Wind down with Janet Kramer an I'mheart Radio podcast. I want to introduce you to On the Job and host Avery Thompson. Avery shares stories of people making changes in their professional and personal lives. Whether it's a successful athlete transitioning into a new career off the field, a fly fishing tour guide trying to introduce a new segment of folks to the joys of the outdoors, or a stadium beer and hot dog hawker who doubles as a CEO of a red hot startup. We'll find out what drives
them and what lies ahead. These are heartfelt stories of people finding their lives. Work on the Job is brought to you by Express Employment Professionals. This week, Avery talks to a Navy vet starting over in a small town.
Welcome to On the Job. On today's episode, we're headed up to the Granite State to speak with John Bethell, who, after years of service to his country as a Navy chaplain, re entered the civilian life as a small town shop owner. But as different as a two livelihood are as well hear, John discovered they actually had quite a few things in common. When John Bethel was in the Navy, for two years.
He was stationed on the Greek island of Crete. Being in a distant land poses challenges, especially when you forget your wallet.
It was my second day in the village. I was explaining to him, like, hey, my wallet's there, I'll be right back. He goes, oh, no, no, no, you're the American. You're in the yellow house. We know where you are. And he's the only taverna. Taverna's a little restaurant. He's like, they're the only tavarnah in the village. He's like, you know, where are gonna go?
And John, who's originally from New York City, found this small town trust amazing. And that's not the only thing he loved about life in Greece.
I was very attracted to the way that it seems as though they scheduled stuff stuff. Things are open and closed as they're opening, closed and figure it out. And I remember when I first got there, I thought, how do these people live like this? But then after two years of it, the question I was asking myself was what do I have to do to look like this?
A big part of the reason that John was so enamored of this Greek way of doing things was that it was so completely foreign to him. But as a Navy chaplain, he never really had any time off.
With my job as a department head, and I had a duty phone with me. I had that phone with me everywhere. If I wanted a vacation, it wasn't really vacation because I had to have that phone him. I was the only chaplain for the whole piece.
So after two years of being stationed in Greece, John was feeling an inkling to try something new. And ever since John was a kid, he had this idea of opening a print shop.
I've always loved printing as a hobby. I was just going to open up a print shop. At first, I was just going to do a letterpress printing shop online or through an Etsy shop or through the website.
So we starts bringing it up in conversation with some of his shipmates, saying, you know, I'm thinking about getting back to the civilian life, ideally in some small town in the US where I could replicate this Greek village
way of living and lo and behold. One of his ship mate says, that sounds like where I'm from, Laconia, New Hampshire, and immediately John's ears perk up, but like a lot of the people that spend their summers in New Hampshire, they don't tend to stick around much Later into the year, Laconia was far from thriving, but despite
its current condition, John could see the potential. So he put on his snow boots and went around town, introducing himself to some of the local business owners to get a feel for the place, and very quickly he experienced that small town charm.
I said, hey, I want he kind of want to do this, and the cobbler said, you know, we have a cobbler. That's the kind of downtown Disney we have. The cobbler said, well, the frame shop is going to he's trying to sell it, and went and talk to the guy and he said, yep, you can have it for as all.
Probably the hardest part for John about walking away from his Navy career were the relationships he built as a chaplain, a position that brought John incredibly close with people, but it turns out his new role as a shop owner still involved dealing with people in their times of need.
I tried for the first six months of telling absolutely nobody that I was with an episcopal priest I was like, nope, I'm a shop owner, that is it. I'm not doing any of that stuff. And eventually who you are and what you're supposed to be he starts seeping out of you for wanting to walk away from being like an active priest. It has not stopped because people don't frame things that are not important to them.
After three years in operation, Piedmont Printon Frame is doing well, well enough that John has taken on a coworker and some interns to help him meet the now steady work orders. And with the extra help around the shop, John now has more time to be part of the community, time to be the new chaplain at the Laconia Firehouse, time to volunteer with the local youth hockey team, or simply just time to stroll around his adopted hometown of Laconia, New Hampshire, saying hi to his neighbors.
It's nice. It's just it's nice, like you feel like you belong somewhere.
From the job. I'm Avery Thompson.
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