Tom Gegax

Best-selling author Tom Gegax served as Chairman and CEO (head coach) of Tires Plus Stores for twenty-four years. By the time Tom sold the company he founded to Bridgestone/Firestone in July 2000, it had mushroomed from a napkin sketch into a market leader with 150 upscale stores in ten states and $200 million in revenue. The company was so tightly managed that Tom bypassed outside investors to retain ownership control.

Pioneering the tough-minded, warm-hearted “coaching” style of management, Tires Plus under Tom had a healthy corporate culture that was legendary in Midwest business circles for its focus on the well-being of its employees and customers (or teammates and guests). The unique pairing of hard-nosed efficiency and a caring environment was a core ingredient in the company’s secret sauce.

Tom’s management methods have been featured in national newspapers and magazines and on television—The New York Times, Fast Company, ABC, FOX, CNN, CNBC, PBS. He has been named a Midwest Entrepreneur of the Year by Inc. magazine and Ernst & Young, and was the youngest inductee into the Minnesota Business Hall of Fame.

Tom has served on numerous corporate boards, including Pacific Booker Minerals, Great Clips Haircutters, ABRA Autobody, APU Solutions, Deepak Chopra Enterprises, and Engineering America, Inc. Tom has also served on many nonprofit boards, including Center for Science in the Public Interest, Waterkeeper Alliance, World Business Academy, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, and the Center for Ethical Business Cultures.

Some of Tom’s speaking and consulting clients include Farmer’s Insurance, Detroit Chamber of Commerce, Al Gore Enterprises, International Franchise Association, National Association of Women Business Owners, Deepak Chopra International, Domino’s Pizza, PriceWaterhouse Coopers, Sandler Sales System, The Star Tribune, and Michelin.

Tom’s Big Book of Small Business: You Don’t Have to Run Your Business By The Seat Of Your Pants is endorsed by America’s leading business minds, including Ken Blanchard (The One-Minute Manager), Harvey Mackay (Swim with the Sharks) and Richard Schulze, Founder and Chairman of Best Buy.

Tom founded Gegax Advisors in 2000, with offices in Minneapolis and San Diego, to share his Big Book Business Management System with growing companies.

More info at www.gegax.com, call 612-920-5114, or tom.gegax@gegax.com

Follow Tom on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/tomgegax

Connect with Tom on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/tom-gegax/a/295/1a6