Giving Back To Those Who Served

the job. Today we talked to one of Express Employments professionals, very own about his work, how we got there, in the innovative ways he's giving back to his community. People are coming in here looking for work. UM. A lot of people take working for granted. It's not guaranteed, especially in these times. It's not guaranteed. In early April, I had the pleasure of talking with John John Calbaries. I'm a staff consultant with Express Employment in Utica, New York

and UM twenty seven years old. Full disclosure. He works with his dad, John Calgary Sr. So this is John Calaries Jr. Yeah, I'm junior to which sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. But don't tell him that for those unfamiliar. Express Employment Professionals is a franchise. The staffing company, the branch that John works at in Utica is a family business. John works directly with companies recruiting and finding good employees. On the flip side, I'm also helping people find work.

So it's kind of like a two sided coin. So one side is helping our client businesses fill their openings, and then the other side is helping people find work. So like, your job is essentially giving people a lifeline, and a lot of people need it, and a lot of people are looking for a chance to prove themselves and we're willing to give people that chance, and we

do every single day. John has a very personal stake in his work, not just because it's a family business, but because this is where he grew up, right here in Utica, in a suburb called New Hartford, great community. I had an awesome neighborhood. In my wedding, I had twelve guys. Out of the twelve, eight of them all lived in our same neighborhood. He was really into sports growing up, really into science and biology, so eventually he went off to college to be a dentist. I really

liked the opportunity. It was just something that I always liked, but not necessarily passionate about. Part Way through college, his interest in dentistry and school itself was dwindling, and at the same time, his parents back home. We're making a pretty big move. My parents took the leap of faith. They both left their stable, normal jobs and wanted to be their own bosses and open up their own business.

So in two thousand thirteen, John Sr. And his wife Laurie opened up their branch of Expressing Ployment Professionals, and I was pretty inspired by what they were doing, like the entrepreneurial spirit of it um. I also didn't want to be in school for twelve more years. I had an opportunity to work with my parents every day, So I rerouted my whole life and I said, I'm gonna work with you guys. Now, I feel like family run businesses are harder to come by in than they were

even twenty years ago. Maybe because there's a lot more gig work out there or computer jobs, or maybe people feel like I do and think they'd go insane working with their family. That is definitely not the case for John. For me, it was the opportunity to like deal with my dad every day, which hasn't happened before this. When he was growing up, John's dad had a job where he was traveling all the time and he was away from home, which is part of the reason he and

his wife started this business. So now you've spent more time with your dad than ever. Yeah, so in the last seven years, I've been with him every single day and my mom every day. That never happened before. As starting a small business goes, there were just a ton of jobs that always needed to be done, and I was very easy to find because I was living at the house with them. So basically, if someone didn't show up to work, they would call me and I would go.

He kind of gained his parents trust doing all these odd jobs they had for him. Then it became more steady as he started working in the office. I did a lot of filing back then. I did a lot of data entry on the computers, learning the software. Then he got put on the task of streamlining their payroll system, which he did it's the same one that they used today,

and then went into staff consulting basically full time. So you basically just had learned to do everything because you had to Yeah, so that's part of the family business. There's not a job description. You learn as you go, which is awesome because I'm const we doing new things and i have a lot of opportunity, which is amazing. But that's part of why I love it. We'll get back to our story in a second. First, a word from Express Employment Professionals. A strong work ethic, takes pride

in a job well done, sweats over the details. This is you. But to get an honest day's work. Do you need a response, you need a call back, You need a job. Express Employment Professionals can help because we understand what it takes to get a job. It takes more than just online searches to land a job. It takes someone who will identify your talents, a person invested in your success. At Express, we can even complete your application with you over the phone, will prepare you for interviews,

and will connect you to the right company. Plus, we'll never charge your fee to find you a job. At Express, we can put you to work with companies of all sizes and industries, from the product and floor to the front office. Express Nose Jobs, get to No Express. Find your location at Express pros dot com. Or on the Express jobs app now back to on the job. When John's dad established this branch of Express, one of his

core goals was to give back to the community. So besides donating a lot to charity with the business, John got to see the community up close in the office every day. Some of the people that were coming into our office veterans in particular. They were coming in in in pretty rough shape. Utica has a pretty high veteran population and a lot of them have unstable housing and food and income, and to me, seeing that was pretty shocking. Both my grandparents served in the military and they were

able to leverage that into great careers. And seeing someone who's basically homeless coming into my office acting me for a job and also letting me know that they had a military background was it was tracking to me. It's like a punch in the gut because you're wondering, how did this person get into the situation after everything that they've done for our country, how do they end up here? And what can we do about that beyond employment and

helping them get work. This was the question that was rattling around in John's brain for a while, and one day he and his dad were browsing through used cars on the internet. They liked flipping cars, and they came across this enormous military truck, pretty low price with no special requirements for driving. It basically like a truck you would see in the movies. And it's like, well, that's pretty cool. The kid and me is like, that's a big truck. That's interesting. What can we do with that?

What if we put Express all over it and we could food drives. I nominated John Jr. Because for such a young man to come up with such an impactful idea, I thought it needed to be recognized. The voice you're hearing is Beverly Napped, the Express Employment Professionals, corporate developer for the Calabrisas region. This is a video made about John when he was recognized at the company's annual conference after he and his dad made this military food drive

truck a reality. And you just did it because why not. It's a crazy idea at the time, but it was less than a year later we had the truck and it was very real. In the past year, we've donated roughly seventeen tons of food and that goes to local food pantries and they distributed directly to the veterans. In the video, John is driving this massive army truck through

the streets of Utica. They've driven it in parades, They've partnered with local sports teams to do drives during games, and of course partnered with organizations that directly helped that. John's contribution and dedication to feed our bests is really open the eyes of the community and let them know what we really do here, who we're helping. And it's just and you're up to twenty tons of food. Now

that's insane, it's unbelievable. It's it just shows how tighten it our community is and how giving our community is. This program has brought a whole new awareness and I really feel good about when we go to the schools, the young people getting infound they come out with cases of not just bigs. The truck is a symbol. When this video was made, John was honored with the Champions of Hope Award, something that Express gives out every year.

The truck has been running for five years now. I believe that the truck is a symbol of hope for veterans, so they know that someone's looking out for them. And after they looked out for us. Despite getting recognized in this video with the truck, John is really behind the scenes. He delivers food to these organizations. He's the middleman. Like, you know, the people you're doing it for might not even know who you are. How do you feel about that?

I think I would rather be like that. I'd rather be like the the batman that comes in and helps out and no one really knows who he is, drives around the spit truck. Who's this guy? I'd rather be like that, honestly. Yeah, I just want to help. I don't want to be in the spotlight because of this. I'm not doing it really for me. M hmm. I

mean it's pretty crazy what you do every day. I mean, whether you're out batmanning and your truck and helping people get on their feet so they're healthy enough to find work, or actually in the office directly finding someone employment. Your job is to provide a livelihood. Yeah, I mean, that's the reason why I do it. That's the reason why I come in here every day. When you help someone find a job, it's probably one of the most rewarding

things that you can do. You're basically changing someone's life through employment. It's probably true that the memories you have at the end of your life the really good ones. For most people, they're not memories from on the job. They're probably moments with family or friends are traveling. But in order to really enjoy those moments, or to be content, or to even make those moments possible, you need the security of work. Having a job gives you that security.

We can give you shelter, food, warmth, comfort, the freedom to do the things that you want to do. A job can give you purpose and hope. That is the service that John provides. He knows that, and he's got a folder in his desk drawer just in case he ever forgets. I call it the Good Folder, different letters and cards people have written me, and going through it and looking back, you forget sometimes. But we've really helped through express so many people in our community. It's amazing.

I asked John about one of his favorite stories from the Good Folder. He told me that one time he helped a couple find work when the odds were very stacked against them. Husband and wife, refugee couple. Their names are Son and Fienne, both hearing and paired. He said, on paper, these things made it pretty difficult but he did find them both jobs and they sent me a card which I found and I have here I can read if you want. It's kind of like he holds

up a green card with neat handwriting all over it. Okay, dear John, thank you kindly for helping us find a job. We've worked there for a whole year. It was an enjoyable experience and gave us the work experience that we needed to move forward in our careers, and we wanted to say thank you so much for your time and your great service. Sorry, we can't stay. We're unfortunately moving to another state for a new adventure with family. However,

once again, thank you so much for everything. Sincerely, some in Fien. I haven't looked at that since then, and this was in it's emotional looking at it. I don't know. At the time, you're in the middle of doing your job. I have to find these people for these jobs. You're not thinking of that, and then you read something like this and you really understand how you're impacting someone's life. It's something that happens here all the time. It's so rewarding,

and that makes everything else just pay comparison. It's when things like that happen. It makes everything so worth it. For On the Job, I'm Otis Gray. Thanks for listening to On the Job, brought to you by Express Employment Professionals. This season of On the Job is produced by Audiation. The episodes were written and produced by me Otis Gray. Our executive producer is Sandy Smallens. The show was mixed by Matt Noble for Audiation Studios at the Loft in Bronxville,

New York. Music by Blue Dot Sessions. Find us on I Heart Radio and Apple Pie podcast. If you liked what you heard, please consider rating and reviewing the show on Apple Podcasts or rever you listen, We'll see you next time. For more inspiring stories about discovering your life's work, Audiation