Mark and Sandy Hagen The Value of a Good Mentor M ark Hagen and his wife, Sandy, know the
value of having a good mentor. They experienced first-hand how one person’s advice can change your life forever. Now, Mark and Sandy enjoy what they do instead of dreading each work day.
Living in Seattle, Washington, Mark was a successful CPA and Sandy worked as a pharmacist. In 1996, Mark decided he wanted to do something else with his life, so he and Sandy began to chat with Ralph Palmen, who was a long-time friend of Mark’s father. As it turned out, Ralph was a Regional Developer for Express Employment Professionals and had been part of the Express team since its beginning.
It didn’t take long for Ralph to see that Mark and Sandy had the potential to become successful members of the Express family. According to Mark, “Ralph got us so excited about buying our own franchise that we both quit our jobs and uprooted ourselves from Seattle to move about an hour north to the much smaller community of Mount Vernon.”
With Ralph’s help, guidance, and wisdom, the Hagens soon had their business off to a great start, and they knew they could always go to him with questions or concerns.
“I fell in love with this business,” Mark said. “I really enjoy working with job seekers to help them find work, and it is so much more enjoyable than crunching numbers as an accountant. This has been my career for the last 18 years, and I still like getting up and going to work each morning.”
“Sandy loved me enough to move with me, and she has been a huge part of our success,” Mark
said. “Express likes to have husband and wife teams as franchise owners. I think it adds to the idea of us being a caring family for our clients. Sandy and I have had great staff members as we’ve watched our office grow. In 1998, we even bought a second franchise in Bellingham.”
When asked how his life has improved since he and Sandy plunged into the staffing business, Mark said, “Financially, it has been great. I‘m making more than I would have as a CPA, and I certainly have more control over my own future. Mostly, though, I like the feeling of helping people.”
After Ralph changed their lives by mentoring them, Mark and Sandy have had numerous opportunities to pay it forward and help change other people’s lives.
Mark recalls one particular gentleman who came into their office with a marginal work history, but he and Sandy both found the man’s story compelling. They put him to work at a manufacturing company and when he made it through his evaluation period, the company hired him full time. Eventually, that company went out of business, so the Hagens lost contact with the gentleman. Three years later, that same fellow came back to the Express office to thank the Hagens for giving him a shot. The man revealed that he had actually been on the verge of taking his own life that fateful day when the Hagens gave him a job. “That’s a story Sandy and I will not soon forget,” Mark said.
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