Carl Dissette knows what he wants--independence and the freedom
to establish his own territory. Realizing the corporate world
wouldn't give him those things, he opened two Jimmy John's
Gourmet Sandwich Shops franchises in the Chicago area in 1996.
Dissette, 39, spent his 20s working in the food industry at the
corporate level--he was regional vice president of a
coffee-roasting company by age 27. Still, even with the success and
job offers his high-demand sales and management skills were
bringing in from all sides, Dissette couldn't reconcile himself
to the fate many colleagues suffered. "I looked at how the
corporate world hired people, ground them up and spat them
out," he says.
"I was [young] and had this ability and talent," he
says. "I thought, 'I could make some corporation a lot of
money, or I could make myself a lot of money.'"
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He tried his hand at a diner-type franchise and an independent
champagne and caviar bar in Chicago before settling on the Jimmy
John's system. Now with 2002 sales estimates at about $3.5
million for his six stores, Dissette continues to push past all
boundaries. "[Corporate America] is extremely restrictive to
an aggressive, fast-track person, which I was and am," he
says. "Guess what? I love my job. I love being my own
boss."
Originally published in the July 2002 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine
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