RETAILOBSERVER.COM MAY 2023
14
B O O K R E V I E W
THE POWER OF POTENTIAL
How a Nontraditional Workforce Can Lead You to Run Your Business Better
Author: Tom D'Eri has dedicated his career to unleashing human potential by creating organizational systems
and cultures that empower people to grow. Tom is the Co-Founder and COO of Rising Tide Car Wash, an
organization that employs over 90 individuals with autism in a successful car wash business. Tom is also the
Co-Founder of Rising Tide U an organization dedicated to teaching others how to harness the autism
advantage. Tom is a Forbes 30 Under 30 social entrepreneur and speaks regularly at Fortune 500 companies,
international conferences, leadership development programs, and universities.
Publisher: HarperCollins Leadership
D
iscover how supporting employment for people
with autism unlocked new ways of running a
business—and revealed transformative lessons
for all of us.
Rising Tide Car Wash in Parkland, Florida isn't
average in any way. When Tom D'Eri and his father John
bought the location in 2013, they wanted to create
employment opportunities for workers with autism. Like
1 in 54 Americans, Tom's brother Andrew has autism,
and he was facing lifelong unemployment. So the family
set out on a mission to provide professional opportunities
for people like Andrew, starting with one car wash. Now
it's one of the highest-volume washes in Florida. Its
employee retention rate is five times that of its
competitors. It has spun off into two additional locations
that have been immediately successful, and the
business is absurdly profitable.
The Power of Potential tells the inspiring, surprising
reason why: The wash's excellence isn't in spite of their
unusual workforce, but because of it. Thanks to their
neurodivergent staff, the Rising Tide team was able to
discover and correct common problems that typically
fly under the radar in businesses.
RO
