Undercover Boss (2010) s06e01 Episode Script
True Value
(Male announcer) Since premiering to nearly 40 million viewers in 2010, more than 70 bosses - [Snap.]
- Oh, my God! (Announcer) Have posed as subjects on a fake show to get honest feedback from their employees.
All right.
(Announcer) It's been shocking.
- [Cow moos.]
- A lot of people smoke pot.
(Announcer) It's been challenging.
It's not the homeowner's fault that I get paid peanuts.
(Announcer) But it's inspired them to change their employees' lives forever.
I've decided to invest around $3 million because of you.
Thank you.
For real? Like, this is real? - Without a doubt.
- [Sobs.]
I am going to give you your own store.
Yay! Probably the best thing somebody ever did for me.
I have a check for $250,000.
Oh, my God.
(Announcer) Tonight, the latest boss to take the plunge is John Hartmann Let's go.
(Announcer) President and CEO of True Value hardware, a nearly 100-year-old, all-American company.
Thank you, Mr.
Gray.
(Announcer) By joining his employees on the front lines Well, let's get our hands dirty and have some fun, Lewis.
- Ready to go.
- I'm glad to have you here, man.
(Announcer) This former FBI agent Good afternoon, sir.
I'll be right with you.
(Announcer) Investigates what's really going on inside his company.
[Scanner beeps.]
Whoops.
We're gonna smoke some cigarettes, we're gonna flirt with some women, and we're gonna sell some [ .]
.
I'm sorry.
We're gonna do what? (Announcer) But how will this former special agent deal with an employee who's way out of line? - Thanks.
- Yeah.
- Nice meeting you.
- You too.
Talented, to say the least.
You know, hopefully get a phone number out of it.
I couldn't believe what I heard.
- Do you have any questions? - Doing all right.
Doing all right? Yeah? What is he thinking? Mmm, my goodness.
Scrumptious.
(Announcer) Find out next on the season premiere of Undercover Boss.
(Announcer) Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, True Value is one of the world's largest hardware cooperatives.
Thank you, Mr.
Gray.
(Announcer) With more than 4,500 independent retail locations across 58 countries and $2 billion a year in revenue, this all-American company is making a global impact by serving local communities.
Building on this company's nearly 100-year-old foundation is one man.
- How are you today? - Real good.
Excellent.
My name is John Hartmann, and I'm the president and CEO of True Value.
At True Value, we sell hand tools, power tools, electrical and plumbing equipment, but also housewares, lawn and garden, grills, and things that attract a wide variety of consumers.
True value's been around for almost 100 years and is really part of the fabric of America.
The founder of True Value company was a gentleman named John Cotter, and he started with his first hardware store in the 1930s.
Over the years, True Value grew to approximately 4,500 stores in 58 countries and is seen as an iconic brand in the United States, but over the last 25 years, the Big Box stores have popped up around the United States in fact, around the world.
At the same time, online stores gained ground with the consumers.
And this had a devastating impact on the individual mom and pop local hardware store.
So we're gonna highlight some of the category refreshes, and Competition is intense, and it's never gonna get any easier.
Understanding the younger generation of consumers is critically important, because you can have a great store, but if you don't understand what the consumer wants, you fail.
It can't be granddaddy's hardware store anymore.
I was the middle of three boys.
I grew up in a very modest household two working parents.
I put myself through four years of college and three years of law school, and I did that primarily through a variety of part-time jobs.
I was the first kid in my family to go to college, so it was a unique experience.
And then, one afternoon, two FBI agents knocked at my door.
I didn't know if I was in trouble or if it was [Chuckles.]
If it was something good that was about to happen.
But I was being recruited by the FBI.
As an FBI agent, I had a variety of assignments from bank robbery to drug dealing to violent crime, and I had an undercover name and identity.
A number of the investigations that I was involved in resulted in people going to prison for a long time.
Having the opportunity to serve the country as an FBI agent was incredibly special.
I'm a pretty patriotic guy.
But after ten years with the FBI, I made the decision to go into corporate America.
I worked at Home Depot for about nine years, and prior to joining True Value, I had the opportunity to be the CEO of the market-leading home improvement company in New Zealand.
Guys, how you doing? - All right, John.
- How you doing, John? (John) I've been the president and CEO of True Value since May of 2013.
Tell me about the ladder.
This is the werner podium ladder.
(John) No one's ever confused me as a person that's laid-back.
I see we've got paint to the right here.
Is that due to the configuration? It really is.
(John) Ask any of my colleagues, ask my family, you'll get the same answer.
- What are you gonna remember? - Fall down, you get back up.
[Chuckling.]
All right.
I have two great kids: A 21-year-old daughter who's a college student currently and an almost 12-year-old boy who's a avid athlete.
[Dirt bikes revving.]
My son and I enjoy riding dirt bikes together.
You can't get on that dirt bike and not be focused because you're gonna wipe out, so it's really a great opportunity to completely unwind from work.
(Boy) Nailed it.
(Woman) Hi.
(John) How are you? So tell me, what are we doing? We're going long.
Going undercover is a great opportunity because I'm relatively new as the CEO.
I'm on this journey to slowly change the direction of the ship, but we've got a lot of work yet to go.
We'll see how I do at airport security.
[Laughs.]
I'm going undercover as Lewis Lapresi, an older handyman who is the subject of a reality show where he can win $250,000.
Have you ever had a mustache? I don't think I've ever had one that large.
This is the perfect time for me to go undercover.
I want to make sure that we have a modern, relevant offer for the next generation of consumer and ultimately ensure that this homegrown American hardware story lives on for another generation.
Well, those are interesting.
It's been, you know, undercover for the FBI, so it'll be fun to go undercover again.
I'm here in Boston, Massachusetts, and today I'll be working with a sales associate.
Customer service is one of the most critical differentiators for a True Value hardware store.
We're not a Big Box like Home Depot or Lowe's.
This is a smaller, intimate setting where we can get really close and personal with the customers.
I'm looking for Brad.
Oh, yeah.
He's down there.
Great, thanks.
Hi, Brad? - Hey, what's going on, man? - I'm Lewis.
- Nice to meet you, Lewis.
- Nice to meet you.
- Welcome to True Value.
- Thank you very much.
My knowledge is your power, dude.
We're here to win.
- All right.
- So you know what? I'm gonna take you through a normal day here at True Value.
Fantastic.
We're gonna smoke some cigarettes, we're gonna flirt with some women, and we're gonna sell some [ .]
.
I'm sorry.
We're gonna do what? We're gonna sell everything here in this store, man.
- So let's do this, all right? - Okay.
My first impression of Lewis is, he is a partyin' dude.
I love the long hair.
I love the flannel.
Presentation is everything.
He looks like he knows what he's talking about.
What do you need me to do? We want to make things aesthetically pleasing.
Stuff like this, we just straighten it out.
Okay.
You gonna help me out? No, actually, I'm gonna tell you what you need to do.
Okay, that's fine.
But, you know, it's a blessing that I have someone to do my work for me today.
First impressions of Brad So you usually do this yourself? I usually do this myself or at least I like to pretend I do.
You know, he kind of shuffles his feet.
He's a little bit lazy.
Who are the primary customers of the store? Well, the primary ones for me are the cute women, man.
I want to get some phone numbers.
I want you know, I'm a single dude here in the city, so those are the ones that I take pride in helping.
My first impressions of Brad were not positive.
Oh, here we go.
Time out.
Excuse me, miss.
How can I help you? Hi.
I'm looking for nails.
You're looking for nails.
Well, you're in the right place.
For, like, hanging a picture.
- Okay.
- Come with me.
Pending on the way, we got these little tacks here.
Maybe like a value pack set would help.
(Woman) Okay.
Great.
Thank you for your help.
Good luck with that.
Any other questions? - That's it.
- All right.
- All right, thanks.
- Yeah.
- Nice meeting you.
- You too.
That was great.
Yeah.
That's that's what makes my day, buddy.
That was really great customer service.
For the most part.
For the most part.
I would have liked to see her walk out with some more stuff or maybe have grabbed a number, but maybe I'm not her taste.
[Chuckles.]
(John) So I'm thinking about Brad.
I just can't quite figure the guy out just yet.
Yeah, I can do that all day.
Selling products.
Meeting good-looking people.
You know, I hand out business cards with my name on them.
You get a lot of side work out of a hardware store like this.
You know, you get a cute, little old lady that doesn't know how to put up a cabinet, guess what? I'm gonna be there after work, I'm gonna wear some tight-fitted clothes, and I'm gonna flex some muscles a little bit.
Got a little lady in southie that I ended up installing some hammocks for didn't end up leaving those hammocks, you know? Stuff like that, you know? (John) When Brad made those comments, I couldn't believe what I heard.
I felt immediately that that was inappropriate.
(Brad) Now, are you a cigarette smoker? - You puff down? - No, I'm I'm not a smoker.
(Brad) That's where we get the best action, my friend.
Choke one down, and, you know, hopefully get a phone number out of it.
This is a hardware store.
- Do you have any questions? - Doing all right.
Doing all right? Yeah? Well, if you need any help, we are here.
(John) In that moment, I was feeling really uncomfortable.
The customer didn't come to the store looking for a boyfriend.
Mmm, my goodness.
Scrumptious.
What is he saying? What is he thinking? I was really concerned that he was gonna do something that would require me to take immediate action.
Find everything all right? Yeah? Thank you.
(Brad) Looking right, looking tight.
- You got any questions? - Doing all right.
Well, if you need any help, we are here.
Mmm, my goodness.
Scrumptious.
(John) When Brad made those comments, I couldn't believe what I heard.
I felt immediately that that was inappropriate.
Our job as associates at True Value is to serve the customer.
It's got nothing to do with dating.
Excuse me? Hi.
(Brad) What's going on? I'm looking for a power drill.
(Brad) You're looking for a power drill.
You are in the right place.
Let me take you over there.
(John) I was really concerned really concerned that he was gonna do something that would require me to take immediate action.
(Brad) Now, I don't recommend a corded drill if you're putting together some sort of piece of furniture, just because there's so much strength with that, you could strip out your bolts.
Okay.
I'm preferable to one of our battery-operated ones if you're gonna put together something like that.
(John) Initially, Brad comes off as a bit of a lazy guy, but then he's knowledgeable.
He understands the products.
You want me to grab you one of those? Great, yeah.
Thank you very much.
(John) It's like I saw two different Brads, and I'm trying to figure him out.
How long you been working here? I have been working here six months.
I came to Boston with a goal in mind, and that was to make money and meet people.
(John) Do you have a plan? What's your what's your plan? What do you want to do with yourself? (Brad) Pfft, live and breathe, man.
Live and breathe, you know? I'm I went out to school out in Western Mass where my college career lasted about a month, and I had to limp back to the Cape to clear up some legal stuff.
I'm a failed troublemaker.
They wanted to put me away for a little bit, so, you know, I tightened up, and I switched my game over to Colorado, man.
I do trail construction for Americorps.
You know, I've gotten some pretty decent contracts through them in conservation work.
That's pretty rewarding.
It's pretty special to be able to work on that type of stuff.
I just want to help everybody else out.
'Cause you know what? That's what makes me sleep good at night.
You know, maybe I don't put enough maintenance into helping myself out, but I feel so much better knowing that somebody else got something out of me, you know? It's it's a good mission.
(John) You know, I was really glad that I was patient enough to hear Brad out and hear his whole story, because on the one hand, he displays these incredibly positive characteristics.
He knows the products.
But then on the other hand, he talks about womanizing in the store.
You know, that kind of behavior is unacceptable.
Let's go help out some customers.
- All right? - You got it.
(John) It's a real struggle to figure out if this is a guy we should keep around.
Today I'm at one of True Value's 13 distribution centers in Springfield, Oregon, and I'll be working with an inbound stocking and receiving associate.
[Forklift honks.]
I'm here today to understand if we're doing everything as efficiently as possible and if there's anything else that we can improve on.
Hi, I'm looking for Terrell.
Hey, what up? You found him.
All right, great.
I'm Lewis.
Welcome to True Value.
Today we're gonna be doing some bulk stock and receiving.
We're receiving everything we ordered, and we're putting them on our shelves.
So this is what we gonna be working with.
That's our scanner.
It's gonna tell you where everything go.
These right here UPCs you got to scan them.
[Scanner beeps.]
There we go.
All right, so look.
Right now it's asking for five boxes.
This right here BF-39-OB is gonna be our location, so we're gonna take all of that to our location and put it away.
- All right, perfect.
- You know what I mean? We gonna be on these forklifts right here.
Right here are the controls.
You got your horn.
- Up, down, left, right.
- Brakes? Once you take your foot off the pedal, everything stops.
- Got it.
- Check the steering line.
All right, let's do it.
So we're gonna pick this up on our forklift.
- We're gonna take all those? - Yeah, I want you to pick it up.
Good job.
[Forklift honks.]
- Follow me.
- All right, Terrell.
Here we go.
Let's get this party started.
It gets a little sketchy, huh? Yeah.
[Forklift honks.]
(Terrell) Let's do we on the company time.
Where is the sense of urgency? [Metal screeches.]
(Terrell) Lewis has to get his speed up.
Just because you're old does not mean you got an excuse or a pass to go slow.
- 39-OB is what you looking for.
- 39-OB? Yeah, it's like a library.
- Okay.
- BF-39-OB.
All right.
What's it like working here? - You enjoy it? You like it? - I love it.
It's the best job I've ever had.
I like the warehouse settings.
Let me tell you this too.
Say, for instance, right now you're working at 100% pace.
If you pick it up, every a extra quarter on that hour.
- If you want the money - It's an incentive.
Pick it up, yup.
There you go.
All right.
That's five.
Okay, and that's five.
That's perfect.
[Scanner beeps.]
Oh, this other user.
That means someone else has been working on this.
Somebody's already received it in? Somebody's already received it in.
(John) So if someone starts it, they have to put that away? They have to.
(John) How often does that happen? I don't know.
Probably three times a day.
I usually will get a hold of my supervisor.
I'll let him know what's going on.
It was very frustrating because it slowed us down.
Roger Donovan, call me at 109.
(John) The faster he goes, the better it is for the company, the better it is for his own pay.
So we want to be able to empower these people to go as fast as they can.
So I'd really like to talk to the ops manager about, is there anything we can do to improve that process? Get my own place.
Been renting my whole life.
I thought about it.
I mean, if I wouldn't have screwed up my credit What happened to your credit? My driving tickets.
What'd you get them for? Reckless driving.
[Laughs.]
Everybody here drive to work, and I ride my bike and walk.
- We good? - Yep.
- All right, cool.
- Thank you.
You sure drive your forklift carefully.
Why don't you drive your car carefully? Well, I was young and dumb.
Ah, I got it.
[Scanner beeps.]
- Boom, we got action.
- All right, we're in.
They asking for six.
BE-44-1D.
All right? [Forklifts honking.]
Perfect.
That's gonna be right here.
[Forklift honks.]
All the way down to 54.
That's cool, Lewis.
I just want to let you know, I would've had these pallets done.
[Laughs.]
I can see how fast you are.
Get it done.
[Scanner beeps.]
All right.
- Time for a break.
- All right.
[Forklift honks.]
- Dirty job, huh? - I got some dirt on me? Oh, yeah, you got some dirt on you.
[Laughs.]
This usually my spot.
This is your spot? - This my area.
- It's a nice spot.
Where'd you grow up? Bay area.
Berkeley, California.
What'd your mom do? She's a truck driver.
Do you have brothers or sisters? Uh, yeah, I got a sister.
She's 23.
My little brother, he's 11 years old.
Your dad? Where's your dad? My step-dad, which is my little brother's biological dad, he he got murdered in 2008.
In 2008.
- Your step-dad did? - Yeah.
And he's like my real dad.
- I mean, he's just not blood.
- Yeah.
Blood couldn't make us any stronger is what I'm trying to say.
- But he raised you.
- Yeah.
Since I was nine years old.
So I get a little choked up.
What happened? But I don't know.
Um [sniffles.]
Damn, bro.
When my dad died, it happened right in front of the house.
Really? And then it was like I was out of work, no father, no nothing.
Was, like, kind of lost.
Didn't know really what to do.
I came to work, and I grew up.
And I had my first daughter my only.
You must be pretty proud of that.
Hell, yeah.
I love her.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
It sounds like you got your head screwed on now.
- Yeah.
- What's your passion? Thinking realistically, like, I would go back to school.
What would you take? I would do criminal justice juvenile criminal justice.
- Really? - Yeah.
Because I been there.
I been in them steps.
But you made it through.
Yeah.
(John) I had an amazing day today.
One word: Terrell.
He's a very special young man.
In my first career as an FBI agent, I heard and saw stories like this all the time horribly violent circumstances, the inability to break out of that.
You've come a long way in That's what they say, but I don't really see it.
Well, maybe you ought to take a little credit for yourself.
(John) That's what makes Terrell's story so special, because having the presence of mind to extract himself from that environment and then seek a really good job I mean, it's just miraculous.
Enough about me.
Let's get back to that action.
All right, man.
Let's go.
Teach me some more.
You teach me.
I'm trying to be a entrepreneur.
[John chuckles.]
How are you today, sir? (Announcer) Coming up.
Even the boss's FBI training can't prepare him for Oh, that didn't work.
(Announcer) Working the register.
So it was $10? That doesn't make sense.
(Announcer) And later Can I be blunt with you? I would appreciate it.
(Announcer) John confronts Brad.
A hardware store is not the place where you pick up girls.
Rough.
(John) I'm working today in Pittsfield, Massachusetts at Carr Hardware with a front-end manager.
Do you have the frontline keys up here, Jen? (John) Because True Value is a hardware cooperative, many of the True Value stores include a family name.
I'm excited to visit Carr Hardware because it's a main street hardware store and it's been here for generations, and I'm anxious to see how they've evolved over the years to stay relevant for the consumer.
I'm looking for Chris.
You're looking for Chris? Chris is right over there.
Hi, I'm Chris.
How are you today? Chris, I'm Lewis.
Hey, Lewis.
Nice to meet you.
I'm Chris.
I'm the front-end manager here at Carr Hardware.
Let's get our hands dirty and have some fun, Lewis.
- Ready to go.
- I'm glad to have you here, man.
Let's do it.
I believe knowing your store like the back of your hand is prime, prime customer service.
Okay.
We try to cover every basic, basically.
You can go to one store, get it all in the one store.
Hey, Alison, how are you? This is Lewis.
Alison's one of our regular customers.
She's here probably every other day.
I know her name, and she knows my name.
(John) That's awesome.
How can we help you today, Alison? Well, looking for a weedwacker.
(Chris) Okay.
How big is your yard? - (Alison) About an acre.
- About an acre.
I like this one right here, this 56, because it's the straight shaft, it's lightweight, it's got plenty of power behind it to cut the big, thicker stuff.
Uh, yeah, uh, but the price tag.
Looking to spend a little less is what you're saying? - Closer to this price tag.
- Okay.
The one model I'm thinking that you're thinking of is that one.
I can check for you real quick to see if I have it for you.
Do you mind holding on one sec so I can take Lewis downstairs? - I'll show him where we keep our inventory.
- Okay.
- I hate to leave the customer on the floor - Alone.
And have to check inventory, where if it was in our computer, I could maybe check a little bit quicker.
We had to go downstairs to check on the inventory to see if the particular model was in stock.
I'm gonna have to go break the news to her that I do not have that model.
If we wanted to special order it for her, how quickly could we get it? Absolutely.
We could we usually get steel in two business days.
Well, maybe by Tuesday, we could have it for her.
Absolutely.
I'm gonna let you do that part.
(John) Ideally, if there was a way to check inventory while you're with the customer or at least from the front-end register, it would save the customer time and perhaps improve the overall customer experience.
That particular model we don't currently have in stock, but the good news is, we could have it here for you in two business days.
All right.
[Sighs.]
(John) It'd be really good to know how we could make that process work better for them.
All right, Lewis, I'm gonna bring you to one of the favorite parts of my job that I do is get to work with my hands.
We're gonna do all the screen and glass repair.
We'll bring that right over to the glass cutter.
We're gonna slide it in over here.
So you're gonna plop the bottom in.
So you married, or I don't see a wedding ring at all.
I didn't know if you were married, or - Yeah.
- You are? I'm married and have two kids.
Good for you.
I just got married recently.
We did the marriage, the baby, and the house.
Wow.
Did you guys have a honeymoon? Yeah, we had a brief honeymoon.
Just, like, went on the coast of Massachusetts, basically.
So what do you think about the future? You know, what's your aspirations and dreams? My wealth is not money.
My wealth is family to me.
There's no money in the world that could buy what I have.
I'm gonna go as far as I can here at Carr Hardware, you know.
I love my job.
I love my work.
If you do what you love, it's not a job, you know? - Passion.
- It's a exactly.
- It's really a - Exactly.
My daughter I'm sure we're gonna promote college, you know, but let her do what she wants to do.
We have one shot at this life.
You got to enjoy it.
How did you get so driven? About 7 1/2, 8 years ago, I lost my father.
- Really? - He'd actually committed suicide.
It's not a not a subject I touch a lot.
Yeah.
It was a tough point in my life, but what got me through it was great friends, great family.
So I got you know, I got through it that way, but I think it's made me who I am today.
Think every day when I wake up, "I have a daughter to live for" you know? That's what I wake up for every day is her and my wife.
And I just, you know, try to ever look at the downside and my mortgage and just look up and - You got a great attitude.
- I'm on cloud nine right now.
It can't get any better than this it is right here, right now in my life, you know? (John) Chris is a remarkable young man.
He's got energy, passion.
He's very knowledgeable.
He knows his customers.
He's exactly the kind of associate we need to stay relevant for the consumer.
You did good, man.
Good job.
- Thanks, man.
Awesome.
- Thank you, Lewis.
- Let's get back to work.
- All right, I'm with you.
Let's go make some customers happy on the floor.
(John) Today I'm at the Glenview True Value hardware store to work with a cashier.
There you go.
- Thanks.
I'll see you later.
- See you later.
Cashiers have sometimes the most contact with our customers, so the role of the cashier is actually very critical to an overall retail operation.
- Hi.
How are you? - (John) Hi.
I'm looking for Lexi.
- Oh, I'm Lexi.
- Lexi, I'm Lewis.
- Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
- Welcome to True Value.
- Thank you very much.
Okay, so basically, I'm the cashier here at True Value.
Our number one thing is, as the customers are walking in, you always have to greet them.
Okay.
So let's say, for example, someone bought this.
So when you got to actually total out the customer, you would hit the plus sign here.
And then obviously, if they're paying cash, you want to populate the cash field check, bank card.
So would you put in say they gave you $30.
Would you put in 30, or Yep.
Nope.
You would put in 30.
Yep, you would put in 30.
Oh, do you want to want to check him in? - Sure, I'll try.
- Sure.
How are you today, sir? (Man) Good.
How are you? [Scanner beeps.]
Hi, how are you? Hi, how you doing? - There you go, sir.
- Excellent.
Take care.
Thank you.
(Man) Buh-bye.
Just kind of multitask a little bit.
Like, when you notice someone walking in, just kind of, you know, "hi, how are you," just as soon as they're walking in just so they're acknowledged.
- Got you.
- Yeah.
How's it going today? - Good.
How are you? - Excellent.
- (Lexi) Hey, Lewis.
- Yeah? There's also a customer, so you want to try to just greet them.
Good afternoon, sir.
I'll be right with you.
Lewis has to work on the multitasking part of the job.
He needs to work on acknowledging the customers that are walking in, not just the ones that he is helping at the register.
Oh, that didn't work.
Whoops.
With your discount, ma'am, it's $5.
72.
So it was $10 all together? That doesn't make sense.
That's not what I want to do.
(Lexi) I don't want to be rude towards Lewis, but I just feel like he's really dry, like, when he's talking to a customer.
- How are you today, ma'am? - Hi.
I'm fine.
A smile here and there would be good.
[Laughs.]
You're so lucky the system hasn't crashed on you yet.
Usually, after a rush, the system completely crashes.
Locally here, or The whole thing.
It just kind of - The store.
The store.
- Yeah, right.
(John) Lexi talked about the register crashing from time to time, so I really want to understand exactly what that means and how often that happens.
Have a good day, guys.
So, anyway, when your system crashes or when there's a customer that kind of just - you know, the energy's bad - Make them happy.
- Yes.
- That's a great That's your ultimate goal though.
Like, you just want to have them come in happy, have them leave happy.
- Fantastic.
- Yep.
I think Lexi's a terrific associate.
She's got a ton of energy.
She's well-spoken.
I think she's got a brilliant career ahead of her, whatever she chooses to do.
All right, we're gonna go outside to the garden center and start straightening.
- Hi.
How are you? - Hi, good.
How are you today? Good.
Okay.
So basically what we just have to do is kind of just match all these and just put them together so that they are - In a set? - A complete set, yeah.
And then there are also some over here, Lewis, too.
Okay.
Where are you from, Lewis? Yeah, I'm from Philadelphia originally.
Ooh, Philly.
So you seem to really know that system really well.
Well, actually, I've had retail jobs before that had a similar system.
Is that a real interest of yours? Not necessarily retail, but just working with people in general.
That's why I want to be in the nursing field eventually.
Oh, you're interesting in nursing.
- Yes.
- That's fantastic.
So I guess you're working to kind of help put yourself through school? Definitely.
I'm probably in the hole for about $55,000, $60,000.
- Really? - Yes.
For a few years of school so far? - Yeah.
- Wow, that's a lot of money.
I put myself through college and law school.
I worked a lot of part-time jobs to do that.
And I can absolutely relate to Lexi.
She's just really impressive.
How we doing here? I think we're about done.
Do you want to sit for a few? Sure, that'd be great.
So how old are you now? - I'll be 21 in a month.
- Really? What's the next step for you with kind of in terms of your education and how you see yourself kind of getting through all that? I don't know.
I'm just kind of winging it.
[Laughs.]
And are you kind of doing it on your own? - Yeah, I am.
- So financially, you're - Oh, I am.
By myself.
- Completely on your own? Yeah, I don't expect my parents to pay for anything.
And then I've also been on my own since I was what, like 17? (John) My opinion of Lexi has only gotten stronger the whole day.
Anyone would want her working in their store.
But I worry a little bit about how much she has on her plate.
Gosh, it's hard to think about a 17-year-old girl going off on your own.
Yeah.
It's hard.
I'm actually in the process of moving back in with my grandparents because I can't afford - School and - Yes.
- It's not working out.
- Yeah, it's just not working.
- It's too much.
- Yeah.
(John) She reminds me of myself at that age, when the FBI knocked on my door and gave me a great opportunity.
I would love to be the person to give Lexi that kind of opportunity.
Well, let's go inside before the line gets any longer, because I don't want to get fired.
- [Laughs.]
- You don't want that to happen.
No.
(Announcer) Coming up.
The boss reveals his true identity I'm John Hartmann.
I'm the president and chief executive officer of True Value company.
Are you serious? All right.
(Announcer) And John decides Brad's fate.
I think you were making way too many excuses for yourself.
Rough.
[Chuckles.]
(John) Throughout this journey, I've met amazing people with struggles in their life.
I certainly relate to that, but I have been reluctant to talk about my own experiences.
And I've found on this journey in sharing and relating with associates that I can mentor and coach those around me, and I'm looking forward to it.
- What's going on? - [Laughs.]
I seen you before, man.
- Really? - Hi, Lewis.
Right? No? Yes? No? And how did Lewis do? He worked harder than expected.
- Really? - Oh, yeah.
- Could he keep up with you? - Oh, no.
- No way? - Not on his best day.
With a little work, finesse, I think Lewis would be the man.
What would you think if I told you I'm Lewis? Right.
Huh? But, Brad, I'm not Lewis.
Are what? I'm John Hartmann.
I'm the president and chief executive officer of True Value company.
Okay.
[Laughing.]
Oh, my God.
I got to give you a man hug.
[Laughs.]
That's amazing.
That is amazing.
Lexi, you're on Undercover Boss.
Are you serious? Get up out of here.
Come on.
[Laughs.]
Oh.
All right.
Brad, when I first met you, do you remember what you said to me? - No, I don't, actually.
- I remember.
- Yeah? - Yeah, I'll never forget it, actually.
- Really? - Yeah.
We're gonna smoke some cigarettes, we're gonna flirt with some women, and we're gonna sell some [ .]
.
I'm sorry.
We're gonna do what? I wanted to walk out of that store.
I was so disgusted.
[Exhales.]
I'll give it to you straight.
A hardware store is not the place where you pick up girls.
And I want to be crystal clear with you.
Our customers are there for one purpose: Only to be treated respectfully.
Rough.
[Chuckles.]
But I'll tell you, throughout the day, I saw a different Brad, and I was really glad that I didn't give up on you in the first five minutes, 'cause I was close.
[Exhales tensely.]
But you shared quite a bit with me that day.
One of the things that was crystal clear to me was you knew your job.
When you interacted with the customers, you did it, you know, for the most part, very respectfully.
I was thrilled that you weren't saying the things before in front of the customers.
Can I be blunt with you? I would appreciate it.
I think you were making way too many excuses for yourself.
How'd you grow up? Uh, oh, privileged, you know? So your parents took pretty good care of you? Oh, all-American.
They, you know, did everything they could.
I'm sure there's times that they weren't proud of you.
Oh, definitely not.
Unlike you, I didn't have that start in life.
I had the love of my parents, just like you did, but we didn't have the financial means that your family did.
I put myself through college and graduate school.
You went to school, and you got thrown out in the first semester.
- [Chuckles.]
- That's not funny.
I know.
It that hurts.
That's me exhaling a little pain, man.
Yeah.
Isn't there a better Brad somewhere? He's in there.
Let him out, man.
What are you working toward? What's your plan? I want to have a cabin out in the woods someday and be able to, you know, have a family, and, you know, grow old.
What's holding you back? I I think I'm the only one who holds me back.
You know, when you talked about all the hard work you put in out west building those hiking trails, that told me a lot about you.
Every fall, True Value has a pretty big Habitat for Humanity Project.
- You familiar with Habitat? - Yeah.
I'd like to fly you out to join us for that next project this fall.
Would you be into that? Yeah.
Wow.
Sign me up.
I see and I believe in that other Brad.
I want to mentor you.
I want to pick that phone up every month for the next year and call you up on the phone and talk to you about what you're doing to help you put that plan together.
I mean, Brad's got to do it, but everyone, including myself I've had mentors in my life.
I've had adults that have given me guidance.
I'm personally committing to make that connection with you if you're willing to do your part.
I am.
This is a real investment in you.
I hope you'll take advantage of it.
Sir, I will.
I believe in you, man.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
(Brad) John stepping up to be my mentor is, um this is what I needed, you know? I've I've been given an opportunity to look up to somebody that's gonna be a positive influence.
You know, this has been the wake-up call that I need to take direction, and luckily, he's giving me an opportunity to do that.
Chris, you know I'm a dirt bike rider, right? Oh, really? I'll tell you one lesson that that sport has taught me over and over and over again: When you fall down, you got to get back up.
Absolutely.
And, you know, when I think about the analogy you had a pretty big wipeout in your life.
Absolutely.
About 7 1/2, 8 years ago, I lost my father.
- Really? - He'd actually committed suicide.
Got right back up and kicked it and went keep on going.
No, you didn't just start up, man.
You're going about 90 miles an hour right now.
Coming from you, that means an awful lot to me, John.
You know, while we were working with that customer up front on the weedwacker Yeah.
I was trying to gain an understanding of the computer inventory process.
Was that particular to the products that we were working in, or was that all the products in the store? It's on everything.
I'm I want to get that fixed so you're empowered to work with your customers the way you want to be.
That would be awesome.
I oh, that'd be amazing.
You know, you're this whole this whole part of your story about, you know, meeting your wife you guys hadn't really been on a honeymoon together.
Very, very little.
And when you guys can, someday in the future, you know, make a trip together, where would you like to go? I now, with our daughter, I think our honeymoon would probably include her.
I think it would be more of, like A family-moon? I never heard I love it.
I want to give you $5,000 to go on that family honeymoon.
Wow.
Thank you.
I can't I can't wait to tell my wife.
This is crazy.
I work in hardware, so I'm trying to keep the tears in.
I am just amazed.
Thank you, John.
Thank you so much.
So every parent's dream is for their children to be a little bit better than they are I'm gonna make sure she has the best darn childhood possible.
Whatever I didn't do, she is going to do.
Well, I'm gonna give you $10,000 for your daughter's education.
[Laughing.]
Wow.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, John.
That is just incredible.
This is just amazing.
[Laughs.]
Well, before we wrap up, you talked to me about your house.
You have a mortgage now.
[Groans.]
Yeah, absolutely.
So, Chris, what we're gonna do is, we're gonna pay $25,000 towards your mortgage.
[Laughs.]
No.
Yeah.
This is amazing.
Thank you.
I need another, man.
Oh, my God.
(Chris) John took a lot of weight off my shoulders.
I get to fulfill a dream of going to Disneyland with my daughter.
That's just amazing.
This is unreal.
Mila has a $10,000 scholarship for herself to go to college, something I never got to do.
I know my family's more taken care of than they were two hours ago.
I can't wait to tell my wife and daughter and, you know, just hug them.
I can't say that enough.
Terrell, you've had a tough life, and somehow, through all that, you've made some great decisions.
And I think very highly of you, and I learned a lot from you.
Really? Perfect.
That's gonna be right here.
I just want to let you know, I would've had these pallets done.
[Laughs.]
I can see how fast you are.
Get it done.
So tell me about this ticket thing and your license suspended.
How much in total do you owe on these tickets? I'm guessing 12,000 probably.
Today I'm gonna give you $12,000 to pay off your tickets.
Serious, dude? For real? 12,000? God, man, this is a blessing.
Thank you, man.
This is crazy.
[Sniffles.]
We had this conversation about college, and we talked about criminal justice.
Do I remember right? Did you mention that? Yeah.
You know what I studied in college? What was it? - Criminal justice? - Criminal justice.
In my first career, I was an undercover FBI agent.
Oh.
Undercover FBI? - Yep.
- That's crazy.
So you can give me some tips on the justice system.
That's something I want to talk to you about.
I'm gonna give you $10,000 towards your college education.
[Exhales.]
This is crazy.
[Mumbles.]
Damn.
But at the same time we invest in your college, I'm gonna give you $10,000 to put away for your daughter's future college fund.
[Chuckles.]
[Sniffles.]
Ah.
Dude.
Stop.
[Laughs.]
Damn, man.
[Sniffles.]
Yeah, 'cause she going to college.
Yeah.
Definitely.
[Sighs.]
That's my baby.
Oh, no.
Clearly, spending time with your family is something that's really important to you.
Yeah.
I'm gonna give you $5,000 to take your family to Disney.
[Laughs.]
The real one in Florida? The real one in Florida.
And when you get back, I'm gonna give you $20,000 for a car.
Ah, dude.
Just a practical car for yourself.
Wow.
Wow.
Will it help you? - Will it? - Yeah.
[Stammers, laughs.]
Is that a question? Of course it's gonna help me.
(Terrell) I'm too excited right now.
Like, I just want to go outside and [Shouts.]
Just give somebody a hug.
[Laughs.]
Where I grew up, people don't care about college.
And now it's like my daughter, she got all the opportunity to do whatever she want to do, so [Sighs.]
These these tears of joy right here.
[Laughs.]
I can't stop crying.
Oh, man.
Lexi, I thought you were an amazing associate.
You're bubbly.
You're full of energy.
You interacted so positively with the customers.
- Take care.
Thank you.
- (Man) Buh-bye.
When you notice someone walking in, just kind of, you know, "hi, how are you?" you were a great coach.
Thank you.
When you were teaching me how to use the point of sale system the cash register you told me that from time to time, that [particular unit would crash.
.]
I want to get that fixed.
- Right.
- 'Cause I don't want you to be frustrated.
I don't want our customers to be frustrated.
- I agree.
- So I'm committed to that.
Thank you.
I appreciate that.
You know, you mentioned to me going through some transition with your housing.
Yes.
Yes.
Financially, being on my own is just not possible right now.
Well, today I'm gonna give you $5,000 towards your housing needs.
You're lying.
Are you guys being serious? I'm totally serious.
[Breathes deeply.]
Today is a day of truth.
It was undercover before.
This is real.
I just don't know what to say.
[Laughs.]
Another thing you told me about was your dreams for the future - and your education.
- Yes.
What's ahead of you? What's coming next? Nursing school.
Is that your real passion? Nursing is my mom's passion.
- Okay.
For you? - For me, yeah.
But I want to be an aesthetician.
What would it cost to pursue the courses that you want? That's another $5,000, $10,000.
So today I'm gonna give you $10,000 to pursue that education.
No way.
Way.
No way.
[Chuckles.]
No way.
I feel like my heart's gonna come out of my chest.
[Laughs.]
Sorry.
You don't have anything to apologize about.
Shh [Chuckles.]
Okay.
That'll get me where I want to be.
That'll just help me have a career.
I came from pretty humble beginnings in life.
You know, my parents were always there for me, but we didn't have the means to kind of for them to put me through college.
Mm-hmm.
I did it the same way you did it.
I took out a lot of loans.
Tell me about your loans again.
My balance all in all, I've taken out like $50,000.
Well, Lexi, I have one more thing today.
Please don't, 'cause you're gonna give me, like, a heart attack, seriously.
I'm gonna pay off your $50,000 in student loans.
No.
No.
No.
It's gonna happen.
Clean start.
Are you kidding? No.
I'm not kidding.
[Crying.]
That's way too much.
You're a special person.
You have a amazing future ahead of you.
Can I, like, hug you? - Sure you can.
- Is that okay.
[Laughing.]
Thank you so much.
- It's like hugging my daughter.
- [Laughs.]
It just feels like a huge Has been lifted.
[Crying.]
I can start over.
I can finally do something that I want to do for myself instead of other people.
I could live on my own.
I don't have to go back and I Sorry, I don't want to get everything on your nice suit.
It's fine.
You can head right over this way.
(Lexi) I'm finally gonna be independent.
Finally.
(Announcer) This season on Undercover Boss Hallelujah! Young, crazy [Cheers and applause.]
[Vocalizing.]
I'm ready to parachute in like Mary Poppins.
Oh! Out of control.
The working conditions are terrible.
I put my two weeks in this morning.
Come on.
It sucks here.
It's not working out.
Today's your last day.
I've failed at being a CEO in many ways.
- Oh, my God! (Announcer) Have posed as subjects on a fake show to get honest feedback from their employees.
All right.
(Announcer) It's been shocking.
- [Cow moos.]
- A lot of people smoke pot.
(Announcer) It's been challenging.
It's not the homeowner's fault that I get paid peanuts.
(Announcer) But it's inspired them to change their employees' lives forever.
I've decided to invest around $3 million because of you.
Thank you.
For real? Like, this is real? - Without a doubt.
- [Sobs.]
I am going to give you your own store.
Yay! Probably the best thing somebody ever did for me.
I have a check for $250,000.
Oh, my God.
(Announcer) Tonight, the latest boss to take the plunge is John Hartmann Let's go.
(Announcer) President and CEO of True Value hardware, a nearly 100-year-old, all-American company.
Thank you, Mr.
Gray.
(Announcer) By joining his employees on the front lines Well, let's get our hands dirty and have some fun, Lewis.
- Ready to go.
- I'm glad to have you here, man.
(Announcer) This former FBI agent Good afternoon, sir.
I'll be right with you.
(Announcer) Investigates what's really going on inside his company.
[Scanner beeps.]
Whoops.
We're gonna smoke some cigarettes, we're gonna flirt with some women, and we're gonna sell some [ .]
.
I'm sorry.
We're gonna do what? (Announcer) But how will this former special agent deal with an employee who's way out of line? - Thanks.
- Yeah.
- Nice meeting you.
- You too.
Talented, to say the least.
You know, hopefully get a phone number out of it.
I couldn't believe what I heard.
- Do you have any questions? - Doing all right.
Doing all right? Yeah? What is he thinking? Mmm, my goodness.
Scrumptious.
(Announcer) Find out next on the season premiere of Undercover Boss.
(Announcer) Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, True Value is one of the world's largest hardware cooperatives.
Thank you, Mr.
Gray.
(Announcer) With more than 4,500 independent retail locations across 58 countries and $2 billion a year in revenue, this all-American company is making a global impact by serving local communities.
Building on this company's nearly 100-year-old foundation is one man.
- How are you today? - Real good.
Excellent.
My name is John Hartmann, and I'm the president and CEO of True Value.
At True Value, we sell hand tools, power tools, electrical and plumbing equipment, but also housewares, lawn and garden, grills, and things that attract a wide variety of consumers.
True value's been around for almost 100 years and is really part of the fabric of America.
The founder of True Value company was a gentleman named John Cotter, and he started with his first hardware store in the 1930s.
Over the years, True Value grew to approximately 4,500 stores in 58 countries and is seen as an iconic brand in the United States, but over the last 25 years, the Big Box stores have popped up around the United States in fact, around the world.
At the same time, online stores gained ground with the consumers.
And this had a devastating impact on the individual mom and pop local hardware store.
So we're gonna highlight some of the category refreshes, and Competition is intense, and it's never gonna get any easier.
Understanding the younger generation of consumers is critically important, because you can have a great store, but if you don't understand what the consumer wants, you fail.
It can't be granddaddy's hardware store anymore.
I was the middle of three boys.
I grew up in a very modest household two working parents.
I put myself through four years of college and three years of law school, and I did that primarily through a variety of part-time jobs.
I was the first kid in my family to go to college, so it was a unique experience.
And then, one afternoon, two FBI agents knocked at my door.
I didn't know if I was in trouble or if it was [Chuckles.]
If it was something good that was about to happen.
But I was being recruited by the FBI.
As an FBI agent, I had a variety of assignments from bank robbery to drug dealing to violent crime, and I had an undercover name and identity.
A number of the investigations that I was involved in resulted in people going to prison for a long time.
Having the opportunity to serve the country as an FBI agent was incredibly special.
I'm a pretty patriotic guy.
But after ten years with the FBI, I made the decision to go into corporate America.
I worked at Home Depot for about nine years, and prior to joining True Value, I had the opportunity to be the CEO of the market-leading home improvement company in New Zealand.
Guys, how you doing? - All right, John.
- How you doing, John? (John) I've been the president and CEO of True Value since May of 2013.
Tell me about the ladder.
This is the werner podium ladder.
(John) No one's ever confused me as a person that's laid-back.
I see we've got paint to the right here.
Is that due to the configuration? It really is.
(John) Ask any of my colleagues, ask my family, you'll get the same answer.
- What are you gonna remember? - Fall down, you get back up.
[Chuckling.]
All right.
I have two great kids: A 21-year-old daughter who's a college student currently and an almost 12-year-old boy who's a avid athlete.
[Dirt bikes revving.]
My son and I enjoy riding dirt bikes together.
You can't get on that dirt bike and not be focused because you're gonna wipe out, so it's really a great opportunity to completely unwind from work.
(Boy) Nailed it.
(Woman) Hi.
(John) How are you? So tell me, what are we doing? We're going long.
Going undercover is a great opportunity because I'm relatively new as the CEO.
I'm on this journey to slowly change the direction of the ship, but we've got a lot of work yet to go.
We'll see how I do at airport security.
[Laughs.]
I'm going undercover as Lewis Lapresi, an older handyman who is the subject of a reality show where he can win $250,000.
Have you ever had a mustache? I don't think I've ever had one that large.
This is the perfect time for me to go undercover.
I want to make sure that we have a modern, relevant offer for the next generation of consumer and ultimately ensure that this homegrown American hardware story lives on for another generation.
Well, those are interesting.
It's been, you know, undercover for the FBI, so it'll be fun to go undercover again.
I'm here in Boston, Massachusetts, and today I'll be working with a sales associate.
Customer service is one of the most critical differentiators for a True Value hardware store.
We're not a Big Box like Home Depot or Lowe's.
This is a smaller, intimate setting where we can get really close and personal with the customers.
I'm looking for Brad.
Oh, yeah.
He's down there.
Great, thanks.
Hi, Brad? - Hey, what's going on, man? - I'm Lewis.
- Nice to meet you, Lewis.
- Nice to meet you.
- Welcome to True Value.
- Thank you very much.
My knowledge is your power, dude.
We're here to win.
- All right.
- So you know what? I'm gonna take you through a normal day here at True Value.
Fantastic.
We're gonna smoke some cigarettes, we're gonna flirt with some women, and we're gonna sell some [ .]
.
I'm sorry.
We're gonna do what? We're gonna sell everything here in this store, man.
- So let's do this, all right? - Okay.
My first impression of Lewis is, he is a partyin' dude.
I love the long hair.
I love the flannel.
Presentation is everything.
He looks like he knows what he's talking about.
What do you need me to do? We want to make things aesthetically pleasing.
Stuff like this, we just straighten it out.
Okay.
You gonna help me out? No, actually, I'm gonna tell you what you need to do.
Okay, that's fine.
But, you know, it's a blessing that I have someone to do my work for me today.
First impressions of Brad So you usually do this yourself? I usually do this myself or at least I like to pretend I do.
You know, he kind of shuffles his feet.
He's a little bit lazy.
Who are the primary customers of the store? Well, the primary ones for me are the cute women, man.
I want to get some phone numbers.
I want you know, I'm a single dude here in the city, so those are the ones that I take pride in helping.
My first impressions of Brad were not positive.
Oh, here we go.
Time out.
Excuse me, miss.
How can I help you? Hi.
I'm looking for nails.
You're looking for nails.
Well, you're in the right place.
For, like, hanging a picture.
- Okay.
- Come with me.
Pending on the way, we got these little tacks here.
Maybe like a value pack set would help.
(Woman) Okay.
Great.
Thank you for your help.
Good luck with that.
Any other questions? - That's it.
- All right.
- All right, thanks.
- Yeah.
- Nice meeting you.
- You too.
That was great.
Yeah.
That's that's what makes my day, buddy.
That was really great customer service.
For the most part.
For the most part.
I would have liked to see her walk out with some more stuff or maybe have grabbed a number, but maybe I'm not her taste.
[Chuckles.]
(John) So I'm thinking about Brad.
I just can't quite figure the guy out just yet.
Yeah, I can do that all day.
Selling products.
Meeting good-looking people.
You know, I hand out business cards with my name on them.
You get a lot of side work out of a hardware store like this.
You know, you get a cute, little old lady that doesn't know how to put up a cabinet, guess what? I'm gonna be there after work, I'm gonna wear some tight-fitted clothes, and I'm gonna flex some muscles a little bit.
Got a little lady in southie that I ended up installing some hammocks for didn't end up leaving those hammocks, you know? Stuff like that, you know? (John) When Brad made those comments, I couldn't believe what I heard.
I felt immediately that that was inappropriate.
(Brad) Now, are you a cigarette smoker? - You puff down? - No, I'm I'm not a smoker.
(Brad) That's where we get the best action, my friend.
Choke one down, and, you know, hopefully get a phone number out of it.
This is a hardware store.
- Do you have any questions? - Doing all right.
Doing all right? Yeah? Well, if you need any help, we are here.
(John) In that moment, I was feeling really uncomfortable.
The customer didn't come to the store looking for a boyfriend.
Mmm, my goodness.
Scrumptious.
What is he saying? What is he thinking? I was really concerned that he was gonna do something that would require me to take immediate action.
Find everything all right? Yeah? Thank you.
(Brad) Looking right, looking tight.
- You got any questions? - Doing all right.
Well, if you need any help, we are here.
Mmm, my goodness.
Scrumptious.
(John) When Brad made those comments, I couldn't believe what I heard.
I felt immediately that that was inappropriate.
Our job as associates at True Value is to serve the customer.
It's got nothing to do with dating.
Excuse me? Hi.
(Brad) What's going on? I'm looking for a power drill.
(Brad) You're looking for a power drill.
You are in the right place.
Let me take you over there.
(John) I was really concerned really concerned that he was gonna do something that would require me to take immediate action.
(Brad) Now, I don't recommend a corded drill if you're putting together some sort of piece of furniture, just because there's so much strength with that, you could strip out your bolts.
Okay.
I'm preferable to one of our battery-operated ones if you're gonna put together something like that.
(John) Initially, Brad comes off as a bit of a lazy guy, but then he's knowledgeable.
He understands the products.
You want me to grab you one of those? Great, yeah.
Thank you very much.
(John) It's like I saw two different Brads, and I'm trying to figure him out.
How long you been working here? I have been working here six months.
I came to Boston with a goal in mind, and that was to make money and meet people.
(John) Do you have a plan? What's your what's your plan? What do you want to do with yourself? (Brad) Pfft, live and breathe, man.
Live and breathe, you know? I'm I went out to school out in Western Mass where my college career lasted about a month, and I had to limp back to the Cape to clear up some legal stuff.
I'm a failed troublemaker.
They wanted to put me away for a little bit, so, you know, I tightened up, and I switched my game over to Colorado, man.
I do trail construction for Americorps.
You know, I've gotten some pretty decent contracts through them in conservation work.
That's pretty rewarding.
It's pretty special to be able to work on that type of stuff.
I just want to help everybody else out.
'Cause you know what? That's what makes me sleep good at night.
You know, maybe I don't put enough maintenance into helping myself out, but I feel so much better knowing that somebody else got something out of me, you know? It's it's a good mission.
(John) You know, I was really glad that I was patient enough to hear Brad out and hear his whole story, because on the one hand, he displays these incredibly positive characteristics.
He knows the products.
But then on the other hand, he talks about womanizing in the store.
You know, that kind of behavior is unacceptable.
Let's go help out some customers.
- All right? - You got it.
(John) It's a real struggle to figure out if this is a guy we should keep around.
Today I'm at one of True Value's 13 distribution centers in Springfield, Oregon, and I'll be working with an inbound stocking and receiving associate.
[Forklift honks.]
I'm here today to understand if we're doing everything as efficiently as possible and if there's anything else that we can improve on.
Hi, I'm looking for Terrell.
Hey, what up? You found him.
All right, great.
I'm Lewis.
Welcome to True Value.
Today we're gonna be doing some bulk stock and receiving.
We're receiving everything we ordered, and we're putting them on our shelves.
So this is what we gonna be working with.
That's our scanner.
It's gonna tell you where everything go.
These right here UPCs you got to scan them.
[Scanner beeps.]
There we go.
All right, so look.
Right now it's asking for five boxes.
This right here BF-39-OB is gonna be our location, so we're gonna take all of that to our location and put it away.
- All right, perfect.
- You know what I mean? We gonna be on these forklifts right here.
Right here are the controls.
You got your horn.
- Up, down, left, right.
- Brakes? Once you take your foot off the pedal, everything stops.
- Got it.
- Check the steering line.
All right, let's do it.
So we're gonna pick this up on our forklift.
- We're gonna take all those? - Yeah, I want you to pick it up.
Good job.
[Forklift honks.]
- Follow me.
- All right, Terrell.
Here we go.
Let's get this party started.
It gets a little sketchy, huh? Yeah.
[Forklift honks.]
(Terrell) Let's do we on the company time.
Where is the sense of urgency? [Metal screeches.]
(Terrell) Lewis has to get his speed up.
Just because you're old does not mean you got an excuse or a pass to go slow.
- 39-OB is what you looking for.
- 39-OB? Yeah, it's like a library.
- Okay.
- BF-39-OB.
All right.
What's it like working here? - You enjoy it? You like it? - I love it.
It's the best job I've ever had.
I like the warehouse settings.
Let me tell you this too.
Say, for instance, right now you're working at 100% pace.
If you pick it up, every a extra quarter on that hour.
- If you want the money - It's an incentive.
Pick it up, yup.
There you go.
All right.
That's five.
Okay, and that's five.
That's perfect.
[Scanner beeps.]
Oh, this other user.
That means someone else has been working on this.
Somebody's already received it in? Somebody's already received it in.
(John) So if someone starts it, they have to put that away? They have to.
(John) How often does that happen? I don't know.
Probably three times a day.
I usually will get a hold of my supervisor.
I'll let him know what's going on.
It was very frustrating because it slowed us down.
Roger Donovan, call me at 109.
(John) The faster he goes, the better it is for the company, the better it is for his own pay.
So we want to be able to empower these people to go as fast as they can.
So I'd really like to talk to the ops manager about, is there anything we can do to improve that process? Get my own place.
Been renting my whole life.
I thought about it.
I mean, if I wouldn't have screwed up my credit What happened to your credit? My driving tickets.
What'd you get them for? Reckless driving.
[Laughs.]
Everybody here drive to work, and I ride my bike and walk.
- We good? - Yep.
- All right, cool.
- Thank you.
You sure drive your forklift carefully.
Why don't you drive your car carefully? Well, I was young and dumb.
Ah, I got it.
[Scanner beeps.]
- Boom, we got action.
- All right, we're in.
They asking for six.
BE-44-1D.
All right? [Forklifts honking.]
Perfect.
That's gonna be right here.
[Forklift honks.]
All the way down to 54.
That's cool, Lewis.
I just want to let you know, I would've had these pallets done.
[Laughs.]
I can see how fast you are.
Get it done.
[Scanner beeps.]
All right.
- Time for a break.
- All right.
[Forklift honks.]
- Dirty job, huh? - I got some dirt on me? Oh, yeah, you got some dirt on you.
[Laughs.]
This usually my spot.
This is your spot? - This my area.
- It's a nice spot.
Where'd you grow up? Bay area.
Berkeley, California.
What'd your mom do? She's a truck driver.
Do you have brothers or sisters? Uh, yeah, I got a sister.
She's 23.
My little brother, he's 11 years old.
Your dad? Where's your dad? My step-dad, which is my little brother's biological dad, he he got murdered in 2008.
In 2008.
- Your step-dad did? - Yeah.
And he's like my real dad.
- I mean, he's just not blood.
- Yeah.
Blood couldn't make us any stronger is what I'm trying to say.
- But he raised you.
- Yeah.
Since I was nine years old.
So I get a little choked up.
What happened? But I don't know.
Um [sniffles.]
Damn, bro.
When my dad died, it happened right in front of the house.
Really? And then it was like I was out of work, no father, no nothing.
Was, like, kind of lost.
Didn't know really what to do.
I came to work, and I grew up.
And I had my first daughter my only.
You must be pretty proud of that.
Hell, yeah.
I love her.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
It sounds like you got your head screwed on now.
- Yeah.
- What's your passion? Thinking realistically, like, I would go back to school.
What would you take? I would do criminal justice juvenile criminal justice.
- Really? - Yeah.
Because I been there.
I been in them steps.
But you made it through.
Yeah.
(John) I had an amazing day today.
One word: Terrell.
He's a very special young man.
In my first career as an FBI agent, I heard and saw stories like this all the time horribly violent circumstances, the inability to break out of that.
You've come a long way in That's what they say, but I don't really see it.
Well, maybe you ought to take a little credit for yourself.
(John) That's what makes Terrell's story so special, because having the presence of mind to extract himself from that environment and then seek a really good job I mean, it's just miraculous.
Enough about me.
Let's get back to that action.
All right, man.
Let's go.
Teach me some more.
You teach me.
I'm trying to be a entrepreneur.
[John chuckles.]
How are you today, sir? (Announcer) Coming up.
Even the boss's FBI training can't prepare him for Oh, that didn't work.
(Announcer) Working the register.
So it was $10? That doesn't make sense.
(Announcer) And later Can I be blunt with you? I would appreciate it.
(Announcer) John confronts Brad.
A hardware store is not the place where you pick up girls.
Rough.
(John) I'm working today in Pittsfield, Massachusetts at Carr Hardware with a front-end manager.
Do you have the frontline keys up here, Jen? (John) Because True Value is a hardware cooperative, many of the True Value stores include a family name.
I'm excited to visit Carr Hardware because it's a main street hardware store and it's been here for generations, and I'm anxious to see how they've evolved over the years to stay relevant for the consumer.
I'm looking for Chris.
You're looking for Chris? Chris is right over there.
Hi, I'm Chris.
How are you today? Chris, I'm Lewis.
Hey, Lewis.
Nice to meet you.
I'm Chris.
I'm the front-end manager here at Carr Hardware.
Let's get our hands dirty and have some fun, Lewis.
- Ready to go.
- I'm glad to have you here, man.
Let's do it.
I believe knowing your store like the back of your hand is prime, prime customer service.
Okay.
We try to cover every basic, basically.
You can go to one store, get it all in the one store.
Hey, Alison, how are you? This is Lewis.
Alison's one of our regular customers.
She's here probably every other day.
I know her name, and she knows my name.
(John) That's awesome.
How can we help you today, Alison? Well, looking for a weedwacker.
(Chris) Okay.
How big is your yard? - (Alison) About an acre.
- About an acre.
I like this one right here, this 56, because it's the straight shaft, it's lightweight, it's got plenty of power behind it to cut the big, thicker stuff.
Uh, yeah, uh, but the price tag.
Looking to spend a little less is what you're saying? - Closer to this price tag.
- Okay.
The one model I'm thinking that you're thinking of is that one.
I can check for you real quick to see if I have it for you.
Do you mind holding on one sec so I can take Lewis downstairs? - I'll show him where we keep our inventory.
- Okay.
- I hate to leave the customer on the floor - Alone.
And have to check inventory, where if it was in our computer, I could maybe check a little bit quicker.
We had to go downstairs to check on the inventory to see if the particular model was in stock.
I'm gonna have to go break the news to her that I do not have that model.
If we wanted to special order it for her, how quickly could we get it? Absolutely.
We could we usually get steel in two business days.
Well, maybe by Tuesday, we could have it for her.
Absolutely.
I'm gonna let you do that part.
(John) Ideally, if there was a way to check inventory while you're with the customer or at least from the front-end register, it would save the customer time and perhaps improve the overall customer experience.
That particular model we don't currently have in stock, but the good news is, we could have it here for you in two business days.
All right.
[Sighs.]
(John) It'd be really good to know how we could make that process work better for them.
All right, Lewis, I'm gonna bring you to one of the favorite parts of my job that I do is get to work with my hands.
We're gonna do all the screen and glass repair.
We'll bring that right over to the glass cutter.
We're gonna slide it in over here.
So you're gonna plop the bottom in.
So you married, or I don't see a wedding ring at all.
I didn't know if you were married, or - Yeah.
- You are? I'm married and have two kids.
Good for you.
I just got married recently.
We did the marriage, the baby, and the house.
Wow.
Did you guys have a honeymoon? Yeah, we had a brief honeymoon.
Just, like, went on the coast of Massachusetts, basically.
So what do you think about the future? You know, what's your aspirations and dreams? My wealth is not money.
My wealth is family to me.
There's no money in the world that could buy what I have.
I'm gonna go as far as I can here at Carr Hardware, you know.
I love my job.
I love my work.
If you do what you love, it's not a job, you know? - Passion.
- It's a exactly.
- It's really a - Exactly.
My daughter I'm sure we're gonna promote college, you know, but let her do what she wants to do.
We have one shot at this life.
You got to enjoy it.
How did you get so driven? About 7 1/2, 8 years ago, I lost my father.
- Really? - He'd actually committed suicide.
It's not a not a subject I touch a lot.
Yeah.
It was a tough point in my life, but what got me through it was great friends, great family.
So I got you know, I got through it that way, but I think it's made me who I am today.
Think every day when I wake up, "I have a daughter to live for" you know? That's what I wake up for every day is her and my wife.
And I just, you know, try to ever look at the downside and my mortgage and just look up and - You got a great attitude.
- I'm on cloud nine right now.
It can't get any better than this it is right here, right now in my life, you know? (John) Chris is a remarkable young man.
He's got energy, passion.
He's very knowledgeable.
He knows his customers.
He's exactly the kind of associate we need to stay relevant for the consumer.
You did good, man.
Good job.
- Thanks, man.
Awesome.
- Thank you, Lewis.
- Let's get back to work.
- All right, I'm with you.
Let's go make some customers happy on the floor.
(John) Today I'm at the Glenview True Value hardware store to work with a cashier.
There you go.
- Thanks.
I'll see you later.
- See you later.
Cashiers have sometimes the most contact with our customers, so the role of the cashier is actually very critical to an overall retail operation.
- Hi.
How are you? - (John) Hi.
I'm looking for Lexi.
- Oh, I'm Lexi.
- Lexi, I'm Lewis.
- Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
- Welcome to True Value.
- Thank you very much.
Okay, so basically, I'm the cashier here at True Value.
Our number one thing is, as the customers are walking in, you always have to greet them.
Okay.
So let's say, for example, someone bought this.
So when you got to actually total out the customer, you would hit the plus sign here.
And then obviously, if they're paying cash, you want to populate the cash field check, bank card.
So would you put in say they gave you $30.
Would you put in 30, or Yep.
Nope.
You would put in 30.
Yep, you would put in 30.
Oh, do you want to want to check him in? - Sure, I'll try.
- Sure.
How are you today, sir? (Man) Good.
How are you? [Scanner beeps.]
Hi, how are you? Hi, how you doing? - There you go, sir.
- Excellent.
Take care.
Thank you.
(Man) Buh-bye.
Just kind of multitask a little bit.
Like, when you notice someone walking in, just kind of, you know, "hi, how are you," just as soon as they're walking in just so they're acknowledged.
- Got you.
- Yeah.
How's it going today? - Good.
How are you? - Excellent.
- (Lexi) Hey, Lewis.
- Yeah? There's also a customer, so you want to try to just greet them.
Good afternoon, sir.
I'll be right with you.
Lewis has to work on the multitasking part of the job.
He needs to work on acknowledging the customers that are walking in, not just the ones that he is helping at the register.
Oh, that didn't work.
Whoops.
With your discount, ma'am, it's $5.
72.
So it was $10 all together? That doesn't make sense.
That's not what I want to do.
(Lexi) I don't want to be rude towards Lewis, but I just feel like he's really dry, like, when he's talking to a customer.
- How are you today, ma'am? - Hi.
I'm fine.
A smile here and there would be good.
[Laughs.]
You're so lucky the system hasn't crashed on you yet.
Usually, after a rush, the system completely crashes.
Locally here, or The whole thing.
It just kind of - The store.
The store.
- Yeah, right.
(John) Lexi talked about the register crashing from time to time, so I really want to understand exactly what that means and how often that happens.
Have a good day, guys.
So, anyway, when your system crashes or when there's a customer that kind of just - you know, the energy's bad - Make them happy.
- Yes.
- That's a great That's your ultimate goal though.
Like, you just want to have them come in happy, have them leave happy.
- Fantastic.
- Yep.
I think Lexi's a terrific associate.
She's got a ton of energy.
She's well-spoken.
I think she's got a brilliant career ahead of her, whatever she chooses to do.
All right, we're gonna go outside to the garden center and start straightening.
- Hi.
How are you? - Hi, good.
How are you today? Good.
Okay.
So basically what we just have to do is kind of just match all these and just put them together so that they are - In a set? - A complete set, yeah.
And then there are also some over here, Lewis, too.
Okay.
Where are you from, Lewis? Yeah, I'm from Philadelphia originally.
Ooh, Philly.
So you seem to really know that system really well.
Well, actually, I've had retail jobs before that had a similar system.
Is that a real interest of yours? Not necessarily retail, but just working with people in general.
That's why I want to be in the nursing field eventually.
Oh, you're interesting in nursing.
- Yes.
- That's fantastic.
So I guess you're working to kind of help put yourself through school? Definitely.
I'm probably in the hole for about $55,000, $60,000.
- Really? - Yes.
For a few years of school so far? - Yeah.
- Wow, that's a lot of money.
I put myself through college and law school.
I worked a lot of part-time jobs to do that.
And I can absolutely relate to Lexi.
She's just really impressive.
How we doing here? I think we're about done.
Do you want to sit for a few? Sure, that'd be great.
So how old are you now? - I'll be 21 in a month.
- Really? What's the next step for you with kind of in terms of your education and how you see yourself kind of getting through all that? I don't know.
I'm just kind of winging it.
[Laughs.]
And are you kind of doing it on your own? - Yeah, I am.
- So financially, you're - Oh, I am.
By myself.
- Completely on your own? Yeah, I don't expect my parents to pay for anything.
And then I've also been on my own since I was what, like 17? (John) My opinion of Lexi has only gotten stronger the whole day.
Anyone would want her working in their store.
But I worry a little bit about how much she has on her plate.
Gosh, it's hard to think about a 17-year-old girl going off on your own.
Yeah.
It's hard.
I'm actually in the process of moving back in with my grandparents because I can't afford - School and - Yes.
- It's not working out.
- Yeah, it's just not working.
- It's too much.
- Yeah.
(John) She reminds me of myself at that age, when the FBI knocked on my door and gave me a great opportunity.
I would love to be the person to give Lexi that kind of opportunity.
Well, let's go inside before the line gets any longer, because I don't want to get fired.
- [Laughs.]
- You don't want that to happen.
No.
(Announcer) Coming up.
The boss reveals his true identity I'm John Hartmann.
I'm the president and chief executive officer of True Value company.
Are you serious? All right.
(Announcer) And John decides Brad's fate.
I think you were making way too many excuses for yourself.
Rough.
[Chuckles.]
(John) Throughout this journey, I've met amazing people with struggles in their life.
I certainly relate to that, but I have been reluctant to talk about my own experiences.
And I've found on this journey in sharing and relating with associates that I can mentor and coach those around me, and I'm looking forward to it.
- What's going on? - [Laughs.]
I seen you before, man.
- Really? - Hi, Lewis.
Right? No? Yes? No? And how did Lewis do? He worked harder than expected.
- Really? - Oh, yeah.
- Could he keep up with you? - Oh, no.
- No way? - Not on his best day.
With a little work, finesse, I think Lewis would be the man.
What would you think if I told you I'm Lewis? Right.
Huh? But, Brad, I'm not Lewis.
Are what? I'm John Hartmann.
I'm the president and chief executive officer of True Value company.
Okay.
[Laughing.]
Oh, my God.
I got to give you a man hug.
[Laughs.]
That's amazing.
That is amazing.
Lexi, you're on Undercover Boss.
Are you serious? Get up out of here.
Come on.
[Laughs.]
Oh.
All right.
Brad, when I first met you, do you remember what you said to me? - No, I don't, actually.
- I remember.
- Yeah? - Yeah, I'll never forget it, actually.
- Really? - Yeah.
We're gonna smoke some cigarettes, we're gonna flirt with some women, and we're gonna sell some [ .]
.
I'm sorry.
We're gonna do what? I wanted to walk out of that store.
I was so disgusted.
[Exhales.]
I'll give it to you straight.
A hardware store is not the place where you pick up girls.
And I want to be crystal clear with you.
Our customers are there for one purpose: Only to be treated respectfully.
Rough.
[Chuckles.]
But I'll tell you, throughout the day, I saw a different Brad, and I was really glad that I didn't give up on you in the first five minutes, 'cause I was close.
[Exhales tensely.]
But you shared quite a bit with me that day.
One of the things that was crystal clear to me was you knew your job.
When you interacted with the customers, you did it, you know, for the most part, very respectfully.
I was thrilled that you weren't saying the things before in front of the customers.
Can I be blunt with you? I would appreciate it.
I think you were making way too many excuses for yourself.
How'd you grow up? Uh, oh, privileged, you know? So your parents took pretty good care of you? Oh, all-American.
They, you know, did everything they could.
I'm sure there's times that they weren't proud of you.
Oh, definitely not.
Unlike you, I didn't have that start in life.
I had the love of my parents, just like you did, but we didn't have the financial means that your family did.
I put myself through college and graduate school.
You went to school, and you got thrown out in the first semester.
- [Chuckles.]
- That's not funny.
I know.
It that hurts.
That's me exhaling a little pain, man.
Yeah.
Isn't there a better Brad somewhere? He's in there.
Let him out, man.
What are you working toward? What's your plan? I want to have a cabin out in the woods someday and be able to, you know, have a family, and, you know, grow old.
What's holding you back? I I think I'm the only one who holds me back.
You know, when you talked about all the hard work you put in out west building those hiking trails, that told me a lot about you.
Every fall, True Value has a pretty big Habitat for Humanity Project.
- You familiar with Habitat? - Yeah.
I'd like to fly you out to join us for that next project this fall.
Would you be into that? Yeah.
Wow.
Sign me up.
I see and I believe in that other Brad.
I want to mentor you.
I want to pick that phone up every month for the next year and call you up on the phone and talk to you about what you're doing to help you put that plan together.
I mean, Brad's got to do it, but everyone, including myself I've had mentors in my life.
I've had adults that have given me guidance.
I'm personally committing to make that connection with you if you're willing to do your part.
I am.
This is a real investment in you.
I hope you'll take advantage of it.
Sir, I will.
I believe in you, man.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
(Brad) John stepping up to be my mentor is, um this is what I needed, you know? I've I've been given an opportunity to look up to somebody that's gonna be a positive influence.
You know, this has been the wake-up call that I need to take direction, and luckily, he's giving me an opportunity to do that.
Chris, you know I'm a dirt bike rider, right? Oh, really? I'll tell you one lesson that that sport has taught me over and over and over again: When you fall down, you got to get back up.
Absolutely.
And, you know, when I think about the analogy you had a pretty big wipeout in your life.
Absolutely.
About 7 1/2, 8 years ago, I lost my father.
- Really? - He'd actually committed suicide.
Got right back up and kicked it and went keep on going.
No, you didn't just start up, man.
You're going about 90 miles an hour right now.
Coming from you, that means an awful lot to me, John.
You know, while we were working with that customer up front on the weedwacker Yeah.
I was trying to gain an understanding of the computer inventory process.
Was that particular to the products that we were working in, or was that all the products in the store? It's on everything.
I'm I want to get that fixed so you're empowered to work with your customers the way you want to be.
That would be awesome.
I oh, that'd be amazing.
You know, you're this whole this whole part of your story about, you know, meeting your wife you guys hadn't really been on a honeymoon together.
Very, very little.
And when you guys can, someday in the future, you know, make a trip together, where would you like to go? I now, with our daughter, I think our honeymoon would probably include her.
I think it would be more of, like A family-moon? I never heard I love it.
I want to give you $5,000 to go on that family honeymoon.
Wow.
Thank you.
I can't I can't wait to tell my wife.
This is crazy.
I work in hardware, so I'm trying to keep the tears in.
I am just amazed.
Thank you, John.
Thank you so much.
So every parent's dream is for their children to be a little bit better than they are I'm gonna make sure she has the best darn childhood possible.
Whatever I didn't do, she is going to do.
Well, I'm gonna give you $10,000 for your daughter's education.
[Laughing.]
Wow.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, John.
That is just incredible.
This is just amazing.
[Laughs.]
Well, before we wrap up, you talked to me about your house.
You have a mortgage now.
[Groans.]
Yeah, absolutely.
So, Chris, what we're gonna do is, we're gonna pay $25,000 towards your mortgage.
[Laughs.]
No.
Yeah.
This is amazing.
Thank you.
I need another, man.
Oh, my God.
(Chris) John took a lot of weight off my shoulders.
I get to fulfill a dream of going to Disneyland with my daughter.
That's just amazing.
This is unreal.
Mila has a $10,000 scholarship for herself to go to college, something I never got to do.
I know my family's more taken care of than they were two hours ago.
I can't wait to tell my wife and daughter and, you know, just hug them.
I can't say that enough.
Terrell, you've had a tough life, and somehow, through all that, you've made some great decisions.
And I think very highly of you, and I learned a lot from you.
Really? Perfect.
That's gonna be right here.
I just want to let you know, I would've had these pallets done.
[Laughs.]
I can see how fast you are.
Get it done.
So tell me about this ticket thing and your license suspended.
How much in total do you owe on these tickets? I'm guessing 12,000 probably.
Today I'm gonna give you $12,000 to pay off your tickets.
Serious, dude? For real? 12,000? God, man, this is a blessing.
Thank you, man.
This is crazy.
[Sniffles.]
We had this conversation about college, and we talked about criminal justice.
Do I remember right? Did you mention that? Yeah.
You know what I studied in college? What was it? - Criminal justice? - Criminal justice.
In my first career, I was an undercover FBI agent.
Oh.
Undercover FBI? - Yep.
- That's crazy.
So you can give me some tips on the justice system.
That's something I want to talk to you about.
I'm gonna give you $10,000 towards your college education.
[Exhales.]
This is crazy.
[Mumbles.]
Damn.
But at the same time we invest in your college, I'm gonna give you $10,000 to put away for your daughter's future college fund.
[Chuckles.]
[Sniffles.]
Ah.
Dude.
Stop.
[Laughs.]
Damn, man.
[Sniffles.]
Yeah, 'cause she going to college.
Yeah.
Definitely.
[Sighs.]
That's my baby.
Oh, no.
Clearly, spending time with your family is something that's really important to you.
Yeah.
I'm gonna give you $5,000 to take your family to Disney.
[Laughs.]
The real one in Florida? The real one in Florida.
And when you get back, I'm gonna give you $20,000 for a car.
Ah, dude.
Just a practical car for yourself.
Wow.
Wow.
Will it help you? - Will it? - Yeah.
[Stammers, laughs.]
Is that a question? Of course it's gonna help me.
(Terrell) I'm too excited right now.
Like, I just want to go outside and [Shouts.]
Just give somebody a hug.
[Laughs.]
Where I grew up, people don't care about college.
And now it's like my daughter, she got all the opportunity to do whatever she want to do, so [Sighs.]
These these tears of joy right here.
[Laughs.]
I can't stop crying.
Oh, man.
Lexi, I thought you were an amazing associate.
You're bubbly.
You're full of energy.
You interacted so positively with the customers.
- Take care.
Thank you.
- (Man) Buh-bye.
When you notice someone walking in, just kind of, you know, "hi, how are you?" you were a great coach.
Thank you.
When you were teaching me how to use the point of sale system the cash register you told me that from time to time, that [particular unit would crash.
.]
I want to get that fixed.
- Right.
- 'Cause I don't want you to be frustrated.
I don't want our customers to be frustrated.
- I agree.
- So I'm committed to that.
Thank you.
I appreciate that.
You know, you mentioned to me going through some transition with your housing.
Yes.
Yes.
Financially, being on my own is just not possible right now.
Well, today I'm gonna give you $5,000 towards your housing needs.
You're lying.
Are you guys being serious? I'm totally serious.
[Breathes deeply.]
Today is a day of truth.
It was undercover before.
This is real.
I just don't know what to say.
[Laughs.]
Another thing you told me about was your dreams for the future - and your education.
- Yes.
What's ahead of you? What's coming next? Nursing school.
Is that your real passion? Nursing is my mom's passion.
- Okay.
For you? - For me, yeah.
But I want to be an aesthetician.
What would it cost to pursue the courses that you want? That's another $5,000, $10,000.
So today I'm gonna give you $10,000 to pursue that education.
No way.
Way.
No way.
[Chuckles.]
No way.
I feel like my heart's gonna come out of my chest.
[Laughs.]
Sorry.
You don't have anything to apologize about.
Shh [Chuckles.]
Okay.
That'll get me where I want to be.
That'll just help me have a career.
I came from pretty humble beginnings in life.
You know, my parents were always there for me, but we didn't have the means to kind of for them to put me through college.
Mm-hmm.
I did it the same way you did it.
I took out a lot of loans.
Tell me about your loans again.
My balance all in all, I've taken out like $50,000.
Well, Lexi, I have one more thing today.
Please don't, 'cause you're gonna give me, like, a heart attack, seriously.
I'm gonna pay off your $50,000 in student loans.
No.
No.
No.
It's gonna happen.
Clean start.
Are you kidding? No.
I'm not kidding.
[Crying.]
That's way too much.
You're a special person.
You have a amazing future ahead of you.
Can I, like, hug you? - Sure you can.
- Is that okay.
[Laughing.]
Thank you so much.
- It's like hugging my daughter.
- [Laughs.]
It just feels like a huge Has been lifted.
[Crying.]
I can start over.
I can finally do something that I want to do for myself instead of other people.
I could live on my own.
I don't have to go back and I Sorry, I don't want to get everything on your nice suit.
It's fine.
You can head right over this way.
(Lexi) I'm finally gonna be independent.
Finally.
(Announcer) This season on Undercover Boss Hallelujah! Young, crazy [Cheers and applause.]
[Vocalizing.]
I'm ready to parachute in like Mary Poppins.
Oh! Out of control.
The working conditions are terrible.
I put my two weeks in this morning.
Come on.
It sucks here.
It's not working out.
Today's your last day.
I've failed at being a CEO in many ways.