In summer '49, College Pro started a podcast to showcase the "x" element of our current franchisees that make them successful. In a limited-time series called Torch Given, in summer '50, our CEO Tony Valle is sitting down to talk with the founders, past CEOs, and trusted partners of this resilient brand called College Pro.
Our first guest is none other than Greig Clark, the founder of College Pro. Greig founded College Pro Painters in 1971. He's currently the Chairman of the Board for Trails Youth Initiative which is an NFP in Toronto.
Greig started College Pro out of a desire to pay for his education during one of his university summers, perhaps not anticipating what it would evolve to grow and to become. Greig took the one College Pro Painting outlet he had started in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, and developed a franchise model from his systems. He grew it across North America. By 1989, there were over 600 franchises with 5000 painters and nearly $40 million in summertime sales. He had systemized the servicing industry, and helped students pay for their college and university tuition while simultaneously learning how to run a business. He sold the business in 1989.
He was named Canada’s Entrepreneur of the Year by the Financial Post in 1980 and one of the Top Ten Entrepreneurs of the Decade by Profit Magazine in 1992. Greig loves to travel, having spent time abroad after graduating from university. He even lived in France with his family in the '90s, where we studied French wine! He says he still loves to play hockey, ski, work out, canoe, snowshoe, play tennis, and even play the occasional golf game. He is a loving husband and father to 6 children between him and his wife, Carolyn.
You'll hear the candid and humbling challenges Greig faced as an entrepreneur starting College Pro. These challenges are not so different to those that we've all faced and experienced. We're excited and honoured to have heard Greig's College Pro story.