In the short span of 11 years, Brian Pierce has worked his way up from a general service technician – changing tires, oil and doing some mechanic work – to managing 16 stores in South Carolina for Black’s Tire. A head-down, humble hard worker, Brian speaks with passion about the industry that he has come to love.

“I just love helping people, whether it be the customer or seeing my people happy,” he said. “That’s my motivator.”

However, Brian never thought he’d work in the tire industry and fell into it “by accident,” as he said. Initially, he set out to be a North Carolina State Highway patrolman. He passed all the exams and was about to enter highway patrol school when the unexpected happened

“We were informed that the state of North Carolina put a hiring freeze for one year,” he explains, “and I needed a job until it was time to go back to Highway Patrol school.”

So, Brian, who had played baseball with the Benton boys (sons of Black’s Tire owner, Ricky Benton), went to Ricky and asked for a part-time gig. He started out at Black’s Tire’s Myrtle Beach location busting tires, but his staunch work ethic got noticed.

In his nomination for Tire Review’s Club 3633, Pierce was commended by his superiors for his dedication to bettering the business, his support of his team members and his willingness to think outside the box.