Franchisee Spotlight: Jimmy Turner of Christian Brothers Automotive

Jimmy Turner didn’t think taking his car for a routine checkup would inspire him to become a franchisee with Christian Brothers Automotive.

Working in franchise support for the ServiceMaster Corporation family, which includes American Home Shield and Terminix, Turner represented Furniture Medic as a business coach and developed an understanding of how the franchise industry works.

While dropping off his car for service at the local Collierville Christian Brothers Automotive, Turner spoke with the former franchisee about the differences between the Christian Brothers franchise model and the ServiceMaster model. Appreciating the brand's family values and commitment to service, Turner and his wife decided to pursue business ownership with Christian Brothers.

What were you doing before partnering with Christian Brothers Automotive? Growing up I was the youngest of five boys and our father was a pastor in rural Mississippi. I graduated from Ole Miss with a General Business degree.

I began my career working in retail sales but quickly obtained a position in personnel (now called human resources) and safety management. After 12 years, I transitioned to business management in a commercial laundry which taught me how to successfully operate a business. It was great training to develop my skills for building an effective team, planning, budgeting, and tracking income and expenses to ensure that a business is sound.

I started working for ServiceMaster Corporation which owns several brands such as American Home Shield and Terminix. I represented Furniture Medic as a franchise business coach for about eight years. That helped me develop an understanding of how the franchise business works and the benefits of ownership.

How did you learn about Christian Brothers Automotive, and what made you ultimately decide to commit? My wife and I were customers of the Collierville location, which we now own. When I brought my wife’s car in, the former owner gave me a ride home and we started talking about the differences between our two franchises.

I was very impressed with what he had to say and began thinking about how I could be involved with a great company like Christian Brothers Automotive. This company is more like a family than a business, and it is committed to serving others by loving our neighbors as we love ourselves.

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