A self-made man
By Becky Barclay
Published in News on February 27, 2015 1:46 PM
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Richard Gower started as a Zaxby's employee in Athens, Ga. His college job became his life's ambition, however, when he decided to punch his own clock rather than someone else's.
Reed, 4 months old, sits with his sister Merritt, 3, as Richard Gower and his wife, Lauren, look on. Puzzles and princess costumes make coming home that much sweeter after long days spent splitting time between two restaurant locations.
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Richard Gower's top priorities are his wife, Lauren, and their two children, Merritt, 3, and Reed, 4 months,
Richard Gower wants to change people's lives and make positive changes in his community. And his vehicle for doing that is chicken.
The owner of Zaxby's started out as a cook at one of the restaurants in Athens, Ga., when he was in college. Today he owns his own restaurants in Goldsboro and Wilson, and is giving back to his community through various charitable causes.
He had a dream back in his college days and has fulfilled that dream today.
"I just felt like the food would go anywhere," Gower said. "Zaxby's had only about 25 or 30 restaurants at that time. I thought it was unique in the marketplace. I had no doubt that if I attached myself to that brand, I would do good. I saw it becoming a large household name. And so far I was right."
When he was in Athens, Gower was just one of a bunch of college kids clocking in and clocking out.
But the lightbulb went off one afternoon when Matt Strickland, who owned a string of Zaxby's restaurants in Jacksonville, Fla., visited the store where Gower worked.
"He was not much older than us," Gower said. "As a 20-year-old, I was like, 'Wow, I want to be that guy.' I saw what he was doing and how he and his wife worked well together. He wasn't your straight-edged boss. He was laid back. He came to work every day in a T-shirt and shorts. He was cool with the staff, but was also firm with them. He seemed to love what he was doing every day."
Gower said Strickland and his general manager made him realize that he could do more than just cook at the restaurant.
Gower stayed in close contact with Strickland. He ended up being hired in the Zaxby's corporate office out of college.
"I was the first person ever hired to open restaurants for the company," he said. "I was cook and manager for the openings. Then I got promoted to business consultant, going through the ranks."
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Through it all, Gower couldn't get Strickland out of his mind. And because of that, he knew he had to open his own restaurant one day.
Then he met his future wife, Lauren, whose parents were business owners.
"Both of us felt we couldn't be strapped to the corporate suit," Gower said. "So, in 2007, we began to explore the opportunities. When I met Lauren, that was the extra piece that I knew I found to fulfill my dream."
The couple made the decision to leave family behind, moving to Goldsboro to open a Zaxby's restaurant here.
"A lot of people wouldn't have left home to go with their partner," Gower said. "But Lauren did.
"We made a difficult decision that not everybody would do to leave home and are sitting here six years later and do it all over again with our second restaurant in Wilson."
The Gowers opened their restaurant here in 2009 with the help of two business partners in Georgia.
The people of Goldsboro made the transition easier for the Gowers by introducing themselves and offering to help any way they could.
Gower said opening the restaurant was for him and his family. The second Zaxby's that he recently opened in Wilson was not.
The Goldsboro restaurant was the Gowers' opportunity to get away from corporate and get down to the nitty gritty of the day-to-day running of a restaurant.
He said Lauren has been the brains behind the restaurant.
"She can knock out a schedule on the computer and other things," Gower said. "And she doesn't do what I do each day. I am a cook, cashier and manager more than I am anything else. I am not faceless at my restaurant."
"It was never about the money," he said. "For me, it was the opportunity to just do it. Not everybody gets to do it. And my business partner demands that we assume ownership of the restaurant.
"For me, it was always about inspiring others like the people who inspired me along the way and got me on the track to do what I do now and assume that responsibility."
Gower said he hopes there will be somebody at one of his restaurants who will be inspired enough that they'll look back at his leadership just the way he remembers those who inspired him.
"When I see my employees wanting to jump in and be a part of this and be excited about doing this, that's what it's all about," he said. "Hopefully one of these days, one of these kids will be my partner. Anything we do after that first restaurant isn't about Lauren and me. It's more about our employees. That's just how we look at it."
And Gower sees the Wilson Zaxby's as a reward for the work he and his wife have done at their first restaurant.
He sees himself as a bit different from other businessmen.
"I don't do it like everyone else does," he said. "Maybe there's too many absentee owners that you don't see in the restaurant or in the community. I think it gives us an accountability factor in this community.
"The example I set for my employees is that they've got to get to know and embrace their customers. We've been fortunate to get to know so many customers. We had so many of them come to the new store because they felt they were a part of it. When it transfers from your employees to your customers, it's neat. That's the way that the people I've looked up to did it."
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Gower is giving back to his community through various causes, the main one being the Military Affairs Committee.
"My passion as far as involvement with the community has been the Military Affairs Committee," he said. "I like being able to support and make welcome the military the same way I was made welcome."
Gower has a special place in his heart for the military, especially since his great uncle was a pilot in the Vietnam war and was shot down and killed.
"And it's amazing that the guy who fries the chicken has gotten to fly in the planes that defend the country," he said, talking about himself. "That just blows my mind. Through my involvement with the military, I've been able to see another whole side of life. I get to do a lot of things with the military guys."
And he said he helps in other ways, too.
"If we see a need in the community, we can say we'll donate 10 percent of what we make today to that need," Gower said.
While he was cooking at Zaxby's in college, Gower had a mentor, Robert, who told him that everyone has a vehicle in life to make positive changes in whatever capacity and community they are in.
"He said our vehicle in life just happens to be selling chicken," Gower said. "Just to be able to call that shot and be able to use my vehicle, which is the chicken, to do those things gives me a great deal of satisfaction."
Why does he do so much?
"To those who are given much, much is expected," he said. "And those opportunities present themselves to you; you don't have to go looking for them. It's just in my nature to help others."
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Another priority in Gower's life is his family -- Lauren and his children, Merritt, 3, and Reed, 4 months.
He and Merritt are just about inseparable.
"I do everything with her," he said. "She goes to work with us and hangs out. My staff knows her and lights up when she comes in. We go for walks. We take our adventure walks out here at home in the woods. And she loves to go to Harris Teeter."
Gower said his family likes traveling back to Georgia frequently to visit family. And they sometimes just hang out with the neighbors.
"Every Saturday morning, we go for breakfast, too," he said. "And we enjoy just being at home."
How does he balance work, community work and home life?
"Some people might go crazy," he said. "But it's just knowing when to say when. I learned what I needed to do. And I employ the right people who allow me to have the time I want to have. Our employees are an extension of our family. It's easy to balance if you make the right hiring decision and the best decisions about where you need to invest your time.
"You do have to balance work, play and family. I get all out of whack if I spend too much time with one and not the others."
When he needs to chill, Gower takes some alone time, going for walks at 10 at night, especially during the summer.
"I take my dog for a walk and it's just him and me," Gower said. "I transport myself to somewhere else."
His philosophy for life: "Work hard, play hard, enjoy each day, be good to other people and don't expect anything in return."