Undercover Boss USA

Mitch Modell, the CEO of Modell’s, America’s largest family-owned sporting goods store, poses as a contestant on a fake reality show about people trying to win funding for new businesses. Mitch has large shoes to fill as the fourth generation to run the business started in 1889 by his Great-Grandfather. Since he lost his brother, Michael, to cancer he is the sole family member responsible for the company, and he is training his two sons to take over the business.

Ron Lynch the President and Founder of one of the countries fastest growing sports pubs, goes undercover as Ryan Goode, a failed business owner who is looking for a new career on a reality show. Ron had been in the food business for many years and wanted to do something different. He bought the name from a one off restaurant in a casino in Las Vegas and today the company has over 70 franchises across the country and brings in 250 million dollars in revenue a year. Even though the restaurant servers wear provocative costumes, Ron founded the company on the principles of class and respect. Frequently Ron’s business is compared to his competitors who exploit women and he wants to show the world that Tilted Kilt is a family friendly establishment.

Kat Cole, the President of Cinnabon Incorporated, the youngest boss ever to go undercover, pose as a contestant on a fake reality show about people trying to win funding for new businesses. Kat has come a long way from being raised by a single Mom who fed a family of three girls on ten dollars a week. This former Hooters girl seeks advice from her old boss, Coby Brooks, the former Hooters CEO who previously went undercover. Kat has some lofty goals for Cinnabon to become a worldwide food brand, and wants to go undercover to make sure that the new products she has put in place are working before she turns up the heat.

After his first journey undercover, we follow the exploits of a kinder, gentler Stephen J. Cloobeck. He has taken what he learned in Season 3 to heart, giving money to his team members across the globe in their time of need. This time, we see the human side of the cocky mogul, as we focus on his relationship with his family and how his Diamond team members are an extension of that family. This time around, Cloobeck’s mission is to rebuild Pacific Monarch, a defunct resort that went belly up in bankruptcy. Cloobeck’s intent is to bring Pacific Monarch back to life as part of the Diamond Resort family. If he fails, he will have lost millions of dollars investing in a dead asset.

Co-founder and CEO of PostNet, and headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Steve Greenbaum oversees the fastest-growing company that helps small businesses with everything they need to thrive – from printing and shipping to graphic design. Steve started the company in Las Vegas, but it soon grew larger than he ever imagined. Born in Chicago and from a poor family, Steve had a rough childhood – his parents divorced, and his father took his three brothers to Las Vegas, abandoning Steve with his mom. Steve dropped out of high school and left Chicago, never to return. Steve’s brother Lenny, his idol growing up, soon passed away after a lengthy fight with drug and alcohol abuse. Now as an adult, Steve has three kids, two sons and a daughter, with whom he has never shared that he left high school, for fear that they would follow his path.

Lorne Abony the CEO and Chairman of the world’s largest in store media provider, goes undercover as Beau Sinnet, a failed nightclub owner who is competing for his dream job at Mood Media. Lorne grew up in Canada and was an only child of immigrants. His parents divorced when Lorne was very young, leaving his mother to raise him alone in government housing. Lorne never forgave his father for not being present. Having grown up poor and feeling abandoned by his father, Lorne was determined to get a good education, be successful and never let his children suffer the way that he did. Since he has become CEO at Mood Media it’s become one of the fastest growing companies in America expanding over 72,000%.

Headquartered in Billings, Montana, KOA Chairman and CEO Jim Rogers is celebrating 50 years of getting people outdoors. The company began in 1962 as a stopping point for people to camp on their way to the World’s Fair in Seattle. At the time there was no network of campgrounds, so the company expanded quickly. Jim is a lifelong boy scout, growing up in a family of scouts. Jim’s father instilled in him a love of the outdoors and a love of the values the boy scouts instill. Since then, Jim has made KOA the most successful camping company in the world. Jim and his wife live together in Billings, and Sandy is skeptical that her husband will be able to dial back his outgoing, cheerful personality while undercover. Steve’s mission is to bring back “genuine engagement,” wherein we truly appreciate our loved ones (like his father and his wife). Steve wants a better tomorrow. He wants to make sure that, in this fast-paced world of technology, people learn to appreciate what’s really important- Family.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Moe’s Southwest Grill is one of the fastest growing restaurant chains in the world. The man leading the 10,000 employees who serve over 150,000 guests every day is Paul Damico. Paul’s work ethic and philosophies were shaped early on, not just by his father who worked two jobs, but by one of his father’s bosses who played an intricate part in making sure that Paul’s younger brother was able to receive a much needed liver transplant. Paul knows that if his father’s company hadn’t stood behind him, his brother might not be alive today. Paul wants to go undercover because with the quick growth that Moe’s has experienced lately, he wants to make sure that all the standards he values are still being met.

Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Boston Market’s 470 restaurants offers home-style comfort food to mothers and families who won’t have time to cook at home. As the brand officer, Sara is in charge of creating new products for the menu and all brand marketing. She’s been brought in to save the brand after several years of its struggles in bankruptcy and steady decline. CEO George Michel is depending on Sara to revive the brand before it’s gone for good. She is determined to bring the brand back to life, as she believes so much in the product. Her own mom was single and hard-working and often didn’t have time to put dinner on the table, so Sara’s involvement in Boston Market is her way of helping out all the other single or working moms out there who are trying their best to provide. After Sara’s mom passed away, she has been even more determined to make her proud.

Toby Bost, the CEO of O’Neill Clothing, one of the biggest action sport apparel companies in the world, goes undercover posing as medical school drop out competing on a reality show to win money to open his own surf shop. Growing up, Toby was always into action sports and went into the retail business instead of following his father and grandfather’s footprints and becoming a doctor like they had wanted. Toby is going undercover because O’Neill is trying to open more stores and he wants to find out they can to better to make sure that O’Neill is number one and their stores are successful.

Near Lake Tahoe, Squaw Valley is one of the largest ski resorts in the United States. CEO Andy Werth wants to grow Squaw and newly acquired Alpine Meadows to make it one of the best in the world. Andy learned to appreciate the outdoors through his grandfather, and he’s always worked in the mountains. In bringing together the two mountain resorts, Andy has neglected his roots of being engaged with employees out in the field. Unfortunately, the merger took Andy from time spent on the slopes and has kept him at his desk. He is out of touch with what’s going on on the mountain, especially on the Alpine side. The two personalities of the mountains are not meshing. Squaw is the high-profile resort meant for “serious” extreme skiers and snowboarders; Alpine is lower-profile, family-friendly resort. Andy must get them to live together in harmony. Andy transforms into “David,” a computer programmer from Greeley, Colorado who wants to escape his boring desk job to live and work an “extreme” job in the mountains.

Based in Los Angeles, California, Fatburger is known as the “last great hamburger stand.” It began in the 1950s as a late-night hangout for musicians and quickly grew to international success, offering burgers “like your mom would make.” The CEO of Fatburger has been a lifelong entrepreneur and built his reputation on shrewd financial decision-making. The bottom fell out for Andy and his real estate company when he brokered a deal during the financial collapse of 1998. As a result, Andy was convicted of violating a federal law, landing him in a federal prison for fourteen months. During that time, Andy nearly lost his family in the upheaval, not to mention his substantial fortune. When Andy was released, he had to rebuild his life, making amends with his family and struggling to stabilize his shattered career. During his undercover journey, Andy meets employees at Fatburger who have each endured their own paths of “rebuilding.” From his time with them, Andy learns to let go of his past persecution and time behind bars; Andy gives back to his employees because they have given him the gift of inspiration to look to the future.

Eric Casaburi, the CEO of Retro Fitness is going undercover posing as a contestant on a reality competition show trying to win money to start his own gym. Eric started Retro Fitness because he wanted to offer a high-end gym experience to people at a low cost. Eric started offering franchises and very quickly Retro Fitness has grown to over 90 stores. In order to expand the company, Eric must learn both what works in his gym and what has been problematic. Eric wants to go undercover to make sure his employees reflect the same passion that he has for his brand.

John Wilson, the COO of Rollins/Orkin Pest Control is going undercover posing as “Bob,” a contestant on a reality competition show trying to win money for his own business. John grew up with Orkin, his father worked for Orkin for 37 years and he has been with the company himself for 20 years. John loves the family values the company stands for and has never forgotten how well the company treated his father as he got older. He believes that Orkin has been in business for over 100 years because of the level of customer service their happy employees provide. John hasn’t been in the field in twelve years and wants to make sure the company is headed for another 100 years keeping homes pest free.

On February 7th, 2010, Undercover Boss premiered to more then 38 million viewers, making it the largest premiere in reality television history. To this day, Undercover Boss continues to touch lives across the world. Since then over 60 corporate leaders have gone undercover and have touched the lives of over 240 employees. Bosses have encountered some of the best, hard working employees and also the lazy, unappreciative employees. Over the past four seasons CEOs have learned countless lessons from their employees, from improving relationships with customers, making the internal businesses run more efficiently and improving working conditions in the field. Bosses have seen the inspiring, the hardworking and the ugly in its employees; we take a look to see what happened to the employees when the cameras stopped rolling.

On February 7th, 2010, Undercover Boss premiered to more then 38 million viewers, making it the largest premiere in reality television history. To this day, Undercover Boss continues to touch lives across the world. Since then over 60 corporate leaders have gone undercover and have touched the lives of over 240 employees. The bosses have made big changes to their companies and their personal lives as well. Major systemic problems were discovered and now the bosses explain how they changed policies, ironed-out kinks and made waves with their employees when the cameras stopped rolling.