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Yeah. This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people. And we love work. Work is good. Work gives us meaning and purpose.
And where does work come from? Of course, it comes mostly from private people starting businesses and employing people. Up first, a man who knows a lot about work. His name is Bob Funk. and he founded Express Employment Professionals, a staffing business that he built over four decades.
Here to tell the story is Bob himself. Many call him. The Minister of Work. Take it away, Bob. My dad had a dairy.
I was born in 1940 and he went broke in the dairy business in 1945. But he kept four cows. And my mother had a nervous breakdown when I was two, so my sister trained me and kept me. We're going broke. on the ranching.
It was the financial pressure. She was at a prayer meeting at the church and she just passed out and my grandmother put her in a sane asylum and so dad went to visit her one Sunday afternoon and she said, I'm not crazy like these folks that are in here. you know, get me out of here. And so dad got her out. And the doctor said, you know, just...
It'll lay quiet for a while and he'll snap out of it. She basically took care of me until mom got well. And uh She was two years older than I was, and mom had a nervous breakdown when I was two. She was four. But she got in the first grade when she was five.
And so she came and taught me everything because mom was laying in bed. you know 24 7. And so she would come and teach me everything that she had learned in school that day.
So by the time I got to be five years old, They tried to skip me two grades. They tried to put me in the third grade instead of the first grade. And my mother wouldn't let him. Then they said, well, let me skip him for just one grade. And mom said, no, we're not going to let you do that either.
And the doctor told, Mom, you go get a job. Get your mind off of the finances. And so she had worked in a grocery store when she was a little younger.
So she went to work in a grocery store for free of charge for our groceries. And so we had really some nice groceries. Dad then went to work as a maintenance person on the highway department. He had a sixth grade education. But he loved his cows.
Dad was a true dairy farmer. He just loved those cows. They ate better than we kids did. Uh In high school. I had four shirts all the way through high school and three pair of Levi's.
But we had a real small community. The town was only 330 people. In my grade school class, five of us were cousins out of the eight of us. And so it was just a small town. And we had to go 10 miles north or 10 miles south to high school.
I think I had fifty six in my high school class and It was a real wonderful experience. Oh. I started playing tennis. when I was young because mother working at the grocery store, there was a tennis court right beside it. And to keep My sister and I apart.
She decided I should work at the grocery store. and help her, uh, you know, stack cans and... And stuffed.
So I picked up a racket and started playing tennis. And I tell anybody in town. to play me and tennis and so when I got to high school as a freshman. I started playing tennis and of course ended up number one after about a year and a half. And then when I went to college, I played number one the last two years in college and tennis as well.
But that was because of circumstances when I was young that my mother let me play tennis on the tennis court inside the grocery store. Being from a small town, The pastor we had at that time, I didn't know Billy Graham from Adam. And he encouraged all of us to go to the Billy Graham Crusade in Seattle. If someone had told me when I was 20 years old, that life was very short. and would pass just like that.
I wouldn't have believed it. And if I tell you that, you don't believe it either. I cannot get young people to understand how brief life is, how quickly it passes. It seems like yesterday I was in school. And as an 11-year-old, I knew that I had plenty of sin in my life.
And so at his crusade, you know, his style was to invite people to make a commitment. spiritually. uh in their lives. And so, uh I thought, if I don't make a commitment, chances are our bus is going to turn over and I'm going to die tonight anyway.
So I had better make the commitment tonight.
So I made the commitment and of course it turned my whole life into into a spiritual environment. And that's when I decided I'd be going into ministry. That was his third crusade, by the way. He started in Los Angeles, went to San Francisco, and then came to Seattle.
Well, I started working for wages when I was 14. And we worked from 6 in the morning till 10 at night. on seven days a week. Work was never difficult. It was just, I thought it was a lot of fun.
I had a lot of energy at the age of 14.
So working on a farm is baling hay and shoveling manure and I think it was a challenge to see if I could do it better than anyone else. The drive factor. I learned when I was very young. Because my dad worked From 8 in the morning to 4.30, milked cows at 6 in the morning, came home, milked four cows at night. Mom worked at the grocery store until 6.30, 7 o'clock every night.
So our whole family was accustomed to a good work ethic. And a hard work, I think. But it never occurred to me that it was really a bother. It was always a privilege. And you're listening to Bob Funk tell his story about work.
And of course, he's the founder of Express Employment Professionals. When we come back, more of Bob Funk's story here on Our American Stories. Lee Habib here, and I'm inviting you to help Our American Stories celebrate this country's 250th birthday, only a short time away. If you want to help inspire countless others to love America like we do, and want to help us bring the inspiring and important stories told here to millions for years to come, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Our American Stories. Go to OwlAmericanStories.com and click the donate button.
Give a little, give a lot. Any amount helps. Go to OwlAmericanStories.com and give. Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi-asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto, and now generated assets, which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI.
It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high-free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one-of-a-kind index, and lets you backtest it against the SP 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like EFTs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's.
Go to public.com/slash podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com/slash podcast. Paid for by Public Investing, Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc., member F-I-R-A-S-I-P-C. Advisory services by Public Investment. Advisors LLC, SEC Registered Advisor.
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And we continue with our American stories and with Bob Funk's story. Let's pick up. Where we last left off. Our whole family was accustomed to a good work ethic. Kind of hard work, I think.
But it never occurred to me that it was really a bother. It was always a privilege. to work. And uh And a privilege to, even if it's late at night, I had a Cousin. Adolph worked from six in the morning until, and he milked till midnight every night.
So consequently I'd stay up there and try and talk to him and help him until about 10 o'clock every night. Adolphe had not had a day off in seventeen years. until I became 17 years old and he had confidence that I could milk his cows for him.
So he took four days off and went and saw some cousins in Nebraska. But he was a worker. I mean, he could outwork me every day. He was there. We'd go shovel gravel.
I couldn't keep up with him. That irritated me a little bit because I was... A young rascal that's seventeen, eighteen years old, I should have been able to outwork him. I had a hay crew in the summertime. When I was 16, and I had three other kids that I was trying to work.
They didn't like me very well. Because when you start working at six in the morning and get done at midnight. The work I think is It's been instilled since I was extremely young. Yeah, yeah. It never hurt anybody in my mind.
They'll work hard, long hours. is is a privilege, even in this business. I have told many of them, many of the employees, I may not be as smart as you are. But I guarantee I can outwork you. And sometimes the extra work that you put into it.
gains a lot of extra experience and extra revenue streams. And of course. playing that much athletics. Been number one is the only place to be. No one remembers who was number two.
And so today we're number one basically in light industrial office services business nationwide. And I think we're number six in overall business professionals in the U.S. at this time. And business is very competitive. Businesses like athletics.
You know, you have all these competitors out there, just like in athletics, you have all these. these other players out there.
So business is competitive and so you have to sharpen your your mind. You have to sharpen your day. in order to compete. learn what to do different. in order to succeed.
And only in America can you do what we've done. Because other countries are controlled by so few. But in America you can start Small. and if you want to be competitive. You can compete with the biggies if you want to.
Just depends upon how long you wanna. work at it and how hard you want to work at it.
So, yeah, it's a privilege to be number one at whatever you do. Of course you have to work hard to stay there because there's others that learn your techniques and want to be number one as well. It's just like athletics, not much different at all. I think, for example, Future Farmers of America teaches you some basics. How does that help you the rest of your life?
I would not have been able to go to college had not been to scholarships. that I earned through the FFA program. Because we had no money. Yeah. And then of course.
I was able to earn enough money in the summertime.
So that was a privilege to get that degree. Which, by the way, they honored me by giving me an honorary doctorate degree. And I had a little bit of fun with that. Because you got six, seven thousand people there for graduation. And I basically said to the, now remember in college the A students were always the ones that were bragged on, you know, that were the preferred student, let me put that way.
And so when I was in college, I was not a preferred student because I was playing tennis and so forth.
So I said to them in my speech, you know. I need to tell you that I was in the one half of the class that made the upper half possible. And you can see those professors just gringing on that front row. Because that was the truth. My grade point average is only 2.9.
And uh well my master's program I had almost a straight A bit. But but my undergrad was only a two, nine grade, but I could just see those professors say, Oh, Bob, don't don't don't say that, you know, because they encourage everybody to to get as high a grade as possible. But uh There's common sense in life and uh And we see this in our business. that the real intellectual people. have a difficult time.
in life. the ones who have common sense, work ethic. Integrity. Values. are usually the most successful.
The average millionaire and America. at a 2.9 grade pointing rate. It's probably because, you know. We know we have to drive ourselves harder. to overcome maybe the intellect.
I've always said to hire people who are much smarter than you are and they'll help you. to be successful. but you have to have a lot of common sense, particularly in business. You have to see what other competitors are doing. You have to see what you're doing on a daily basis.
You have to see what your value system is in your company. That's why I love the cattle business. I love it because the people. because of their integrity level. We have sold about $260 million worth of cattle, probably.
And out of that 260 million, we've had less. Then a million dollars of matter comes receivable. And they come to the ranch, they sign their name. and their address. And a handshake.
That's all it is. There's no big contracts. But they're just quality people that have integrity. And A company is only as good as their people. It's not because they have better ideas.
I've seen many companies fail. because they had great ideas but they didn't have the right people. I've seen many companies succeed. that didn't have the best ideas. but they had great people.
and loyal people. through thick and thin. Because they were stuck with me, really is the only reason. that we succeeded. Young people ask, what do they need?
I need integrity first. work ethic. Have a second. And of course, drive. Third, nor did he succeed.
Oh. But you've got to have integrity. If you lose your integrity, you've lost most everything. And you've been listening to Bob Funk, and he is the founder of Express Employment Professionals. and has employed and connected workers to work For generations.
And so many hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people. He found work and my goodness did he know what work was. Working for wages began when he was 14. at his cousin Adolphe's farm. I worked from six in the morning till ten at night, every day of the week.
He said. I wrote about Bob in Newsweek. And I wrote this: God demanded that his people work six days a week. Adof. His cousin, it turns out.
Required seven. It was from his cousin and his mother and dad too that Funk developed. a strong work ethic that would guide his life. And by the way, that story of asking for his first day off in 17 years. He gave that responsibility to a 17-year-old.
because he wanted to visit cousins in Nebraska. And so without that cousin Adolph, Who knows what would have happened to Bob Funk and without his mom and dad? And when we come back more. of the life of Bob Funk, a man who many call the minister of work. Here on Our American Stories.
Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi-asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto, and now generated assets, which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high-free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one-of-a-kind index, and lets you backtest it against the SP 500.
Then, you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like EFTs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com/slash podcast. And earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com/slash podcast.
Paid for by Public Investing. Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc., member FINRA SIPC. Advisory Services by Public Advisors LLC. SEC Registered Advisor. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool.
Output is for informational purposes only and is not investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com/slash disclosures.
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Same-day delivery on eligible in-stock items, subject to availability. Fees vary. Visit Lowe's.com/slash same-day delivery for full terms. Hey, this is U.S. Olympic gold medalist Tara Davis Woodhull.
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So, when it came to getting the best mortgage, we chose PennyMac. PennyMac is proud to be the official mortgage provider of Team USA and you. Learn more at pennymac.com. PennyMac Loan Services, LLC, Equal Housing Lender, NMLS ID 35953, licensed by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act. Conditions and restrictions may apply.
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Offer ends January 31st, 2026. New members only, premier membership, performance monitor, and monthly billing required. Discount applies to first month only. Other terms apply. See Studio for details.
And we continue with our American stories and Bob Funk's story. Let's pick up where we last left off. There's people who try to cheat their way to the top. And that that's certainly that is short-lived. It'll catch up with you and run.
Good case in point. Great big company. We've had some oil companies. You know? That Have not been On the level.
And they're just not around anymore. It'll catch up with you eventually. and when I started in the personnel business. We had some terrible, unscrupulous competitors. in Seattle.
And then the worst one we had was here when they moved here to Oklahoma City. And it took us five years to get him out of business, but we did, it finally caught up with him. It just doesn't last. In America. Uh I'll tell you another little story about America.
I was with a prince in Austria at a dinner one night. And there were some people at our table. And we told them the story about Starting out with $5,000 and $150,000 borrowed money. He said. You can't do that in Austria.
If you don't belong to the six families here in Austria, you'll never be successful. And that's what people don't understand.
Sometimes we have so many opportunities people don't know which direction to go. when we had the offices in Russia. Igor came for training. And uh and we took him to a grocery store. This is right after the wall fell.
And he came back and he said, Too many decisions. to many decisions. He said, I even have to make decisions on which socks I'm going to wear in the morning. But he said too many decisions. In a socialist country, you only have one color of suit, you only have one color of pants.
You only have one or two decisions to make every day. Too many decisions, he said. And we do. We get a chance to make many decisions. The story goes that you have seven opportunities in your lifetime, and sometimes you take them, sometimes you don't.
But the average is seven opportunities in your lifetime. Mm. I've been fortunate. walked through the doors and maybe five of them. Still got a few left.
Yeah, yeah. I turned it on to 80 in May. I started an oil company three weeks ago. Had I stayed in the pulpit, I probably would not have had the opportunity. to minister to so many people.
Uh And I think we're in the seven million range now that we've helped find jobs. But it's not just those that we find the jobs for, it's the other. Are there millions of people that come to see you? I'm looking for help. Excellent.
And you have to help them too. You may not find the right spot for them right at that time, but You have to give them hope, encouragement. And uh when I first got into the business. I was I was trying to uh To help them spiritually as well. And so consequently, I couldn't interview as many people as some of the others.
After a year, my boss, who is a fine Christian man, came to me and he said, Bob, I understand you're trying to help them spiritually. But we do have to make a profit in this business. Ha ha ha ha. I said, oh, Gordy, I do understand.
So I would bring them in after hours and on Saturdays and counsel them separately if they were looking for. For spiritual advice, and spiritual help that would help them in their lives. We do have to make a profit in this business. If you're bankrupt, you're not going to be ministering to many people.
So our mission was to help as many as possible and to help them spiritually if they're looking for spiritual help.
Well, my personal belief is it it's much Much. more fun to give money than it is to take money. And if you're going to be in our business, you've got to be a giver. The rewards of giving are much more meaningful. than making money.
Money has never been my motivator. And I do interview, when I do interview people, I ask them what their motivator is. Is their work environment? It's prestige, of course. Eagle.
Or is it money? And Usually People who are motivated by money. will rip your organization apart. because of jealousy trying to climb the ladder to get over somebody. not caring about the other person.
But life is about other people, not about ourselves. And that's the old biblical principle. that it's much more pleasant to give than it is to take. Taker is usually are very unhappy people. I've interviewed many millionaires.
There are very few of them that are very happy. because they were self-centered. looking out for themselves and so Forgiving. giving not only money but time and effort and communication. is extremely important.
If you're gonna be. satisfied and happy with your life. It's just Just a part of life that is so much fun. Uh to watch others. worth giving.
It's fun to to help people find a better job so they make more money, but to give them that, watch them. Grow. Uh is so much fun to watch franchisees grow. And some of them make a lot of money. But most of the franchisees we brought into our system We look at their heart first.
than their values, then their drive. then the end result becomes money. They do better than the rest. Reagan once said that the best social program in the United States is a job. And that's true, because it gives them pride, gives them encouragement.
gives them a purpose for life. gives them opportunity. and gives them a lot of self-esteem when they have a job. no matter what the level the job happens to be.
So I've told our people that we're in the staffing ministry. And we're in the ministry because every person that comes in looking for a job. Is insecure. They need encouragement. They need hope.
They need compassion. And that's what the ministry is all about. I was hoping my shoe shined the other day. And uh this gentleman introduced himself. And he said, you don't remember me, but you placed me 22 years ago on my first job out of college.
And now I'm a state farm agent. And he said, I stayed on that job for five years. And then I was at a commencement service. a few months ago. And this gentleman tapped me on the shoulder.
And he said, you found me a job in 1979.
Now I'm retired, but he said you found me my job. Of course, I can't remember many of those people that I've placed. But that's the point is that that you're in. The Ministry of Helping People. As um Zig Ziegler once said, the more people you help, the more money comes running at your door.
In our case, that's the point. We're trying to help as many people as possible. because financially it also helps to grow a company. Mm-hmm. And a terrific job on the production editing and storytelling by our own Greg Hengler.
And a special thanks to Bob Funk. I love what he said at that graduation speech. I was in the one half of the class that made the other half possible. But he understood properly the role of the intellect in our lives, and it plays some role. But my goodness, the things that matter most, integrity, hard work.
That's Bob's ministry in the end. Of course, that encounter with Billy Graham, we heard just a snippet. Graham led so many people to the Lord. Bob Funk was one of them. It changed his life.
It's why he had a heart for this work, why he called his work a ministry. Bob Funk Story, the co-founder of Express Employment Professionals. Here on Our American Stories. You know, Donalds, I just want to scream out into this canyon and tell the whole world, T-Mobile's Got Home Internet. Do it, Zach!
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Mm-hmm.
