Allison Dudas from Franchise Business Review sits down with Chad Drainer, a franchisee with Express Employment Professionals, to explore the journey of becoming a successful franchisee. Chad shares his inspiring story of transitioning from the restaurant industry to owning multiple franchise locations, highlighting the importance of community impact and empowering his team. With insights into the challenges and rewards of franchise ownership, Chad offers practical advice for aspiring franchisees, emphasizing the importance of following a proven system and using the support of the franchise community. This discussion is a must-watch for anyone considering a leap into franchising, offering a blend of personal anecdotes and professional wisdom.
To read more about Chad and his experience in this franchise, read his Franchisee Excellence Q&A.
Learn more about becoming an Express Employment Professionals Franchisee
Express Employment Professionals has been franchising since 1985. Today, they have 800+ locations throughout the U.S, Canada, and South Africa. They are the #1 flexible staffing franchise for people, communities, and businesses.
Each year, they use the FBR franchisee satisfaction survey to gain unbiased insights into their franchisees, and they have ranked highly on our unbiased awards lists for many years, including:
- Top 200 Franchise of 2026
- Top Franchises for Culture
- Top Franchises for Women
- Most Profitable Franchises
- Top Franchises for Veterans
- Most Innovative Franchises
Interested in Becoming an Express Employment Franchise Owner?
Express Employment Professionals franchisees fill a real need by matching local businesses with qualified employees seeking work. Many franchise owners express excitement about their work-life balance and the potential for higher income.
To learn more about the Express Employment franchise opportunity and get more information, call 877-652-6400 or visit expressfranchising.com
Transcript
Allison Dudas (00:00)
Hi everyone, my name is Allison Dudas and I’m here from the Marketing Department at Franchise Business Review. One of my favorite parts of my job is getting to talk to franchisees. This helps demystify the process of becoming a franchisee. So today I’m with Chad Drainer who is a franchisee with Express Employment Professionals and he’s here to talk about what it’s like being a franchisee. Thanks for being here Chad.
Chad Drainer (00:26)
Thank you, Allison.
Excited to be here.
Allison Dudas (00:28)
And one of the reasons why we’re speaking to Chad is because Express Employment Professionals, the corporate side, actually nominated Chad for a Franchisee Excellence Award this year. So congratulations on that, Chad.
Chad Drainer (00:42)
Thank you, I appreciate it, it’s an honor.
Allison Dudas (00:43)
I’m sure, I hope it feels really good. So just to be clear, we are only highlighting brands that meet our criteria. And when I say our criteria, I mean brands that survey their franchisees yearly to figure out how satisfied their franchisees are. And Express Employment Professionals made our top 200 list. And then we invited brands from that top 200 list to nominate outstanding franchisees. And that’s how you were picked, Chad.
⁓ And one of the things that your franchisor said about you is that you have such a strong commitment to your community. So I’m excited to get into that with you. So first and foremost, Chad, let’s grill you a little bit. So when did you open your first franchise?
Chad Drainer (01:20)
Okay.
Cinco de Mayo of 2014. Coming up on 12 years this year.
Allison Dudas (01:32)
All right, so that was a while ago at this point. 12
years, 12 years. And how many locations do you own?
Chad Drainer (01:41)
So we have two offices in our Morgantown territory. In this particular one, I’m a partner as well in Winchester, Virginia. So two franchise territories.
Allison Dudas (01:50)
Okay,
so West Virginia and in Virginia. All right. Are you often at both of those locations or are you more working from home overseeing?
Chad Drainer (01:59)
I am in office most of the time. ⁓ I don’t get to, my partner Winchester is the majority owner over there, I’m more of a support system for Zach. ⁓ gosh, he’s been open for a little over five years now and so really it’s his show to run. I’m just a big support system for Zach.
Allison Dudas (02:19)
that’s great. Okay, so you kind of head up the West Virginia and he heads up the Virginia one. Okay, I’m seeing things clearly now. So you opened 12 years ago. When you first opened, did you open both locations at once or just one and then subsequently the second?
Chad Drainer (02:34)
Open Morgantown, ⁓ know, what we found, our territory is pretty broad here in rural West Virginia. And so, you know, we, gosh, we decided about three years in, we needed to go to our talent in the southern part of our territory. And so it’s really a satellite recruiting station, but it helps, you know, we’ve got three recruiters in that location. And so it helps round out our team and helps us, you know, stay in front of the talent and that part of the market. Our offices are about an hour apart. And so, yeah.
Gosh, our satellite office has been up and down there for almost nine years now.
Allison Dudas (03:09)
Wow. And tell us a little bit about what Express Employment Professionals does.
Chad Drainer (03:14)
Yeah, well we partner with top companies in the area, just helping support them through their staffing challenges. That could be finding a long-term permanent employee, that could be helping from a contract or project, and even the short-term ⁓ temporary fill-in needs. ⁓ We’re pretty diverse. ⁓
heavily our territory we’re heavily invested in invested in professional administrative placements. ⁓ You know we do a lot of skilled trades and obviously the light industrial world as well. But think ⁓ you know with our market here, ⁓ college town, ⁓ you know a little bit of a get a more of a rural community. I think we’ve really been able to thrive in that you know administrative office services a professional setting.
Allison Dudas (04:01)
And what drew you to this franchise opportunity? What were you doing before and what made you change gear?
Chad Drainer (04:05)
Yeah.
So I’m very fortunate. I come from a restaurant, hospitality world, and gosh, little over 12 years ago, I was at a crossroads and needed to just make a change. And I was very fortunate that one of my best friends from college is a franchisee, express franchisee in New York. And we were talking and he said, you know, come up and spend a few days in my office. And, you know, I got to see the magic happen. Just, just, you know, how they were able to bring in talent and to talk through the types of partnerships they had.
with great companies. knew what I went through in the past with trying to find talent and just the challenges that companies deal with and it really kind of clicked for me. so, as I started talking to Express and realizing I was drawn to the family environment, I was drawn to, at that point, a 30-year-old brand with a proven system and formula and recipe, ⁓ a company that preached franchisees first. And I was lucky enough to have that.
validation of a friend in my corner that could just validate that everything they were saying was 100 % true. And so I was very thankful for A, the referral and introduction from Michael and then just the guidance that he provided as I was doing my due diligence.
Allison Dudas (05:22)
Yes, I mean, we hear that time and time again. So like I said before, I get to talk to franchisees quite a bit and Doing your due diligence is challenging enough, but when you actually have a friend who is a franchisee, it makes it so much easier and you know, you know, you can trust their answers. You know that they’re going to give it to you straight. They’re going to let you know if something is really good. They’re going to let you know if something isn’t quite great and get give you the
give you the whole story. Yeah.
Chad Drainer (05:49)
Yep, that
meant a lot to me and he was spot on with all that guidance.
Allison Dudas (05:55)
Yeah, it sounds like you’re glad that you did it. Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ OK, so you were in the restaurant industry before. Obviously, you were, as you mentioned, you were deeply in touch with staffing challenges. And then now you’re on the solutions-based solutions part of that and helping companies with staffing. What do you feel like is the most meaningful part of your job?
Chad Drainer (05:57)
100%.
Well, I think just impacting the community. We get folks who are looking to make a change in their career and they need assistance or they’re just looking for that better opportunity. You get some folks that come in that are down and out and you don’t know how to make ends meet, right? And you get companies who are struggling.
They open their business to run and operate, make the widget or sell the thing. But the human resource side and recruiting side isn’t necessarily their forte. So think getting to partner with those entrepreneurs that need to focus on what is their most important thing and that’s running their business. Being that resource for them, an arm, a resource for the community that’s looking for the, that needs that assistance and being able to bridge that gap and bring those together. Being a resource.
⁓ Gosh, you know being able to educate our clients on you know where they are in the market and being able to give them feedback on Maybe where they need to be to be competitive and really just become a you know a consultative resource for them
is super important. think, you know, for me, I think the rewarding side as well now is providing an opportunity for our internal team. You know, we have developed multiple franchisees out of this location. You know, we being able to provide them with a career path to say, hey, you know, yes, you’re in this role right now, but let’s talk about where you could be, you know, where do you want to be? And I think ⁓ that’s as equally rewarding, you know, as the staffing side as well as just, you know, providing these future opportunities for the folks that we have on our
team.
Allison Dudas (07:55)
And
just to clarify for people who are watching who might not know the system. So some of the people with whom you’re working, you’re in your internal team, go on to become franchisees in the Express Employment Professionals System.
Chad Drainer (08:09)
Well, yeah, so I’m very lucky. We talked a little bit about people, and I think that it really…
The other way I think true success comes from having the right folks on the team. I was fortunate enough that my first employee, her name was Lauren. Lauren joined me, went to new franchisee training. ⁓ She was vital in our growth from the beginning and really treated this business like it was her own. And she fell in love with the Express brand. And so as we would have developmental conversations, I kept asking, what do you want to do? And she said, I want to own an office. I love this brand. I want to become a franchisee. You’ve shown me the passion.
And so we worked for about a year or year and half after that to help make that come true and she ⁓ five and a half years ago launched and became a franchisee and so super proud of that fact that you know we were able to develop her from within and And now we’re getting to see her have just great success. You know we talked about Winchester You know Zach was a sales rep for me for three or four years and Zach was again passionate about the brand and you know just kept eyeing that Winchester territory and so finally we partnered together
and bought that location. My second recruiter, my second hire, Amanda, is now an operations manager in this office and has become a partner this year. And so, you know, for me, gosh, know, growing our business and helping the community is wonderful, but I think, you know, being able to provide a, you know, a career path for these folks as well really, really kind of brings it all together.
Allison Dudas (09:39)
It sounds to me a lot like your leadership style is about empowering others. Yeah, that’s really cool. That’s really, really cool, ⁓ especially because you’re also, when it comes to the client side, you’re also meeting people at a moment where, and I’m talking about those people who are looking for work, not necessarily ⁓ the company side, you’re meeting them at a point that’s.
Chad Drainer (09:44)
100%.
Allison Dudas (10:05)
can be pretty low, right? I think about the times where I’ve been job hunting and that can be a really hard moment in people’s lives. ⁓ And you’re also empowering those people, right? Helping them, ⁓ helping them find a job. So yeah, that just really strikes me as, do you feel like in your previous line of work in the restaurant business that that was something that you cultivated? Were you always destined for this kind of work?
Chad Drainer (10:28)
You know, I don’t know. It definitely helped pave a path though to help drive some success. I think just the, you know, the team building in a past life, ⁓ you know, a lot of career pathing and trying to, you know, continue training and development, I think really helped. You know, I think the, you know, the P &O aspect of running a restaurant, being in the hospitality world, understanding, you know, the labor side and workers’ comp and unemployment and overtime and how all that affects, you know,
effect of P &L on the bottom line has helped me at least with having client conversations, right? And, you know, how we can impact their business and help impact their bottom line. And I think it’s helped me, I guess, just be a little more consultative. I also think the hospitality side, you know, is so recipe driven from a restaurant. And to me, yeah, I we preached, we preached, you know, follow the recipe. If you make it the same way, it’s going to turn out and taste the same. And for me, that the express system was the perfect recipe.
Allison Dudas (11:16)
I feel like pun intended right there, right?
Chad Drainer (11:28)
for me, right? And so I think that was one of the things that drew me in of looking at a 30 year old brand 12 years ago. Now a 42 year old brand is, you the system was proven and really, you know, I say all the time I’m not the smartest guy in the world but if you’ll give me the recipe I’ll follow it. And really I think that’s really what’s helped drive success.
Allison Dudas (11:49)
Well,
and I think it’s a really good point to say that if you are interested in becoming a franchisee, that being willing to follow the recipe is a critical aspect of being a successful franchisee. You’re buying into a proven system. You can’t really go it alone and do your own thing because that’s, well, why would you become a franchisee then? Right? ⁓ OK, so what is kind of your, I want you to think about when you first started,
Chad Drainer (12:11)
That’s right.
Allison Dudas (12:19)
and what your day-to-day work life was like compared to what it’s like now being a business owner 12 years later.
Chad Drainer (12:27)
Well, you know, from the hospitality world, was 30 days on, you know, one day off and every night, every weekend, every holiday. And so for me, gosh, you know, early on, it’s never an eight to five Monday through Friday. mean, you know, there’s a lot of after hours that goes into getting your business off the ground. But, you know, we’re here every day. I mean, it’s, you know, we’re constantly I think this is the type of business that if you feel like you’ve arrived, you’re going to start going backwards. Right. A great mentor of mine always said that when you’re green, you’re growing.
and when you’re ripe, you’re rotting. so, you know, I think it’s, you know, in the beginning, it’s getting in and, you know, bringing the energy to your team and, you know, setting them up with a great game plan. But then giving them the autonomy to run their desk like a CEO and get out and, you know, pull the doors. You know, in the beginning, you’re an outside sales rep, or least I was. And so, you know, that was new to me. But getting out and setting appointments and networking in the community.
and grinding and then coming back and having the faith, trusting but verify that your team has your back and is doing what they need to do. And then again, debriefing and just rinse and repeat day in and day out of just all of that express recipe and that express formula. Are folks driving in top talent and are we interviewing enough people? Are we talking to enough companies in order to make enough matches? For me, I’ve been really fortunate as I talked about some of the folks
earlier, but I have a great team. And again, with Amanda running the charge now in our training and recruiting and working with a lot of our clients, I’m able to kind of work more on the business from 30,000 feet. It’s actually enabled me, I actually run, I have a second job now, running the Emerging Entrepreneur Program for Express Headquarters. And so that’s an opportunity which is, great to be able to give back that this program brings folks who have an entrepreneurial spirit.
who’ve dreamed of running their own business, who are passionate about sales, we bring them into a one-year training program where they place them with a mentoring office. And the end result is to hopefully provide an opportunity for them to become a franchisee. so ⁓ I’m able to help recruit and lead the charge on mentoring and training those folks. And so that wouldn’t ⁓ be possible if it wasn’t for having the strong team around. But ⁓ yeah, we never let our foot off the gas, that’s for sure.
think that we approach every day with how are we better than we were yesterday? And how do we beat the previous week? And just knowing that the more companies we’re working with, the more folks in our community that we’re putting to work, and the larger impact we’re making on the community.
Allison Dudas (15:15)
Yeah, that’s great. I mean, presumably someone maybe with like a little bit less ambition than you could just be working less right now at your your 12 years in. you. Well, I mean, it’s very clear. It’s very clear to me from speaking with you that you you’re very motivated by helping other people and empowering other people. So it follows that you would have taken on this new role with ⁓ with the corporate side of Express. ⁓ So
Chad Drainer (15:21)
Ha
Why would you want to?
Well, don’t get me wrong, I take plenty of vacation and I get plenty of free time. So that is one of the beauties of becoming a franchisee. Early on, yes, you’ve got to put in the work and you’re afraid to take a day off. But I take plenty of time now and get a lot of freedoms. ⁓ But again, I think we’ve built a team around us. So I’m very, very thankful for the team and for the ability to do the things that I get to do.
Allison Dudas (15:57)
Sure.
How many employees do you have at this point?
Chad Drainer (16:17)
Our Morgantown location is nine plus me. Yeah, so we’ve got recruiters in all segments, skilled trades, office services, professional led industrial. We’ve got some support staff with them. We’ve got my wife actually joined the team nine or 10 months ago and is doing outside business development for us as well. And so, ⁓ you know, we’ve got a strong presence here in the Morgantown community.
Allison Dudas (16:39)
That’s great. So it’s really becoming a family business.
Chad Drainer (16:42)
She a much better salesperson than I am.
Allison Dudas (16:47)
Well, it’s important to know your strengths, right? Absolutely. ⁓ For somebody who’s watching this recording and kind of thinking about, know, what if I were to take the leap and invest in a franchise, especially one like Express Employment Professionals, what advice would you give them?
Chad Drainer (16:49)
Okay.
Well, with our brand, think it’s really, you know, it’s a proven system. So follow the system, right? Get in, follow the system, ⁓ lean on the franchise community. mean, it’s some of the best mentors that I have are other franchisees that I’ve met from the early days. And really through every training that I’ve been involved with, it’s just constantly trying to meet and understand what’s working for other folks and, you know, having a… ⁓
someone else to just hear you out or give you advice on whatever that challenge might be. And I think participate. With our brand, corporate puts so much into giving back and to just training and development. And whether that’s for each of our staff, ⁓ gosh, investing in your staff to participate in trainings and the Express Leadership Academy and all the things that are out there for continued development. think just grab a hold of all of those resources and
dive in, you know, 100%.
Allison Dudas (18:04)
Yeah,
it does sound like there’s a lot offered to you and you just have to decide to go for it, to take advantage of it. OK, fantastic. Chad, is there anything else that you would want to add? I guess just like what you would wish to say to somebody who was thinking about this opportunity.
Chad Drainer (18:23)
It’s the best decision I’ve ever made. think. ⁓
You know, I come from a training background, designing training programs. think the support ⁓ from day one to year 12 is second to none, continued development. And I think the, you know, not only the opportunity to make your dreams come true, but the impact, you know, your community and impact the folks that you have on your team, it’s so rewarding and just very thankful and honored, you know, to have the opportunity to be talking to you.
to be recommended for this award. So appreciate your time.
Allison Dudas (19:02)
Absolutely,
absolutely. And it’s so nice to talk to you too. think, again, I love this aspect of my job, talking to franchisees, especially from brands that really care about their franchisees. Enough, of course, to survey them yearly, but also to receive pretty high marks so that they end up on our list, like the top 200. So I just want to congratulate you and your successful career thus far. What do you think the future holds, Chad?
Chad Drainer (19:29)
Well, you know, we’re going to keep driving this bus forward. ⁓ You know, we’re always looking at potentially another territory. And we’re going to continue to build and grow this emerging entrepreneur program and just keep expanding and hopefully building, you know, continually building that pipeline of future leaders for our brand.
Allison Dudas (19:49)
Fantastic. Well, thank you for your time and I wish you the best of luck.
Chad Drainer (19:53)
Thank you, appreciate it, this has The Blast. Thanks.
Allison Dudas (19:54)
Bye.
