News & Articles

How does a two-time Franchisee of the Year spend his down time?

Dale Ressler is a drag racer, a chaplain, a two-time Franchisee of the Year, and a business coach who helps new DreamMaker franchisees learn the ropes. Dale Ressler is a drag racer, a chaplain, a two-time Franchisee of the Year, and a business coach who helps new DreamMaker franchisees learn the ropes.

One of the great things about being part of a franchise system like DreamMaker is you join a team of people working together to build a strong brand and strong businesses. You also get to meet some pretty interesting people along the way.

Franchise Times recently shined a light on DreamMaker remodeling franchise owner Dale Ressler, a two-time DreamMaker Franchisee of the Year who has a surprisingly high-octane hobby.

From the Franchise Times profile of Dale:

Dale Ressler drives fast cars, preaches about God at the racetrack, remodels homes and is a former paramedic. He’s been DreamMaker Remodeling’s franchisee of the year twice and has won numerous awards. “I probably like awards more than I like to admit,” he says, adding, “That’s being prideful.”

dale

But Ressler has a lot to be proud of. He’s been able to do what most of us wish we could: weave several seemingly unrelated careers into a lifestyle that hits on all cylinders.

“I’ve always been a motorhead,” he says. It was 1989 when he raced his street car in a drag race. “I lost in the first round. It wasn’t one of those Cinderella stories where I raced the first time and won,” he says. “But it excited me.” Drag racing involves driving a quarter of a mile as fast as you can. Speeds get up to 160 mph, which means one “round” can take as little as eight seconds. Winning rounds means you keep advancing; losing means you’ve had your eight seconds of fun for the day — although there are several qualifiers before single-elimination starts.

Ressler, who attended Bible college while working as a carpenter and paramedic, was ordained in 2004. He became the pastor for the drag-racing safety team when they found out he was also a paramedic, and from there he took on the pastoral role for the out-of-town events. Preaching at a race track is no different than when a church sends missionaries to Africa, he says. It’s just that his congregation is weekend daredevils. The job has its highs and lows. He’s married racers, presided over funerals and sat with families at hospital bedsides after accidents. “What we do at the race track is much more how God intended church to be than sitting in a pew looking at the back of someone’s head,” he says.

He’s passionate about his race life, and that devotion has spilled over into his work life, as well. “I love DreamMaker,” he says.

Dale joined DreamMaker in 2006 after having owned an independent remodeling business since 1990. He was attracted to DreamMaker by the systems we provide franchisees to enable them to run the business as owner/managers. Our systems help remodeling franchise owners stay on top of the business while efficiently delegating tasks to staff. That helps DreamMaker franchises provide a higher level of customer service.

One of the keys to our business model is our emphasis on strong margins and quality of life. Strong margins are achieved by establishing relationships with customers that encourage them to make remodeling decisions on the basis of quality and service rather than price alone. DreamMaker is rarely the least-expensive option in the communities we serve — but we have stellar customer satisfaction scores.

Dale has excelled at providing excellent customer service and maintaining strong margins. That’s why, in addition to owning his own franchise in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, we have tapped Dale as a franchise coach to help other DreamMaker franchisees grow and improve their businesses.

“Dale has the leadership skills, remodeling expertise and business acumen to help launch new franchisees and to support existing franchisees,” DreamMaker CEO Doug Dwyer says.

Learn more

Click here to read a blog about Dale. For in-depth details about the DreamMaker remodeling franchise opportunity, download our free franchise report. You can also learn more by visiting our research pages.

Recent Posts