This month, we interview Russell and Brenda Black, owners of Glass Doctor® of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Last year, the Blacks received the Rookie of the Year Award at Reunion. Enjoy this interview! Russell & Brenda Black Franchisee Spotlight
MARK: Let me take you back to Reunion last year in San Antonio. You hear your name announced as Rookie of the Year. What were your first thoughts? RUSSELL: My initial thought was one of shock. I was sure I had heard incorrectly. Once I realized this was really happening, I felt a tremendous honor. It was so great to be recognized this way in front of our fellow franchisees. All of the hard work and positive changes we made hadn’t gone unnoticed. BRENDA: No freaking way! (laugh out loud) After the initial shock, I just felt deep gratitude, especially for Russell. I knew he had worked so hard - and often wondered, “does anyone notice?” Apparently, someone noticed. (Thank you again for this incredible honor.) MARK: We first met almost two years ago. If memory serves me right, you were about to get married as well as move to Tulsa, right? Wow – talk about change! Tell us about it.
BRENDA: Yes! We first met you, Mark, at the Glass Doctor Conference in March of 2015. Russell moved to Tulsa in January of 2014 and we got married October of that year. I opened my private therapy practice in August of 2014, two months before we got married. We were newlyweds when we began to explore the opportunity of joining the Glass Doctor team. We were super happy together (umm wait… we still are!) and excited about a brand-new endeavor as business owners. In July of 2015, we were the new owners of Glass Doctor Tulsa! #teamtulsa I’d definitely say we had a lot of changes in a short period of time. RUSSELL: Brenda and I had been dating long distance for several months. We both felt we wanted to take our relationship to the next level; however, we also knew only seeing each other on the weekends was more fun than real. So, I moved to Tulsa from Northwest Arkansas in January of 2014. Then, in October of that year, surrounded by our kids and Brenda’s mom, we were married on a beach in Mexico by one of Brenda’s dear friends. In March of 2015, Brenda and I attended our first Glass Doctor conference. We then purchased Glass Doctor in July of 2015. So, yes, there was a lot of changes and big decisions made in a relatively short period of time. MARK: You worked for Monster, Russell, correct? What did you do there?
14 REFLECTIONS® | EDITION 1 2017
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