From Army sergeant to TCBY franchisee: One veteran continues to serve

For Steve Walsh, military service may have ended more than two decades ago, but the values he carried out of the U.S. Army continue to shape how he leads his business, supports his employees and gives back to his community.

Today, Walsh owns a TCBY location in Peachtree City, Georgia, where service takes on a different form. Through local partnerships, charitable donations and an emphasis on building relationships with his team, he has made community involvement a central part of his approach to franchise ownership.

His path to entrepreneurship, however, began well before he took over the frozen yogurt shop in March 2021.

Walsh joined the Army in 1997, serving four years in logistics and reaching the rank of sergeant (E-5). Stationed at Fort Leavenworth, Missouri, he was part of the 4th Infantry Division during a period of transition toward a more digitized battlefield. His work involved logistics and testing emerging equipment through frequent training exercises.

He left the Army in September 2001, just days before the Sept. 11 attacks. The timing made his transition to civilian life particularly difficult. His former unit was subsequently deployed to Iraq, and Walsh remained emotionally connected to the people with whom he had served beside. Some former colleagues reached out to him for advice, leaving him with a sense that he had left his unit behind. He considered reenlisting, but ultimately remained separated from active duty for family reasons.

The experience stayed with him as he moved into the next phase of his career.

Walsh spent 19 years with Renai America, a Japanese company, managing supply chain operations and materials across Asian countries. Over time, however, his priorities began to shift. The pandemic prompted him to reconsider work-life balance and what he wanted from his professional life. And that's when an opportunity emerged through a familiar face.

A former colleague who had moved into marketing had previously purchased a TCBY location in Walsh's community. Walsh had known the brand since childhood and continued visiting the location with his own children. When his friend started to consider retirement, the opportunity to purchase the business presented a chance for Walsh to make a major career move.

Within the chain and its location, Walsh saw an opportunity to have more direct control over his work and make a more immediate impact on his community.

He took ownership of the Peachtree City location in March 2021, during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A challenging to many business owners, much less, a new one. One of his first priorities was understanding the business, its employees and its customers before making significant changes.

The store had moved away from its traditional self-service model during the pandemic, with employees filling customers' cups. After observing operations and listening to customer feedback, Walsh decided to restore self-service while maintaining appropriate COVID protocols. The change was well received and gave him an early opportunity to establish trust with customers.

Understanding his employees and customers

His approach to leadership was similarly hands-on. Drawing on his operational background, Walsh spent time working alongside employees, observing daily routines and asking for their input before making decisions. He wanted employees to understand that he was not simply evaluating the business from a distance; he was willing to be part of the day-to-day work.

"In any operation, you have to understand what you're current state is before you can establish a plan for your future state," he said in a phone interview. "From within the operation as well as from the staff. I welcomed all the feedback that I could, and I wanted to make sure their voice was heard."

That approach helped him navigate one of the biggest adjustments of becoming a franchise owner: managing a very different workforce.

After years of working with corporate professionals, Walsh found himself leading a team made up largely of high school and college students. The experience required a shift from traditional performance management toward coaching, mentoring and helping younger employees develop confidence and take ownership of their responsibilities.

He works to maintain an open, welcoming environment for both customers and his staff, while also giving employees the tools and authority to succeed. Building trust, he said, is essential to creating a team that can operate effectively together.

"I wanted to make sure customers were comfortable seeing me as the new owner. And then I started to take notes on how we could do things differently," he said. "I wanted to make sure [my staff] knew I wasn't going to see things from a higher level without getting into the weeds. I would get out there in my jeans, making sure I understood what I was about to do before I did it."

TCBY support

The transition to business ownership also came with support from TCBY. Because Walsh purchased the business during the pandemic, much of his initial corporate training took place virtually. His relationship with the previous owner helped him navigate the early learning curve, and he has since connected with other franchisees, visiting their locations and building a network of operators who can share advice and support.

Walsh sees that community as one of the advantages of the franchise model. For veterans considering their next career move, he believes franchising can offer a path to business ownership through an established operating model and the support of a franchisor.

He also believes awareness is important. Veterans leaving the military may be introduced to familiar career paths, such as security or law enforcement, without necessarily realizing that entrepreneurship and franchising also are options.

At TCBY, veterans are welcomed as franchise partners, and the brand places an emphasis on recognizing and supporting those who have served.

"Steve is a great example of why we value having veterans as part of our system," Rich Screnci, executive director of TCBY, said in an email to QSRWeb. "Steve's dedication to his family, team members, and his community are the exact kind of traits we want in a partner. Veterans understand that true leadership is making things better for everyone and they take their responsibility in the community very seriously. There is a level of diligence, work ethic, and trust that we have in operators like Steve that really help showcase what TCBY is all about."

For Walsh, that responsibility extends beyond the restaurant.

His location regularly supports local organizations including i58, Real Life Center, Midwest Food Bank and Bloom Closet. The business also donates frozen yogurt to churches, schools and community events. During the holiday season, the store participates in Toys for Tots, offering customers a coupon for 8 ounces of free frozen yogurt when they contribute a toy donation.

Those efforts reflect the relationships Walsh wants to build with the community around his restaurant. They also reinforce a connection between his military experience and his work as a franchisee: leadership is not simply about managing an operation, but about contributing to the people who make it possible.

More than 20 years after leaving the Army, Walsh has found a new way to put those principles into practice. His uniform has changed, but the emphasis on teamwork, responsibility and service remains.