Lessons in Leadership from a Frontline Founder

From a one-man operation in 1976 to a company processing over a million weekly transactions, Greg Parker’s journey demonstrates his hands-on leadership and commitment to generosity. This philosophy permeates every aspect of Parker’s Kitchen – from brand identity to employee benefits and customer service.

Parker’s frontline leadership approach has built a culture of loyalty and resilience, enabling his company to navigate challenges while consistently gaining market share. In his first interview since becoming Executive Chairman, Greg Parker shares career insights and how his leadership style, prioritizing people and community, proves that lasting success stems from service and generosity.

From One Employee to a Million Weekly Transactions

To think back to January 1st, 1976, and see where we are today is hard to believe. I was the only employee, and I worked for three and a half years without a day off. Being the person who opened and closed the store, who was in charge of maintenance, mowing the grass, planting, cleaning bathrooms, and cooking the food, I gained incredible knowledge about what convenience truly means.

Convenience defines America. Half of America shops in a convenience store every single day. At Parker’s Companies, we have a million transactions occur in our stores every week. We’re the first to open, the last to close, and we are ubiquitous. There are more convenience stores than any other retail entity.

I’ve worn every hat: accountant, bookkeeper, head of marketing, head of display, head of operations. I’ve done everything in our industry, and it gives me a knowledge that others don’t have. But I’ve always had a profound fear of failure, and I think that fear of failure is what pushed me forward. That, and insecurity. I think many CEOs, if they were truly honest, would say they had a huge fear of failure and were very insecure in what they were doing.

Defining Yourself Through Crisis: Reflections from 2020

No CEO can say they had everything figured out. We certainly didn’t. I sat in our conference room and said, “This is going to be a defining time in our company’s history. We’re going to do the best job of handling our business, taking care of our customers, and ensuring the safety of our employees, better than anyone in the industry. Let’s use this time to define ourselves.”

I remember at the time my chief of staff, asked if people would be able to work from home during the pandemic. I decided to answer that question in writing to all our employees.

I told them I’ve always led from the front, and my intention was to visit every single store and talk to every manager and kitchen manager to let them know we were concerned. We were going to do whatever it took to provide for their safety. I was going to be a good listener and understand their concerns. But we’re an essential business; we had to stay open. Imagine America shutting down, with every convenience store closing. So, we had to remain open.

I went on to say that I wouldn’t tell my white-collar workers they could work from home while the frontline, blue-collar workers, those serving our customers every day, had to be at work. No, this office was going to stay open. As a 71-year-old leader of this company, I was going to be here at work every single day, leading from the front. It was a time for us to define ourselves.

Our customers appreciated what we did. Our workers appreciated what we did. We had whole teams from the office go into stores to help clean up, bag ice, or help with cooking. Our team members understood that we cared deeply about their safety and were there to help them. That created a real sense of camaraderie, proving we could overcome whatever we faced. Over time, we gained market share in every single market where we did business.

How Working Mothers Guide Superior Brand Decisions

We asked ourselves, “Who is our brand customer? Who is the filter through which we’re going to look at everything we do in our company?” The convenience store industry has traditionally been defined by what we call the “Bubba”: a guy who drives a pickup truck, drinks beer, chews tobacco, or smokes cigarettes, and likes buying Frito-Lays, meat snacks, and fried chicken.

People would say, “Greg, I think you’re spending too much money on your stores, on landscaping, on architecture. Sometimes good enough is good enough.” But in our company, we’ve never thought good enough was good enough. Having the working mother as our brand filter was one of the best things we ever did.

Building a Company Culture That Earns Loyalty

We understand that if we want to be the best place to work, we must look after our people. Providing childcare is something that makes us different, distinctive, and makes people want to come work with us. We feel privileged and honored that we can do this. It was a way to differentiate ourselves. We want to earn the loyalty of our people so they would say, “I want my sister, mother, or friend to come work here too, because we love it so much.”

The high cost of low wages doesn’t work overtime. You have to invest in your people, get them training. I want people to live the best versions of themselves that they can be.

How Generosity Boosted the Bottom Line

I was on the foundation board of Memorial Hospital and knew some things were going well, and some weren’t. Several years ago, I had to go to the hospital with an emergency surgery. I walked into the Emergency Department, and I had a really bad experience. I was in so much pain that I couldn’t see to write my name or read any of the writing. I was in that much pain.  After that experience, I thought, “I can do something about this. I can help.” So, we gave a gift to Memorial to help create what we thought would be a great emergency room.

Several months later, I asked our CFO, Terri Heidmann, why our sales were up when we weren’t running any promotions. She responded that everyone was talking about what we did for the Parker’s Emergency and Trauma Center at Memorial Hospital, and people were giving back to us. We were just doing the right thing for our community. We weren’t thinking our customers would reward us, but they did.

Giving back is part of our company’s DNA. I’m 76 years old. I’ve made more money than I ever thought possible, and as a result, we’ve given away quite a bit over the last six or seven years, around $30 million. We focus on four areas: education, because it’s the foundation of prosperity; healthcare, where we recently gave a $5 million gift to help the underinsured and uninsured; heroes, through our support of wounded warriors; and hunger, where we set a goal last year of feeding 2 million meals to hungry children, and achieved it.  

It’s shocking how many people say, “I want to work at Parker’s because y’all give back to the communities where you do business.” We’re just doing the right thing. Our customers are rewarding us. People want to work with us. Every CEO needs to know that by doing the right thing, being generous, and giving back, a world of generosity will come back to you.

Investing in Education: Growing Your Talent Pool and Customer Base

Many of our leadership team members matriculated through Georgia Southern, so we decided to invest in our backyard, where it would be meaningful. We could work with the university to create a pipeline of talent, not only for the coastal empire but for Parker’s as well. It’s one of the best decisions we made.  

We have a Parker Scholars program where I work with students. They come here, and I periodically go there. We’ve recruited and hired students from that group. They come in as interns, and we end up hiring them into our organization. It’s also good for all the adjoining businesses. I’m on the board of the Savannah Economic Development Authority, and we’re all about creating economic opportunity and growing jobs. By investing in Georgia Southern, we’re investing in our community.

In addition, we have our Fueling the Community charity, started in 2011 by Terri Heidmann. We do “1 Cent Wednesdays,” where a portion of our profits goes back to local area schools. It’s over $2.75 million to date. The great thing is we create stickiness because the customer can decide which school gets the pennies.

From CEO to Executive Chairman: Leading Through Transition

Most people ask why I don’t sell out and sail into the sunset. I want to continue to create opportunity. We just closed on a $1.2 billion loan that will allow us to grow in ways we’ve never grown before. We have 113 stores in the pipeline, and we’re going to open a hundred stores in the next four years. I have an extraordinary team that’s going to do it. At one point, I was the best bookkeeper, marketer, operations person, and merchandiser. Now, I’m not a fraction as good as any of those people are in their respective disciplines.

I didn’t have great work-life balance when I was young. I worked too much. I wanted the flexibility that success affords you as you get older, and I’m there. On February 28th, I stepped down as CEO and became Executive Chairman. It’s the first promotion I’ve gotten since I started work.

I have an incredible board and an incredible team that’s going to do a far better job than I did in the past. I’m going to be able to really give back in meaningful ways to the community that has supported us. Our success is built on the shoulders of others, and the success in the future will be built on the shoulders of others.

The thing that, as I said before, that I’ve learned is by doing the right thing, your customers will reward you. And by doing the right thing, your employees will support you. I am truly humbled and grateful for the people that I’ve worked with.