Celebrating the power of possibility.
I'm Eddie Manus and I believe that anything is possible.
This is Anything is Possible. I'm Hal Orrin Hilton Hill.
I have the pleasure of telling great stories about great people whose lives prove that anything is possible.
I'm excited to have Eddie Manus in studio with me today. Thank you for being here.
Absolutely, Hal. It's a pleasure to be here.
I first came to know about you through your business, right?
Right.
Prestige.
Right.
I've been in Knoxville this time, 34 years at the time of this taping.
I was just impressed with the operation and I was like, who put this together?
I want to start at your business and kind of work our way out from there.
Okay.
When did you decide to be an entrepreneur?
If I think back even as a child, I would act like I was owning restaurants, owning all kinds of businesses,
and kind of go through those motions even as a child.
It just happened in 1984.
I got the opportunity with a gentleman who had some used equipment and wanted to get out of the business
and sell the equipment.
I had no idea that I could even achieve that.
How old were you?
At that point, I was 25.
Wow.
I was just a kid, so to speak.
I think it was great because I didn't know that I could fail.
I was too young to really know that I could fail.
That's how I got started.
It was a tough road for a while.
Did you have a background in business?
Would you grow up?
Tell me your story.
I grew up in North Knoxville in Inskip.
My parents were blue-collar.
My dad worked for a company delivering rental uniforms and my mother worked in a furniture factory.
I did the whole North Knoxville Inskip Elementary School, then Gresham, and then graduated from Central.
My parents just always instilled in us hard work.
I tell quite often.
I was never allowed to sleep until 8 or 9 o'clock in the morning.
We got out of bed no later than 7 o'clock every morning, so it was time to do something productive.
That was the same thing in my house.
My mother did not believe you should be in the bed after 7 or 8 o'clock.
You had to be up out of the bed and the bed made, so you had this work ethic instilled in you.
Talk about your education.
Yeah, I mean, you mentioned work ethic.
I mean, my parents really focused on work ethic.
I was working my way through college.
I was working during the day and then going to class at night.
Where'd you go to college?
I was going to Merrillville College at this point and started the business.
I was trying to pay for everything on my own, so I ended up not having a college degree.
I started my business before I could finish that.
I often felt bad about that, but it'll be okay.
It seemed like you worked there pretty good.
You said it was hard at the beginning.
What were some of the most difficult parts of being an entrepreneur and seizing,
not only seeing, but seizing that possibility?
Yeah, I think being an entrepreneur, I'm sure that some of that can be taught.
But I learned it by, I guess, just tribulation and experiences and having some bad times
and understanding cash flow and working 14, 16 hours a day,
getting up, going to work at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning,
and then going home at 9 or 10 o'clock at night, starting all over again.
So you were actually working?
Oh, absolutely.
There were only three of us at that point.
Really?
I only had three employees in 1985 when I started.
So you were doing everything?
I was doing everything, everything.
I was cleaning clothes, pressing shirts.
I'd go to the front and wait on customers, come back,
you know, and go back and forth and do it all.
What's been amazing to me, though, is how you have evolved,
because you have a very, very professional operation.
I've reached out to you on a number of occasions just to say,
the experience I'm having in your business is amazing.
When did you get into understanding systems and workflows, logistics?
That was probably one of the processes that took me the longest,
because I was so consumed in working in my business,
you know, that I couldn't really work on my business.
And I think I realized that we had to put systems in place as we grew,
because we were growing so fast in the late 80s that we couldn't keep up.
And so creating a vision and dedication,
just being dedicated to serving customers and whatever it takes to serve customers,
and creating that vision and communicating that vision to our team,
and they buy into that vision today.
They did then and they do today.
How big is the business growing?
Oh, man, in 1985, like I said, we had three employees today we have.
Companywide, over 100 employees.
And we have 10 locations for pickup and delivery routes.
A taxiderminal company, independent taxiderminal company.
And then now I'm in his clothing store.
So we've grown tremendously over the past few years.
Did you imagine this?
No, there was no way.
When I first started in 1985, I thought, man, if I can do this
and I have six employees or eight employees, I will have arrived.
And that's kind of in my mind would be the ultimate for me.
And then it just started happening and it's happened so quickly.
I look back now and I'm like, man, where did time go for one thing?
But how did I get here?
How did you?
I think never giving up.
There were times that during the early years that struggling financially and stories.
What did that struggle look like?
And did you ever have a moment where you thought you were going under?
Like we're not going to make it.
Several moments.
In 1986, I was doing everything I could, working as hard as I could.
We were growing so fast, cash flow was so bad.
And I remember I was in the back spotting clothes.
And one of my team members, customer service rep, came and brought me a card.
And I share this story.
It's a sensitive story, but and I looked at the card and it says,
State of Tennessee, Lynn Pyle, tax enforcement officer.
And she gave me that card and I went to the front and he said, son,
and he was collecting sales tax.
I was behind.
I couldn't, you know, the cash flow was so bad.
And he said, son, I know you're working hard, but you got to pay your taxes.
And that was, I think, a defining moment for me.
I knew I had to pay my taxes, but you know, it was just,
I just started and there were lots of things I had to learn.
And so that was a defining moment for me and somewhat humiliating,
but it takes moments like that to really give us focus.
And there are many times I would say, God, I think I just, I just want to stop.
You know, but I couldn't, you know, I'd invested so much time and employees in that business.
I used to think, man, it'd be so much easier to just go somewhere and work for someone.
But I'm so glad that I persevered and kept going and move forward where we are today.
Going through something like that, cash flow, that kind of thing,
and talking to business leaders all over the area, those defining moments are also refining moments.
What I've noticed is that it makes business owners and entrepreneurs even more fiscally conservative.
Right? So they start to manage the cash flow even tighter.
They keep reserves.
Their operational philosophy shifts.
Did that happen to you as well?
Absolutely. The fiscally conservative side of that is you have to be, you have to,
because you have a limited amount of dollars.
And so you have to make those dollars spread across and go further.
And once that revenue is gone, it's gone.
And so you do have to be conservative and balance budgets and learn how to do all that.
And that was something I had to learn on the job. It was all on the job experience.
Possibility powered by Covenant Health, Home Federal,
and the Knoxville News Sentinel.
Because you were known, this is the way you were spoken of in our community.
And I have so much respect for you.
You're spoken of as a person who gets things done.
Like, if he's on it, it's going to get done.
And that brought you to a couple of big things in your life that I'd like to talk about.
One is, and it's one of the most significant things,
is you are the founder of Honor Air.
Absolutely unbelievable.
Talk about what Honor Air is and what made you go,
I'm going to do this and I'm going to get it done.
In 2007, that's when Honor Air Knoxville started.
I had a friend in Hendersonville who had the idea and said,
his father passed away and his father was never able to see the World War II Memorial.
But he had contributed a lot of money to help build the memorial.
So Jeff called me and said,
you want to come over and kind of see how this works and help us with this.
Because he said, I think it might be something you want to look at and do in Knoxville.
I didn't think much about it. I wanted to do it for Jeff in Honor of his father.
And that was in the spring in May of 2007.
And when I really experienced that program,
I was moved by World War II veterans and their stories.
I'll be honest, I didn't know a lot of World War II history.
I was ignorant in that.
But what I learned just that day by being with these men,
I was driving back that night and coming across,
I was like, I just have to find a way to do this in Knoxville.
And again, it's one of those things where I have no idea what it's going to take,
but just jump in and just paddle as fast as you can and get it done.
And so I put a volunteer team together in May of 2007.
And we took our first flight in October of 2007.
And it's just honoring.
How many flights have you done?
We just finished our 34th flight a couple of weeks ago.
Wow.
Over 4,200 veterans we've served.
World War II, Vietnam and Korea.
I've covered that on my radio show a number of times.
The emotion, the emotions that these patriots and heroes feel.
And some of them have never been honored.
And what happens at the airport,
not only what happens when they go and they view the monuments, the experience,
but the way they are embraced by this community is so powerful.
You know, that's a good point.
And we talk about that quite often.
I'm going to ask, you know, does it ever get old?
And it never gets old.
I mean, after 34 flights, every veteran has a different story.
And with World War II, when we started serving in World War II,
they didn't get a big fanfare when they came back.
But they were not disrespected either.
So, so many letters that we get, they said, you know, thank you, we just came back and went to work.
You know, that's what they did.
They just did what their jobs were.
And then we get into Vietnam and I hear so many times on every flight coming back.
I'm finally home.
This is the welcome home that we never received.
And this is from Vietnam veterans.
And the stories are unlimited.
I could go on forever and just tell stories and stories and stories.
We hear about that being part of a healing process for these men.
If somebody wanted to volunteer to help you with honor air, what do they need to do?
They just need to go to our website.
That information is all on our website.
That's honorairnaxville.com.
And so there's volunteer escort applications.
There's ways to get involved in that program.
Next, you were tapped to work in city government.
Yes.
Deputy Mayor.
Yes.
And the getter of all things done.
That's not the right title, but what was that like to be called into that world?
You know, it's a different world.
And it's different than business to some extent, but there is a business aspect to it.
And I served as the chief operating officer.
And getting things done in government is a little harder.
I used to say, they would, I would say, okay, can we get that done a little quicker?
Can we move?
And they would say, any government doesn't run like business.
I'm like, is it because we say it doesn't?
Is that why it doesn't?
There are ways to streamline processes.
And I worked hard to streamline some of those processes and put those in place.
But it is a totally different, it's a totally different animal.
And it's a totally different approach.
But it still is about people.
It's about resources and the similarities in business and running city government as
chief operating officer are very similar when it comes to those things.
I noticed that when Bill Haslam was governor, he went through state government and he was
trying to improve customer service, right?
Just bringing those aspects, not only the fiscal management that makes good use of
taxpayer dollars, but all of those front facing portals where the government touches people,
making sure that the service and coming out of your background, I know that was real
important to you that we serve people.
You also served in the legislature.
What was that like?
You know, I feel like I've had a lifetime of political career in a very short period
of time.
I served in the state legislature 2000 and let's see, 2020, 2022.
And that's a different animal.
You go from where the executive branch of government is chief operating officer of the city,
and then you move into the legislative branch where it's very hard to get things done.
And my personality is I look for challenges, I look for problems, and then I look for solutions
to solve those problems.
That's just the way, and we need to do that as quickly as we possibly can.
That's contrary to what the legislative branch of government does.
That's not the way they operate.
Although I'll go back and say I think they could operate that, but it takes more of an
entrepreneur mindset to say look for challenges, look for problems, and let's look for solutions
to get them done, and let's get them done quickly.
Would you do it again?
You know, it's a part of my life.
I don't think that the legislative branch of government is for me.
I respect the individuals who do that.
I'm glad I did it for the period of time that I did do it because the experience that I've
gained from that, the knowledge and knowing now really how state politics, how the legislature
works, is invaluable.
But you know, it's just frustrating when you want to make a difference.
You want to get things done, but there's so many roadblocks and so many things thrown
up, and I just want to be in my motto for productive.
If you were advising somebody on life and possibility, and I'm sure people come to you
in the face of life and business, what do you tell them?
You know, I have to go back to when I started, and no matter how hard things get, you have
to keep going.
And you get down, we all get down, and business can really take you down, but so can life.
I mean, you just have to keep focused and keep pushing through the challenges.
I mean, so many challenges that I've had in business, it's kind of like with the economy,
COVID, all of those things are challenges, and it's like we have to redefine ourselves
over and over after any challenge that we have.
And so it's, you know, pick yourself up and work hard.
And it's about, I think, success is also about sacrifice.
So you have to be willing to make sacrifices along the way as well.
Tell me about your family.
My family is, like I said, from North Knoxville.
My parents are both deceased.
My dad died a couple of years ago.
My mother died a few years ago.
And so my dad was a big inspiration to me, and it's kind of interesting that he's gone.
You know, sometimes now in business, I'm like, man, he's not here for me to...
Did he get to see yours?
He did get to see it.
I think I met your dad.
You have met my dad.
He was so proud of you.
And it's interesting now that he's gone, it's like, hmm, what do I do?
Who do I make proud of me now?
And even at my age, you know, but I still think about that.
And it's...
My parents were inspirations to me.
My dad just knew hard work.
And I could, you know, I would come in if I was in my office, he would say,
what are you doing?
Because he came to visit quite often.
And he was always a driver with me, even as an adult in business.
I couldn't work hard enough for him in my own company for him to see that.
And so, but it's...
I have a brother and two sisters.
And...
Do they live here in town?
My sisters live here in town.
My younger sister is an educator at West Hills.
She teaches fifth grade now.
And my brother is in New York City.
He does a lot of things.
He's a world-renowned headshot photographer in New York City and still does some acting
theater.
I know you love this city.
Will we ever see you as mayor of this city?
You know, I wish I could just give you the answer on that today.
I mean, take it one step at a time.
You know, we'll see.
Life kind of moves on.
And I do love the city.
And Knoxville has so many opportunities.
What's your vision for the city?
To make it everything it could be.
I think Knoxville sometimes gets in its way.
The city of Knoxville gets in its way because I think we may have kind of a small city complex.
And we don't know just how great we could be.
And not that Knoxville is not great.
Knoxville is great.
But I believe that some people just get comfortable and just status quo is okay.
And I think as a city, Knoxville has so many resources, so many assets and could be anything
that it wants to be.
And so my goal would be to make Knoxville the best city it could be.
So we'll see how that works.
You know what I think?
But I think as you look at the journey of your life, that's what you do, right?
You make stuff better.
I mean, it's what turns you on.
You're one of the first people I've heard in public life that they're going to be
in a life that says, I look for the challenge or the problem, and then I look for the solution.
I've seen people play the politics.
It's like, how do I level up within the game as opposed to government well run is a platform
for creating opportunity for people, that the government should do everything for you.
And in your way, it should be efficient.
And it should create the platform from which people can build their best lives.
Absolutely.
And I just think our city, our community is better because entrepreneurs, leaders like yourself,
have decided to be here when you could be anywhere else, right?
Absolutely.
So I want to thank you for being a great leader and a great entrepreneur in our community.
I appreciate that.
Thank you for honor here.
I mean, that's just what you have been able to do and what you've been able to inspire
other people to do in partnership with you is great.
Eddie Mannis, thank you for being on the meeting as possible.
Absolutely.
You're welcome.
Thank you.