CFD 314 - Arthur Greeno Tells Us Not to Be Chicken When It Comes to Pursuing Our Dreams
Anyone who knows me also knows I love a certain dining establishment’s menu items… in particular all their delicious chicken dishes. It’s Chick-fil-A! That’s why I’m so excited to chat with Arthur Greeno, owner of not one but two really successful Chick-fil-A restaurants in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Arthur is also a two-time author and two-time Guinness World Record holder. In short, Arthur has been busy for the last 27 years building an admirable life, hitting high marks for his success goals.
Before the chicken hit the plate of Arthur’s life and put him on the road to massive success, he says he was lost. He wasn’t sure what he would do in life. He didn’t come from a family that embraced much. In fact, alcoholism was an issue. Young Arthur looked at the people his parents hung out with and how they all lived. He decided early on that struggling to make ends meet wasn’t something he wanted to do. He looked at everyone his family and he surrounded themselves with and make a conscious choice to surround himself with more productive people who had goals and success. That way he could learn from them and follow in their footsteps.
This started for Arthur in high school. The funny thing is that’s how he started learning how to change how he himself operated. He cleaned up his language and “colorful metaphors.” To be accepted by those with better social skills and greater opportunities in life Arthur knew he couldn’t continue acting like he had learned to be.
On top of this, at the age of 17 Arthur was diagnosed with scoliosis and had to wear a back brace. However, that didn’t stop him from moving forward, working four jobs or finding his passion for Chick-fil-A. That started when he took a job at a new Chick-fil-A restaurant in his town where he would work for four years. The company culture grabbed him; he decided he wanted to own a Chick-fil-A, so he started talking to other owners and learning how to give top-of-the-line customer care.
Arthur learned all the systems and sales know-how it takes to run a successful business. He thought it would be easy, but he learned quickly that building and keeping systems going well was far more of a challenge. He says he went to the best owners and learn their systems. Arthur says that he has always been blown away by the generosity of these owners. They openly shared everything that had gone wrong for them and how they fixed it.
Today Arthur speaks across the country on topics in leadership, inspiration and drive. Because Chick-fil-A’s focus on customer service, Arthur trains his team to do just that. He tells them to serve the customers first and then serve them chicken.
In this interview you’ll learn how a young worker in the company became an extremely successful Chick-fil-A franchise owner and so much more. You’ll learn that Arthur overcame far more than a back brace and kept going anyway. Learn more. LISTEN NOW.