5 year ERAC superstar

I don't blog much about Brian's job even though obviously it's a huge part of our lives. I'd love to tell about the crazy/funny/stupid/maddening customer stories he comes home with. But ya never know who will read this blog and I don't want to risk getting him in trouble. But I do want to post about this milestone. Last week Brian hit his five year work anniversary. We joked after a rough day last month that he had to at least stay with the job til the anniversary, because now we get to keep the company's 401K match dollars. But the truth is, we'll likely be sticking around til Brian's old enough to actually USE the 401K! Brian's a loyal guy, and he genuinely likes his job. I've never once heard him grumble about having to go to work - even with 6am Monday mornings or 9pm private flight customers. Even though the hours are long, I'm really grateful Brian has a job. Especially one that he enjoys. I'm glad he didn't pursue sports broadcasting as he had originally intended to do.
Here's a little history for ya:
In September 2005, Brian walked into an Enterprise branch that happened to be next to our apartment in Provo. His buddy worked for Hertz and enjoyed it, so Brian though maybe he could also do car rental. He was just looking for a job to fill his time while I finished up grad school. He didn't think he'd end up staying there forever, but Enterprise hooked him. He really liked the whole promote-from-within system, and felt challenged to see how high he could go and how well he could do on his "matrix" (their scoring system).  So he started as an MT (management trainee) in American Fork. Then he transferred to the SLC airport and became an MT2 (meaning he passed his Skills test). He had crazy hours there, because the airport is open almost 24/7. Plus an hour commute each way. And I was busy with BYU track and XC and grad school. So we basically never saw each other. I was very happy when he became an MA in Spanish Fork. From there he was promoted to an Assistant Manager in Provo. Then American Fork. By that time I had graduated and was pregnant and working for United Way. I remember very clearly the day his manager asked me to stop by the office to talk to Brian and I together. He told us the company was opening a branch in Vernal, Utah. He strongly suggested Brian apply to be the manager there. He thought it would be Brian's only chance to get a manager gig anytime soon, since they were hard to come by at that time. Vernal would be perfect, because no one else wanted to take the risk. But I was 7 months pregnant and the thought of moving out to the middle of a bunch of dinosaur bones sounded awful. I bawled my eyes out on the way home.

But I told Brian I'd be supportive of whatever he wanted to do. It ended up being an awesome adventure for us, and a great career move for Brian. He got a lot of unique experience being out there pioneering a branch from the ground up. His peers made fun of him initially for having a 10-car office. That's what he started with. But he grew fast and earned so many bonuses that he was the highest paid manager in the group for a long time. We were lucky to get out of there though right before the economy sank. And now here we are in Cedar! Where to next? No idea. Probably SLC County or Utah County. Or Idaho. Or further out of state. Who knows. Hopefully someday we'll get to a point where we don't have to move every 18 months.

I'll close now with the letter Brian received from the CEO of ERAC:

Dear Brian:

Congratulations on your 5-year anniversary with our company. This milestone marks an exceptional achievement, and I personally appreciate the hard work you’ve put forth over the years.

As you reach this important stage in your Enterprise Holdings career, I want to say thank you. Thank you for growing our business and taking care of our customers, partners and your teammates. And most importantly, thank you for doing all of this with integrity and honesty. Employees like you have made our brands and our company what they are today — reputable industry leaders.

I hope your years with Enterprise Holdings continue to offer challenges, rewards and fulfillment. We have built our success as a company thanks to the efforts of individuals like you.

Sincerely,
Andy Taylor

Most businessmen do marketing and sales over rounds of golf. But Brian does it with basketball games. His targeted account today: the Cedar Band of Paiutes and Suhdutsing.