Episode 26: How Marc Linchuck Navigated Chaos, Change, and Innovation

Have you ever stopped to think about what grit, perseverance, and a little bit of luck it takes to build a background screening business from scratch? Imagine navigating a world of fax machines, colored file folders, and constant tech disruption—all while trying to stay ahead of the curve. In this episode, I sit down with Marc Linchuck to uncover the true behind-the-scenes story of building something that not only survives but thrives in a rapidly changing industry.

Pro Conversation You don’t want to miss!

1. Marc’s Journey: Building a Background Screening Business from Scratch

2. Lessons Learned and Staying in the Industry

3. PBSA Accreditation: Why It Matters

4. Life Outside Background Screening: Family, Fitness, and Fun

If you enjoyed today’s episode and hearing Marc’s incredible journey from mountain biking trails to background screening leadership, make sure to hit subscribe, rate, and review the show. It helps us bring more amazing conversations to you—and trust me, there are many more inspiring stories coming your way. Want to suggest a guest or leave feedback? Head over to our website. Until next time, keep raising the bar!

Connect with US:

• Les Rosen- https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesterrosen/
• Subscribe to our YouTube Channel- https://www.youtube.com/@BehindtheSCreens200

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

I think it's important to really have a clear understanding of everything from going to the courts and learning the court research and picking up the phone and making calls and participating in marketing and operations and whatever you really can, you know, to to really have a clear understanding of of what the industry entails. Right.

SPEAKER_02 0:27

Welcome to Behind the Screens Conversations with Background Screening Pros. I'm Les Rosen, your host, and I'm excited to have you here. On this podcast, we chat with the people who know the background screening world inside and out. Executives, industry experts, legal pros, and more. We dive into their personal stories and insights to give you a real look at what's happening behind the scenes. Whether you work in the screen industry or just curious, behind the screens bring you the real unfiltered conversations from the people who make it all happen. Stick around for stories you won't hear anywhere else. And ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another episode of Behind the Screens, a podcast that brings you up close and personal with people in the background screening industry. And in these podcasts, we drive into the personal stories and insights of those who know the screening industry best, offering fresh perspectives and uh on what's driving the industry and from people who drive the industry. And to get today's guest, very pleased to say, is a gentleman with a long history in the screening industry who has worked in every aspect of the screening industry while creating a highly successful and highly respected background screening firm. Uh as a pleasure to introduce today Mr. Mark Lincock of Global Investigative Screening Services, G G I S, who knows the screening industry inside and out, and I'm excited to get his perspective. And Mark, welcome to the program.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Thanks, Les. Pleasure to be here. Thank you for having me. I've been enjoying listening to your podcasts, and you've been doing an amazing uh interviews with some uh great people in our industry.

SPEAKER_02 2:13

Well, I'm glad you appreciate it. I and I have to say that when uh I was sort of planning out this project, this you know, sort of a hobby project or something fun to do, uh, with Barry Nixon. Barry says, I don't care who else you have, but the one guy you really need to have on the show and that people really need to hear from is uh Mark Lincock. And I said, Barry Dunn, and here we are. Mark, you're you're on the show. Happy to have you as well.

SPEAKER_01 2:38

Thank you. Thank you. I I'll correct you really quick, Lass. It's Lynn Chuck.

SPEAKER_02 2:42

Oh, gee, I I I mispronounced the name. Well, there goes my uh That's okay. There that made me there there there goes my invite to be a guest host on the on the tonight show, I guess. I I guess one of the prerequisites is is to pronounce people's names right. Okay. All right. Well, Mark, we're we're we're just gonna go by Mark then. Okay. All right. So I don't get it wrong again. All right. Uh Mark, so let's let's start. Uh let's start you know from the beginning with the basics. Uh tell us what you currently do and what you like about it. What's interesting about it?

SPEAKER_01 3:20

Yeah, so um I'm the owner and CEO of Global Investigative Services. It's an accredited background screening company or consumer reporting agency, and we're based out of Maryland. Um, I'm responsible for the company's uh overall vision and strategy, and uh basically I'm the one who's making all the final decisions. Um been in the industry for 27 years and absolutely love everything about it. You know, enjoy the challenges that come with growing a business and the ever-changing things that are occurring in the industry. So, you know, basically learning whatever I can and helping others to do the same.

SPEAKER_02 4:03

Oh, Mark, and and 27 years. So tell us about your career path. What was your journey uh to get to where you are today? Yeah, as much as you would like to reveal.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

No, that's that's good. Um, so before entering the background screening industry, I worked in several other fields. Um, you know, starting from college, I I came out of college, I started a trade show company. Um, that well, then I went into uh the insurance industry and then the mortgage industry. And um in 1998, I I left the mortgage industry. I was looking for something new to do. I was introduced to a woman who owned a background screening company, which was Global Investigative Services. Uh, she was looking for a business partner to help her grow the business um that she actually acquired two years prior. The company was founded in 1993. And I had no idea what background checks entailed, but I dove right in. And um in 2021, I actually acquired the business uh from her. So uh, you know, we were business partners for for up till 2021, and and then she decided she wanted to retire. So I decided to stay on and continue to grow the business.

SPEAKER_02 5:24

Well, congratulations. You actually started in if I can do math, but I can in 90 what year 1998. Okay, wow. All right. Yeah, so so I I was my introduction was right. You you have done it all, seen it all, you know, you're chief cook and bottle washer to to to CEO and everything in between.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

Yeah, no, absolutely. I mean, when I came in, I I wanted to learn everything and and did that, you know, from court research all the way through um to operations.

SPEAKER_02 5:55

Yeah. There aren't that many people anymore who have really have that type of background of knowing the industry from the bottom up. I mean, there's people who come into the industry, they may come in, you know, with technology or marketing. But but your perspective, you you've done it all, compliance and production and sales and just every aspect of it.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. I um I I think it's important to really have a clear understanding of everything. Um, you know, from going to the courts and learning the court research and picking up the phone and making calls and participating in marketing and operations and whatever you really can, you know, to to really have a clear understanding of of what the industry entails.

SPEAKER_02 6:42

Right. And and then you know, we're talking with clients and closing sales deals and and everything in between. Yeah. Sure, definitely. Oh, that's fantastic. And and you you know, on this this journey, or or I would call it this voyage of discovery, as you as you you know, really learned the background industry and and uh you know created this great brand. Well, what was a lesson that you learned early on in your career that that sort of stuck with you? I mean, I think we've learned all the lessons. I I was joking with you before we went on that boy, I've made every mistake in the book, and some mistakes I like so much I made two or three times. But what what was a lesson that you learned early on that kind of percolates in the top of your head as being something that uh that you still think about?

SPEAKER_01 7:22

I guess, you know, two lessons I guess that would stick out. Um early on, probably 1999-2000, we decided to build our own background screening platform. And that was probably not such a smart move early on. Uh, you know, the cost of keeping up with advancements in technology, that really hurt us financially, kind of set us back. And then, you know, looking back, probably we probably should have taken that platform and and started selling it to other background screening companies if if we knew where everything was going. But you know, we we didn't, we kind of just stopped using it and went to one of the the other third-party platforms, which was for us that was a great move with technology, the advancements and stuff. It was just really hard to keep up. And then um, I think the second lesson was probably we we had a really large company that made up a good percentage of our revenue. The problem was that they got acquired, and when they got acquired, the company that acquired them basically went with the current background screening company they had. And again, that was another setback. Uh, so the lesson there was, you know, don't have your eggs all in one basket.

SPEAKER_02 8:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:42

You know, I think those two just were early lessons of things, you know, not to do. And and and it was good. I mean, it's we definitely learned a lot from from that. And of course, there are probably other lessons along the way, along this journey. And yeah, you know, we continue to learn things.

SPEAKER_02 8:59

So yeah, I mean, I mean, and and both of those is sort of one of the things that is what it is, because you face the same decision that lots of firms did. Some firms went with third-party platforms and they they would complain that the third party platform maybe couldn't do everything they wanted to do, and then we should build our own. And then people build their own and they say, Well, it's hard to keep up. So you know, it's hard to tell whether there's a right or wrong answer until until you do it, right? I mean, yes. You make your best your best calculation and you go for it and see what happens.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 9:29

Yeah. Absolutely. Uh, that's well, that's great. I mean, that's uh it's very interesting. And and having the uh you said too many eggs in one basket. Common problem. You know, a lot of firms, you know, you face it, you try to diversify, but yeah, you know, life life has sometimes has its own course for you, and you you you can't always have what you know, the ideal the ideal distribution. It's true.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

I mean, you definitely uh, you know, like even during COVID, luckily we did have a good diversification of of different industries, and you know, one being like healthcare, for instance. They constantly hired, which was a good thing, you know. We it kept us busy, kept us through COVID. But you know, we still had other clients in other industries, and you know, they they came back eventually.

SPEAKER_02 10:17

So you really are a veteran, have been through you've been through all the wars, right? And all the battles. Yeah. So so what what about the you know, so you started in the screen industry, uh, you said 1998, you've been in it all this time, but you've been in other industries, yet you have other options and opportunities, other ways you could have gone. I I I always enjoy asking people, well, what is it about the screen industry? Why would you stay in this particular industry? What was it that attracted you to like not only get into it, but stay with it?

SPEAKER_01 10:49

Yeah, it's a good question. Um, once I got in and I understood the industry, I really enjoyed, I enjoy helping companies, you know, like specifically our clients, having them understand more and more about our industry, making sure they know what a background check is and what it's not. You know, getting involved, for instance, like with PBSA, there's just a lot of um great people, great companies in our industry, and meeting those individuals and sharing ideas and giving advice and getting advice from others. And it's just a you know, constantly changing. It's not, you know, from the old days when we were faxing things and and then you have technology, it just evolved so much. And, you know, there definitely were times throughout my career in this industry that I kept thinking, maybe I'll leave, maybe, you know, maybe this isn't right, but things continue to change, things got exciting, and um, you know, just kept continue to stick with it and and things have worked out. I think it's important for anyone in the industry to learn as much as they can about it and and and make sure they do it the right way, and they'll I guess enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed it through through my career.

SPEAKER_02 12:11

Oh, that's fantastic. So you we do we do play a game called Changes and Challenges. I think you've already uh talked about the changes, which is the technology and how that's just taken off. Uh yes, night and day. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

Technology and and even the the different laws, but but with technology, you know, when we had our background screening platform that that we designed and then found out, you know, there's so many things that you have to do to keep up with it, you know. I think back to like e-signature, you know, we didn't have e-signature, that was just kind of coming out, and uh, we were trying to figure out how to how to implement that into the the process or integrations, you know, with all the various vendors out there and and integrating with them or even the interfaces. And then you you've got API and you've got the ATS platforms, and now now it's you know biometric authentication and and AI um and blockchain and whatever else is out there, you know, whether they're good for the industry or bad. I think we'll all figure that out eventually, right? But it's you know, it's about understanding those newer technologies and and using it wisely, you know, making sure that it is right for for us and you know for the company and the industry. I think it's all gonna be good. Um, you know, it's definitely gonna help us all improve on what we're doing.

SPEAKER_02 13:43

So I I take it you see that as the uh not only the biggest change, but one of the big one of the biggest challenges just trying to figure out what to do with all this technology, what's legal with it, how do you how do you work it in? How do you what how does the client see the the value? What's what's the value of a CRA? Absolutely, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

Yeah. I mean it and you know it's also yeah, the security, the improvements, um definitely.

SPEAKER_02 14:10

I was once asked by um someone looking to get in the industry, well, how many people do I need on the IT team? And my answer was uh about ten more than you already have. It doesn't matter how many you have. You need 10 more. Right.

SPEAKER_00 14:25

No, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 14:26

It just doesn't it doesn't stop. All right. Sure. Well, you you know, Mark, you've certainly been through the ringer and and uh creating the company and and and going through all these experiences, but but in looking back, and I know you're you're still not done with your career, you have places to go, people to see, sunsets to ride into or whatever. Yeah, but what would be a uh a moment that you would look back at and say, well, that was that was a cool accomplishment? I mean, I'm sure there's a lot of them, but what kind of percolates first of the top of mind as uh something, a moment you're proud of, or an accomplishment, or some achievement in the uh screening industry for you or your firm?

SPEAKER_01 15:06

You know, I think just after being in the industry for 27 years, acquiring the business in 2021, I I would just say, you know, my proud moment is really the past four years really sticks out. Um, just what we have accomplished over that time period, the past four. I think we just have it. We've gotten to the point where we're heading down the right path. That's what makes me proud. You know, we we finally have gotten to the point where we know exactly what we need to do, you know, to to kind of move forward and make things good.

SPEAKER_02 15:41

I I can I kind of call that the well-oiled machine stage where where everything is working and uh it's scalable with within the uh you know a certain degree, but uh you know, it's just just just add more secret sauce and uh whatever that is for uh for you or for a company. But but but everything's you know the all the all the cylinders, you're clicking it all uh all eight cylinders, right? That that's feeling yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

Yes, yeah, definitely. Um yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 16:13

Yeah, no, that that's that's a great feeling when you when you kind of get there. And um it it it it's not easy to get there too, because all the because it's just this industry with so many moving parts. I mean, that's what's the uh what's so interesting.

SPEAKER_01 16:29

You know, and it's also about bringing on the right people. Yeah. Um you know, you you can't think that you know it all. You gotta bring on people that understand the industry, and and you once you have them on board, that path to success will come. I can definitely say we've got the right people in place now and moving in the right direction.

SPEAKER_02 16:52

Well, that's interesting. I mean, maybe that's the definition of the well-oiled machine is is is the right team. You know, you have a team working in concert and there's congruity and they they they work together and there's accountability and communication and and competency, and you have all that happening, then you're then you're really hitting on all the cylinders. Absolutely. Uh oh, that's great. Well, let me ask you that you you mentioned PBSA. Uh, I know that your firm is accredited. Tell uh tell tell us a little bit about about the uh role that PBSA has played in your uh in your success and a little bit about the accreditation experience.

SPEAKER_01 17:26

Sure. I mean PBSA has been a great resource of information. I've participated in you know some of the committees. Um I've done the mid-year and hit the hill once. I I was glad I did that. I had an incredible experience. I don't think it's really for me, but um I definitely would recommend to anyone and everyone that participates in the mid-year to do it at least once to get that experience. And you know, looking back, I you know, I remember before PBSA, before NAPBS, and there was the I believe it was called the Pre-Eemployment Screening Conference, if I'm not mistaken, that Steve Brownstein.

SPEAKER_02 18:09

Yeah, Steve Brownstein, Phil Steel.

SPEAKER_01 18:12

And I think that was what St. Petersburg or Sarasota, somewhere in Florida.

SPEAKER_03 18:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:16

And I remember getting uh the the um notification about it and wanting to go and uh wasn't really sure what it entailed and and just didn't get involved. So um, and then NAPBS, I I didn't go. My business partner, I think, had gone to an early meeting. But you know, I I think I regret definitely not getting involved early on. But you know, going to the conferences has has just been an incredible uh experience, meeting other CRAs and stuff and listening to the attorney speak, um, which is always great and a little scary at times. Um But you know, the accreditation part, when that first came out, um it took us a while to really kind of determine whether if this was right or not, but we were seeing other CRAs doing it and um felt that it was the right thing to do, which it absolutely is. It definitely took a long time to get, I guess, familiar with what they really needed, what they want it. Um, and you know, there's outside consultants that you can go to that will assist you, and we we chose one of them, and that was extremely helpful. And um, you know, going through that process as a smaller company, it really helped us form our policies and procedures and our handbooks and everything, and you know, everything that we had in place, we just had to change and and you know, now it's it's better. And and as we go through our three-year and five-year um audits, um, that even again helps us improve with what we're doing. Uh, so yeah, that's been a a really good process for us. And again, I think anybody that is not accredited, any background screening company, you should definitely consider it. It's definitely a good stepping stone into the right direction.

SPEAKER_02 20:15

So, what what's been the biggest benefit for you? I mean, other than, you know, obviously I think clients are now, you know, employers are now accustomed to looking at that. But other than that, in terms of just uh having that well-oiled machine, does that help uh with the accreditation?

SPEAKER_01 20:31

Oh, absolutely. Yeah, because there's even times when some clients that we're speaking with, the first thing is, are you an accredited firm? We can say, yes, we are. Um, there's even you know, RFPs that are out there that they only want to companies that are accredited. And, you know, to be able to put that out on our website and in our email signatures and you know, companies that are coming and reading about us and they see that. Um, and you know, a link that explains what it is and you know breaks it down, it's it's definitely beneficial. It's it's been helpful.

SPEAKER_02 21:06

Yeah, um I let me share this with you. My observation with accreditation is that it's not difficult in the sense that there's very little that firms don't know about or don't for the most part do, but the process of of thinking it through step by step by step and documenting it, knowing who's in charge. And yes, yes. Did you find that to be true for you?

SPEAKER_01 21:36

Absolutely. Uh, because even going through that process where there might be things you didn't have in place, you know, you figured that out and yeah, you assign those individuals that you felt comfortable with their knowledge and you know, appointed them, wrote them in the whole part of the accreditation and in your policies, procedures, who and who's in charge of what. So yeah, absolutely. That's right. A lot of changes we made during that whole process.

SPEAKER_02 22:05

Yeah. With PSA, uh P B S A. PSA. Yeah. I have to keep remembering the the right the right pronunciation now. So I I I I it brought a smile to my face when you said you you you you go to the um the sessions and some of them are a little scary. I I I tell you, you walk out of uh some of those sessions, not not even just the attorney sessions, but the practitioner sessions, you go, oh my God, are we doing that? Are we exposed to that? I mean are we okay calling back to the office? I I just I was you know reminded we're supposed to be doing X, Y, and Z. Are we doing that? Please, I hope we are.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

And there is, you know, there's so much to cover in those sessions, too. It's not like you can get to every single one. Yeah. And if you have the ability to bring others with you, it's it's definitely something you should do because you send one person one way, you go the other way, and then you know, after the conference, you sit down, or even during the conference at some point, you sit down and you talk about what it was, and and then you go back to the office and you have great meetings, you know. You you talk about everything you've learned and things that you need to improve. Right. You know, so yeah, it's been great.

SPEAKER_02 23:20

Yeah, particularly when you hear an attorney panel, the attorney says, Well, this firm was sued for this, and that person was sued for that, and you're thinking, Well, I I don't think we we we do that. Yes, or I think we're but but but then you go back and you make sure, right?

SPEAKER_01 23:34

Yeah, no, absolutely. And there's plenty of times I've done that. Um and you know, another thing with PBSA, and and I was just thinking about this because I probably should have mentioned it earlier too, but with PBSA, you know, they have great resource tools. You go into their website, uh, you know, when you're a member and and you are able to pull up things, um, put in certain topics, subjects, and and you get the information there. So if it was something at a session that you just weren't able to get to and you have the ability to go and read through that, which Les, I'll tell you, there was uh an incredible informative book called The Safe Hiring Manual. I think you're familiar with that. That was that was the only resource, you know, back in the day that that was my go-to thing. And now now, you know, and I still kind of use it every now and then, but but now it's you know the PBSA, it's just more resource information. But yeah, I I thank you for for writing that and updating it over the years because it was definitely something. If a client called and had a question or we had questions into in-house, that was where we turned, you know. Oh, I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_02 24:50

Yeah, I appreciate that. I I I I've been contemplating God, do I want to do a rewrite or would I rather retire? So far. So far, we tried to spend out.

SPEAKER_01 25:00

Updated, yeah. There's there's probably a lot to update, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:05

Yeah, yeah. There's about 90% of it's good. The other 10% is wildly, wackly out of uh it makes no sense anymore. And then there's just stuff to add. So so far I haven't found the energy to to crack it open and say, uh, do I want to rewrite this? I don't know. All right. So what committees were you on? I think you mentioned it you on PBSA, you were you didn't serve time in a committee or two.

SPEAKER_01 25:30

You know, I'm trying to think back because I haven't really been that active, but I I think I still get emails like what for the government relations committee. Um, you know, uh there was a subcommittee that I was active with. I I I'm trying to think what it was tied to, but it was the Gives subcommittee. Um it had to do with government, like you know, data sets type stuff that we were getting. But that didn't last very long. So yeah, I I again I haven't been really active in those committees, and and I gotta make it a point to to become more active. But yeah, I I've sat on some of those calls for the government relations.

SPEAKER_02 26:07

Well, that's the hardest one because that that one, you know, there's a bill in Nebraska or a bill in Mississippi, and you know, it's like you're you're you know your your eyes just you know go around your head with the the amount of work there is possibly to do. It's like how do I keep up?

SPEAKER_01 26:23

Yeah, and I put my name, I think, on the list for if anything comes up in Maryland that uh I'll volunteer to to do whatever I need to do to help out in that sense. That's great. What what part of Maryland do you uh it's Gathersburg Rockville area or North Potomac? Uh it's technically it's Montgomery County.

unknown 26:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:44

So you can see. Which is about 20 minutes outside of Washington, DC.

SPEAKER_02 26:49

So so my my only point of reference is are you closer to an Orioles game or a Nationals game?

SPEAKER_01 26:54

Yeah. Um maybe right in between. I mean, Baltimore is probably about a 40, 45-minute drive, and nationals are maybe about 30-minute drive. Okay, so you are so but I I think I lean maybe towards the Nationals, uh, you know, but I think growing up, I had family in Baltimore, so it's kind of like growing up Baltimore fan, but Nationals, you know, probably now. It's kind of like the uh, you know, are you a uh Commanders fan or are you a Ravens fan? Yeah. Right. We we you know it can go either way, really.

unknown 27:32

All right.

SPEAKER_02 27:34

Oh, that's funny. All right, so let's leave the wild, wonderful, wacky world of background screening behind for for a little bit and uh let's talk more about Mark. So when you're when you're not building a uh you know world-class team and doing all the things you've described and so on and so forth, what what do you do uh outside of screening and sort of hobbies and interest and uh you know fun stuff?

SPEAKER_01 28:00

Sure, sure. Uh well I'd say first, you know, just spending time with family. Um and and then um you know with family traveling and and then uh then comes riding my my peloton and mountain biking and once a year going out west and snow skiing.

SPEAKER_02 28:21

And doing what? Snow skiing? Snow go skiing. Oh, okay, right. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 28:25

Skiing during the winter. I said snow skiing. Uh yeah. So skiing during the winter.

SPEAKER_02 28:30

Well, it's hard to ride your peloton up the mountain. Oh, I see. That's two different things. Okay, I got it.

SPEAKER_01 28:35

Peloton is for my training to be able to go mountain biking. Um, but you know, so it's an indoor activity. And then when the weather's nice, I'm able to get on my mountain bike and go out with uh have a group of five guys that we go mountain biking. Um, you know, Maryland doesn't have huge mountains or anything, but they have incredible in my county, they have incredible trails. Um, and there's probably about five or six trails that we tend to go to. And you know, we can probably ride 20 plus miles uh on those trails that that interconnect. And it's you know just great to be outside in in the woods on you know in the wilderness, so to speak.

SPEAKER_02 29:17

Oh, that's great. Yeah. I you know, I never took up mountain biking. I'm I'm about 20 minutes from Mount Tam where they invented mountain mountain biking. And I once went to a party with Gary Fisher from you know Fisher Bikes and all that. But I never uh problem with mountain biking is it's hard to go uphill when you go downhill. If you hit a route or a rock, you can do an endo, go end over end, and yeah, I don't know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:43

It's it's fun. We actually took a trip a couple years ago out to uh Moab, Utah.

SPEAKER_02 29:49

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:49

And that was just you know, the it's just incredible out there. And that's a different level of mountain biking. Uh, but it was just beautiful scenery uh, you know, in that in that part of the United States. Ideally, we we'd love to have a trip each year to a different place.

SPEAKER_02 30:06

And uh so did you fly into St. George and then or find Las Vegas and drive there or there's I think Moab.

SPEAKER_01 30:16

No, I think we where did we go? Gosh, I don't remember what we did. Um we did we fly into Vegas or did we fly maybe to Colorado and then took uh we flew into Moab to to a little airport. Um and then yeah, and then we rent bikes once we're out there. We don't we don't bring our bikes, we just rent out there, and then uh you know we met up with two guys that had been there before, they were from California, and they took us on the tour and showed us all the different places to go.

SPEAKER_02 30:47

So I even been to Moab. My my hiking boot is a Merrill Moab, which I always thought was named after Moab, and it turns out it stands for the mother of all boots. So who knows? You you you learn something new every day. Yeah, that's why people watch this program. You learn ridiculously useless trivia like that. Right. Right. So so so we're gonna play uh a game we we play every time called Fun Facts. So Mark, share something about you that uh people may not know, or you know, or that that you don't mind that they know. Right, right. Apart from screening.

SPEAKER_01 31:27

Yeah, fun facts. Um been married for 23 years, so it's my beautiful wife. Uh, have two wonderful kids. Um uh the oldest one who's a girl, she's she's 22. She just graduated from the University of Tampa. And you'll you'll like this. So for the past three years, she's been uh because she's in Tampa, where spring training is for the Yankees, uh, she has been working for the Yankees when they're in town for spring training. Uh so now that she's graduate graduated, you know, she's trying to work on uh a way to get in full-time uh with whether it's the Yankees or anything else. Uh she graduated sports management. So she's trying to get into that. And then um I have a son who is 20. He's a sophomore at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. He's computer science, and I'm hoping he'll come up with something revolutionary to change the industry. I'll get back down street in industry.

SPEAKER_02 32:32

Uh or at least revolutionary enough for you to retire.

SPEAKER_01 32:36

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So that's that's my fun facts. That's that's my family. And then then we have two dogs. Uh, you know, one's uh one's a mini golden doodle and one's a kaba poo. Uh so two two great dogs.

SPEAKER_02 32:50

So so you're past the point where you you had to do all the high school events and activities and sports. Yeah, yes, thank God.

SPEAKER_01 32:59

We uh we now we now we just uh we travel to Tampa and travel to South South Carolina to go spend time with them. And you know, that's it's a good place to get away to two great towns.

SPEAKER_02 33:12

So so you so you can loop it, you can go to Tampa or Charleston and then come back and uh yeah uh so so you're you're a veteran of I-95 then.

SPEAKER_01 33:22

That or a fan of Southwest, right? One of the two.

SPEAKER_02 33:29

Uh well, Mark, it's been a real pleasure talking to you. And uh yeah, I'm very glad that you accepted the invite to come on the show and uh say hello and share your experiences. I I think we've covered a lot, but uh before we go, we have one last game called The Last Word, and we give you the uh the last word and the floor is yours. There's anything you want to add or or subtract, it's all right.

SPEAKER_00 33:53

Take it away.

SPEAKER_01 33:54

No, last I I mean I've I've enjoyed speaking with you today, and I'm I'm looking forward to continuing to listen to to many more interviews that you're you're doing. I you know, I appreciate this and and thank you. Thanks again. Oh Mark, you know what? Anyone that wants to connect, feel free to reach out. Um, you know, happy to connect with you.

SPEAKER_02 34:14

And they and they can find you on LinkedIn easily. Yes, yes, they can. That's great. Well, this has been uh a great time with uh with Mark Linchuk. I got your name right this time.

SPEAKER_03 34:26

Right.

SPEAKER_02 34:27

I I I uh unfortunately I'm dyslexic with both with uh you know both eyes, but uh but this I do get a name right. Uh and Mark, it's been a real pleasure having you. And and once again, this has been an episode of Behind the Screens featuring our good friend um uh Mark Linchuk. And uh on behalf of myself and our platinum sponsor, Barry Nixon's and the pre-employment screening directory, uh Mark has been a real pleasure. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_00 34:57

Thanks, guys. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 34:59

Appreciate it. All right, that was yet another wonderful conversation with a background screening pro. If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to hit subscribe so you never miss an update. And hey, if you got a moment, we'd love for you to leave us a review. It really helps get the word out. For more info or to catch up on past episodes, or to make suggestions or to suggest possible future guests, head over to our website. Once again, this is your host, Les Rosen, and it's been a pleasure to bring you another episode. See you on the next episode. Thanks.