Attendees get an inside look at convenience store chain Family Express.

The National Advisory Group’s (NAG) second annual Young Executives Organization (YEO) Roundtable hosted by Family Express kicked off on Monday April 13 in Valparaiso, Ind.

During the two-day YEO Roundtable, guests had the unique opportunity to learn firsthand about the operations of Family Express, a world-class convenience store operator with 62 stores, which continues to perform at an elite level across the convenience store and petroleum industry.

“If there is one component of our world that is worth emulating, if there is one thing you can take with you, it is that size doesn’t matter. Innovation is not exclusive to the big, powerful or well to do. Throughout our journey we have been well served by our passion to get to the promised-land independent from our humble beginnings,” said Family Express president and CEO Gus Olympidis. “Our recipe for success is two fold. We pay attention to everyone. We are students, not teachers. The other is trying things others don’t do. We also copy and emulate everyone we can.”

Alex Olympidis, a member of the YEO board of directors and vice president of operations and human resources for Family Express, spoke with attendees about Family’s Express’ living brand—its people, and took the group of 20 attendees on a tour of the chain’s mock c-store located at its headquarters, where the chain can test new products and train employees.

Later in the day, attendees received an overview of the company’s World Class training. The company’s training center is located in the company headquarters across from the mock store. Not only do potential employees need to pass an interview, they must graduate from a three-day training program before they become employees of Family Express.

Guests also got an inside look at Family Express’ social media strategy, and enjoyed dinner at Pikk’s Tavern on the first day of the event.

YEO’s Mission
The convenience store industry’s young executives and leaders of tomorrow face unique challenges as they grow their businesses. NAG’s YEO group was formed specifically to addresses these challenges and help the industry’s next-generation leaders identify solutions with others in their age group.

YEO’s mission is to cultivate young talent in the convenience store and petroleum industry through implementation of education and networking. YEO accomplishes this mission by leveraging the experience of NAG members to help foster superior leadership skills.