The Iowa Way (From "On The Job" with Avery Thompson)

For the 8th season of "On The Job," host Avery Thompson shares stories of folks making pivots in their professional - and personal - lives. Whether it's a successful athlete transitioning into a new career off the field, a fly fishing tour guide trying to introduce a new segment of folks to the joys of the outdoors, or a stadium beer and hot dog hawker who doubles as the CEO of a red-hot start-up, we'll find out what drives them, how they've managed their pivots and what lies ahead. Strap in for eight more entertaining and heartfelt stories of people finding their life's work. "On The Job" is brought to you by Express Employment Professions.

On today's episode, former offensive lineman Pete McMahon applies gridiron grit to his Ames, IA Express franchise. https://www.expresspros.com/amesia/

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to On the Job. On today's episode, we're speaking
with Pete McMahon over in the Ames, Iowa Express Office,
who for the past two years has been working alongside
his wife Katie. If you were to walk into the
Express office in Ames, Iowa, you might find yourself thinking, geez,
that's a big guy over there. And that's the same

(00:24):
thing that the football coaches at the University of Iowa
thought when Pete McMahon walked onto their field back in
two thousand as an incoming freshman.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
The guy was six seven, two hundred and ninety pounds
as a senior in high school, and back then that
was pretty big. So that was attraction from the Iowa program.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
As a born and raised Iowan, it had always been
Pete McMahon's dream to play for the Hawkeys. But even
as big as he was, that dream wasn't going to
come easy.

Speaker 3 (00:56):
For those that don't know what is being a walk
on mean? You can join the team, We'll give you
a uniform, you can hold this tackling dummy. And that
was me. So I was not a scholarship kid. I
wasn't even a recruited walk on. I was a first
what way would call first.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
Day walk on, and while I can't get over the
injustice of that, Pete didn't seem to mind. If anything,
it motivated him to work that much harder in the
weight room and hit that much harder on the field.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
I grew up in a blue collar family and if
you didn't have something, you went out and you worked
for it.

Speaker 3 (01:29):
You got it.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
Pete McMahon came into his own as a Hawk guy
and went on to have an impressive college career.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
You know, it was a team captain and you know,
two Big Ten championship rings if we finished in the
top ten three years in a row.

Speaker 1 (01:45):
So when it came time for graduation, there was no
question in Pete's mind what was next.

Speaker 3 (01:51):
You're gonna play at the next level.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
By the end of the first day of drafts, Pete
still is unsigned. And then finally, in the sixth round
of the two thousand and five NFL Draft, the Oakland
Raiders select Pete McMahon for their offensive line. Do they
still get the sixth rounds?

Speaker 3 (02:10):
That comically giant check. I didn't get the big check. No,
they didn't do that for me, but I would have
liked that.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
And very quickly Pete learns what it's really like in
the pro league.

Speaker 3 (02:24):
Two days later, they cut me.

Speaker 1 (02:26):
Fortunately, soon after getting released from Oakland, Pete manages to
get on with the Cleveland Browns and spends the season
with them.

Speaker 3 (02:34):
In that offseason, that summer, I had gotten married.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
So Pete and his wife arrived back in Ile and
the very next day he gets a call from the
New York Jets saying, pack your bags.

Speaker 4 (02:46):
I look like a really good husband. Just took my
law's daughter out of their house, brought her back.

Speaker 3 (02:52):
A week later. Oh m, and in that time we
bought a new puppy.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
So then Pete goes to New York in Buffalo and
Miami and Jacksonville and New England and Hamburg, Germany, of
all places, and then back to Jacksonville. You played for
a lot of teams in the NFL.

Speaker 3 (03:09):
H yes, I did. People ask me what teams do
you play for? I'm like, I don't know. You name one.
I probably was with them.

Speaker 1 (03:17):
But eventually Pete decides that as much of a dream
as it was to play in the NFL, enough is enough.
His wife, Katie had gotten involved with Express Employment Professionals
by buying an office in Ames, Iowa.

Speaker 3 (03:30):
We dove in.

Speaker 4 (03:33):
Never been in the staffing industry before, knew nothing about it.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
Did you have any reservations about working with your wife?

Speaker 4 (03:42):
You know, lots of people ask me that. Honestly, no,
we work really well together. We always have.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
And of course Pete McMahon knows firsthand what it's like
to have little to show for yourself besides unwavering dedication.

Speaker 3 (03:57):
You're that football recruiter.

Speaker 4 (03:58):
Now you're on the other side of it, and you're
seeing potential in people I have. You know, coaches in
the past say hey, we want folks that are going.

Speaker 3 (04:07):
To work hard and want to be there, need teaching
the rest.

Speaker 4 (04:12):
We're all about giving people, you know, another chance to
be successful.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
What Pete McMahon does at Express is look for people
like himself, fellow walk ons, just waiting for an opportunity
to prove themselves for on the job. I'm Avery Thompson.
Looking for a job is lonely, endless, searching phone calls
that go nowhere, applications that vanish into thin air.

Speaker 4 (04:37):
What if you could link with dozens of local companies
who are hiring right now with just one connection. That's
Express Employment Professionals find us at expresspros dot Com, one connection,
endless opportunities and no fees ever for job seekers, Express
employment professionals, Expresspros dot Com