Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Field.
Matt, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My first career was spent working as a rabbi of a large congregation in upstate New York. For a variety of reasons, I moved into the business world. When I moved back to the Chicago area, I opened a home care and skilled nursing company on the North Shore called Right at Home. Through that work, we not only provided care for individuals in their homes but also provided supplemental staffing to assisting living communities in the North Shore.
A number of years ago, I received a text message from a caregiver of ours who thanked me for the job. He was from South Africa, and he told me that he was, at that time, the only member of his family who was working. Because we were able to give him full-time work, he was, in turn, able to support himself and send a small sum of money back home to support the family in South Africa. It was at that moment that I realized that we were doing good work on two ends. Through our services, we were providing necessary care in homes. And for our employees, we were providing jobs so badly needed.
A year or so after that text message, I engaged the services of a staffing and recruitment firm to help me fill an office position. It was a terrible experience. I was left with bad feelings about the industry and I remember telling my wife, who was running the home care company with me, that I could do better.
As I tell people, my wife, Rachel and I went through an amiable “work divorce.” We are still happily married, about to celebrate our 20th anniversary, but we no longer work together. While we were able to work well together for years, my decision to open Express Employment sent us in our own directions professionally. I still have a finger or two in Right at Home, primarily dealing with the financial end of the business. But my full-time “day job” has transitioned into building and running Express.
Express came about by chance. The opportunity presented itself, and I was excited about the idea. Express Employment Professionals is somewhat unique in the staffing world. Express is a franchised company, and so we enjoy the support and resources of the largest privately held staffing company in the nation, and yet we value the freedom and flexibility of being local business owners. Our clients, likewise, notice a difference working with a business with the infrastructure and expertise of a $3.5 billion company with local ownership.
Situated in River North, we focus on staffing positions in most areas of office services and professional recruitment and placement. Just like with Right at Home, what drives us at Express is an all-encompassing desire to function with integrity. We love helping support businesses with their staffing and recruitment needs, reducing turnover, and increasing productivity. And, just like when I received that text message from an employed caregiver several years ago, we love finding people jobs. In 2017, Express Employment Professionals put well over half a million people to work.
Has it been a smooth road?
I didn’t expect a smooth road. I am one who embraces and looks for challenges. Tell me I can’t do something and I’ll prove you wrong. Tell me something is going to be simple and I don’t feel drawn to it. If business ownership is the American dream, many dreamers don’t realize that nightmares are dreams, too.
We really haven’t had too many real nightmares, but we certainly have had challenges. For me, one of the biggest challenges of building a small business is building the right team. As I’ve heard other’s in the Express Employment community say, we want team members who are humble, hungry, and smart. This is a pretty good recipe for success. Additionally, in my business career, I have always worked to build teams that are mutually respectful and collaborative. Colleagues don’t have to be best friends, but it’s important, in a smaller work environment, that everyone gets along, that it is a positive work environment, and people look forward to working together.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I covered much of this in an earlier section, but to recap, Express Employment Professionals is a staffing company. Made up of about 800 locally owned offices, we are different because we enjoy the strength of a 35-year-old $3.5 billion dollar business system, with the intimacy, customer service, and personal touch of a locally owned operation.
Express Employment Professionals is strongly guided by a moral compass. After the 2017 hurricanes put many Express associates out of work for several weeks in Florida and Texas, the corporate office paid those temporary and contract employees who returned to their jobs for all the lost time. How many companies would do that? Our business here in Chicago is run by a team that is building a business based on the same sense of principle.
How are we different? What sets us apart? Ultimately, it’s our people. You have to get to know us. These people, our team is what makes me proudest.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Chicago is a great city for most things. In Chicago, staffing and recruitment are crowded. I’ve never worried too much about competition. Run a good, honest business. Do things the right way. Build strong relationships. Earn your reputation and work hard and anything is possible.
Contact Info:
- Address: 414 N. Orleans
Suite 312
Chicago, IL 60654 - Website: https://www.expresspros.com/chicagodowntownil/
- Phone: 312-766-0505
- Email: matt.field@expresspros.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/express_employs_chicago/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ExpressDowntownChicago/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/expresschitown
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattfieldrah/
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