Couple's Business Success Earns White House Trip
Published by Gypsy Hogan, The Oklahoman, June 1, 1997
When the Chapmans dine at the White House on Tuesday evening, a number of ironies may run through the ambitious couple's minds. After all, there they will be representing the state of Oklahoma as the Small Business of the Year, a title given nationwide each year for the last 34 years by the Small Business Administration.
However, it was just five years ago that Julie and David Chapman made their coming-back-home venture by opening an ExecuTrain franchise in Oklahoma City. It was a journey from Texas made in the face of many Oklahoma naysayers. From banks to building-leasing brokers, the story they heard was the same, they recalled last week: There was no way their idea could succeed with the state's outstanding vo-tech system doing the same job at subsidized, low costs to employers.
Yet, succeed they have - by charging more yet offering quality and service, along with money-back guarantees, lifetime telephone support service and unlimited free refresher courses.
Profitable since their third month in business, the Chapmans have watched revenues grow from $57,000 in 1992, their first year, to $2.7 million for 1996, they said.
They started with their own savings and family loans because no bank would gamble on them. They've gone from 3,000 square feet of office space to 15,000, with offices now in Tulsa, as well.
That first year, staff started with just the two of them and one full-time employee. Now they're employing close to 50.
To ensure increasing revenues, they've expanded geographically, then began expanding services and products.
Their business story is what the judges look for each year in selecting small-businesses people of the year, said Ana Maria Rush, spokeswoman for the Small Business Administration's Fort Worth district office.
"This is a big honor to represent Oklahoma," J. David Chapman said. "Plus, it's nice to be recognized for the hard work you put in, because it is difficult to grow a business."
In some ways, it looks like the Chapmans have planned for years for the success they are now enjoying.
Both have master's degrees in business administration. Before starting the Oklahoma City ExecuTrain office, David Chapman, 32, contracted with the Air Force, training foreign and Air Force pilots, engineers and maintenance personnel on flying the F-16 fighter plane.
Julie Chapman, 34, had the advantage of learning the ExecuTrain system from the inside out, working for the company as an instructor in Florida and Texas.
David Chapman grew up in Tulsa, while Julie Chapman grew up in Oklahoma City, a 1981 Bishop McGuinness High School graduate. Both have undergraduate degrees from Oklahoma State University.
"I'm the marketing arm, and she's the business side," David Chapman said. "Julie, she's a great instructor, and she understands finances. To succeed, you need to identify what you do best and find someone else to do the rest. For us, it's been great. It's worked out beautifully."
Since coming back to Oklahoma, the couple has also donated their time and talents to a number of charitable organizations. David Chapman teaches management information systems three nights a week at the University of Central Oklahoma. He doesn't find time to fly any more, but he said he tries to race motorcycles every weekend.
The pair now have a 21-month-old daughter, Jennifer, and are looking forward to having a baby son in another four months.
They have plans to open several more companies in the coming months, ranging from a training/placement agency for consulting companies to a drive-through coffee bar.
"Our lives are changing all the time," Julie Chapman said. "It's a whole new world every day. I'm sure that's what we enjoy - challenges all the time. Problem-solvers - I think that's what we are."
However, on Tuesday night, they'll be award winners, White House guests, Oklahoma VIPs.
And they'll marvel at how they were told they couldn't make it. And Julie may think again about how she almost took a job running a computer data base in a public library system, but instead answered a newspaper ad for a job with ExecuTrain. And life will seem grand and mystifying.
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