male announcer: "Undercover Boss" is back...
[dramatic music]
- Here's Bobby! [laughter]
- Whoa.
- This is ten times harder than the boardroom.
- Ugh. - This is a disaster.
I would never have found out if I wasn't undercover.
announcer: The most devastating economic crisis
for a generation
has been tough on American business
and even tougher on America's workforce.
- We all had to take salary cuts.
- So how many firemen you think you down?
- 15. Just because of the pandemic.
announcer: So there's never been a more important time
to go undercover. - Whoa, whoa.
announcer: This season... - Wow!
announcer: The toughest challenges...
- This has gotta be the worst job in the restaurant.
- It is. Ugh.
announcer: The biggest shocks...
- I need to rethink everything that we're doing.
- You broke so many rules.
announcer: And the most dramatic,
life-changing rewards...
- I mean, that's the greatest thing
you could ever do for me, man.
announcer: In "Undercover Boss" history.
- I need to break cover right now and shut this down.
announcer: Tonight...
- Oh!
announcer: The two bosses of one
of America's fastest-growing franchise companies...
- [laughing] Oh, my God.
announcer: Go undercover together.
- ♪ Nick and Omar are on the job ♪
announcer: Giving up their executive lifestyles.
- Come on, let's go, let's go.
announcer: The founders of College HUNKS Hauling Junk,
Nick Friedman...
- Did I just slam on your fingers?
announcer: And Omar Soliman...
- You got some fancy shoes for a dirty job.
announcer: Will join their staff on the front line.
- Watch out. - Uh-oh.
- We could literally lose out
on a couple hundred dollars because of this.
announcer: After the worst year
for business in decades...
- Business is down 50%.
announcer: They want to find out
if the company can not only survive, but thrive.
- Coming through! announcer: So the bosses
will get hands-on with the company issues...
- And we questioned whether you are fit for this brand.
- I'm scared to death.
Am I gonna lose my business?
announcer: Come face to face with some hard truths.
- It hurt my family because I ended up
losing a lot of money.
announcer: Before making some life-changing interventions.
- Never in my life did I think
that something so gracious would come my way.
announcer: All this, next on "Undercover Boss."
[rock music]
♪ ♪
- My name is Omar Soliman.
I'm the co-founder and CEO
of College HUNKS Hauling Junk.
- My name is Nick Friedman, and I'm the co-founder
and president of College HUNKS Hauling Junk.
♪ ♪
College HUNKS is a multimillion-dollar
moving and junk removal brand.
I've known Omar since 10th grade.
We've been best friends from the beginning
and business partners for now over 15 years.
We always like to say we're like peanut butter and jelly.
You know, we make-- - Who's peanut butter?
- I'm the peanut butter--
- No, I'm the peanut butter, man; you're the jelly.
[both laughing]
announcer: Headquartered in the heart
of sunny Tampa, Florida,
College Hunks Hauling Junk
is one of the fastest-growing
removal and junk businesses in the country,
with annual revenues of over $200 million.
♪ ♪
- HUNKS stands for "Honest,
Uniformed, Nice, Knowledgeable, Service."
- We want to make people's lives easier
by providing a stress-free
moving or junk removal experience.
- What he's trying to say is we're really good
at moving stuff.
So we met in high school in detention of all places.
We were there because
we ran onto the field at a football game
and actually got beat up by the opposing team.
- We knew we wanted to be friends from that day forward.
- We were home for summer break from college.
My mom had this beat-up cargo van,
and she's like, "Take that van.
"You guys could be, like,
the college hunks who haul junk."
And we were like, "Dang, that's a pretty good name."
So we put some flyers around the neighborhood.
- We're the original College HUNKS Hauling Junk.
- Yeah.
Oh, my muscle is getting a little smaller now.
[upbeat music]
The first job we went to, we made $200,
and we stood there looking at that $200 thinking,
"This is the most amount of money
we've ever made in our life."
You know, we felt like we were P. Diddy.
We're making it rain.
announcer: The company added a moving service in 2008
and grew from one van into a 3,000 truck mega-machine
with 150 franchises
across 39 states
employing over 4,000 HUNKS.
[cheers and applause]
- So our goal is to become a billion-dollar company.
In a lot of ways, our business is like
a rocket ship launching into space.
Nothing can stop us.
All of a sudden, 2020 happens.
♪ ♪
- COVID hit, and there is no playbook for that.
- Business is down 30, 40, 50% overnight.
- It was definitely by far the toughest day for me
as a business owner, number one,
not knowing if our business was gonna be here,
but more importantly, having to make these layoffs
of team members who we really cared about
and lived our core values, and them understanding,
but not fully grasping the gravity of the situation.
I think was--was-- that was a tough moment.
- But after a shaky start, business has slowly returned.
We were classified as an essential service.
We were moving victims of domestic violence for free.
We were donating trucks for water and for supplies.
We were able to actually rehire people that we let go.
- Now we have to get back on track
and put the pieces in place to scale it up.
- So our goal is to have 300 franchise partners,
5,000 team members, 5,000 trucks.
- So we need to go undercover to find out
if our business is fit
and ready for a super-sized expansion.
[soft music]
- So how do you guys feel about going undercover?
- I'm nervous. I'm supposedly from New York.
So I don't know if I should, like,
change my voice, you know, be like,
"I'm from--ey, I'm from New York."
- I wouldn't try that.
- No? [laughter]
- I'm ready for my transformation.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What is that? Time-out.
- We wanted to go undercover to make sure
that we're in a position to start growing faster
in the next couple years than we have in the first 15.
If there's issues in the foundation of the business,
they're just gonna get bigger and bigger
and will eventually crack and crumble.
- Oh, my God.
The reason why we want to do this
is we've got a path to a billion dollars.
That's a serious number,
but it's gonna be all about the little things.
And so if we can focus on those little things
and make them right, we can get there.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
[quirky music]
- Whoa! - Oh, my God!
- Whoa! [both laughing]
- Oh, my God, you don't look anything like you.
[laughter]
♪ ♪
[laughter] - Oh, my...
- Freddy DeLuca. Ryan Davenport.
- Oh, my! - Nice to meet you.
- Oh, my God!
- So going undercover, I will become Freddy DeLuca.
I'm a barman. I lost my job due to COVID.
- I'm going to be Ryan Davenport,
who's worked in various gym facilities over the years.
Our employees think they're gonna be on a documentary
about starting over in a new career,
and they have no idea that it's "Undercover Boss."
Do you think my employees will recognize me?
- No. I don't want you to look like this forever.
- Okay. Wish us luck.
- Good luck, Daddy!
- Good luck. - Bye.
- We started this company together.
We built this company together.
- Now we're going back on the road together...
- It's like we're back in the old days.
- To take it to the next level.
♪ ♪
[funky music]
Today, we're in Boise, Idaho,
over 2,000 miles away from home.
Nick and I are gonna take turns to go undercover,
and I'm up first working with the move team.
All right.
Moving is a huge part of our business.
It's 50% of our revenue.
It's been about 15 years since I've worked out on a truck.
- [laughs] Freddy!
- And, man, this weather right now is crazy.
We are not in Tampa anymore.
- It's game day, baby.
♪ ♪
[playful music]
You look kind of intimidating, dude.
[laughs]
Let me see. [laughs]
- Yeah, man, look at this snow.
- This weather condition's--
you're gonna be having to move furniture...
- I really can't imagine that. - In this.
- I hope I don't bust my ass.
[laughter]
- All right, man. Go get 'em, tiger.
- All right. Wish me luck.
♪ ♪
[suspenseful music]
Today, I'm going undercover as a Wingman,
which is what we call the new HUNKS.
Chris, who is a Senior Captain will be training me.
- Hi, are you Freddy? - Yeah. Are you Chris?
- Yes. - Good to see you.
- So first off at College HUNKS,
we've gotta have our uniform.
So go ahead and hop inside
and go get changed, and then we'll get to work.
- Okay, will do.
Getting new people and training them
on the College HUNKS way
is such a critical part of the business.
It's how we grow.
If we're gonna become a billion-dollar company,
and we're not doing it right, it's never gonna happen.
- Oh, looking good! There we go.
The only thing I'd have to say
is you got some fancy shoes for a dirty job.
[quirky music]
- You know, he wasn't a big fan of my shoes.
He was kind of telling me
they were a little too fancy.
And so, you know, I think he's looking at me
like I'm not really ready for the job.
[rock music]
- First, we're going to pack up this.
I'll do this on my own. - Okay.
- So you can see how it's done.
Bring your blanket up, get your tape, tape around,
and then follow it around,
throw it over the top, move quickly.
If you're out here for too long,
you're gonna cost your client more money.
- Chris obviously knows what he's doing.
The way he approaches the training
is very thorough.
- A little trick to the trade with this,
put it where you got your tape,
and it doesn't move on you.
♪ ♪
- Wow.
Chris is so fast at wrapping.
Like I was mind blown when I watched him do it.
♪ ♪
- That's what it should look like.
- Ooh.
I've never really done a moving job.
I started out hauling junk.
We added moving much later in the business.
So I'll see how I do.
- Go ahead and wrap that one up.
Let's see what you got here.
- How do you get this thing? Oh.
[suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
- If it's not tight, it's not securing.
You're not sweating yet. You're not moving fast enough.
The biggest thing here is speed.
- This thing doesn't...
- But Freddy is slow.
- Oh.
♪ ♪
- If he wants to be a HUNK,
he's really gonna have to step it up.
From now on, I'm gonna be keeping
a real close eye on him.
I got it. - You got it?
- And I hope he gets better,
'cause otherwise he's gone.
- Oh.
It's not an easy job.
This guy's got me running in circles.
I'm slipping, I'm tired,
and we haven't even really finished the job yet.
So first day is no joke.
[light music]
- There you go. There you go. - Yeah, man.
It seems like a lot to do for, you know, just one TV, huh?
Have you damaged stuff before?
- Yeah. I had a job
where I lost out on, like, about $900 in tips.
- Ooh.
- It was because of a TV.
It hurt my family,
because I ended up losing a lot of money.
Six months down the road, and I'm still paying on it.
- So even if it's a, like, accident,
it still comes out of your tips?
- Yes. Fully, everything is our responsibility.
- Tips are a big part of the way
that HUNKS get compensated.
So it's something that we need to look at,
because the people that are out there
working and busting their butts
shouldn't be penalized for things
that are out of their control.
- Go ahead and hop in.
We're gonna head off to the destination.
- All right.
[upbeat music]
- And away we go.
♪ ♪
- I could tell by the way you train me,
like, you don't mess around.
You're intimidating. - [laughs]
- Where does that come from?
- I was in the military for four years.
I actually spent time over in Iraq.
- Wow. - I was hit by an IED,
an improvised explosive device.
[solemn music]
- Oh, my God.
- It blew off a good portion of the front of my Humvee.
It messed up my gunner's hatch,
and I was the gunner. - No way.
- I have shrapnel in my face and my shoulder.
- What?
- I was actually very lucky with my life that day.
It's kind of actually hard to talk about, in a sense too,
'cause I get, like, to the nitty-gritty
of emotions of it. It's...
- Man, that's--you're like a real hero, man.
It's not every day you get to ride in a truck
with, like, a true hero,
someone that's been injured serving our country.
So it really means a lot.
♪ ♪
[upbeat music]
We're here? This is it? - Yep.
- I don't think Chris is that impressed with me,
which, you know, I don't blame him.
I'm pretty rusty.
So now I'm gonna up my game.
I'm gonna work harder. I'm gonna work faster,
and I'm gonna prove to Chris and myself
that I'm quality HUNK material.
♪ ♪
All right, I'm gonna go fast.
I got it. - You got it?
- Yep. - Come on, let's go, let's go.
- Okay. I'm warming up a little.
- There you go.
- Watch it. - Oh, no!
Oh. [rattling]
My bad. My bad. - Yeah.
- I didn't know there was something else there.
- It's a simple accident,
but at the same time, he could cost us.
All that scratching on the edges right there,
depending on the customer, we just costed us
whatever that's gonna cost to replace that.
- What is it? - It's a tabletop.
We could literally lose out on a couple hundred dollars
because of this.
♪ ♪
- So today is my first day on the job.
I was moving fast, I was running,
I was freezing cold, and all of a sudden, like,
I went to pull something,
and I just heard this thing smash on the ground.
- Watch it.
- Oh. [rattling]
I can't believe I've dropped something at the end.
- We just costed us
whatever that's gonna cost to replace that.
- Sorry.
I really like Chris.
So I feel like I let him down.
[upbeat music]
- That's it for the day. - Okay.
- We're gonna head back to the office now.
♪ ♪
How do you feel about how it went today?
- Man, it was--it was hard.
- I would just say that you're definitely
a good candidate for a Wingman,
and you could, you know, do the same thing I did.
I came in here, and I went
from Wingman to Captain in six months.
And that's why I stick to my guns with this company.
- So what does this job mean to you?
- It means stability for my family, honestly.
- You have how many kids? - Four kids.
And I have a baby girl on the way.
- Wow. Those are a lot of mouths to feed.
- Having this job, it's a blessing, honestly.
Because if I didn't have this job,
we would not have a home.
I started here right after COVID started,
and that's been a tipping point.
About six months prior, my wife, my kids,
and I were all homeless. - Wow.
- We were homeless for six months.
We were actually put up graciously by a church family,
and they let us stay in the church at night.
It's really hard to live with that, to know that...
as a father,
you've kind of failed every now and then.
- I don't think anything about you is a failure.
You said that word, and it's like--man, to me,
it's the exact opposite.
To do what you're doing,
to carry that weight of being a father for those kids,
and the way you approach the day, the work, you know,
just from the short time I've spent with you,
like, it's extremely inspiring for me.
- Thank you. [chuckles]
- I really wasn't expecting
to feel like this going undercover.
You know, to hear someone's story
that's, like, been through stuff like this.
It just hits me really hard to hear someone
that's done so much, like serve this country,
gives his best day in and day out.
And the fact that even someone like that
feels like a failure--
like, that guy is so far from a failure.
He's, like, truly, truly an inspiration.
♪ ♪
[upbeat music]
♪ ♪
So how you feeling about today?
- A little nervous, a little anxious, you know,
I don't really know
what exactly is gonna unfold. - Enjoy this.
I mean, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, really.
It really is like those movies where you get to go back
to high school and, like, relive some part of your life.
I mean, you think back at all we did
is pour our blood, sweat,
and tears into hauling junk all day.
- Yeah. We were grinding.
And it's one of those things like I'm nostalgic for it,
but I don't want to have to go do it again, you know?
So it's gonna be tough.
Today, I'm gonna be working
with one of our HUNKS, Jessica,
and we're gonna be doing junk removal.
During COVID, junk removal has really started skyrocketing
because people are stuck in their homes.
The junk removal side of the business
is what the company was founded on.
It's one of our most profitable lines of business.
If we're gonna make it to be a billion-dollar brand,
junk removal has to be at the cornerstone of it.
♪ ♪
Hey, how's it going? I'm Ryan, Ryan Davenport.
You must be Jessica.
Lovely weather we're having here.
Lovely weather.
This looks like a HUNKS headquarters.
♪ ♪
[quirky music]
Jessica?
- Yep. - Ryan.
- Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you.
- Well, welcome to College HUNKS.
Do you wanna go get ready for me?
- Sure.
Being here now, I'm looking forward
to getting onto a real junk removal job
and seeing if I still got what it takes to be a HUNK.
♪ ♪
- All righty. Let's go.
- All right.
♪ ♪
- All right, I think we are here.
- Four stories?
I was hoping for a drive-up garage.
Should we maybe load all this into the elevator or...
- Uh, no. We're going down the stairs.
♪ ♪
- Oh, okay.
It's been 15 years since I've lifted
a piece of furniture in that manner.
Now what? - Tilt that way.
Slowly to your right.
- Let alone down flights of stairs.
[grunts]
♪ ♪
This is ten times harder than the boardroom.
- You got it?
- Yeah. - [chuckles]
♪ ♪
Okay.
♪ ♪
Ooh. Goodness. - [laughs]
The big thing that made me laugh was Ryan
being completely exhausted halfway through the job.
[laughs]
- Let's take a quick rest. All right.
- We had to take a couple breaks.
- Let's take a rest.
She was running circles around me.
She was the pro HUNK out there.
♪ ♪
- All right, let's go. - Awesome.
♪ ♪
Is it kind of interesting or different being a female
when you see the name's Collage HUNKS?
- I do show up to customers' houses,
and they expect a HUNK, and sometimes customers
don't think you can do the job.
- Interesting.
- And I love showing people that women can do this job.
I like the fact of being able to all work alongside men
that are younger than me and show them up
'cause then it pushes them to do harder.
- I think a lot of people just assume that HUNKS
has to be male,
and it's not about being male or female.
We redefined what HUNK stands for.
It's "Honest, Uniform, Nice, and Knowledgeable."
And Jessica is definitely the definition of a HUNK.
♪ ♪
- So we're pretty much gonna empty out this truck.
We do like to keep things, and we'll put it over here.
On the occasion that you find trash and it's not reusable,
you throw it in the trash.
Dig in.
♪ ♪
- Metal? - Yep, metal.
♪ ♪
- Trash?
- That I would save over there just so we can go through it
and make sure that there's not anything
that could be usable in it.
I look through everything 'cause you never know.
All the stuff we're bringing back here
can be given to organizations that can actually use it.
So, like, all this stuff, as you can see,
there's a lot of good furniture,
a lot of usable items, you know.
I sort through this mostly because
different organizations only take certain items.
If you have somebody that needs kitchen utensils
or silverware, you could--
you know where you're going to get it.
- So this isn't part of, like, the franchise model...
- No. - Per se?
- So none of the other College HUNKS
do what we're doing here, as far as sorting the items out
and making sure that they get donated.
A lot of them actually go to the big dump every day,
and they just dump it all.
So I kind of would love
for the company to adopt this system.
♪ ♪
- It's a brilliant idea what Jessica's done.
She's taken the initiative to create a sorting process
to really sort the items
as they're coming back to the shop
to help them to ensure that items are being donated
before they're being disposed of.
- It's a great way of getting half-used stuff
and giving it away to somebody that really needs it, you know.
♪ ♪
- I've always questioned the financial feasibility
of the sorting and donating, but it's giving me the idea
that there's an opportunity here
that we need to look further into.
announcer: Coming up,
Nick faces some harsh realities.
- There was a shooting out there today.
- A shooting today? - Mm-hmm.
announcer: And Omar battles to keep his cover.
- You look very familiar.
♪ ♪
[upbeat music]
- Today, I'm in St. Louis, Missouri,
with one of our HUNKS.
We're doing junk removal.
- I look through everything
'cause somebody's trash is another person's treasure.
- I was really impressed with Jessica taking the initiative
to create a process to sort and donate items.
Somebody like Jessica is exactly what this company
needs to continue growing
as we look to become a billion-dollar brand.
- All righty, that's it.
So I don't know if you would like to,
but I'm about to go meet up
with my partner and my children,
if you'd like to come to have some dinner with us.
- I've worked up an appetite. I'd love to.
- All right, let's go.
[soft music]
♪ ♪
Hey, John. - Hi.
- Hi, kids.
Ryan, this is John.
- Nice to meet you. - We've got Laci and Levi.
- Hey, Levi. John, nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you, bud.
- What are you coloring, Laci? Ooh, it's purple, huh?
That's my daughter's favorite color.
- [laughs]
- You guys live near here?
- We actually live in a rougher part
of the St. Louis area.
- When you say rough, like what kind of rough?
- There was a shooting out there today at our house.
- A shooting today? - Yes.
A gentleman decided to let out on a automatic rifle
out the back of his door.
- An automatic rifle? - Mm-hmm.
- It was actually right outside our back door,
right outside the gate where they play.
- Oh, my God.
[dramatic music]
- It happens all the time.
- How do you even feel safe?
- You definitely have to watch your back.
- We have a two-by-four that keeps our back door locked.
And the front door is actually a steel cage
bolted to the frame.
- My God.
To hear Jessica talk about her living situation
made me speechless; it was like a punch to my gut.
I look at her daughter and see my daughter,
and where her kids are growing up
is not the type of environment any child
should have to grow up in.
To fear for even just walking outside,
I just can't even imagine it.
[soft music]
Hey, buddy.
Hey, you got some mac and cheese?
- It looks like he's really interested in you.
- They believe he has a form of autism.
Struggle with finding the right care.
There's a whole world of help
that I could get if he was legally diagnosed.
- And what's been the challenge to getting that diagnosis?
- It causes for a specialist to see him.
Specialists aren't covered by regular insurance.
So now we're just kind of going with the motions with him
until we figure out what we can do.
- Jessica's son needs some medical support.
You know, there's help out there for kids.
And the sooner that those kids can get attention
and counseling,
the better that they can cope throughout their lives.
How do you maintain
such a sort of positive disposition about life?
- I've been at rock bottom, and I know what it feels like,
and now, the only way is up.
- The problems I thought I had in life
are minuscule in comparison
to what Jessica's dealing with.
This was really eye-opening for me to hear her story.
Well, guys, this was a pleasure.
I appreciate you inviting me to meet your family.
- Right. Yeah, definitely. - I appreciate it.
Thank you so much. - You have a good one.
- You guys have a great night.
Bye-bye. - Bye.
- The only silver lining about me hearing her story
is I might be in a position to help her
with some of the things she's dealing with.
[soft music]
[sighing]
I'm exhausted.
- There he is. - Yo.
- What's up, bud? You look beat.
- I'm beat.
Omar, bro, it was more intense than I ever imagined.
I'll tell you. We met Jessica.
She's got a five-year-old son with special needs,
but she hasn't been able to get that verified
to get the counseling that would help him.
There was a shooting today in her apartment complex.
- Yeah. That's crazy.
- It was just like one situation after another,
and yet she's got the smile on her face. She's upbeat...
- Wow. - Proactive, resourceful.
She is beyond the ideal definition of a HUNK.
♪ ♪
[upbeat music]
- We're a franchise business, which means franchise owners
are a big part of our success
and will play a really important role as we expand.
So today, we're in Winchester, Virginia,
because a local franchise owner
has got us seriously concerned
about the way he responds to online reviews.
- This customer said, "I gave two stars
because the HUNK showed up, then the misery started."
Ooh. - Did he respond?
- Yeah. So Steve sent a response online.
"I'm sorry we're not able to manipulate the process.
"Your truly significant long-winded
negative review will not change this."
- I don't understand how someone thinks
that's the right way to go about it.
I don't know if I want to hear another one.
- "Your review is a misrepresentation
"of actual experience.
"I would not treat my dogs in the manner
"that your abusive, manic, psychotic husband
treated myself and four of my employees at your home."
- That's bad.
- You cannot take out your frustrations
in a public forum like this.
The customer is not always right,
but the customer is always the customer.
It's unacceptable.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- We've got rules on how to respond to customers,
how to manage social media.
And if somebody is not doing that,
they're putting the entire brand at jeopardy.
So to get to the bottom of this issue,
I'm gonna spend a day undercover with Steve.
♪ ♪
How you doing? Steve?
- Hey. - Hey. Freddy.
- Hey, how you doing, man? - How you doing?
My biggest fear going into this was getting found out.
- Come on in.
- So my heart started racing when I spotted
an old photo of me standing next to Steve.
♪ ♪
- So, Freddy, tell me a bit about yourself.
- Well, I'm from New York. I lost my job.
I'm looking to start over. - I hear you.
Okay. - Start fresh.
- I kind of first looked him, second looked him,
and it was his eye that kind of got me thinking,
"Hmm, what's this guy with the eye going on?"
So you've worked in the restaurant industry, right?
I mean-- - Yeah.
I've done, you know, the bar industry,
I've broken up fights, I took a beer bottle to the--
to the head breaking up a fight up there,
and so I know how to work hard.
♪ ♪
- Well, I'll tell you what.
You look very familiar.
[dramatic music]
- How familiar?
- You just look like somebody I know.
♪ ♪
- Me? - Yes.
♪ ♪
[dramatic music]
- Come on in.
- My biggest fear going into this
was getting found out.
- You look very familiar.
♪ ♪
You kind of look like Omar Soliman.
- You got me. - [laughing]
You know, I thought I was gonna be
a good method actor,
but he had the drop on me.
Steve, the reason that we're here...
- Yes. - And doing this undercover
is because some things came to light about reviews...
- Right.
- And also your response to the reviews.
- Mm-hmm. - We all get negative reviews.
It's just, how do we handle the response?
You know, Nick and I were sitting in the hotel room,
like, jaw on the floor.
- Those were older reviews.
- I think there was a review from, like, a month ago.
- It's-- - Hold on. Hold on.
'Cause we don't want to take this franchise away,
but it's serious, man.
- My heart just dropped down, and I'm thinking to myself,
"Oh, my gosh, what's going on here?
Am I gonna lose my business?"
- How reviews are responded to publicly is something
that puts the brand at risk.
- There was a few that I did that were emotional responses.
- Do you take it personal when, like,
a customer gets upset sometimes?
- It can be hard to deal with.
- You know, Nick and I, we've got to figure out
what's the path forward, what's the solution.
Owning this franchise is a privilege.
It's not a right. - Yes, sir.
I'll be honest with you, I'm a little scared to death.
- Now that I'm actually here, I'd still like to go
undercover with your team if that's okay.
- It is perfect.
- Make sure you call me Freddy and not Omar.
- Okay.
♪ ♪
Hey, guys, this is Freddy. He's from New York.
- Nice to meet you. - He is looking at acquiring
a franchise or getting into our business.
- I'm really trying to find out
if Steve runs his business
the way he responds to his reviews,
which is in an aggressive manner,
completely against company protocol.
- So today, whatever we have...
- Yep. - Boom, get it on the truck.
- Okay. I was just like,
"Oh, man, this is gonna be a tough job."
And all of a sudden, it's like, "Boom, boom, boom."
[upbeat music]
I mean, those guys get in there,
getting the job done and having fun.
[laughter]
- If we got a two-person thing to be moved,
I'll help you out with that. - All right.
They took me right in under their wing.
Coming through! Coming through!
These guys are awesome.
♪ ♪
They, like, are a well-oiled machine.
They're just move in... - Good, good.
- Always grabbing something, there's never any downtime.
- Let go. - Whoo!
- You know, I got to give it to Steve.
He really has developed a great team here.
You guys pack that good.
- Yeah. - It looks like Tetris.
Okay.
- Just picking it up-- - Yeah.
- All good, guys?
- What I want to do now is talk to Steve's team.
Find out what he's like as a boss.
How's Steve to work with?
- Steve's a good dude, man. He's a good role model.
He's a good leader, you know what I mean?
He'll go above and beyond for his guys--really, like...
- So those two racks need to go downstairs.
This fridge needs to go down.
- Now that Steve knows who I am,
you can tell he's really nervous.
You know, I see him just pacing around.
How's Steve to work for?
- He's pretty good, yeah. I love working for him.
And I ain't never had a boss like Steve.
- Yeah. - Who'd do anything for you,
to give you a shirt off his back.
Yeah.
- They all have glowing things to say about him.
They truly have a lot of respect for him,
but hearing how Steve was responding
to those online reviews is a big, big problems.
So I'm not sure what the path forward is yet.
I think I need to just talk with Nick
and then really come up with a plan.
- Going undercover has certainly given me
a lot of perspective.
I think the biggest thing that I've learned is that
this business is built with people,
and there's a lot of heart.
- Being undercover has been the hardest
and also most rewarding thing I've ever done in my life.
Meeting people, hearing stories, you know,
learning things about the business
that I didn't even know.
- I've seen some things that I really love,
and I've seen some things
that I'm really not happy about at all.
We're gonna have to take all of those things
and address each one of them.
- It was wild.
But I'm ready to say goodbye to Freddy
and get back to being the boss again.
[dramatic music]
Today, the employees and franchise owners
who we've met have been invited to do an interview.
- They said that it was just gonna be
an interview with a producer.
So I have no idea what's going on.
- They think they're giving feedback on their time
with Freddy and Ryan.
- He came in with the wrong kind of shoes.
They were nice shoes. [laughs]
- They have no idea this is actually "Undercover Boss."
[quirky music]
♪ ♪
- Recognize me?
- So I'm not Freddy.
♪ ♪
My name is Omar Soliman.
- I'm Nick Friedman. - Oh.
- And Omar and I are the co-founders
of College HUNKS Hauling Junk. - Wow.
- Oh, I'm nervous as hell now. [laughs]
- And you are on "Undercover Boss."
- Didn't think that was gonna happen.
announcer: Coming up, it's decision time on Steve.
- Our core values are non-negotiable,
and we questioned whether you are fit for this brand.
announcer: And the bosses hand out life-changing news.
- Never in my life did I think that something so gracious
like that would--would come my way.
♪ ♪
- How's it going, Jessica? - Pretty good.
- One of the things that I think really impressed me
was your passion for donating. - Mm-hmm.
- You've definitely shown us the true value of junk.
- We actually got you something.
- Oh, really? - Yeah.
[uplifting music]
- Oh, that's awesome. [laughs]
- This is the first annual sustainability trophy...
- Oh, wow. - And we're gonna be
giving it out each year to HUNKS
that go above and beyond when it comes to sustainability.
- Oh, cool. - Congratulations.
- That's outrageous.
Thank you. I appreciate it.
- And we're also gonna start
a task force for sustainability.
- Oh, awesome. Yeah, that'll be awesome.
- We'd love for you to be the ambassador
for that task force
that we're gonna be putting together.
- Thank you. I never thought that
I would do something like that or make changes like that.
- One of the other things that was, you know,
really impactful was getting a chance to meet your family.
And, you know, gosh, your...
[stammers]
♪ ♪
[voice breaking] Your son Levi.
♪ ♪
You know, you need to try to get him the help
and support that he needs, and you haven't been able
to get the diagnosis for his special needs.
- Mm-hmm.
- You know, that obviously hit home more for me,
having kids of my own.
- We found a top specialist in St. Louis
that's going to help with the diagnosis.
- It's gonna cost, I think, about $5,000.
We're gonna cover that.
So it'll be above and beyond the diagnoses.
So you have the ongoing support.
- This will be life-changing for him.
'Cause he's gonna be able to experience
so much more now.
World-changing for us. Thank you.
- When we had dinner together,
you had talked about having to board up the house
to--you know, to keep your kids safe.
- Especially 'cause the day of the filming
there was a shooting, you know.
And it's kind of scary to go home sometimes.
[solemn music]
- As a parent, the most important thing
we want is to be able to keep our kids safe.
- Most definitely. - And it really hit me hard
how you've--you've struggled to make that happen.
♪ ♪
We want to give you $50,000...
- Oh, my God.
- To help you get a proper
living space that's safe for your kids.
- That'll definitely make a big difference.
Thank you.
I cannot believe what just happened.
Most definitely life-changing for my family.
And it's definitely not gonna be as rough
as it has been for us.
[tense music]
- So, Steve, you know who we are.
- Yes, sir.
- One of the reasons we wanted to go undercover
is the type of conversations and arguments
you were having online with our clients
was not in line with our core values,
and our core values are non-negotiable.
And we questioned whether you are fit for this brand.
- I think your emotions can get the best of you sometimes.
And that shows in some of the communication
that you have with clients.
- The thing about going undercover
is we don't know what we're gonna find.
And we had certain expectations,
preconceived notions, and...
we were pleasantly surprised.
[soft music]
- I saw a team that went above and beyond,
that were true HUNKS,
and they were cracking jokes, but getting the job done.
Every time I spoke to any of you,
they always talked about how good the other guy was.
- Because I've handpicked people like this,
who I believe are good quality people.
I'm very sorry.
- Steve, you're knocking on the door of greatness,
and this one thing is really holding you back.
- It seems like you need some help
with some customer service,
some help with your online relationships.
We'd like to invest $10,000 in a social media manager
on behalf of your franchise.
- That sounds awesome.
- In addition, Omar and I want to volunteer ourselves
as mentors.
You can call us anytime.
We're gonna be your safety valve.
- Thank you.
I truly appreciate your time.
- Thank you so much, obviously,
for allowing me to stay undercover
and go work with your team.
They said that the whole team was like those four.
So you've done an amazing job with that, Steve.
- All 24 of your guys, back home,
they're gonna be getting probably the biggest tip
they've ever gotten, $5,000.
- Everybody? - Each one.
All 24. Over $100,000.
And that's because of your leadership.
You know, we may be writing that check,
but you'll get that credit.
- I love you guys.
I'm sure my guys will be loving you too.
[laughs]
♪ ♪
They're giving $5,000 to every person on my staff.
A lot of them are working hard to support their families.
It's just amazing.
♪ ♪
- What's up, Chris?
- How's it going? - How'd I do on the job?
I mean, you can be honest. I'm a pretty bad mover.
- [laughs]
I mean, you were slow.
But, I mean, it wasn't, like, horrible.
It was just a little bit sloppy.
I won't lie.
- You know, one thing that you mentioned,
which we were really disappointed to hear,
was the fact that your tips were taken away for damage.
And I know, as well as anyone, that accidents happen.
And it sort of felt a little unfair.
- Yeah. That's probably been
my hardest thing with this company.
- We're gonna talk to our franchisee council
and recommend that no-fault accidents
do not come out of the tips.
Will this improve life for you and your team?
- It definitely will. It will help a lot.
Thank you guys so much.
- One thing that really impressed me about you
is your skill at wrapping stuff
and the care you have for customers' items.
It was truly remarkable. - Thank you.
- So we want you to demonstrate those skills
on a digital video series for the rest of the workforce.
- Cool. [laughs]
- We want to pay you $5,000 to do that.
- That's awesome. That's gonna help my family.
- I understand you've got a growing family
with one on the way, correct?
- Two girls, two boys,
and then I got my baby girl coming.
- Congratulations. - Thank you.
- All a dad wants is to set up their family
to be in a better place, and it's hard,
and I know you've had tough times.
- We were homeless for six months.
Every day I worry because
I don't want to put my kids back in that sort of scenario.
- As a safety net, we want to give you $30,000
to make sure that you can continue
to provide for your family.
- Thank you. That's just--it's amazing.
And never in my life
did I that I think that something so gracious
like that would-- would come my way.
From my family and me, thank you guys so much.
- You're an inspiration, man,
for everybody in the company.
Best of luck with everything. - Thank you.
- Stay in touch.
♪ ♪
- I am shocked and amazed,
and I can't wait to get on the phone and call my wife
and let her know everything.
They're giving us $30,000.
- Wow.
- We won't have to worry so much.
- I'm so proud of you, babe.
[light music]
♪ ♪
- Going undercover and witnessing
all of what I've witnessed was truly remarkable.
I mean, learning about the business from the front lines,
you know, they're the ones that are affected
by the decisions that we make at corporate.
And so when they were saying the issue with tips,
hearing that, lit a fire under us,
because this brand, this business, is growing.
We're gonna be a billion-dollar company,
but if we're gonna do that, we gotta fix those things.
- We came undercover to try to determine
if the foundation was firm,
and we found that the people at the front lines
of our organization are truly amazing.
If we can keep those people within the organization,
this business is gonna become
a billion-dollar brand and beyond.
♪ ♪
[upbeat music]
♪ ♪
[upbeat music]
♪ ♪