Ever wonder what it’s really like to leave a stable career and jump into business ownership? In this episode, we chat with Mike Knox, a former educator from Amarillo, Texas, who did exactly that—and absolutely knocked it out of the park.
With zero business background, Mike took a chance on franchising. Thanks to the support of a franchise coach, he found the right fit fast—and launched a restoration business that beat its first-month revenue goals by four times.
Mike gets real about what it felt like to pivot careers, what surprised him most about the journey, and how coaching helped him and his wife Erica find clarity, confidence, and direction when it mattered most.
If you’re exploring franchising but feeling overwhelmed or unsure where to start, Mike’s story might be just the spark you need.
Adam: With my good friend Mike Knox who’s actually located in Amarillo, Texas.
That’s correct. Yes.
Yes. And so, uh, Mike, um, tell us more about your business and how you found it.
Mike: All right. Well, my business is called Rest to Pros. We’re a restoration water mitigation franchise. Um, and I found this I never would have found this on my own, but Adam actually through the his business with the franchise coach um, helped me find this when we were um, looking to make a change in my career just a couple months ago.
Adam: And how are things going for you?
Mike: Well, um, as you can see, I’m in my truck because I’m on a job site today. Um, let’s just say, uh, when we when we got started, corporate set some goals for us and we we were four times that volume in our very first month. Um, and so it’s been fantastic. Um, and actually probably the only thing I can say to describe it is uh I wish I had done it 10 or 15 years ago.
Adam: Oh my gosh. And and what would you say to someone that uh that you referring to franchise coach about why they should work with us?
Mike: Sure. Well, of course, everybody’s situation is different, but I think most people are very aware of what a franchise is and you know, we see them all around us.
Um, but when it comes to figuring out which one is a fit, um, when we’re when our lives are busy and we don’t necessarily know the nitty-gritty of of of everything, um, I think it’s really important to find somebody that knows the business, knows the landscape, understands the models that are out there.
And then also, I think what, you know, working with with you, Adam, that was so valuable is that you took the time to get to know me and my wife Erica. Um, we did several interviews, um, where you asked lots of really good questions to get to know our values and what was important to us and you honed us down to just a couple of really good fits for us to investigate. Um, and that was something I could never have accomplished on my own.
Adam: And what about working with us surprised you the most?
Mike: Yeah. Um, you know, I I think it was probably that that was the level of of personal attention that you gave us, um, uh, in really understanding what our needs were, what our situation was, um, what things we would like to do and wouldn’t do. And, um, you gave us three things to investigate and all three of them were very interesting and I could have seen any of them working out. So, um, you know, just kind of I think, you know, that is and again that’s probably the most value we got was cuz I could have spent a long long time looking at lots and lots of different opportunities, many of them which never would have been a fit and you were able to get us down to three really good options really quickly.
Adam: Why would you say it’s important uh for someone like yourself, right, to work with a coach like me in searching for a franchise to invest in?
Mike: Yeah. Well, if you don’t come from this world and um you know, I I’ve I don’t even come from the business world. I was in education. So, um I I didn’t know the first thing about running a business um and I didn’t know the first thing about how to investigate an opportunity, how to look at an opportunity and evaluate if it made sense for us.
And so working with you gave me really a great deal of confidence in you know understanding what I was getting myself into looking at um you know everything from upside to potential risk all of that and uh it made me feel much more comfortable I think pulling the trigger and saying yes to the opportunity.
I’ll add one more thing. You told me this uh probably our first or second conversation, you said you people either drag their feet forever and probably never buy or they they do this really quickly and in just a matter of a week or weeks or months or are in a new franchise. And I was like, I don’t think that’s me. I can’t see that happening. And that’s exactly what happened. So, you were right. And that was certainly a big surprise.
Adam: Oh my gosh. Well, listen, Mike, it’s been a pleasure working with you and Erica. Here’s to continued success for both of you. And uh I you know I’m just it just makes me feel awesome to see my candidates successful and helping other people and busy and uh um a pleasure to work with both of you.
Mike: Yeah, likewise, Adam. It was a great pleasure getting to know you and we appreciate all you did for us.
