Executive Q&A with Art Atkinson: Cruising through life, work
Debbie Blossom, Business Writer
Comments 
0
Published: June 7, 2009
Though he’s nowhere near the ocean, Art Atkinson is often in cruise mode, wearing his captain’s cap and a colorful flower lei.
Multimedia
More Info
Personally Speaking
→Position: Vice president of Express University, the training division at Express Employment Professionals.
→Birthdate: Sept. 1, 1953.
→Hometown: Sapulpa.
→Education: Bachelor’s degree in speech communications consultancy, Oklahoma State University.
→Family: Married with three grown children and three grandchildren.
→Hobbies: Eating out with my wife, snow skiing, water volleyball in the backyard pool. "My work is so much fun it is like a hobby, he said. I have the best wife, kids and job in the entire world, and I am very grateful to be alive.”
→What book is on your nightstand? The "Bible” and "The Shack.”
He joins shipmates in an afternoon game of shuffleboard and beach volleyball against a soundtrack of
Beach Boys tunes, and every day for two weeks they travel to a different port of call.
Yet he never leaves
Oklahoma City.
"I get paid to play at work,” Atkinson said. But what sounds like an extended global vacation is this training guru’s less-than-traditional take on teaching others to run a franchise business.
Atkinson is vice president of Express Employment Professionals’
Express University training program. And his cruise-theme itinerary is Express’ latest training strategy to provide new franchisees the most intensive, entertaining, hands-on learning experience possible.
This super-enthusiastic salesman — Atkinson first realized his sales potential in high school selling men’s clothing — has been molding trained Express franchise owners since 1983 after Express founder
Bob Funk realized Atkinson’s skills with interpersonal communication were best suited for the classroom.
"We call it accelerated learning,” said Atkinson. It’s where franchisees are intensely involved in team-building and role-playing activities, rather than listening to ongoing lectures, he said. "You learn by doing, not being told.”
Atkinson sat down with
The Oklahoman just as another two-week "cruise” was about to begin to talk about his career and share a little about the man behind the smile and captain’s cap.
Q: What do you remember about growing up in Sapulpa?
A: I had an absolutely wonderful childhood. I remember working and playing at my best friend’s dairy farm. We helped milk the cows, shovel manure and have BB-gun wars in the hay barn. I also have fond memories of sledding down steep hills in the winter as a youngster and playing little league baseball. Then it was on to golf every day in high school.
Q: Who was an early role model?
A: My dad. He was a very loving father to my sister and me and treated my mother like a queen. He never missed any of my sporting events and was the best man in my wedding.
Q: What qualities in people do you most admire?
A: Genuineness, positiveness, the ability to work well with both people and details, and the ability to think quickly on their feet.
Q: Express’ training program recently received a 100 percent satisfaction rating for its quality from franchisees, and was recognized as a World-Class Franchise by the Franchise Research Institute. How did that make you feel?
A: You know how you feel when you score a 100 percent on your math test? You feel excited.
Q: What’s been your best, nonwork-related experience?
A: Without a doubt, it was making
Jesus Christ my Lord and being baptized in the Holy Spirit when I was 22.
Q: What makes you the happiest?
A: Three things: Being used by God to help and serve others, spending time with my wife and family, and training others and seeing them "get it.”
Leave a Comment
Business Photo Galleriesview all
Prev
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Log in below or sign up (it's free).