If you have never shaken hands with Wayne Terry, PuroClean owner for 11 years in Jacksonville, FL, I suggest you introduce yourself at next year’s convention in Detroit, MI. Wayne has been a standout in the network, accumulating recognition for Franchise of the Year, making President’s Circle, and accepting his nomination as a Brand Ambassador for 2018-2019.
Wayne became an independent franchise owner after serving eight years in the U.S. Navy and logging several years as a purchasing manager, all the while knowing entrepreneurship was in his blood. While exploring business opportunities, and only finding half-truths in a cluttered business world, Wayne turned down the road to franchising and never looked back.
Knowing the value that veterans bring with them after completing their service, his business has employed several veterans ranging from senior chiefs to Chinook helicopter mechanics. “The best employees are ones that come from the military. The great thing about military [veterans] is their attention to detail, they listen to what you have to say and don’t go home until the job is done.”
With the recent uptick of devastating hurricanes across the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, Wayne hasn’t been one to sit back and wait to help. The Jacksonville location has sent almost a dozen employees, for a time span totaling nearing two months, to the hardest hit areas of the Carolinas and Panama City/Mexico Beach. They have helped service over 80 properties, from commercial, to residential. Being a part of the PuroClean storm team means having his teams prepared with gas, supplies, non-perishable foods, bedding, and most of all, an open heart.
When asked why he goes out to these weather-ravaged areas, Wayne said, “We are really helping people, people that are just desperate. It is way worse than just a water loss.” The impact you can leave can be instrumental to a city getting back on its feet. “People would see my shirt and would just thank me. They would say thank you for being here and helping people out, thank you so much for being here.”
Being a part of storm team is really a team effort though,
“[The] greatest thing about a franchise community when you go to a big-category storm, you have other PuroClean [franchise] owners there too and everyone is helping each other out. You’re all working together to figure things out.”
Together with other PuroClean franchise owners in the area, they were able to coordinate getting supplies, service more jobs, and ask for help when it was needed. Most importantly he said, “It gives you motivation when you have a franchise working next to you, working as hard as you are, it motivates you, you can do this together and the PuroClean name really gets out.”
Wayne has grown his location to a 16,000 sq. ft facility from starting with just a truck out of his home. With his success, he has been able to sponsor events in his own community with his neighbors and build strong business relationships with other leaders.
We are proud of the work Wayne has done both in and out of his Florida community, for veterans, for storm victims, and for home and business owners as part of the PuroClean family.