny.
Well, you're an awesome young man.
- Thank you.
- And I was so impressed, Jacob, with who you are, as well as just your commitment to following your dad's passion.
Your dad had to be an incredible guy.
He was.
Thank you.
This is actually my father's ranch.
He passed away of a sudden heart attack, in 1994.
Just like you want to carry on your dad's legacy, I have a passion for fulfilling my father's dream.
And it's people like you that will help.
Yes, ma'am, thank you.
And I think you're a guy who, one day, would be just the perfect franchisee for Grounds Guys.
That's great.
It's amazing.
We think that you're good enough that you deserve to be awarded one of those.
I don't know what to say.
It's amazing.
Thank you.
It's not every day we give a franchise away.
I know that.
Wow.
- You're shaking.
- I I I didn't see you shake on the job.
I I wasn't expecting this whatsoever.
You're kind of acting as the man of the house really.
Yes, ma'am.
I mean, when my father passed away, you know, we had a lot to do, but I didn't have little brothers and sisters to be responsible for.
So with all that extra responsibility, I'd like to help you out with that transportation problem.
Appreciate that.
How would you like a new truck? Oh, I wouldn't know what to say.
Well, we have a new truck waiting for you.
- Thank you.
- And that's just one little thing that I felt we could do to help make your life easier.
And it's big enough to hold all your little brothers.
Thank you so much.
- Thank you.
- It's yours.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for being a wonderful person.
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
This is the most amazing thing that's ever happened to me.
Helps me tremendously.
Won't have to worry about rides, anymore, to work.
Yeah, I'm going to go pick up my little brothers.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
Am I getting fired? Are you kidding me? - What are we doing then? - You are amazing.
So my goal, going undercover, was to find out how we're doing.
Are we really living up to the values that my father founded this company on? Because that's my goal is to live his dream.
And you are the epitome of what Don Dwyer would have looked for in one of our team members.
Thank you.
You're an incredible technician and you're an incredible mother, and you're an incredible wife.
So what I'd like for you to do is have you spend time with me creating this new programming.
You'll get paid it's $5,000 to help me, you know, reach out maybe to women.
- I just need your help.
- Mm-hmm.
Are you willing to help me with that? Absolutely.
I think it'd be fun.
It'll be a lot of fun.
So I I want to take what you've learned and done and get you to share that with other people.
Think it's awesome.
It's overwhelming.
And I know one of the reasons that you're taking on a second job is because you want to provide college for your kids.
- Yeah.
- I'd like to give you $10,000 to set up a scholarship fund for each one of your children.
Thank you.
I also want to make sure that we're keeping you at Mr.
Appliance, because you're special.
You really epitomize what I'm looking for.
Seriously, Tanna, I don't think you have any idea how I've dreamt of more women like you being part of who we are as an organization as a whole.
So what I'd like to do is give you $25,000 as a cash reward for being you.
I want you to be able to be home with those kids.
This is a precious time in their lives and your life.
And if that can help you with your mortgage, with your payments, if that can help you pay off some bills that maybe you have, whatever whatever it can do for you.
Would that make a difference? Could we could we keep you full-time at Mr.
Appliance and not have you go and do another job? I'm just a little country girl from nowhere.
You're an amazing country girl from nowhere.
Thank you.
Speechless.
Um, it's definitely a blessing.
That's all I can say.
As I come to the end of my journey, I'm just happy that my father had such a vision for making a positive difference in the lives of everybody we touch.
Whether they're on the front line or whether they're here in Waco, Texas, every one of them is special.
And I'm really grateful that people have put the trust in me to lead the company.
'Cause it's an awesome responsibility.
I always think about my dad.
He's in my prayers daily.
I just hope he's proud of the job that I'm doing.

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