announcer: "Undercover Boss" is back.
- How y'all doing? [laughter]
- 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.
- My wife and my kids and I, we're all homeless.
- Well, how many firemen you think down?
- 15 just because of the pandemic.
announcer: So there's never been a more important time
to go undercover.
- Coming through.
announcer: This season... - Wow!
announcer: The toughest challenges...
- This has got to be the worst job in the restaurant.
- It is.
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.
- We question whether you are fit for this brand.
- Oh, my gosh. Am I gonna lose my business?
announcer: Tonight...
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
announcer: The CEO of one of America's
most popular sweet-treat brands...
- There you go.
announcer: Steps away from her high-profile position...
- Here I am. - Oh!
announcer: To go undercover alongside her employees.
- I'm running out of little papers here.
announcer: She'll discover systems frozen in time...
- We're using dial-up for this. - Dial-up?
- Can you hear me? - I can't hear you.
announcer: And stores in chaos...
- This situation-- this has gone a little rogue.
- This is my business.
I am going to do what I need to do.
announcer: Before delivering life-changing news.
- Thank you.
I'm overwhelmed with joy and happiness.
announcer: All this next on "Undercover Boss."
- You understand, you're the boss of one shop,
but I'm the boss of them all.
- [crying] Oh, my word.
[upbeat music]
- I'm Linda Chadwick, and I'm the president and CEO
of Rita's Italian Ice and Frozen Custard.
Rita's is an iconic brand, selling Italian ices
made fresh daily with real fruit,
and our frozen custard is really top-quality.
What we say around here is, "Eat dessert first."
[chuckles]
♪
announcer: Headquartered in Philadelphia,
Rita's Ice is a franchise business
with over 580 stores, 15,000 employees,
and an annual revenue of $150 million.
- So, in my fast-food career,
I started at 18 working at Burger King.
I was making sandwiches and actually went through
every position within the restaurant.
I progressed quickly because I love the sense of urgency.
I love the pace.
A lot of my friends have said that I bleed ketchup,
and it's probably true.
[chuckles]
In my mid-40s, I became a single mom.
I had two kids and really had to juggle raising kids
and, obviously, my career.
It wasn't easy. It was tough.
I mean, there were times that people told me
that, really, I couldn't do that.
But when I heard I couldn't do that,
that made me want to do it even more.
And in 2017, I got the opportunity to come to Rita's
and become the president and CEO,
and I'm quite proud of that.
A Philadelphia firefighter, Bob Tumolo,
started the company in 1984
with his mom's water-ice recipe.
He started selling four flavors of ices
on his porch.
It became so popular,
the brand just began to grow and grow.
And in 1989, the family decided to franchise.
When I came in as CEO,
I found that there were some challenges.
We had issues in supply chain. We had issues in marketing.
And there were some franchisees that weren't happy.
Rita's needs modernizing.
My vision is to include more drive-through locations,
modernizing technology--
for example, a new cash register system--
and revolutionizing our distribution systems.
I feel the only way that I'm really gonna actually see
the initiatives in place and see if there's issues
and hear the truth is being in a disguise
and going behind the scenes.
[upbeat acoustic music]
- So are you worried about what you may uncover in the field?
- Of course, but I want to know, you know,
what's really going on out there.
- Are you ready for your makeover?
- I'm ready.
My biggest dream and aspiration
is to really be a household name
everywhere throughout the country in every state.
But that won't happen unless our franchisees get on board
with our new initiatives.
I'm going undercover because I can see room
for improvement from a corporate standpoint,
and I need to make certain my plans
are being properly implemented on the front line.
[dramatic music]
♪
Here I am. - Oh!
[laughter]
- Oh, my goodness gracious.
I love those glasses.
- So my persona is Marcy Morgan from Massachusetts,
and I'm a retired teacher.
- Definitely a art teacher.
- You want this, Lily? You want to borrow it?
- No, I'm good. Thank you.
- "No, I'm good."
- Our franchisees and employees
will think they're on a documentary
with a woman who's looking to start over in a new career.
- Bye.
- Have fun.
- My goal is to help franchisees
become more profitable and help our business grow.
- Good luck.
- We put a lot of new initiatives in place.
I want to see how they're working,
I mean, really see how they're working.
[upbeat acoustic music]
♪
Today I'm gonna be working
in Toms River, New Jersey, with Hezrron.
Hezrron is a fairly new franchisee,
but the shop itself has been here for 19 years.
It's important that all of our shops,
even the traditional ones,
keep up and modernize with our new ideas,
so I can't wait to work with Hezrron
and see how he's doing in his new business.
[quirky music]
♪
- Hi. - Hi.
- I'm Hezrron.
- Hi, Hezrron. I'm Marcy. Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you, too. So I have your stuff here.
- Okay. - The bathroom is in the back
if you want to try them on. - Thank you.
♪
My first impression was that the shop
had a lot of nice curb appeal.
I noticed his new awning, which was nice,
and the freshness of the shop was lovely.
- Oh. - Ready.
- So, okay, you're ready? - Yeah.
- I'm gonna teach you how to use the register.
Everything is basically here. You got your ices.
You have your sundaes. You have your cones.
Let's say someone orders a small gelati.
Just press that button,
and it tells you the total with the tax.
- I was surprised that the cash register stickers are blurred.
They're old. They're faded. They're handwritten.
I think we have a guest.
- Hi, how are you? - Good. How are you?
- Good. Thank you. What can I get you today?
- Could I get a small swirl custard?
- You got it.
- Well, that looks beautiful, but--
- Would you like a lid to go?
- I can't see the buttons. They're very blurry.
- I see the buttons on the register
from, like, a mile away.
It's gonna be this button right there.
But actually they're hard to read
if you're not used to them.
- There you go. Thank you very much and have a great day.
- Have a good day. - You as well.
- Our register is old. - Mm-hmm.
- This is probably older than me.
- Whoo. - But, yeah, it's--
When I took over, this is the register
we've been using, but it's still working.
- I was surprised that Hezrron was working
on the old cash register.
- So you open the register.
- I've invested in a lot of new technology,
including a digital cash register system
that runs off a tablet.
It's a shame that as a franchise owner,
Hezrron has chosen not to update his old machine.
Lemon. Okay.
Which size would you like? A large?
- Small. - Piña colada gelati.
I think it's this one. - That's the one.
- Thank you! - All right, bye-bye.
- A big spoon? - A long spoon.
- $3.71. On a credit card?
- Yep. - Okay.
- If they're paying with a credit card, swipe the card,
and it's gonna ask for how much the charge is.
- Oh, it's dialing. "Transmitting. Receiving."
Jeez.
It's taking some time.
Hmm.
[tense music]
♪
- It should go through.
- When I took a credit card order, it was so slow.
Quite honestly, it was driving me crazy.
Okay, here we go.
♪
Thank you very much. - Have a great day.
- Have a good day. - All right, bye-bye.
- Thank you.
- Why is it so slow?
- We're using dial-up for this,
so it takes longer to process.
- Dial-up? - I know.
It's old school. - Yeah.
I was shocked to find that the credit card is a dial-up.
- Using this takes-- really, it takes forever.
- We've got customers waiting to be served
while Hezrron and his team are stuck processing each payment.
- So right now it says "line busy,"
and I'm not sure why. - Uh-oh.
So that means the people behind him we can't take yet.
- Yes. Sometimes we'll have lines,
like, all the way to, you know, like,
the back of the parking lot, or they'll be along the side.
- I'm very disappointed in this situation.
So that happens a lot during the day?
- Yeah.
- It creates a bad experience for our guests,
and we're losing customers.
It's a disaster.
♪
[tense music]
- See, right now it says "line busy,"
and I'm not sure why.
- It's my first day undercover,
and I'm working with Hezrron and his team.
- One, it's just slow, and then, two, it gets interrupted.
- His outdated cash register system
is making every payment unacceptably slow.
- So I have to purchase a new register,
but it's really pricy, around $1,500.
But at the beginning of the season,
I replaced my tiles. - Mm-hmm.
- It was roughly around $5,000.
And then the awning was $7,700.
When you open a franchise,
you always have to pay for those yourself.
You get no help from corporate.
- Okay.
- So I had to put the register on hold.
- Yeah.
- Right now I'm not really thinking about it yet.
I'm gonna think about it when I make some money.
- I'm really proud of Hezrron and what he's done
with this shop here.
And I understand that maintenance
and upgrades are expensive.
But a new cash register system is fast,
and I really believe his speed of service for his guests
would be so much faster
and guest satisfaction would be greater.
- All right, we have to go to an event.
- Oh, we're going to an event?
- It's a field hockey game. - Okay.
- We're selling ices.
Let's do it. - Let's do it.
- Do you want to grab one? I'll grab the other.
- Absolutely. - All right, cool.
So we're gonna take the cart. There you go.
You can push, and then I'm gonna pull going up.
- Sure. - All right, we're lined up.
- Okay, here we go. - All right.
- Okay, ready? - Yep.
- One, two, three.
- It's hard work pushing the cart,
going up the ramp to get to the truck.
One, two, three.
Go--Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Imagine doing it by yourself.
♪
Almost there.
Wow. Good job, Marcy.
[upbeat acoustic music]
♪
- Got it.
- Tell me something about yourself.
- Well, I'm a retired schoolteacher,
and it's time to look for something else.
- If you want to be a Rita's owner,
you have to get down and dirty.
- But it's great being out in the community,
and people are excited.
- Doing events is really important for me.
You know, it's one way of getting our name out there.
- Mm-hmm.
- But I could do events like this
where it's gonna be, like, two to three hours,
but, like, longer events, I won't be able to do it.
- Okay. Mm-hmm.
- Because the cart we have is, like, an old cart.
It doesn't have the ice pack on the side
that keeps it cooler for longer hours,
so you can have the ices two to three hours max.
If not, they're gonna start melting.
- Yeah. Yeah, I get it.
[whistle blows]
♪
- Can I have a mango, please? - Sure.
Hezrron is showing great initiative
getting out into the community to grow his business,
but he's limited by having an old cart.
There you go. Thank you. - Thank you very much.
- He only can use it for about a two-hour period,
which makes it really challenging for his business.
- Mmm. You like it.
- So thanks for mentoring me today.
I really appreciate it.
As I'm really trying to consider this opportunity,
like, why'd you choose Rita's?
- It started when we first came here back in 2006.
- Where'd you come from?
- Philippines. - Wow.
- Obviously, coming from the Philippines
to America is a transition.
- That must've been really hard.
- Yeah, and I have a friend who owns a Rita's.
- Did you work in that Rita's? - Yep. Yep.
But after, like, a decade, I wanted to own my own Rita's,
and it worked out fine.
- Through your hard work-- I mean, I can see it.
- It's seven days a week.
I'm there from morning till night,
but it's a lot of fun.
It's a blessing.
- Earlier today, I did see some things
that I was concerned about in Hezrron's shop.
You mind if I give you a hug?
- Of course. - Thank you.
He spent his money on his flooring and his awning,
and it is important to keep the image up.
But from what I can see today,
Hezrron's shop really needs some modernizing,
and I really want to help him.
[gentle acoustic music]
♪
[upbeat rock music]
♪
In terms of sales, over half of our top-ten locations
have drive-throughs,
and it's a very important growth initiative for Rita's.
Today I'm on my way to meet Stefani,
a franchise owner in Holland, Michigan.
Stefani recently put in a drive-through
at her location.
There is a definite blueprint
in making our drive-through successful,
and I want to make sure that we've got every detail right
so we can win at this endeavor.
[plucky music]
♪
Oh, wow, there's a little baby and a toddler on the floor.
Interesting.
When I looked in the window,
I found that there was a baby and a toddler,
and I was really surprised.
Actually, I was kind of shocked.
- Hi. - Hi. I'm Marcy.
- Hi. I'm Stefani. It's nice to meet you.
- Hi, Stefani. Nice to meet you.
Hi. What's your name?
- This is Gus. - Hi, Gus.
- And this is Penelope down here.
- Penelope, hi.
- They're gonna be working with us today.
[laughs] - Okay.
- So Stefani's bringing her children to work,
which I really don't have a problem with
as long as they don't disrupt the customers
or the running of the shop.
- You ready to get to work? - I'm ready to get to work.
- All right, let's go.
This is my mom, Carol.
- Hi, Carol. I'm Marcy. Nice to meet you.
- Hi, Marcy.
- Can't wait to get started. - You want Grandma?
You go ahead with Grandma. You ready to make some ice?
- I am. - All right.
- Let's do it. - Okay, so the first flavor
we're gonna make today is blueberry.
So these are all of our Italian ice mixes right here.
We'll grab our blueberry mix here.
Then we're gonna give it a really good shake.
Dump it right in.
- Beautiful. - So here are our blueberries.
These are gonna go into our blender.
- Okay. - Excellent.
- Whoo. Look at that.
- Ooh, look how pretty it is. Perfect.
- My children are old, so-- older.
So how do you juggle
having two small ones and your business?
- Thankfully I have a lot of help from family.
My mom is here quite a bit.
What works for me is to have my kids at the store
with me from time to time, and that's why I bring my mom,
and she helps with child care.
The reasoning that I still bring the baby
is I'm not ready to let go of her yet.
She's only five months old, and I just--
I'm not ready for it.
So I don't want to send her off to somebody else's house.
I'll miss her. [chuckles]
Part of the thing that we've done
that has worked out best for myself
is to kind of limit our hours here.
Rita's would like us to be open from 12:00,
but we don't open until 2:00,
mostly because that was something
that I dictated that works best for my family.
- Our standard operating hours, we open at 12:00 p.m.
It's for the consistency of the brand.
This shop opens at 2:00 p.m.,
and that's not good for our business.
How did you do that? Who did you talk to?
- We talked to our franchise business consultant about it,
and we basically notified him and said,
"Hey, this is what we need to do right now."
- Hmm.
- And so being that this is my business,
I am going to do what I need to do--
what's best for my family, regardless, in the end,
what Rita's corporate may or may not want us to do.
[upbeat rock music]
So today we are gonna get you trained
and work in our drive-through. - Sure.
- We just opened our drive-through last night,
so today's the first full day open,
and I am going to give you one of our headsets here.
- Okay.
- So we got our menu board right over here.
- Uh-huh. And so cars come in...
- Yep. - This way.
- Yep. - So how do they know
to come in this area?
Is there signage?
- There is not any signage yet.
[tense music]
I imagine the city
will probably require something at some point,
but right now we pass all of our city inspections,
so I'm not sure if we're gonna be putting
any additional signage up.
- Then how do they know where to stop over here?
You're gonna have something that says "pick up" here?
- No, we just tell them to pull up to the window.
- Okay. - Honestly, I'm not
really sure what signage that we would need to put out.
- I'm very concerned on a safety level.
She may have received the permit from the city,
but, really, she doesn't have the signage in place,
and I'm worried, safety-wise,
that a guest might not go the right way.
So, when you wanted to put in your drive-through,
did anybody from headquarters help you with that?
Like, set up what you need to do?
- No. - Did you ask them?
- We did not ask them, actually.
- Okay. Why? I'm just curious. - I don't know. We just--
- I want a drive-through at my location.
- Sure. Sure. Oh, absolutely.
- And I think that there's resources and folks
that have done this for a lot of different shops, so...
- Yeah. The reason--yeah. - I'm just very curious.
- No, the reason we didn't
is because a drive-through at Rita's
is actually pretty much-- it's an anomaly.
[dramatic music]
- Ah, I talked to the folks,
and they said that there's a lot of drive-throughs.
- Are they coming in now? - There's a lot.
- 'Cause when we started, there weren't...
- Okay. - A few years ago.
- She has implemented a drive-through,
which is a very important initiative to us at Rita's.
She hasn't used any resources that we offer.
Oh, somebody's here. I'm taking the order?
- Yep. - Are you hearing them, too?
- Yes, I will on the other set.
- Hi. Welcome to Rita's. May I take your order?
[no audio]
[tense music]
Hello. Can you hear us?
- Can you hear me? - Yes, I can.
I can hear you, sir. - Can you hear us?
- Yeah, now I can. Okay.
I would like a-- [audio cuts out]
- I was excited this morning to come here
and really see the drive-through in action.
[audio breaking up]
The headsets aren't right.
♪
And it's not ready for operation.
Sir, would you mind coming up to the window
and I'll take your order face-to-face?
I can't hear you.
- I was absolutely having difficulty hearing people.
When we had been testing it out,
it seemed to work just fine, so I don't know if it was
because we're all stressed out today
'cause there's a lot going on.
This is not working out as great as I would like it to.
♪
- It's getting pretty chaotic in there.
Hi. $5.29 today.
Walking from the counter to the drive-through window
is far from ideal.
Thank you.
The children running back and forth,
that's a very big safety concern for me.
♪
- Can I get a gelati? - What flavor?
[children babbling]
- Hello?
- Hello. Is that with vanilla, chocolate, or twist custard?
[child shouts, giggles]
Clearly, Stefani is not ready for customers.
- Nice job handling the chaos of the drive-through.
- And, honestly, who would want to come back?
- Is the drive-through new? - It is new.
I'm really more than disappointed.
I'm--I'm quite angry.
♪
I need to break cover right now
and shut down this drive-through.
Can I have a word with you? - Yeah.
♪
- Hello, can you hear us?
I'm undercover at one of our newest drive-throughs
with franchise owner Stefani.
- Nice job handling the chaos of the drive-through.
- But things are out of control.
Can I have a word with you? - Yeah, of course.
- Okay, let's go-- let's go out here.
We want to help our franchisees,
but this situation, this has gone a little rogue.
Stefani and I need to have a conversation.
The drive-through operation needs to be shut down.
♪
So, Stefani...
- Yes.
- I wanted to talk to you a little bit
because I wanted to share with you.
- Okay. - I'm really not Marcy Morgan.
I'm Linda Chadwick, CEO of Rita's.
- Stop it. No, you're not. [laughs]
- And you're on "Undercover Boss."
- Oh, okay.
- The reason why I'm breaking cover--
I saw a few things today that are really concerning.
We have to shut down the drive-through.
It's just not safe for our guests.
From a signage standpoint,
we have to make sure that our guests know
exactly how to get through drive-through
and how to exit drive-through. - Yes. Yep.
- It's critical.
And the other thing is the headset issues
that we experienced today. - Yeah.
- That's not right.
The other issue is, I think your children are lovely,
and I was a single parent for a long time.
- Sure. - I know how hard it is.
- Yep. - I'm really worried
about the kids' back-and-forths in the dining room.
- Yeah, today was definitely a bit of a wild day.
- Yeah.
♪
- I'm not sure how I feel right now.
I'm not sure if I'm annoyed or, like...
[laughs] Shocked or what I am at the moment.
I feel like it needs to, like, sink in for a hot second.
♪
Yeah, I don't know.
I don't know how to feel right now.
- I'm going back to headquarters,
and I'll be in touch. - Okay.
- Thanks. - Mm-hmm.
- I really didn't expect the day to go like this.
I really came here to see a drive-through in action,
but that's not what happened.
I need to go back to headquarters,
speak with the team, because, clearly,
Stefani has gone rogue, and that's unacceptable.
♪
[upbeat music]
♪
I'm here today in Orlando
because Florida's one of the states
that we are focused on in expanding locations.
But my biggest challenge is recruitment,
so I'm always on the lookout
for new ways to hire great people.
And I've been told that the shop I'm visiting today
has some very interesting ideas
about recruiting Treat Team members,
And I'm really excited to work
with franchise owner Andrew so I can discover more.
[quirky music]
[door opens]
- Hi. - Hi.
- Are you Marcy? - Yes, I am. Hi.
- Are you ready for your first day on the job?
- I am. I'm very excited.
- I have a uniform for you.
- Thank you. - And then there's
two bathrooms at the end of the hall.
Come right around back. - Sure.
- The first thing we're gonna work on
is we're gonna do an inventory.
- Okay. - What I do--
I start with my cup stack here.
It looks like I have one, two, three, four,
five sleeves of quarts.
So seven small gelati lids.
Do you want to try doing the small ice lids?
- 10, 12, 14...
- We're gonna count by bottle.
So the first flavor that we're gonna have up here
is gonna be banana.
- We have two of these.
- That one is actually used for banana split.
- That sounds really good.
- Oh, the banana split's really good.
A lot of work, but totally worth it.
- Sounds awesome. Sorry.
- So then we're on to the next shelf down.
If you want to finish this up,
I'm gonna work on counting my custard real quick.
- I got it covered here.
Thanks. - Okay, excellent.
- Andrew trained me on taking inventory,
but I did find it a little odd
that he was giving me posty notes
to write down what was on hand in the shop.
I'm running out of little papers here.
And, quite honestly, it's quite frustrating.
Oh, for God's sake.
I thought we had a well-established
inventory system.
I don't know what's going on here,
but I intend to find out.
♪
I'm undercover in Orlando
trying to do an inventory with franchise owner Andrew.
I'm running out of little papers here.
But, frankly, it's a mess.
[tense music]
Do you have a sheet or something
that has everything printed and you can check off?
- So there used to be a sheet that was available.
It's a little out of date, unfortunately,
which is why I typically don't use it.
- Okay. - If you want to give me
just a second, pop in here. - Certainly.
- So, for example,
these ones are essentially discontinued at the moment.
Same with these two here.
The coffee was discontinued for now.
- The inventory checklist is out of date.
It's not useful for him,
and I understand why Andrew felt
that he had to create his own ordering system,
because what he's getting from us isn't enough.
- So then this is the website for the ordering.
- Uh-huh. - Now, this, unfortunately,
could also be better organized.
- Okay.
- Some of the things are just not
where they should fit with the rest of the items.
- Okay. - So, like, for example,
we have cones and brownies up here,
but then directly underneath it, custard mix.
If this stuff got moved down with the toppings,
it would make more sense.
- I can see that there are flaws in the ordering system.
That particular lineup of all the inventory items
is quite confusing.
- So this is the lid,
so you want to find the cup that matches this one.
It should be somewhere in there.
So, as you can see,
like I said, it's kind of hard to navigate.
- I need to take responsibility and go speak to my team
so that we can have a more effective system in place
so that Andrew can use the method
and not use a lot of posty notes.
[upbeat acoustic music]
- Now, something we do here that's a little unique--
we have an initiative that we hire people
with all sorts of different abilities.
Any kind of disability that would make it
more difficult for them to find work.
- Hi, guys. How we doing?
- These people are just as capable
of doing the job as you and I are.
- Yeah, absolutely. - They're fantastic.
They work hard, and they really want to be here.
- Please come again.
- Thank you. - All right.
- I'm gonna introduce you to the person
who's gonna be training you, who is autistic.
Pastiche? - Yes.
- Meet Marcy. - Hi, Marcy.
- Hi, Pastiche. How are you? - How are you? I'm Pastiche.
- Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you as well.
- So, Pastiche, you're just gonna show her
how to do everything just to give her
an idea of what to do.
- All righty. So first thing we are going to do
is I want to show you the cash register.
Hi. How are you today? - Good. And you?
- Good. We have a kid's ice.
So you press "Italian ice." - Mm-hmm.
- And then right here you're gonna hit "kid's ice."
So your total today is only gonna be $3.50.
All right. You have a wonderful day.
- Thank you. You too. - Thank you, sir.
- And then you hit "done."
- How long have you been doing this?
- I have worked here for about a year and a half.
I am autistic,
and my employers are actually letting me do all the tasks...
- Yeah. - Without any assistance.
- Did you want a small or a large?
- We all have abilities.
A large? All right.
So I think it is so important to recognize
those who are autistic
or have any other disabilities,
and I think employers need to see that.
I think working at Rita's has given me a lot of benefit
to become an independent individual.
- Pastiche taught me
about the register system today.
She also brought me over to make all the products.
- All right. Yes. - Whoo.
Not so pretty as yours.
She was right on point,
and she is just a dynamite individual.
[cheerful music]
I used to be an art teacher,
so I love it when children draw.
- I have been drawing since I was probably five.
- What do you like to draw?
- I do draw a lot of characters
relating to a children's storybook.
- Oh, wow. You working on a children's storybook?
- I am. - These are beautiful.
- It just comes straight from the heart,
and I do this because, when I draw,
I think about the people that I'm doing this for...
- Mm-hmm. - Because...
there's a lot of autistic people
and a lot of disabled people
that are still struggling, so...
- I just started a conversation with her
about art,
and next thing you know,
she was sharing with me her wonderful work.
- It symbolizes those who have came to acceptance
that they're autistic and those who haven't.
With my book and with my illustrations,
I'm definitely hoping to make an impact on society.
- I thank you so much for training me
and giving me all your knowledge,
and I hope to see you soon.
- I hope to see you soon, too. - Okay. All right.
Today to meet Pastiche
and learn more about her story,
it's very inspiring.
Whew. Long day.
- Yeah. - Thank you.
It was really great to get an opportunity
to work with you in your shop.
I love your initiative, what you're doing here.
It's really amazing.
- Part of the reason I was so on board
with the disability inclusion that we do here--
my fiancé, Chip, who is autistic,
is also my business partner in this venture.
Chip and I are actually supposed to be getting married
in September, so not too long. - That's so great.
- But it's really his idea
that we started the whole hiring initiative
that we have from his personal experience.
- Right. - So he wants to inspire,
you know, and help people become better than they are.
- That's awesome.
- And it's just, you know...
[voice breaking] My way of kind of--
Sorry. - No, don't be sorry.
- I'm just trying to help and give back.
- Yeah, I can see that.
I can see that in your shop
and how you treat everybody very special.
- That's what we try and do-- treat everybody the way
that they deserve to be treated.
- Mm-hmm. Yeah.
- Sorry. [laughs]
[emotional music]
- Going undercover here today was such a great opportunity
to see firsthand a fantastic disability initiative.
And I need to think how I can encourage
other franchise owners
to be as inclusive as Andrew in their hiring practices.
The biggest reward today was really meeting team members
like Pastiche who have overcome
personal struggles and challenges in her life
to really be a thriving Treat Team member.
[voice breaking] It's made me very proud
to be the CEO of Rita's.
♪
Okay.
♪
I thoroughly enjoyed being undercover.
This has been an amazing opportunity for me
to be boots on the ground, in the shops, doing the jobs.
And this is something that I can take back
and learn from.
I'm ready to go back to headquarters
and start having conversations with my team
so we can really improve our business
and help our franchisees grow.
[dramatic music]
Today the employees I met
are returning for one final day of filming.
- A little bit nervous.
I'm hoping it's gonna be
that I'm just gonna get yelled at for certain things,
because, you know, this is my livelihood.
- Hezrron and Andrew think they're giving feedback
on their time with Marcy in the fake documentary.
- Do you know
who you're supposed to be meeting with today?
- I assume the company, maybe Marcy.
I'm not really sure.
♪
- Do you recognize me? - Um, Marcy?
- Well, my name is not Marcy.
I'm Linda Chadwick. - Oh.
- And I'm the president and CEO of Rita's Italian Ice.
- [laughs nervously]
Oh, my God.
- You're on "Undercover Boss."
- [laughing]
- I didn't expect that.
[laughing] Can I just throw up for a second?
announcer: Coming up, it's decision time on Stefani.
- You like to do things your way,
but we can't have rogue behavior.
- [crying] Oh, my word.
announcer: And the boss reveals life-changing news.
- [screams] [laughter]
I'm shaking. This is what I've always wanted.
♪
- Hezrron, I had a great time
working in your shop, so thank you.
- It was my pleasure.
- But I really struggled with your cash register system.
- Mm-hmm.
- And the dial-up for the credit card,
that's a disaster.
- The goal was to get a new one,
but it's not cheap.
- And I appreciate that.
So I'm going to give you $5,000
to upgrade your cash register and your internet.
- I'm grateful. Thank you.
- You're welcome.
So can we talk a little bit
about the event that we did and the cart?
- Sure. Yep. - You can't keep the ices cold.
So it's time to retire that cart.
- [laughs] Yes. Yeah.
- I'm going to award you...
a new prototype trailer.
[emotional music]
It has a $60,000 value.
- Oh, wow.
- This is a picture of our new prototype.
How does that look to you?
- That's beautiful. That's gorgeous.
- It is all equipped with a generator
so that you can effectively do the events.
- [sighs] I--
[sighs] - Will that help?
- It's a tremendous help.
Thank you so much, Marcy. I appreciate it.
- Marcy? You called me Marcy.
- Yes. Linda. [laughter]
- So, also, you work very, very, very hard.
You're there all day into the evening,
and you're there seven days a week.
- Mm-hmm.
- So I want to give you something back
for all your hard work and loyalty.
I'm going to award you $10,000
so that you and your family
can take a well-deserved vacation.
- I-- [chuckles]
You know, I'm not, like-- I'm not a showy person.
I'm not, like, an emotional person,
so, like, right now I just don't know how to react.
I-I...
I'm trying to hold it in.
Thank you. Can I give you a hug?
- Yeah. Absolutely. - Thank you so much.
- [chuckles]
- Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
It's amazing. It's amazing.
My knees are shaking.
I'm on cloud nine. I'm, like, so happy.
You're doing something that you love, that you enjoy,
and getting rewarded for that is, like--it's priceless.
- Stefani... - Mm-hmm.
- I went undercover to really learn
what was going on in our company.
- Mm-hmm. - But I really didn't expect
to shut down a drive-through. - Okay.
- The issues really are that it's a hazard for the guests.
We don't have entrance and exit signs.
Headsets are not proper,
and you're only open limited hours.
- Yeah, I would say that would be a fair representation.
- So I believe that there was brand damage done.
Drive-through is a very important initiative for me.
- Mm-hmm. - And I feel that you
didn't utilize the resources that were available.
- Really?
I don't think we completely went off...
on our own really.
- Well, when I was Marcy... - Mm-hmm.
- I asked you if you used
any of the resources... - Mm-hmm.
- Or worked with corporate... - Mm-hmm.
- And you actually said no. - Oh, okay.
- You like to do things your way.
But in a brand,
we can't have rogue behavior.
- I understand. - Hmm.
[tense music]
But I totally get the drive-through's new,
and you are in a learning phase,
so I want to help you.
I want to help you to be able to reopen the drive-through.
I want to give you $25,000
to fix everything before you open again.
- [crying] Oh, my word.
♪
That would be incredible.
I put my life into this store,
so I do really appreciate the help.
I really do.
Thank you. - My pleasure.
So I want to talk to you
about raising a family and juggling a career.
As a business owner and a mom...
- Mm-hmm. - It's hard.
- It's very hard. - I know it's hard.
- Yeah. - I've done it.
- Yep. - But I want to see
your business thrive.
I really do. - Me too.
I desperately want that as well.
- So let me help you.
If you're willing, I will personally mentor you.
- [sobs] Thank you.
- I'll give you my personal cell phone number.
- Mm-hmm.
- And I'm available to you to talk about anything...
- That would be amazing. - The business...
- Mm-hmm. - Family.
- Oh.
Thank you.
- Working together, we can do this,
but you can't go rogue.
- [laughing] I promise I will not in the future.
Yep.
It's really appreciated.
It really is.
"Am I gonna lose my franchise?"
Like, that's what I was thinking about.
I didn't expect, like, to really get this much help.
[crying] I put my whole life into this store,
so that means a lot to me.
- Hello, Andrew.
- [laughs]
The day that I spent in your shop was very special.
But the first job was inventory processing.
- Mm-hmm.
- You gave me all these posty notes.
- Yeah. - What's that all about?
- So there's not a thorough list that I can go off of,
and the website we use, everything's just jumbled.
- I know that that's a challenge.
So, over the next couple years,
Rita's is going to invest over half a million dollars
in improving our technology.
Websites, ordering systems, inventory--
we're gonna upgrade it all.
- I think that's a brilliant idea.
[laughing] That would make me really happy.
- So the diversity initiative that you and Chip,
your partner and fiancé,
have implemented is truly inspiring.
You provide opportunities for folks who have disability.
- Let me tell you--I have people pounding down the doors
trying to get a job at my shop
because they've been discriminated against
somewhere else.
You know, people like Pastiche, what a wonderful person.
- I thoroughly enjoyed working with her.
Do you think we could call her?
I really want to get a chance to talk to her again.
[line ringing]
- Hey. - Hey, Andrew.
- Here we go. - Let me hold.
- Here. - Pastiche, hi.
- Hi! - Do you recognize me?
- Marcy?
- My real name is Linda,
and I'm the CEO of Rita's Italian Ice.
[Andrew laughs] - What?
- You inspired me so much,
I would really like to invite you
to come to our headquarters and talk to our team...
- [screams]
- To create a diversity initiative
for Rita's.
[emotional music]
- That sounds perfect. Wow.
- I'm gonna, of course, pay you for your time.
How does $15,000 sound?
- [screams]
[laughing] Oh, my God!
♪
- The other thing is, we want to give you $5,000
to help you publish your book.
- [screaming, laughing]
♪
I'm shaking, and I want to cry tears of joy right now
'cause this is all--
this is what I've always wanted.
Thank you so much.
- No, thank you.
Bye-bye.
- Bye.
- That was really awesome.
It means a lot that as a brand, we are taking on
trying to expand the project
that Chip and myself have started.
- I also know you both were working together
to have a wedding and a honeymoon.
I want to help you and Chip.
I'm going to give you $15,000
to put towards your wedding and honeymoon fund
so that you can have the wedding
and honeymoon you deserve.
- [sobbing]
♪
Thank you. [sobs]
- You're welcome.
- [sniffles] Oh.
That was completely unexpected.
I'm overwhelmed with joy and happiness.
This means a lot, and I appreciate it.
♪
- My experience being undercover, for me personally,
has made me a stronger leader and a better CEO.
I'm much more aware of what the issues are.
There's a big disconnect between our headquarters' team
and the franchisees.
I've listened to the franchisees' concerns,
and I'm gonna go back and make sure they're fixed,
because it's only by working together
that we're gonna fully modernize this company
and succeed in making it a household name
across the United States.
[upbeat music]
♪