INTERVIEW
Mr. Electric, Rainbow International and Drain Doctor franchise opportunities in the UK
What are your plans for the UK and Europe in terms of expansion? What do you see for the future of The Dwyer Group? The Dwyer Group UK offices are staffed for growth as we direct franchise our Mr. Electric and Aire Serv businesses and as we work closely with our master licensees to expand our brands across the UK and Europe. This will begin by establishing a firm foundation in the UK market and building from there. Additionally, The Dwyer Group has the international experience of The Riverside Group, our private partner, and together we intend to focus on more international growth.
How do you switch off outside of working hours? I work hard, but I play hard too. There is a beautiful harmony to making time for both. I infuse my day and my life with many things other than work. That begins, first and foremost, with my faith. My personal goal is to start each day by attending mass at church. That keeps me grounded, and it helps to keep my day in perspective. Likewise, when I am travelling, I try to attend mass at a church wherever I am visiting. I also spend regular quality time with my immediate and extended family. I have constant adventures with my mother, who has been the rock of our family, and now we can be her support in her later years as well. I spend time with my husband on our ranch in Texas, far away from the office and often ‘unplugged’ from all distractions as well. I attend my son’s rodeo competitions and I regularly attend yoga classes at a yoga studio that my daughter owns. That’s the ultimate experience in switching off and finding a wonderful inner peace. I make
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room on my calendar for all of these things so that the rewards of hard work are enjoyed in the time away from work as well.
Has it been difficult balancing the commitments of work and family? I actually teach a class every month to all the new associates and franchisees at The Dwyer Group called ‘Design your life’. This class is about helping people gain clarity about who they are, what they want to achieve in life and how to find harmony in the process. That’s what I like to call it – harmony. It might not quite feel like balance all of the time, but if you have harmony, that usually does the trick. It requires real focus and a lot of planning and prioritising. I absolutely love teaching this class, because it forces me to constantly look at myself too; I am always reminded to review my ‘wheel of life’ and make adjustments. So, it’s a never-ending process.
“We look for franchisees that fit our corporate culture – our mission, vision and values”
One of the greatest investments I have made to help my work-life harmony is to surround myself with a talented team in all aspects of my life. That includes working with my amazing and talented team at The Dwyer Group, the support of my local church, help at home and more. My husband and I are great partners, and we work hard to make family time a priority.
Now that our kids are grown up, with one out of college running her own business and one just starting his freshman year in college, there is a new kind of balance from a distance that is just as important as making time for everyone when we were all under one roof.
How did participating in Undercover Boss USA change your perception of the company and its employees? It was such a rewarding experience. The Dwyer Group had just celebrated the company’s 30th anniversary, and I was able to see our service brands from a whole new angle. I tried jobs that I had never done before. I walked in the shoes of our service professionals and I did some incredibly hard, but overwhelmingly rewarding, things. I have a newfound respect for what our service professionals do each and every day. In addition, I saw our service brands as a female service professional and it opened my eyes to the opportunities we could create for more women to find a future career across our brands. We started a scholarship programme in the US to help more women pursue an education in the service trades. We modified our uniforms across our service brands for women. And we have seen wonderful success stories as a result of this programme. Most importantly, by participating in the
show, I saw our code of values in action on the front lines of our businesses. That was my number-one reason for going undercover and it far exceeded my expectations of all that we have achieved and the incredible future ahead of us, taking our service brands and The Dwyer Group code of values to more people around the world. n
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