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🚀 Dive into the heart of ambition with Mike Hamra's Secret to Building a Business Empire, exclusively on SWAY'S UNIVERSE! 🌟 Subscribe now for a front-row seat to transformative insights and stories that shape our world.
In this riveting installment, Sway welcomes Missouri Governor candidate and CEO of Hamra Enterprises, Mike Hamra, to share his journey from managing 26 locations to nearly 200 under his visionary leadership. Discover how the power of community, the innovative Hero Fund initiative, and a commitment to family values propelled his business into a formidable empire. Plus, get an insider's look at Mike's aspirations for Governor, aiming to bridge gaps and unite the state of Missouri with heart-centered governance.
With exclusive anecdotes, heartfelt advice for budding entrepreneurs, and Mike's unique approach to overcoming family business challenges, this episode is a goldmine for anyone looking to make a meaningful impact in their field. Whether you're an aspiring leader, a community advocate, or simply in search of inspiration, Mike Hamra's story is a testament to the power of vision, values, and relentless dedication.
Don't miss out on this exclusive insight into the makings of a business titan and potential future Governor of Missouri. Watch more content that moves, inspires, and challenges the status quo, only on SWAY'S UNIVERSE.
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CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Intro
2:45 - Mike Hamra Interview
5:02 - Family Business Insights
9:08 - Mike Hamra for Missouri Governor
10:53 - Addressing Race Relations in Missouri
14:29 - Lessons from Failures
18:31 - Improving Police-Community Relations
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
sh45 we have to get the moood right for
0:01
what's about to take place right now
0:03
that's right that's right I recently I
0:06
spoke about this earlier my good friend
0:08
George who all he
0:10
he's in the in the history of our
0:12
relationship which is fanss over 20
0:14
years now Tracy Jus man has never
0:17
brought something to my table that
0:18
wasn't valuable um insightful um
0:22
Progressive and that would not benefit
0:25
me and others around him and for that
0:27
reason whenever he calls me I do not
0:29
second guest I do not filter his
0:31
conversation I just stay obedient and um
0:35
he called me recently a couple times but
0:37
most recently about a man that he really
0:40
believes in and he said it's someone
0:41
that's been a friend of the family for a
0:44
long time I want to say over 15 years 17
0:47
years or so and he's never brought this
0:49
man up to me in in the years that I've
0:51
known him um which is his process it
0:54
wasn't time we hadn't reached that
0:56
Crossroad and he sent me the man's name
0:58
I said well what's this man's name name
1:00
George and why do you why do you think
1:02
we should meet and you know I'm I have a
1:05
nonprofit now that we're developing and
1:07
we're going into the communities and and
1:09
talking about education uh we're talking
1:11
about business we're talking about
1:13
health and fitness and we we're creating
1:16
a lot of initiatives and he said this is
1:18
right up this man's alley um this is
1:20
what he's done um externally and also
1:23
internally with his company with a
1:25
initiative called on the hero fund and
1:28
he's the CEO of hamr Enterprises it's a
1:31
family business That Grew From 26
1:34
locations to nearly 200 locations based
1:37
on his tutelage and his leadership he's
1:40
raised millions of money um millions of
1:42
dollars for charity for kids he was
1:44
appointed by President Clinton to help
1:45
his administration connect schools
1:47
libraries and healthc Care organizations
1:49
Across America wow um he has a really
1:52
interesting thing he does within his
1:53
company with the hero fund where he
1:55
supports employees and I dare say if
1:57
you're a CEO if you have your own
1:59
company this initiative the hero fund is
2:01
something you may want to adapt because
2:04
it's nothing like having a Workforce
2:06
who's happy to come to work hell yeah
2:09
and has an employer that helps them
2:11
alleviate or eradicate situations that
2:13
would prevent them from coming to work
2:15
or evolving as um individuals that's
2:18
those are people Tracy used the term
2:20
when I talked about him earlier you said
2:22
he's what centered heart centered a
2:24
heart- centered businessman this is a
2:26
heart centered businessman which is
2:29
extremely r
2:30
but he wants to take that heart and run
2:32
for governor of the state of Missouri I
2:35
want to welcome him to the show The One
2:36
and Only Mike Hammer wow is here ladies
2:39
and gentlemen Mike Mike Mike oh my
2:43
gosh what a
2:45
reputation Mike this our first time
2:47
meeting in person wow yeah it feel like
2:50
we known each other that's right yeah we
2:51
had a cool conversation and SWA thing
2:54
talk tells about our kids the whole nine
2:57
um and I was really fascinated first
2:59
about about the family and the business
3:01
that hammer had created and we were
3:03
talking about family businesses and some
3:05
of the nuances and challenges it is
3:07
working with family yeah uh can you tell
3:09
us about the business real quick you bet
3:11
you bet yeah my uh father and welcome to
3:13
the
3:14
show welcome to the show man all right
3:17
it's awesome to be here thank you guys
3:19
for having me absolutely so the business
3:22
was started in 1975 by my parents they
3:24
became Wendy's franchisees in Southwest
3:28
Missouri and they put everything into it
3:31
that they had uh they really worked hard
3:33
to build up a business uh create a space
3:35
for people to have jobs and
3:38
opportunities for themselves and careers
3:40
and uh they took that uh what they did
3:42
with that business is they used that
3:44
business to contribute back to the
3:45
community so I grew up in a family where
3:48
we were constantly talking about our
3:49
community talking about the difference
3:51
that we could make in our community my
3:52
father grew up in Southeast Missouri um
3:56
and my mother actually grew up here in
3:57
New York okay yeah she bossed the house
4:00
she was the boss in the household oh
4:02
yeah you know how we do so as a child um
4:06
did you do a lot of charitable um
4:08
actions as well like what kind of things
4:10
did you do so we were number one we were
4:12
always what did you do what did I do
4:14
what did I do yeah yeah I know what
4:17
y'all did what did you
4:19
do so uh a lot of our you know one of
4:23
the things that we did as just as a
4:24
family growing up is we contributed back
4:26
to people in needs so Back in 1970 even
4:29
before we got into the business back in
4:31
the early 70s my dad was uh instrumental
4:34
in creating a legal services
4:36
organization to provide Legal Services
4:39
pray to people that couldn't afford
4:40
legal services that organization is
4:42
still around today uh in Southwest
4:45
Missouri still provides uh prosay legal
4:47
services to many many people every day
4:50
to support them wow uh so it's a it's a
4:52
it's a real privilege and it's one of
4:54
the reasons uh I went to law school uh
4:56
to support and make a difference for
4:58
people you sound perfect my camera right
5:03
Mr Universe Mr Universe what what advice
5:06
like I want to talk about doing business
5:08
with family
5:10
um which is kind of sensitive I I think
5:13
at least in my experience is it could be
5:15
it's it's a very nuanced relationship
5:17
when you're doing business with people
5:20
you love uh what kind of challenges does
5:23
that propose and and then what kind of
5:25
benefits do you think it it helped out
5:27
with your family business yeah so number
5:30
one family businesses is not an easy
5:32
street uh you're dealing with you know
5:34
uh everybody's desire to want to have
5:36
their own their own Vision in that
5:38
business and so you have to work really
5:40
hard to create like what the vision is
5:42
going to be for your family business
5:43
because the possibility every in every
5:47
family business is the opportunity to
5:49
create a legacy but also a sustainable
5:51
business over multiple generations and
5:54
when you do that uh statistically those
5:57
businesses that last multiple
5:58
Generations
6:00
uh are have employees that are you're
6:03
the first ones to hire people you're the
6:05
last ones to lay people off in a
6:07
recession and it's proven that employees
6:10
of family-owned businesses are happier
6:12
they're more fulfilled because
6:13
family-owned businesses take an interest
6:15
in their employees and they always are
6:17
there to support their employees I mean
6:19
and and every family business has a
6:21
different variation of this we have our
6:23
own variation of what that looks like
6:25
but that's the difference a family
6:26
business can make and your and your um
6:30
in your run for governor um for the
6:32
state of Missouri um how does this
6:36
ideology apply to those the citizens of
6:38
the state of Missouri what do you plan
6:40
to do or what are your ideas about um
6:42
boosting family businesses yeah so
6:45
there's an opportunity to support those
6:47
generational type businesses that
6:49
provide job opportunities for people
6:51
create opportunities for great careers
6:53
for people and so getting underneath
6:55
that to really encourage people to take
6:57
this on and also bring a lot of the
7:00
ideas that family businesses have to the
7:02
state of Missouri to share those ideas
7:05
about how to support employees make a
7:06
difference for them because at the end
7:08
of the day when you invest in your
7:11
employees that's always a nice it's
7:13
always a return to the business the
7:15
businesses always perform better and so
7:18
they have more money at the end of the
7:19
day to be invest back into the business
7:21
what I'm thinking about too um our
7:24
people or when you say generational
7:26
wealth you know in our community as
7:27
something we're striving for driving for
7:30
some people even like that phrase
7:31
anymore um but it's a lot of information
7:34
we do not have a lot of information
7:36
that's not being taught that I think is
7:37
necessary at an early age grade school
7:40
age um business acument should be taught
7:43
you know uh trust how to you know how to
7:46
pass on a family business should be
7:48
taught you were assed by U President
7:50
Obama to to help the administration
7:52
connect with
7:53
schools I feel like grade school
7:56
education uh needs to be more robust
7:59
needs to be uh more in depth at what age
8:02
should we start teaching our kids about
8:04
business so when if there is a family
8:07
business and you get older you know what
8:09
to do with it and you don't lose it why
8:11
don't we do more of that yeah so
8:13
actually I was with President OB Clinton
8:15
oh I'm sorry president Clint I said
8:17
Obama my bad you stay for the C you know
8:20
who my favorite
8:23
was and my bad dog we were working on
8:26
connecting the schools library and
8:28
healthare organizations back in the
8:29
Clinton Administration um but you know
8:32
there's things that you can do to
8:33
introduce uh children at young age to
8:36
teach responsibility about what it looks
8:37
like to have money and be responsible
8:39
for that and how to utilize it to
8:41
contribute to you know building up your
8:44
future um and there's ways to do that
8:46
family businesses are very good about
8:48
you know there's structures out there
8:49
that help them understand that and help
8:51
integrate them into business and
8:53
understanding what it means to be
8:55
responsible so you can grow a business
8:57
that continues to create job
8:58
opportunities for and that's that's the
9:00
value around family businesses they're
9:02
there to serve the community they're
9:04
there to improve the community make a
9:05
difference for people in those
9:06
communities to give them careers and
9:08
opportunities why why do you want to run
9:10
for governor because there's a need to
9:14
it's it's a there's a need right right
9:16
now um you know our our our political
9:19
system in my opinion is fractured in the
9:21
sense that people are so polarized and
9:24
divisive they're not working to really
9:27
attend to the needs of people in those
9:30
state in the state of Missouri and so as
9:33
a business person and a family business
9:35
person who who has worked for the last
9:37
23 years in supporting people it's
9:40
surprising to me that our politicians
9:42
aren't doing the same and so I want to
9:43
take that on I want to take on the
9:45
opportunity to be a governor who will
9:47
lead with taking care of the needs of
9:50
the people support the state so that we
9:52
can make the state attractive for
9:54
Investments create opportunities for
9:57
people to have Futures that they love
9:58
and that they see uh that they where
10:00
they can make ends meet in with their
10:02
family and just take care of all the
10:04
simple needs we just you know there's a
10:05
lot of people struggling uh in the state
10:07
of Missouri uh whether it's trying to
10:10
make ends meet in in their in their jobs
10:14
uh and also we have kids going to school
10:16
uh in 30% of our school districts four
10:19
days a week four days a week four days
10:22
what's why well they don't have the
10:24
resources uh they don't have the the
10:26
number of teachers to support the
10:27
schools and be able to
10:29
uh take on five day a week uh schedules
10:32
so that's being neglected in that sense
10:35
and we and and those are the issues that
10:37
I'm going after is is bringing back the
10:40
opportunity so we want to talk about
10:41
kids and and raising kids we need a
10:44
state that is going to be for everyone
10:46
and provide great education for all
10:48
children I like that my camera is here
10:53
um when I think of Missouri uh Missouri
10:56
may obviously headlines again um at the
10:59
death of Michael Brown right and uh when
11:02
you talk about Ferguson and and the and
11:05
the relationships the policing
11:07
relationships in our communities um the
11:09
race relationships in the communities
11:11
you know when you talk about Missouri
11:14
what what are your what what was your
11:16
thoughts about what happened with
11:17
Michael Brown or and what are your
11:19
thoughts about improving you know the
11:22
the relationship between the community
11:23
and policing and race relations in
11:26
Missouri yeah so um I'll just start with
11:29
where I am in business so one of the
11:31
things that we do in our business is we
11:33
we also train and develop people so last
11:37
18 months I co-led 20 leadership
11:40
workshops and we spent two days every
11:44
every one of those workshops was at
11:45
least two days and really for me it was
11:47
like three three to four days based on
11:49
going in and doing the prep work working
11:51
with people and we had anywhere between
11:53
20 to 30 people in each of those
11:54
workshops what we teach in those
11:56
workshops is developing relationships
11:58
being connected to each other really
12:00
understanding what's what's going on in
12:02
your life so I'll give you a good
12:04
example um some of our managers left
12:07
those workshops and they and they they
12:09
realized like I'm not actually I don't
12:11
really know why I have an employee that
12:14
comes in late I don't understand what's
12:16
going on with that employee because
12:18
they're upset that day so we had uh one
12:21
employee one of our managers uh who left
12:24
the workshop went back to his store his
12:26
name we'll call him Jack and he said I'm
12:29
to sit down with Teresa because Teresa
12:30
is somebody I like but she comes in late
12:32
a lot she's not always in a good mood or
12:34
whatever so he sits down with Teresa and
12:36
he says Teresa let's just have a cup of
12:38
coffee let's just get connected let's
12:39
just find out what's going on and he
12:42
finds out that he says Teresa why you
12:44
late sometimes you're not always in a
12:46
you know good mood and she says listen I
12:48
have a I have an autistic child and I'm
12:51
a single parent and I don't have the
12:54
resources to support my autistic child
12:57
and he says you know what I have an
12:59
autistic child I have an autistic son
13:01
and I have resources and I'm going to
13:03
provide you those resources I'm going to
13:05
make sure you have those
13:06
resources Teresa comes into work now lit
13:10
up excited energized because she knows
13:14
her manager has her
13:17
back so when you talk about race
13:20
relations you talk about the
13:22
community we miss out on the simplest
13:25
thing about being connected with each
13:27
other and we need to encourage people to
13:29
get connected sit down and listen what's
13:32
happening what is your view what is your
13:34
perspective really understand it instead
13:37
of just dismissing it that's where we're
13:39
starting we have this is why I'm running
13:41
for governor because there's a
13:43
divisiveness people aren't getting
13:45
connected anymore they're they're not
13:47
listening to each other they're not even
13:49
neighbors are afraid to talk politically
13:51
about political issues with each other
13:53
true we have to bring people back
13:55
together to make create it have it be
13:57
safe that you can talk you can have
13:59
those conversations we're human beings
14:00
we naturally want to connect with each
14:02
other that's the difference we've got to
14:04
make and that I would make as Governor
14:06
is bringing people back together and
14:08
creating those relationships that will
14:10
make a difference for everybody to have
14:12
the opportunity to share perspectives
14:14
understand what those issues are and get
14:17
on us get on the same page to move
14:18
forward my camera citizens um 888 74233
14:23
45 I wish you all the success in that
14:25
yes and I I wish people can adapt that
14:27
philosophy across the country country
14:29
right Tracy G yeah Mike um often times
14:32
when folks think of Business Leaders or
14:36
politicians is through the lens of just
14:38
very powerful almost impenetrable people
14:43
but in order to have that type of
14:45
confidence that gains that perception
14:47
you have to be comfortable a failing
14:49
right you have to build up a resilience
14:51
to that would you be comfortable sharing
14:53
because we have a lot of our um
14:54
listeners who are entrepreneurs
14:56
especially in their early stages and do
14:58
get kind of um riddled with self-doubt
15:01
would you be comfortable sharing a um a
15:04
mistake a mishap something that didn't
15:07
make sense during the time and did feel
15:10
somewhat crippling but in hindsight you
15:12
were able to gain a very necessary
15:14
lesson yeah I mean the the most obvious
15:18
one is uh not listening to my team you
15:20
know really and and it's important as an
15:23
entrepreneur especially if somebody's
15:24
first starting out to get perspective
15:27
and understand
15:29
where where people have gone down that
15:31
road before uh learn from other people
15:34
that's the most important thing an
15:35
entrepreneur can do is learn from other
15:37
people uh and then find a mentor
15:39
somebody that you trust uh uh that can
15:42
that can help out so in my business we
15:44
we've built a lot of stores we have uh
15:46
almost 200 locations now um not every
15:49
one of them works and I can point to a
15:52
few of them where I didn't listen to my
15:55
team they said look that's not that
15:57
site's not going to going to work and
16:00
when your team's not behind you when
16:01
they're not supportive because at the
16:03
end of the day I'm there to build it but
16:05
I'm not there in the store running it
16:07
yeah I have to rely on them to run it
16:09
and they have to own it meaning they
16:11
have to agree that that is the right
16:13
site to do and I've made that mistake
16:15
before and I've learned from that
16:17
mistake so listening to the people that
16:20
are going to be responsible for whatever
16:22
part of the business that you're
16:23
building up is going to be critical in
16:25
anybody's success really listening and
16:27
hearing that they own it and they're
16:29
going to take it on and they're going to
16:30
be responsible for it would you say
16:31
going from like 20 stores to 200 stores
16:35
is it easier or is it more difficult
16:38
because a lot of people when they have
16:39
maybe just one or two of something it's
16:42
like dang all I want is to Triple that
16:45
quadruple that but not realizing that
16:48
more responsibilities come on the table
16:50
but also sometimes it's like you have
16:51
more funds to hire more people in your
16:54
um experience has it been more
16:57
challenging or does it provide more more
16:58
ease the more you gain well a lot of it
17:01
is about uh having great people working
17:03
with you people that you trust people
17:05
that you're in partnership with and so
17:07
as we've built I mean it's fun to be at
17:10
a smaller business and and running
17:12
around and you know uh trying to trying
17:14
to make things trying to bring things
17:16
together but as we've gotten bigger
17:19
we've gotten better people and we've
17:21
attract and people have actually taken
17:22
ownership I have a lot of people that
17:23
worked with me for 20 plus years wow um
17:26
and they've all grown in their career so
17:29
we have the as you get a little larger
17:32
you get better systems you've made the
17:34
mistakes in a at a as a smaller company
17:38
as you get a little bit larger you
17:39
realize not to make you understand not
17:41
to make those same mistakes again uh and
17:44
you also realize that it's a team effort
17:47
it's not an individual anymore it is now
17:49
part of a larger organization it is a
17:52
group uh that is now actually moving
17:55
this forward I have very little you know
17:57
I have I would say like I have less to
18:00
do about a particular restaurant today
18:02
than I ever did 20 years or 20 23 years
18:05
ago because the team it's about the team
18:07
it's about bringing people together that
18:09
own it and want to own it and want to
18:10
see us grow and want to see us support
18:12
employees so when you bring that culture
18:15
together and when you when you uh
18:17
integrate all those values into a
18:20
culture it starts to show up in other
18:21
people and and and and the team that's
18:24
what makes it a little easier as you get
18:26
larger because you now have this group
18:29
that is all behind the vision of what
18:31
you're trying to do my camera is here um
18:34
born and raised in Springfield running
18:36
for governor of Missouri but also doing
18:38
a lot in the community Carlos you've
18:40
been tuned in you in North Carolina
18:41
where you at hey Carlos yes sir I'm I'm
18:44
in North Carolina man but ironically I
18:46
just teamed up or partner with a group
18:48
of guys from St Louis Missouri man and
18:51
uh man I love those guys I love I love
18:54
their Drive they're called the
18:56
collective steering committee and um I
18:58
was wondering what in in the in the
19:00
event that the brother gets chosen as U
19:03
Governor right he make is he going to do
19:05
anything to to to bridge the gap between
19:09
police and the communities that they
19:11
serve because there is a disconnect it
19:14
seems as though the police don't want to
19:16
be a part of the community they they
19:18
Patrol the communities but you know
19:20
they're not like I don't know any police
19:23
officers who just come to events um you
19:25
know in inside the inner city okay a
19:29
great question Carlos Mike yeah so again
19:31
I'm going to go back to what I was
19:32
sharing earlier about being related and
19:34
getting connected I'm I would you know
19:37
Missouri has aside from the police force
19:39
they have over 56,000 almost 60,000
19:42
employees in the state and similar to
19:44
what we've done with our employees
19:45
developing people it's important that
19:47
people get developed in what leadership
19:49
is leadership is about getting related
19:51
and getting connected and working with
19:53
people and I have worked with uh uh
19:55
groups of police officers before we
19:58
actually
19:58
under where they they are they they
20:01
serve the community in the sense that
20:02
they're out there participating in
20:04
events building the relationships that
20:07
need to be built so that they have those
20:09
relationships so that they have the
20:10
safety and they they know they can walk
20:12
into a situation without you know and
20:14
connect with people that's what's going
20:16
to be important and it's also important
20:18
that from education to our police force
20:21
that we make those entities more
20:23
attractive for people to take jobs in
20:26
those in those organizations because and
20:29
part of that's going to be around
20:30
growing and developing people you know
20:32
really making it attractive but really
20:34
taking on development of of people in
20:37
education people in law enforcement it's
20:39
around leadership it's around training
20:41
people differently and how to be
20:43
connected to Citizens and the people
20:45
that they serve hey Mike uh um if car
20:48
Carlos if Mike when Mike gets elected as
20:51
governor uh maybe you could visit him
20:54
yeah you know at the at the governor's
20:55
office and maybe maybe come up with some
20:58
ideas and suggestions what do you think
20:59
about that oh that sounds good I that I
21:03
really think that's needed sway okay I
21:05
really think so steering committee is is
21:08
in I he's in Springfield I don't know
21:09
how far that is from St Louis but um you
21:12
know that's that's a group of guys who
21:14
are boots on the ground okay so Los we
21:17
we're going to follow his campaign if
21:18
he's elected governor we're all going to
21:20
his house all right you're a citizen
21:23
brother hey Mike it's an honor to meet
21:26
you brother thank you thank you all
21:27
right you got a you got a tough road
21:29
ahead of you yeah oh yeah hey but man
21:31
that you built for it thank you you your
21:33
life has been a tough road you've been
21:36
able to navigate through that as a
21:37
father as a family member as a
21:40
businessman and such a huge business I
21:42
know what you guys Revenue you know and
21:44
that's and that you know you got a whole
21:46
Workforce that counts on your vision
21:48
that's right right and when you become
21:50
governor you're going to have a whole
21:51
state that's right that's going to count
21:53
on your vision right you'll be working
21:55
for us that's right all right that's
21:57
right good luck to you man don't let
21:59
yeah and this whole polarizing thing man
22:01
don't fall for the traps the tricks the
22:04
distractions don't become what these
22:06
people become when they get into
22:07
Congress bro you know we're we're
22:09
looking at some real ludicrous
22:11
conversations we're having and behavior
22:14
from elected representatives is damn
22:16
near as shameful yes don't be that Mike
22:18
yeah I'm with you I'm with you I'm with
22:22
you all right give it up for my camera
22:24
thank you brother for being on the show
22:26
absolutely absolutely
22:29
[Music]
22:32
a
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