Story posted Friday, February 19, 2010
Real Eye-Opener
DP Native, 7-Eleven CEO Joe DePinto Reaches The Frontlines On TV Show 'Undercover Boss'
By TIM O'CONNOR Journal & Topics Reporter
Joe DePinto, a 1980 graduate of Maine West High School in Des Plaines and now CEO of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, learns to make coffee with first-shift store employee Delores Basagni at a 7-Eleven store in Shirley, Long Island, NY.
When Joe DePinto was growing up in Des Plaines he worked as a paperboy, in hotels, at manufacturing plants, and for an airfreight company.
It's been awhile since the 1980 Maine West High School graduate had to use skills from those jobs, but he said they helped him prepare for a week working uncover as an entry-level employee named "Danny Rossi" for 7-Eleven, the worldwide company he now runs.
DePinto, president and CEO of the Dallas-based convenience chain, filmed an episode for the CBS TV show "Undercover Boss," a new reality show that puts CEOs on the frontlines of their nationally recognized brands. The episode with DePinto is airing Sunday, Feb. 21 at 8 p.m.
DePinto believes in this idea of the reverse pyramid, where every level of management supports the employees underneath. Working the register for a Long Island, N.Y. franchise at 2:30 a.m. showed DePinto first-hand how that philosophy works.
"I wanted to see that unfiltered," he said.
What he saw was Dolores, a 72-year-old employee with kidney problems who knows every one of the 2,500 Long Island customers she serves coffee to each day. And Waquas, who worked the night shift for six years to put himself through college. Then there was Igor, a Russian immigrant who drives trucks in North Texas to deliver food to 7-Eleven stores. He wants to run his own 7-Eleven store---he's already been approved for a franchise---but couldn't afford the $150,000 franchise fee.
So when the undercover week ended, DePinto put that reverse pyramid philosophy to use. He waived the franchise fee for Igor---the store opens in May---and made Waquas a district manager trainee in Florida.
The company is also rolling out a program to identify talent in their stores.
"In order to lead you have to serve the people you lead," DePinto said. "This was just another opportunity to show that."
He credited his Des Plaines upbringing with instilling that value.
"We're about working hard and we're about doing things the right way and taking care of other folks."
One of the most eye-opening experiences came at the end of one workday when DePinto had to toss out one-day-old food that local food banks couldn't accept because it was unpackaged.
"Throwing away donuts on the third shift was a difficult thing to do," he said. It was the only time during the week that DePinto wanted to blow his cover and make a change on the spot. Now 7-Eleven is looking for charities that can accept the unsold donuts.
By the end of the taping, which was done last fall, DePinto worked the overnight shift in a store, drove delivery trucks, and spent a day at one of the company's bakeries in Baltimore.
"It tells me how hard our folks work every day," he said. "All they want is to be valued and recognized for the work they do."
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