(male announcer) Tonight on "Undercover Boss,"
Bryon Stephens, president and COO
of Marco's Pizza,
goes undercover in his own company.
Can not be out delivering like that.
- Okay. - Got to look proper, man.
Got to fit the style.
Yeah, looking good.
(Tyler) Fill your hands with cheese.
Your hands aren't gonna smell good at the end of the day,
but you're gonna get the job done.
(announcer) This big cheese,
who's hoping to clobber the competition...
- Oh, that's bacon? - That's bacon.
- Yes. - So it's pizza bacon?
You ain't gonna give up on me now, are you?
I can't tell you yet.
(announcer) Will found out
that he's spread too thin.
We don't hear too, too much from corporate a whole lot.
They don't market as much for us.
You know, a lot of people out there,
you know, they don't know Marco's Pizza.
(announcer) Along the way, he'll find the employees
who keep his company raking in the dough.
Everybody except, like, me and my sister
have been put in a pair of handcuffs.
He came back from the war with PTSD.
Holy crikey.
(announcer) What happens when this pizza pusher
doesn't have the muscle to go on?
You won't die.
I got to take a break.
(announcer) Find out next
on "Undercover Boss."
[upbeat music]
(announcer) With a base of operations in Toledo, Ohio,
and with 20,000 employees
spread across 35 states and four countries,
Marco's Pizza is one of the world's
fastest-growing pizza chains.
Leading this $400-million-a-year powerhouse
is one man.
I'm Bryon Stephens,
and I'm president and chief operating officer
of Marco's Pizza.
My history in franchising started with A&W restaurants.
I have the good fortune of being the person
who actually started to create that co-branding environment.
We took A&W and packaged A&W up with KFC.
Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.
It worked so well, we created a groundswell
of people interested in doing that.
I've been responsible for some very unique ideas
in the franchising world,
so that's how I ended up here at Marco's.
In 2004, I was asked to be the growth partner
for the company.
My journey to the boardroom
wasn't like most people's journey.
You know, growing up, we struggled.
We had to do things to make ends meet,
and I didn't have any formal education.
And so I actually started in the dish room
at the Holiday Inn in my hometown,
and it was my primary job.
I would help out the cooks.
I'd work in the bar.
I would do just about anything and everything there.
And then one day, the owners tapped me on the shoulder
and asked me if I'd like to, you know,
become a manager within their organization,
and that opened a new paradigm for me,
and it started a love affair
with both the restaurant industry
and with franchising that continues to this day.
The early days of Marco's is quite interesting.
An Italian family settled in the Detroit, Michigan, market,
and their son Pasquale "Pat" Giammarco
decided that he could make a better pizza
than any of the pizzas that was in the marketplace.
He opened his first Marco's Pizza in Oregon, Ohio.
That was in 1978.
By the time Pat Giammarco sold the brand in 2004,
Marco's was a small regional chain
operating in three states,
and so I came on at that time,
and we began getting the chain ready
for what we called nationwide expansion.
This year, we're gonna open over 130 restaurants.
Next year, 150 restaurants.
And over the course of the next five years,
we'll open somewhere in the neighborhood
of 750 new restaurants.
In five years, we expect to have over 1,500 restaurants,
and we'll be operating in more than five countries.
I don't know that I would describe myself
as a genius in this business,
but I definitely have been a visionary for this industry.
I like that sliced sausage.
The browning on this, is that the cheddar cheese?
(man) Yes.
(Bryon) I made my way up the ladder
by just working hard.
Being an egomaniac, kind of an ass,
I was ready to just vaporize anything that was in my way
of what I wanted to get accomplished.
What's the flavor profile?
I think the spice is perfect, especially on the pepperoni.
I'm hyper-competitive.
My, you know, neurotic insecurities...
because I was ashamed to say
that I didn't have any formal education...
actually played in my favor for making sure
that I always went in extremely prepared
so that I would make sure that I could do myself proud
and, you know, not look like I wasn't equal to the task.
Nice job. Thank you.
- Appreciate it. - Thank you, Bryon.
(Bryon) The lack of balance in my life
has caused more problems for other people in my family.
I have eight children through my various
marriages and relationships.
My career took first place over everything else.
My kids, my former wife, they had to, you know,
put up with the fact that, you know,
the most important thing to me was my job and my career.
(woman) What'd you have in mind today?
Well, you know, I want to, I think,
take some of the gray out in here and here,
and I'd really like to leave the length alone.
Great.
(Bryon) I've been very instrumental
in the growth of this company, and we've grown so quickly.
If we want to keep the wheels on the track, so to speak,
it's really critical that we expose any flaws or weaknesses
we may have as a brand now.
I'm competing to win an investment into a business idea.
It'd be great if I win.
While I'm undercover, I'm gonna be posing as Jay,
who is a tech-savvy, eco-friendly car nut
from Detroit, Michigan.
My employees are gonna think that I'm on a new reality show.
Yeah, it hasn't been that dark in a long time.
[laughs]
You know, I have been out in the stores a fair bit,
but not near as much as I would aspire.
So this is gonna give me a great opportunity
to take a good, fresh, clean look at what we do.
[upbeat rock music]
♪ ♪
Tonight, I'm at the Marco's Pizza
distribution center in Maumee, Ohio.
This distribution center covers over 200 stores in 7 states.
Most of the products are brought into the restaurants
when the stores are closed down.
Hey, I'm looking for Tom.
- Jay? - Yep.
(Bryon) This is a very big part of our business...
making sure that we have the right ingredients
at the stores at the right times.
(Tom) What I do is, I'm a delivery driver.
I make deliveries for Marco's Pizza.
We're gonna be unloading a lot of heavy weight.
(Tom) This guy looks almost like one of those
college hippie professors.
He does not have a clue what he's about to get into.
- I'll drive. - That's good.
Ooh, there you go.
What all are we gonna be hauling here tonight?
(Tom) The food to the dry goods... plates, cups.
- You name it, we haul it. - Mm-hmm.
(Tom) I hope he brought his big boy pants,
'cause he's gonna need 'em.
(Tom) Ready?
[folksy music]
(Tom) This job is a beast on its own, man.
I mean, tonight, man,
we're gonna have to definitely watch out here.
Recently, probably in the past two weeks,
they've had five robberies at the stores.
All local.
At the Marco's stores?
At the Marco's stores.
I believe it was two weeks ago, maybe three weeks ago,
I went into one of the stores.
When we showed up, the robbers went out the front door.
- Really? - We had one guy...
I think it was in Lansing, Michigan, actually...
the two guys walked up on him and was trying to rob him.
They ended up putting him in the hospital.
So it's definitely something we have to keep an eye out for.
That was news to me.
I was not aware that we had
had that many problems at the stores.
[tense music]
(Bryon) Yeah, it's a little spooky.
All right, just watch your step when you get out of there.
Let me check the place out first.
(Bryon) All right.
♪ ♪
Here, hold that.
At least this place has got a few lights on it.
Yeah, a few lights.
Still not as lit as what I'd like.
Yeah.
- There we go. - Wow.
(Bryon) You know, I know, like,
when we pulled up, I knew right away
I would not want to be out here all alone by myself.
(Tom) All right, welcome to Mr. Cart.
Grab one on each end.
Toss it down.
All right, we got 18 flour we need to take in.
[grunts]
[hip-hop music]
Holy crikey.
- No time to stop. - Oh, jeez.
Just think: I do ten stops a night like this by myself.
♪ ♪
Holy Jesus.
You only got ten more to do.
Whoo.
Stack 'em up there just like those other ones were.
You got to push it, bro.
Normally, I throw two bags at a time.
Well, that ain't gonna happen here.
- I got news for you. - Come on.
We still got more deliveries,
and we haven't even done anything but start the flour.
[Bryon grunts]
[dramatic music]
This is archaic.
♪ ♪
There it is.
- [sighs] - Beast!
Come on.
Do it with some enthusiasm.
Brown boxes, 18 of 'em.
Oh, my God.
You're doing good, man.
♪ ♪
Ooh, don't lose it going in.
I got to take a break.
- You won't die. - I don't know.
Take this off.
I got to take a second.
How bad do you want it?
(Bryon) My legs were weak,
my shoulders.
My arms were weak.
I thought, "You got to be kidding me.
How am I gonna make it through this?"
[groaning]
[grunting]
This is a mistake, I'm telling you.
I can't see where I'm going.
- I'm not doing this, dude. - Watch off to the side.
- I'm not doing this. - Watch off to the side.
I'm not doing it.
All I was thinking to myself was like, "Are you serious?"
I'm not risking myself falling off that thing.
I got news for you.
- Watch off to the side. - I'm not doing this, man.
- I'm not doing this. - Watch off to the side.
I'm not doing it.
I'm not risking myself falling off that thing.
I got news for you.
Just not gonna do it.
Here, hold that.
We don't have the time to wait.
(Tom) When Jay refused to run that cart of cheese down,
I was about done with him; I'm not gonna lie.
I do this every night.
It doesn't matter if I'm sick, if it's hot out,
if it's cold out.
And you've got to do it for one night,
and you're really gonna whine about that?
Grab that front box.
- That one's gonna drop. - Yep.
You ain't gonna give up on me now, are you?
I can't tell you yet.
Come on, man.
You know how many people wish they were in your shoes
with even just a slight chance at winning
the kind of money you're in line for,
making it as far as you already have?
You can't stop.
You got to take every chance you can to get going on it.
[sighs]
(Bryon) You know, Tom knew that I was
competing for this prize money
and what that could do for my life,
and, man, it was really touching that he was rooting for me.
I felt him as a cheerleader.
I got faith in you.
Look how far you've made it already.
And I was really impressed with that style of leadership.
There it is, man.
Stop one completed.
Ohh.
Yeah, you worked hard, bro.
- Why don't you have a water? - Thanks.
And you do this six days a week?
Five to six days a week.
[groaning]
Boy, you're a hard worker, man.
I'm telling you.
I would probably kill for a chance
like what you got going on.
Yeah.
I got three kids at home.
- My wife to support. - How old are the kids?
- I got nine, eight, and five. - Cool.
You know, and I missed a lot of the first steps,
the first words, stuff like that.
You know, I don't ever get to see my kids.
I usually am home for, like, a day and a half a week.
I got a bed in the back of the truck, a sleeper,
and that's my home.
That's my second home.
(Bryon) I know the loneliness,
the isolation that he must feel.
So it's difficult to see somebody else go through that.
Well, brother, we still got one more to go.
All right, man.
(Bryon) The difference is, is that his kids are still young.
I made my mistakes in that style of life,
and, you know, I hate to see anybody else go through that.
Yeah, I feel like I tweaked something in my back.
[upbeat rock music]
(Bryon) Today I'm gonna be working at the Marco's Pizza
in Sanford, Florida.
Have a great day, okay? Thanks for the order.
(Bryon) This Marco's Pizza recently sold,
so I'm interested in finding out
if the systems we've got in place
has transferred over to the new ownership.
Ten dippers and a regular chicken Caesar.
(Bryon) Today, I'm gonna be working with Tyler,
and he's the general manager of this location,
and I know that everything that we do as a company
from the top down, it ends right here.
So it's gonna be a great day
being able to spend the time in there with him.
- Hi, I'm looking for Tyler. - Tyler.
Tyler, I'm Jay.
I hope you're ready to work, sir.
- I'm ready. - Go ahead and get the shirt on.
- The apron. - Okay, okay.
Then come get me when you're ready.
[upbeat music]
All right, Jay, so first thing's first in the store.
First thing I do when I come in the store
is, I do the inventory.
Everything's right here on the tablet.
Gives you a quick rundown on everything in the store.
So we're gonna walk to the walk-in now.
It's simple to do; it's just counting.
One, two, three.
You know, you can tell those are black olives;
those are banana peppers.
Sausage. Bacon.
- Oh, that's bacon? - That's bacon.
- So it's pizza bacon? - Yes, pizza bacon.
Already chopped up, diced, ready to go.
I was looking for bacon like I eat at breakfast.
[laughs]
Hmm, what do I do with this now?
That's the feta.
We can look up.
We've got three bags of feta, okay?
It's pretty simple.
Ham, I've got... that looks like ham.
- Yep. - Ham.
I honestly doubted Jay had ever stepped inside
the back of a kitchen before.
All right, well...
I'll be right around the corner
if you have any questions, sir.
Like, what's the chicken look like?
I mean, chicken's always looked like chicken to me,
so I don't see what the struggle was for Jay.
That is the chicken?
Those are chicken wings.
- So mozzarella cheese. - Yep.
I'm gonna guess that's pizza cheese.
I wouldn't stick him on top of my stack of applications.
He wouldn't be the first person I hired, no.
I'm gonna show you a little bit on the pizza-making process.
So you look up at your order.
It's regular sauce.
A level scoop with the black spoon.
And you don't want to apply much pressure.
Bring it over to your scale.
Zero your scale out. All the weights are right here.
So a large gets 8 ounces.
Don't use one hand.
You want to grab two giant handfuls, come above it.
Cheesing a pizza should usually take about 10 seconds.
Now that this is done, I'm gonna look at my order.
I'm gonna be, "Order in at 4:58."
That's the amount of time it takes to make the order.
Anything under 5 is a great time.
Okay.
Tyler, we're making nine pizzas right now.
You see, we got a nine-pizza order coming up.
I'm gonna have you start cheesing some.
Up here?
You're doing the one-handed method.
You need to be using both hands when you cheese a pizza.
Call out your time; it's 7:15.
Order in, 7:15.
I want you to cheese this one
faster than you cheesed the last one.
This one's a pepperoni sausage.
So as fast as you can, I want that pepperoni and sausage.
One, two...
(Tyler) I just wish I could have lit a fire
underneath of him, put some pep in his step.
Takes a long time.
(Tyler) You're gonna have to get that done quick,
because I'm caught up behind on you.
(Bryon) Okay.
[light music]
So what was my time?
It was 11 minutes; that's really bad.
- That wasn't very good, was it? - No.
Oh.
See you again soon. Thank you.
(Bryon) The train is moving. I can tell.
- You want speed or accuracy? - I need both.
And then that's what you got to strive for,
especially high-volume stuff like this.
I could never expect somebody
to get the job done in 15 minutes.
There's a learning curve.
You might not be able to do everything as fast as everybody,
but it's the effort that you notice.
You know, you always got to start from the bottom.
I started from the bottom, and I busted my butt
to get to the very top.
You know, everybody in my family except, like,
me and my sister have been put in a pair of handcuffs.
Like, I'm the only person who's graduated high school.
Good for you, dude.
And my mom did everything she could.
She went without so much just so me and my sister didn't have to.
At the end of the day, I want her to lay down
and be like, "That's my boy."
So I gave up a college education to, you know, work
so, you know, my family can make it.
- How old are you, Tyler? - I'm 21.
That's a lot of stuff to take on your shoulders.
I was 21, I was out messing up in life, man,
so you got her buttoned up.
- That's pretty cool. - Yep.
I come in here, I bust my butt, 'cause I want to go far.
I want to be 35 years old making six figures,
you know, every year.
I want that salary.
(Bryon) There's a whole lot of Tyler that reminds me of me.
He's got the drive and the energy.
He's done a great job transitioning the store
over to a new owner.
We need to groom him.
We need to get him introduced to our training tools.
He's somebody we want to keep in this brand
and do what we can do to help him get where he wants to go.
All right, so we got a few more things to do.
Let's go ahead and get on those right now, all right?
(Bryon) All right.
- I'm looking for Devin. - That's me.
(announcer) Coming up...
I was born without...
you're not gonna believe me... without collarbones.
(announcer) Jay meets a hard-working employee
who's overcome great obstacles.
Mainly, the mouth has been the hugest issue.
I've had over 40 teeth pulled.
(announcer) And later...
You look exactly like Jay.
- Do I? - Yes.
(announcer) The boss reveals his true identity.
I'm the president and COO of Marco's Pizza.
[upbeat acoustic music]
♪ ♪
(Bryon) Today, I'm in Huntersville, North Carolina.
This is one of our newer locations,
but in a short time,
it's become one of our training stores
where it trains other franchisees.
- Order up. - Thank you. Order?
Carry-out for Davis.
(Bryon) I'll be looking for this store
to really be demonstrating our standards
at the peak of performance.
- I'm looking for Devin? - That's me.
Hey, Devin.
My name is Jay.
Well, I guess I'm going to be your mentor here.
So what do you got for me?
Well, come into the back.
We're gonna learn how to make the dough.
All right, good.
Here's a hat, shirt, and apron for you.
(Bryon) I'm gonna be working alongside Devin,
who is a shift leader for us.
Yeah, looking good.
(Bryon) A shift leader in Marco's
is somebody who is actually preparing
to be in the management role for our company.
So first, we're gonna be rolling dough.
Cut it into strips.
Large is going to be 19 ounces.
- 19. - Yeah.
Hold this for a moment.
I'm gonna teach you how to roll a ball.
Like making a snowball?
- Nope, that's completely wrong. - Okay.
What I do is, I push in,
and I do this.
- Right? - Yep.
And then I flip it like this.
Push in.
This is to get rid of all the air bubbles.
Every one of these gets done this way?
Every single one of them.
When you're just rolling those one right after the other,
your arms, you can start to feel it in your hands.
Oh, yeah.
(Bryon) You know, this process
of hand-kneading our dough balls,
while it adds a really great appeal to everything,
it's a grueling job.
Whew.
So this is, like, a big company that owns all these?
Yeah, so we have...
well, we're based out of Ohio.
But, like, we don't hear too, too much
from corporate a whole lot.
No?
I kind of wish we would,
just from a marketing standpoint,
just 'cause in Ohio, they don't market as much for us.
We're not very well-known here in North Carolina,
so everybody's confused.
They either don't know we're here,
or they don't know that we're the same company as up north,
just 'cause we don't have...
the marketing is not very strong here.
If they really just, like, maybe put an ad
on the radio or, you know, a commercial here or there,
just for, like, a little bit, that would be...
that would honestly be really helpful for us.
(Bryon) From Devin's perspective,
she was talking about the fact that she feels like corporate
hasn't done enough to help build the name here.
It's been a bit humbling to see that some of the things
that we are out there pushing don't work.
- How long you been doing this? - About 2 1/2 years.
I've been here since we opened,
so I actually helped, like, build this store up.
But I switched to part-time shift leading now.
I actually just found kind of a new job,
just a change of pace, something new.
Okay.
This is kind of like my baby.
I helped raise it, train everybody here,
so it's hard for me to leave.
I can't just get up and leave.
But, you know, I'm going to school,
and I'm getting paid a little bit better over there, so...
Oh, yeah.
But, you know, it's hard just thinking about it.
I'm just... This is my home.
Okay.
(Bryon) With the skills that she has
and the training and experience she has,
we can't afford to lose somebody that quality,
and it's probably not that much more money.
Follow me over here.
- This is my favorite part. - Okay.
Now, this is not a large, because our larges...
excuse me.
I climb on everything in this store.
Yeah.
Everybody's like, "We just cleaned this.
Devin, why are there footprints on there?"
"I don't know."
So this is gonna be the hardest part for you,
making this fit that.
Okay.
We go slap, pull.
Pull.
[upbeat rock music]
And now we have this size.
- Can you do it? - 30 seconds.
I'm gonna give it a go.
Okay.
♪ ♪
Stretch, pull.
That's good. Let's try that.
♪ ♪
Perfect. That looks awesome.
Keep going till I fill the rack, right?
Yep, absolutely.
♪ ♪
You're lucky you don't have to climb on everything here.
I'm just, like, a little bit under 5 foot,
and that's so unfair.
Oh.
Whenever I was born, actually,
they told my mom I was gonna be a dwarf.
So I'm actually a lot taller than they planned on me being.
I was born without...
you're not gonna believe me... without collarbones.
Without collarbones?
- No, I don't have collarbones. - Really?
- I didn't know that. - Yeah.
My mouth... mainly the mouth has been the hugest issue.
I had supernumerary of teeth, so I had a lot of extra teeth.
Really?
I've had over 40 teeth pulled.
- That was the worst. - Wow.
And you're just absolutely pleasant as can be.
There's always a little bit worse out there,
and I don't want to feel sorry for myself.
Yeah.
I mean, I'm done now with all my mouth surgeries.
I finally finished.
I'm actually proud of, you know,
what I look like in my smile.
Like, I love my smile.
I think that's, like, the best thing,
just because, like, it took so much work.
- Yeah. - And I am as happy as ever.
Devin's phenomenal with all she's been through.
I mean, you wouldn't know she's been through anything.
Now, see if you can throw it up like this.
(Bryon) She's vivacious.
Yay! That was really good.
(Bryon) She's very dedicated to the work she does.
She's really quality-oriented.
I need to figure out a way to keep Devin here at Marco's.
So next up, we're going to be cleaning the dining room.
(Bryon) Okay.
[upbeat music]
Today I'm gonna be working at the Marco's Pizza
in McKinney, Texas.
With 60% of our business being delivery business,
the delivery driver is the only person
most of these customers see.
Here's your pizza.
(Bryon) And I'm gonna be watching today
to just make sure that we're giving
that world-class great experience,
'cause it can't be just a good experience;
it has to be great to steal that customer
away from somebody they're already buying their pizza from.
♪ ♪
Hi, welcome to Marco's. Picking up or placing?
I'm actually looking for Howard.
- Oh. - I'm Jay.
Hi, my name's Howard. It's nice to meet you, Jay.
Nice to meet you as well.
All right, why don't you come around here?
I'll let you know that I am
a delivery driver for Marco's Pizza.
I handle all the deliveries,
taking them to houses, homes, businesses,
wherever I need to go.
And so I'm gonna teach you that today, all right?
- All right. - Delivery driver today.
- Yeah. - Okay.
Before we get started, I'm gonna go ahead
and get you in proper uniform, 'cause you cannot be out
delivering like that, now.
- You got to look proper, man. - Okay.
Got to fit the style. Got to fit the style.
So go ahead; bathroom's in the back.
Go and change and meet me out front right here.
We'll get you started.
(Howard) My first impression of Jay when he walked up was,
"Man, this guy's taller than me.
How am I gonna boss him around?"
You know, I got to lead Jay
how to do the business looking up the entire time.
(man) Order number 11's ready for delivery.
That's our first order,
so you want to go ahead and get that.
Stick that one in there, should be good to go.
(man) Order number 13's ready for delivery.
All right, go ahead and get your next bag prepped
for your next pizza to come up.
Okay, so there's lots of deliveries.
Oh, yeah. A typical day,
you can say for a nice shift,
you can take anywhere between 10 and 20 deliveries.
- Oh, wow. Okay. - If it's consistent, yeah.
(man) Order number 14's ready for delivery.
- All right. - Okay.
Good to go.
Seat belt on. Safety first.
As a Marco's driver, man, we have to represent the business.
You want to get the deliveries there as fast as possible,
but you have to make sure that you keep good driver etiquette.
So what are some of the things
that I got to keep in mind?
Make sure whenever you interact with a customer,
you want to be positive, bright.
You know, ask them how their day is going.
Make sure that they know that we're delivering pizzas,
but we care about our customers.
Okay.
[funky music]
All right, here's our destination.
- You're gonna do the talking? - Yeah, I'll do the talking.
Okay.
You go ahead and grab the bag too.
[upbeat music]
[doorbell rings]
Hi, how are you doing tonight, ma'am?
- Hello. - This is my man, Jay.
I'm here training him.
This is his first day delivering.
Go ahead and give her the pizza.
Okay.
Sign that for me please, ma'am.
I really like what you're doing with the house.
I like the decorations; it looks really nice.
- Thank you. - There you go.
- Thank you. - Thank you so much.
- Thank you. - All right.
- You guys enjoy your day now. - Okay.
All right, man, that's all for you.
That's what we work for. That's what we work for.
Tips, tips, tips.
[Howard laughs]
I'll have to look this company up.
Yeah, yeah, I really like the company, man.
Pretty much the food speaks for itself,
and everything's done word-of-mouth,
but I think they could do
a little bit more with the advertisement.
Yeah.
Because, you know, a lot of people out there, you know,
they don't know Marco's Pizza.
Yeah, I didn't.
I mean, if we're able to get the word out a little bit more,
that'd be great.
(Bryon) This is the second location
that I've been told we need to advertise,
because people just don't know who we are.
So we've got to build a big noise about Marco's Pizza
in this community so people know what we're doing here.
All right, so for this next delivery, I'm gonna
have you take it up there
and actually talk to them, you know? You know...
Oh, all right, that makes me a little nervous.
Oh, man, don't get nervous.
My business... I mean, I kind of work
behind the scenes in my business.
I'm not one who meets with people a whole lot.
All right, your time to shine.
[whimsical music]
[knocks]
♪ ♪
Hi, I've got a medium thin cheese pizza
with a garlic butter crust.
- That's it. - That's it.
You know, it seems really easy just delivering pizzas,
but it's really not.
There's a lot to remember.
Do you have the crushed pepper packet?
I sure do.
When you don't do this every day,
it takes a few moments to really get your muscle memory down.
You got some pizzas,
and I believe you're getting some of those great brownies.
You know, what hand do I hold this in?
How do I hold that? What do I do with this?
- That look like it? - Thank you, yeah.
- (both) Thank you so much. - We appreciate it.
(Bryon) But I did all that,
and I think I got through it pretty well.
You did a really good job, man.
All right, thanks.
You go to school or anything?
Right now, I'm not.
A lot of my time right now
goes to being able to support... help support my family.
My dad served 20 years in the army.
He recently retired, and he's been getting into real estate.
I mean, really, our only opportunity to come to Texas
came through a family friend that was like,
"Hey, we have an upstairs that you guys can stay in,"
and I've been staying
on the couch for the past three months.
That's where I've been sleeping.
But right now, it's just me and my mom and my dad.
Okay.
He came back from the war with PTSD,
which was really tough.
The first time and the only time I've ever seen my dad have,
like, a PTSD, like, episode,
it really... it hurt me to see what happened to my dad.
What actually happens?
Like, you know, they'll start hyperventilating,
you know, start getting really stressed out.
My dad was getting really, you know,
angry, mad, and, you know,
so you can't really control your emotions that well.
I mean, and it's just... it's something else to experience.
My dad's always been somebody I look up to.
He's probably the greatest man that I know.
Yeah.
You know, I can only hope
that when I get older, I can be just as great as him.
(Bryon) You know, Howard looks up to his father,
and he's willing to sacrifice everything in his life right now
to help his father get on his feet,
and I just think that's one of the most amazing things
that a young man can do.
All right, just got one more delivery for the night, man.
- Then we're all done. - All right.
[solemn music]
♪ ♪
(Bryon) What a journey this has been on many fronts.
So as I have been reflecting,
I realize I made the decision to have a family.
Then I also made a decision to go out and work hard,
just like Tyler talks about,
work hard just like Tom,
work hard just like Devin.
And that's coming at an expense...
as a great provider but not a good family man,
not a great father.
Are you scared?
[both laughing]
- How are you? - Oh, I'm good.
- Yeah? - You're still in your get-up.
They made me get in it.
How you doing?
I'm good.
This is, like, fun and crazy and cool.
It's been a really odd, um, journey,
because I'm hearing all these stories
that's so close to me, right?
Guys working all the time, never home with their kids,
and so I said, "I got to reconnect
with my kids and my family."
I said, "'Cause I have literally
sacrificed everything my whole life,"
I was driven, but, uh,
you get to this point in my life
and all the success that came with it
and you start to really layer it over the human toll,
I think it was selfish.
It's not.
I mean, you've been able to give us stuff
that a lot of people can't.
I just... [sighs]
I'm glad we're here, and I'm glad I can
be here right now while you're doing this
and be a part of it, and I'm...
I just... we've never gotten to talk like this,
and I'm so glad we've had this opportunity.
I just want you to know I...
I mean, I don't hold any regrets
or negative sentiments or anything.
So that's lucky for me.
I pride myself on being hyper-competitive.
It's time to be competitive as being a great father.
We're gonna go forward from here,
and it's gonna be different.
- Promise? - Promise.
- Promise? [laughs] - I promise.
That's gonna be one of the big takeaways
for me on this journey, is really
not so much looking back on who I've been,
but looking forward of who I'm going to be.
- I love you. - I love you too.
[dramatic music]
(announcer) Coming up,
the employees think they're going to decide whether or not
Jay deserves an investment
to start his own business.
You worked with Jay, I believe?
Yes.
(announcer) How will they react
when the boss reveals his true identity?
I'm the president and COO of Marco's Pizza.
What? [laughs]
[dramatic music]
(Bryon) You know, this journey, I was truly touched
by many of the lives of the people I met,
and it also opened my eyes to my own personal life.
It's more than just work.
I've got personal relationships.
I've got family members that have needs,
and I'm gonna be able to take away from this journey
the knowledge I need to be a better, whole person.
[whimsical music]
- How you doing? - Good, how are you?
Good. You worked with Jay, I believe?
- Yes. - Yeah.
Do I look familiar to you?
Your voice sounds very familiar.
You look exactly like Jay.
- Do I? - Yes.
My name is Bryon Stephens,
and I'm the president and COO of Marco's Pizza.
Really?
Oh, hi.
You're actually on "Undercover Boss."
♪ ♪
What? [laughs]
That's... [laughs]
Nice.
♪ ♪
It's clicking.
[both laugh]
Oh, my goodness.
It's awesome to meet you.
Tom, well, I have to say, of all the jobs
that I went undercover and did, that your job whipped my tail.
[laughs]
I got to take a second.
I'm dying.
(Tom) How bad do you want it, man?
- I'm not doing this, dude. - Watch off the side.
I'm not doing it.
You know, Tom, I tip my hat to the way you do the job,
the physical demands,
the amount of weight, you know, you're handling.
You know, I'm committed to making changes on that...
on those trucks and looking at ways
to really figure out how to make it safer,
how to make the job a little more palatable,
a little more easy.
That would be awesome.
We talked about security, and so one of the things
I'd like to do is, I'd like to have you
work with us to explore some opportunities for security.
You willing to help us out in coming up with...
sitting on a team to help us
fix some of those issues we're talking about?
Definitely. Definitely.
Tom, I have a whole new appreciation
for the sacrifice
that you make personally for the company.
How's that work for your wife?
'Cause I know that I've got failed marriages
because of being gone all the time.
Mm-hmm, it's trying on her like no tomorrow.
I mean, we do everything that we can do
to keep things on the up-and-up.
Tom, one of the things I really want to do is,
I want to make sure that, you know,
we're not gonna have you make the same mistakes that I made.
And I heard about you sleeping in your truck.
I heard about the kids calling you.
Tom, I'm gonna give you $25,000 to take the place
of the overtime hours that you put in
so that you can stay home with your family more.
Thank you.
And I'm giving you $20,000
for a vacation of a lifetime for your entire family.
Does that mean a lot?
[exhales sharply] Definitely.
[gentle music]
♪ ♪
I want to help out with your children.
I want to make sure they can go to college,
so I'm gonna give each one of them
a $5,000 scholarship starter fund
so that they're gonna have money there
to go to college when it's time.
That'd be awesome.
Thank you.
That'll make a world of difference.
And I want to thank you.
(Tom) I'm overwhelmed with the amount
that my life's been changed.
This will definitely give me the opportunity
to do extra stuff with my family,
be there for the kids, be there for my wife.
Knowing that somebody that high up is taking notice
of what you're doing, it's a life-changer by itself.
Devin, I was very impressed as soon as I met you.
You had a great smile,
and I could really feel this contagious energy that you had.
Our first task, I was impressed by the level of detail.
You follow the procedures right down to the Nth degree.
- That's completely wrong. - Okay.
- Push in, and I do this. - Right.
Slap, pull.
Pull.
Personally, I take pride in the store,
and I want to make sure that it's perfect.
Well, that was evident in everything you did.
And so it's gonna be important...
as we go forward, I'm gonna be talking about some things
that we can do to make systematic changes.
Dough-rolling, for instance...
my arms got tired; I have to be honest with you.
I'm getting... my arms... and I'm seeing you do this,
and I'm thinking, "How does she keep doing this?"
And you said, "Sometimes, it's hours' worth
of rolling dough for big, busy days."
And so I'm gonna focus specifically on technology,
having a machine that could actually roll those balls,
so it would make it much easier for us.
Good. I'm excited.
Like, I'm so happy to hear that.
And so you talk about college.
You were telling me that you're actually in the process
of leaving Marco's.
Yeah. I am. Sadly, I am.
With the new job, I'll get a little bit more money.
You know, Devin, I'm willing to match your salary
from the other employer
if you're willing to stay with us.
- That'd be pretty cool. - Yeah.
We hate to lose you, because you're very valuable,
and I want to give you $40,000 for your college.
♪ ♪
Oh, my God, thank you. Oh.
♪ ♪
That's... that's a lot of money.
Oh, my gosh, thank you so much.
[sniffles]
♪ ♪
Oh, my gosh.
So you told me a lot about your personal journey.
You know, you talk about your small stature,
but the fact of the matter is, you're a giant among people
because of who you are and how you show up.
So in addition to the scholarship,
I want to give you and your family $15,000 cash
to spend on anything that you need to spend it on.
Maybe a car?
Whatever it is you need.
[bright instrumental music]
Thank you.
♪ ♪
Oh, my gosh.
Everything's blurry, 'cause of the tears,
but I feel so good.
Like, that... that was crazy.
I think I might combust. Thank you.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
I got to give you a hug.
(Devin) I never thought in a million years
this would ever happen to me at all.
This will benefit me for the rest of my life.
It's crazy thinking about.
Howard, working alongside you,
I saw somebody who truly cares about this brand.
We spent quite a bit of time delivering pizzas.
Sign that for me please, ma'am.
I really like what you're doing with the house.
I like the decorations; it looks really nice.
As drivers, we represent the company.
Yep.
You actually shared with me
that that store needs advertising help,
and so I'm gonna commit to giving that store
$25,000 worth of advertising that's gonna be going out
in that store, more than what they're already doing.
Think that'll help get more deliveries?
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
Maybe one or two more a night.
There, there you go.
Your father served this country very proudly,
and he suffers from that.
Yeah, he does; he does suffer from PTSD.
So you're kind of... you're the breadwinner, right?
- I mean, in a big way. - Maybe a little.
- A little bit, yeah. - It's tough.
It is. It is.
You know, I would like to, you know,
get out there and do my own thing
and live on my own, but I know I want to support my family.
- Yeah. - I want to be there for them.
Where'd you tell me you were sleeping?
Sleeping just on the couch right now.
Have been for the past couple months.
You know, I want to alleviate some of the stress
from your family's life,
so I'm gonna give you $15,000 to pay for housing, furnishings,
and the utilities to get your family back on their feet.
[crying]
♪ ♪
Howard, you said you gave up your dream of college
to come here and help out with the family.
I know that you don't have aspirations
to be a delivery driver your whole life,
so I want to help with that.
I'm giving you $20,000 to help you pay for your schooling.
♪ ♪
[crying]
I could just give you a hug or something, man.
Thank you.
♪ ♪
(Howard) Thank you.
You're very deserving, my man.
As one of my delivery drivers,
you're spending 20, 25 hours a week in your car driving.
I'm gonna give you a brand-new car,
and it's right outside.
Really? [laughs]
Oh, goodness gracious.
This is the keys to that new car
out there in the parking lot.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
- How does that feel? - It feels great.
I'm just thinking about telling my parents.
[laughs]
They're gonna be so happy.
Oh, they're gonna be so happy.
(Howard) This is one of the best days of my life
I've had so far ever. [laughs]
I mean, I just feel great for being able
to help my family, you know?
[laughs]
I really want to call my dad,
just let him know that I love him
and you don't have to worry anymore.
We have a trunk.
Whoo-hoo.
No more stress.
[laughs]
I never thought anything like this could ever happen.
I'm gonna take this baby for a spin.
Tyler, you've got that energy.
You've got that drive.
You're setting the pace.
You're setting the tone.
And, you know, I was working on the pizza,
and I remember saying to you...
I said, "What do you want, speed or quality?"
- And you said you wanted both. - I want both.
I see what you're doing.
You're doing the one-handed method.
You need to be using both hands when you cheese a pizza,
as fast as you can.
I'll rush you as much as I can.
So what was my time?
It was 11 minutes; that's really bad.
- That wasn't very good, was it? - No.
You really impacted me,
because I see a lot of me in you.
- Mm-hmm. - The early me.
I think you've got a lot of potential,
and one of the things I really want
to do for you right now, Tyler,
is, I want to give you an incentive reward
for how you've shown up and what you've done here.
And I'm gonna give you $5,000
just to be able to use however you want to use that.
Thank you.
Like... [exhales]
♪ ♪
Thank you.
You know, I'm happy we can help in that way,
but that's really not all that I want to do,
because I do believe you've got more potential.
So, Tyler, I'm committing $15,000
to get you some of the best
life coaches and training possible.
I'm gonna sign you up for two years unlimited classes
for the American Management Association
so that we can get you ready to be able to get
everything you want out of life.
You gonna commit to the educational part of this?
- That's the big, tough thing. - Most definitely.
I will do it, most definitely.
No hesitation.
I believe in you, and you have proven to me
to be a hard worker and a person with great character,
and I'm going to give you a store worth $400,000,
and you will be making, my friend,
probably between $150,000 and $200,000 a year.
And you will have done what you set out to do.
[sobbing]
[exhales sharply]
I hope this is the beginning
of a long partnership between us, my friend.
Holy crap, this is, like, life-changing stuff.
All I've ever done is struggle.
(Tyler) I feel like I'm living a dream.
Like, I feel like I'm in my dreams right now.
Before, it was a constant worry of, you know,
"Was the hard work gonna take me where I wanted it?"
And I know I know that working
as hard as I have been has taken me somewhere
and it's given me an opportunity.
[line ringing]
- Hey. - Hey.
It wasn't somebody I was training.
It was the owner of the company,
and he's giving me a franchise... my own store.
(woman) Oh, my God, that's awesome.
You don't got to worry about me no more, Mom.
(woman) I love you, and I'm so proud of you.
♪ ♪
[upbeat music]
♪ ♪
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