Shane Morrell, 41, is
bringing the nationally acclaimed franchise Monster Tree Service to the Dallas
region, and will also be the first franchisee to enter Texas. Morrell first
started working in landscaping while he was in high school, doing summer work
for various greenhouses, landscaping and irrigation companies. Eventually, after
many summers working full-time, his landscaping jobs allowed him to pay his way
through college as he attended the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
After graduating
with his Bachelor’s degree, Morrell made the decision to move to Houston, Texas
to take a position in sales with a major property development company, but a
year and a half into the position, he realized the indoors, inactive
shirt-and-tie atmosphere was not for him. At that point, Morrell returned to
school in Dallas to receive his associate’s degree in applied science in the
automotive field, training to become a automotive technician.
In 1998, with
degree in hand, Morrell launched his career working with major automotive dealerships,
most recently working with the prestigious Park Place Lexus dealership—the only
automotive dealership to receive the presidential Malcolm Baldrige National
Quality Award, the nation’s highest Presidential honor for quality and
organization performance excellence, which resulted in a congratulatory call
from then-President Bush.
“Park Place was big
into taking care of clients, quality control, acting with integrity and doing
great work,” said Morrell. “I had over 10 years of experience learning the
importance of these values, so now that I’m on my own, all of these things are
going to help me to build both my business and the Monster Tree brand.”
How did you learn
about the brand?
I went through a local franchise broker/coach who
thoroughly vets both franchisors and franchisees. He matched my interests and
skills and presented me with a handful of 6-7 choices — Monster Tree ended up
being one of those. After talking with Mark, Josh, and current franchisees, doing
my due diligence, and making a visit to Pennsylvania, it was a no brainer for
me.
What are your
expansion/development plans? Number of units? Timeframe? What is your end goal?
I started with 2 turfs, so I want to develop brand name
recognition before I start expanding. I’m hoping to make Monster Tree strongly
known as a leading tree service in the Dallas area.
