Retired from 30 years in the Air Force, Joe Emma, owner/operator of the Fair Oaks Mall Chick-Fil-A, knows the value of working with a team. After recently winning the Symbol of Success sales award from Chick-Fil-A corporate, Emma said he owes his success to his coworkers. With wife Liz Emma, who is also general manager, managers John Ragland, Maria Mendoza, Ali DaVar, Emmer Carter, Digna Cruz de Marquez and marketing director Dorothy Ready, Emma seeks to create a fan base through good service, family nights and hosting school activities. Recently, he sat down and answered some questions about himself and his work.
How long have you lived in the community and what brought you here? Chick-Fil-A brought me here. I'm retired military, and when I got out of the service I managed the Chick-Fil-A in Manassas and in 2000 we opened the store here in Fair Oaks Mall. Originally from Connecticut, a Yukon Husky.
Family: I live with my wife in Manassas. My daughter lives in Manassas and I have two sons that live in Jacksonville Beach, Fla.
Education: University of Connecticut.
Describe the Fair Oaks Chick-Fil-A. Chick-Fil-A has a program based upon sales. If you have a certain percentage of sales over your sales from last year, then they give you a car. And we were very blessed last year to make the goal, but what I've learned a long time ago is that when you have goals — especially big goals — you're really carried on the shoulders of your team. It takes teamwork to accomplish your goals, and in my mind this is a classic case of that with the people we have. To accomplish something like that you have to have great customers. What we hope they have is some kind of connection, some kind of emotional connection with us ... we have a mission statement: "If you come to the mall, you're going to eat at Chick-Fil-A because you're a raving fan." It makes us tune in on raving fans, by good food and all the operational things being right, second-mile service and emotional connections.
Activities/interests/hobbies: This year I have a big one going in the backyard. We want to attract two things in our backyard, so I want to put in a whole bed of plants. We're going to have a butterfly garden and a hummingbird garden. My wife and I, this is our hobby.
What has been the biggest challenge of running the Chick-Fil-A: The majority of your time is always spent on your people. You get little challenges here and there, there's always issues, and you want to stay on top of that. In the fast service area, your turnover is pretty great. But our retention rate here is around 50 percent. The other concern is you always operationally want to make sure you're doing things right. At Chick-Fil-A, there's only one way of doing things and you get into the training. So your time is spent doing that to make sure the quality is all the same.
Is there a community hidden treasure you think more people should know about? We're closely associated with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. We support a lot of their activities. We try to give back to the community in the way of donations when they ask for something.
What is the last book you read or the last movie you watched? I go to one movie a year, and I missed last year. The last movie I watched was "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." I thought it was phenomenal. The last DVD I watched was "Eight Below." I own a Husky, and when I watched that movie it made me appreciate my husky even more. Most of the books I read deal with management.
If you could go on a road trip anywhere right now, where would you go? I just came back from two weeks in Phoenix. I'd like to go to Chicago. I've never been to Chicago. But you'd have to go in the summer.
Personal goals: To do well in the operational requirements for Chick-Fil-A, making sure the processes are running well, I think at a higher level for me is to ensure my people do well. I realized a long time ago in the military that for me to be successful, my people have to be successful. I might have a person [working here] with normal goals: to make money, be successful, bring up a family. If you try to give them success in their goals, they will always meet your goals because they know that you care about them. That's my personal philosophy I guess.
— Lea Mae Rice