This week, on behalf of all of us at The Dwyer Group, I was honored to accept the Texas Family Business of the Year Community Commitment Award from the Institute of Family Business at Baylor University. This annual celebration of entrepreneurs and family businesses from around the state is a huge affirmation that what we do on a daily basis is felt by so many in positive ways. The drive that we share for our family members, our employees and the customers that we serve is powerful beyond words. And I was moved by so many recipients who credited their faith as a foundation for their wonderful accomplishments.

When accepting our award, I took the opportunity to recognize the special commitment that The Dwyer Group has made to our country’s great military veterans. Through VetFran, which was established by Don Dwyer Sr. and now includes more than 500 participating franchisors at the International Franchise Association, our military men and women have a path to achieving the American Dream. At The Dwyer Group, we have given more than $1.4 million in discounts to veterans who have been awarded one of our service brands through VetFran. Additionally, through Operation Enduring Opportunity, more than 66,000 veterans have been hired since November 2011. And based on a recent internal survey at The Dwyer Group, approximately 28% of our 1600 franchisees have also hired a veteran since November 2011.          

“You are the heart and soul of the American economy,” said Dr. Terry Mannes, Dean of the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor, to all of this year’s recipients. I couldn’t agree more! Thank you to everyone at The Dwyer Group and our family of franchise brands. This award belongs to all of us.

As the members of The Dwyer Group team and the dedicated franchise owners and service professionals across our service brands address the recovery needs after Hurricane Sandy along the East Coast, please know that our hearts go out to all of those who have been impacted, including many within our own franchise family.

 Everyone has done an outstanding job reaching out to our franchise locations in the region to get damage reports from shops, set up the most reliable forms of communication, verify supply needs, and – most importantly – make sure that our people are okay. To date, we are fortunate to know that nobody was physically hurt during the storm across our service brands. And our thanks go out to everyone working so hard to put businesses, homes and lives back together.

All of our brand presidents and their staffs have been in touch with their franchise networks and the work has been immediate to address service calls, staffing needs and equipment demands in those areas where they are needed the most. I am witness to an unprecedented example of our Code of Values in action, as men and women living and working in the affected areas are addressing personal losses where homes have been flooded and cars have been swept away while also moving forward to serve their customers and communities. At the same time, we have incredible franchisees in other parts of the country joining in the cleanup, with the added cautions of bringing food and generators in tow where a shortage of hotel rooms and power outages await them.

The insurance claims and service calls will keep all of our teams very busy in the days, weeks and months ahead. And we are doing what we do best, delivering the very best customer service in the business. Please exercise care for yourselves and your teams in this hectic time as every call is an emergency and the Northeast continues to rebuild. I thank you for all that you do and the pride in which you do it.

Dina Dwyer-Owens

Our hearts and our helping hands go out to those areas across the East Coast being impacted by Hurricane Sandy. I give my thanks to an amazing team of associates here at home, our call center, our franchisees, and the wonderful service professionals who are making such a big difference on the front lines. The things we can accomplish by working together are more powerful to me than the storms that choose to test us. I invite those in need of our service brands to call 1-800-490-7501.

This week I did an interview with KWTX-TV, my local CBS station, for National Women in Small Business Month. And I was happy to share the news of the Women in The Trades Program at The Dwyer Group, which is spreading the word about employment and scholarship opportunities for women across our service brands. From franchise owners running their own business to service professionals making the house calls, we see examples at all levels of women succeeding in this industry. And we can do more. We can break down the stereotypes of our service trades to show that opportunities exist. We can celebrate the people on the front line – men AND women – who are representing our brands with pride. We can change the image of our industry and spread the rewards of good careers with good pay. And we can create an even stronger workforce that trumps the economy and shows the true power of Main Street America to get our country going again.  Here’s to all the women out there who are making a difference and the generations more to come. For more information on the Women in The Trades Program, I encourage you to visit:

http://www.dwyergroup.com/women-in-trades.asp

I want to extend my deepest gratitude to everyone who came together for The Dwyer Group Annual Reunion. We had more than 1,400 people gather at The Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, Texas, for an amazing time of celebration, awards and higher learning across our service brands.

I’ll be honest. The Dwyer Group Reunion could not come soon enough! The last time we gathered, I had just finished filming an episode for CBS’s Emmy-winning series “Undercover Boss.” But it had not been televised yet, so I couldn’t share my joy and my excitement about being on the front lines of our business with all of the people who ARE the front lines of our business. This year, however, was the icing on the cake. Not only could I talk about the broadcast. I could also talk about the rebroadcasts, the tweets and Facebook posts from viewers around the world, the great emails from happy customers and, yes, being on the front lines of our business.

My message to everyone at The Dwyer Group Reunion was about four key lessons from my journey as Faith Brown (my undercover name) on “Undercover Boss.” And they are lessons that I hope everyone can take and use to their own advantage across our service brands:

1)      Be your best authentic self – I was no service professional expert working alongside the pros across our franchise family. The cameras caught all of my bloopers, and it made things entertaining for millions of viewers around the country and around the world. But I just had to do my best and be myself. The result of hard work and a willingness to learn is that you do get better! And I had some great teachers along the way.

2)      Surround yourself with a value-based team – I found The Dwyer Group Code of Values alive and well on the front lines of our business. And we are made stronger with that team. No, we are not perfect. We just work hard and give our best effort with a strong Code of Values to show us the way. And that is a huge advantage for the millions of people we serve.

3)      Systematize and internalize – It’s as true today as it was 31 years ago when The Dwyer Group was formed. You must follow the system. It applies to everyone and every level of the business, and I applied it to my own experience as Faith Brown.

4)      Measure your performance – I know that I am a better leader today because of what I have experienced on my journey inside the company and across our service brands. I have a new perspective on what we do from a “worm’s-eye view,” as I call it. In other words, I’ve seen things on the ground level, and we measure up in a big way.

I’ve been waiting a VERY long time to share why I decided to participate on the show and what I learned from those very people in our audience at The Dwyer Group Reunion. We are a great company today because we have such outstanding men and women on our team. And I am forever grateful for all of them. Because, in my opinion, they are their best authentic selves. Thank you, all.

Remember when you were a kid, and you couldn’t wait for the first day of school? You would reunite with all of your friends, share stories about what you did since you last saw each other, and celebrate being a little older and wiser than the year before.  You would gear up for new lessons, and embrace your teachers. Then, together, you would set off for the adventures ahead.

Well, I still get to do that EVERY year. It’s called The Dwyer Group Annual Reunion, and the excitement is ramping up for our gathering Sept. 23-26 in Grapevine, Texas. It’s like back to school, only better. Our friends include our entire franchise family and master licensees across The Dwyer Group service brands, our vendors and all of The Dwyer Group associates. And when we reunite, we talk about a lot more than summer vacations. We get to honor the leaders in our system, we hear some of the most outstanding speakers, and we learn a lot of lessons from the very best in the business that propel us to even greater heights. We’re an incredible class of people, you might say. And at this school, everyone has the potential to be voted “Most Likely to Succeed.” I’m excited already, and I look forward to visiting with all of my friends.

At The Dwyer Group, our service brands make important house calls for customers in need every day. And this week, I get to make a special house call of my own. On Thursday, I will be visiting the Long Beach Ronald McDonald House http://www.longbeachrmh.org/. It’s one of the newest additions to an important organization with a mission to provide comfort, care and support to children and families. It is the ‘home-away-from-home,’ when children and their guardians are seeking medical treatment at a nearby healthcare facility. As an important part of the community, that is why all of our franchise brands and The Dwyer Group parent company are proud sponsors at the local level of the Ronald McDonald House Charities in their markets.

This week, the Long Beach location will also serve as a meeting place for all of our franchise brands in the area, where I get to speak to franchise owners and their team members about my “Undercover Boss” experience. That journey, which is set to rebroadcast on August 10, was a great reminder for how The Dwyer Group also gets to provide comfort, care and support to our franchisees, and they, in turn, can care for their customers. (Read more about that here: http://www.dinadwyerowens.com/blog/tune-in-250/ )

Every day I see examples of how franchising has not only helped people in business. It has also helped businesses give back where it matters most.  Thank you, RMHC. And thank you to all of our brands at The Dwyer Group. Without your dedication and service, our communities would not be the same.

“Undercover Boss” on CBS
August 10 at 8/7pm CT

I have to say that it really is better the second time around. I’m talking about the rebroadcast of our episode on “Undercover Boss,” which is set to air across the U.S. on CBS on August 10, at 8 p.m. / 7 p.m. Central Time.  Mark your calendar. Set your DVR. Tell your friends and family. Because, if you missed it the first time, this is your chance.  It’s hard to even find the words to describe all of the great things that have happened since our episode first aired. The response from viewers was overwhelming. The success of initiatives within our company and across our brands as a result of my journey has been tremendous. And then there are the men and women who were introduced to our brands through the show who are now part of our franchise family because of it. People became franchise owners and made their careers with The Dwyer Group brands because of that one hour of television. Others sent in their resumes seeking employment. Following that were the heartfelt “Thank You’s” from those who supported our company’s emphasis on ethics or the importance of faith in my life.

 Every new day brings new rewards from being on this show. Since that first broadcast in January, our episode of “Undercover Boss” has been around the world and back, broadcasting in countries across the globe including Australia, Great Britain, China and many more. With each new audience, our message has reached so many incredible viewers.  And now, here we are, coming full circle to CBS in the United States where it all started.  It wasn’t that long ago that I was wearing a wig and working alongside our service professionals, seeing our brands on the front lines with customers during the filming of the show. I have never forgotten that powerful experience. It was thrilling, inspiring and emotional. More importantly, I know that I am a better chairwoman and CEO today as a result. Tune in on August 10 and you’ll begin to see why.

This past Friday I spoke to the Graduating Class of 2012 at Rapoport Academy in Waco, Texas. This dynamic institution has a record of 100% of its graduates going on to college. And I was honored by the invitation to speak to them on this special occasion. As a wife and mother of two children, I consider the preparation of tomorrow’s leaders one of society’s most important roles today. Whether that’s in the traditional classroom, through internships, at technical schools, in home schooling, at apprenticeships or any number of teaching methods. We have the unique and exciting responsibility to show the next generation the opportunities that exist ahead.  As I looked at those remarkable students, I got a fantastic glimpse into that future. And the future looks bright. The graduates I spoke to displayed the optimism I embrace and the attitude I cannot let go of in my life. This ceremony is simply the next of many graduations they will celebrate. Because life, as I said, is full of graduations. We can choose to graduate up and graduate on to the next higher level in life and happiness with each step that we take. The Class of 2012 is on its way!

Last week, I attended the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalists Reception in Dallas. I was proud to be among the honorees who met with judges where I discussed the success we are having at The Dwyer Group and across our service brands. And I was equally excited to meet many other business leaders who are doing great things with their companies in a variety of services and industries.  It was a reminder that the national discussion of a challenging economy is not what consumes the minds of positive people with the determination, the talent and the teams to do great things. That’s how I feel about what we continue to accomplish at The Dwyer Group. And I am thrilled to see how entrepreneurship lives on in other companies as well. Thank you, Ernst and Young, for shining a light on the good that continues to persevere in the business world today.