Cross & Crescent

Dale Carlsen (Cal State-Sacramento 1984) graduated from high school a semester early and enrolled in California State University-Sacramento. He planned only to attend for a semester and then transfer to the University of California-Berkeley.

I was walking through the quad on campus and a guy reached out and invited me to a function,” Carlsen remembers. “I went there, met them, thought they were interesting, and ultimately joined.”

Carlsen enjoyed his experience with Lambda Chi Alpha so much he decided not to transfer. He thought his father would be disappointed in his decision but when approached, was supportive.

“Staying at Sacramento ended up being the best thing that could have ever happened because I would have never done what I have done,” Carlsen says. “ I was an introvert and the Fraternity brought me out of my shell.”

Mattresses and Real Estate

While in school, Carlsen worked part-time for a mattress manufacturing company. He started by emptying trash cans but worked his way up to being a salesman. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, he would go on the road to sell, and would take classes on Thursdays and Fridays.

His ultimate goal, though, was to work as a commercial real estate broker. He was majoring in finance and real estate with hopes of achieving that goal.

Following graduation, he was offered an entry-level real estate job but was also offered a job as a sales manager with the mattress company. The real estate company offered him $12,000 a year with no benefits or vacation. The mattress company offered $30,000 with full benefits.

“It’s not that I didn’t want to pay my dues, but the mattress company offered me a sports car as a company car,” Carlsen jokes. “And I was young and single.”

He asked the real estate company for a little more money but instead of money, received a piece of advice.

“The real estate guy told me to take the mattress job because I had the educational experience and all I needed was the sales experience. After a couple years they would hire me on and I could go straight to being a broker.”

Sleep Train

Carlsen traveled throughout California doing sales. He soon tired of giving stores ideas and being told “great idea” and then it never being done. So he decided to open his own store.

Carlsen talked to his dad, a former certified public accountant, about the idea, and his dad was against it. He told Carlsen that small businesses fail and suggested sticking with sales and going into real estate.

Soon thereafter Carlsen’s step mom won a trip to Europe on the radio. During the two weeks she and his dad were out of the country, Carlsen bought a truck, leased some space, and opened his first store.

“You could say I was a little afraid of my father,” Carlsen says.

Looking back now, he realizes how integral the Fraternity was in how he ran his business.

“I was High Alpha, High Kappa, so I learned how to educate, discipline, and how to manage, and that was important as to how I ran the business,” Carlsen explains. “As important, when you are starting a business you need someone to help you out. Where else do you turn but your Fraternity brothers? I hired my Fraternity brothers along the way. We have had fun and enjoyed it. We grew the company.”

A Fraternal Environment

Carlsen often thinks about the fraternal lessons in his day-to-day business. He believes in civic duty and treating people right.

He remembers back to his days as an undergraduate when the chapter did a variety of charitable work, including hosting an annual wrist wrestling contest to raise money for muscular dystrophy.

One year the Easter Seals was hosting a Christmas Party and needed some help. A group of about 10 went down and really had what Carlsen considers a life changing experience.

“They were so happy to have us there and spend some time with them. We took them in their wheel chairs and danced with them on the floor. It was special.”

Carlsen says this type of service stewardship plus his upbringing really taught him the importance of giving back to society. He continues this today. Sleep Train donates mattresses to at-risk youth in the community. This year over 2,000 beds will be donated, which is over $2 million worth of mattresses, to give kids the good night’s sleep they need.

Carlsen believes one of Sleep Train’s main distinctions is that the staff is highly trained. His focus is to make everyone better, so he has spent a lot of time and money training his people.

“My dad gave me a great piece of advice when I started the business. If I wanted to be successful, I should surround myself with good people, treat them right, and make sure they are successful.”

Carlsen says just like in the Fraternity, everything is a team effort.

“Making each person better and stronger makes a better group. With a better group we are able to grow the business together.”

And grow it has. Sleep Train has now expanded to 212 stores under three brands: Sleep Train, Mattress Discounters, and Sleep Country USA. They purchased Mattress Discounters in the western states in 2003, and Sleep Country in the Northwest last year. All stores are located on the West Coast — California, Oregon, Washington, and Nevada.

“I attribute the growth to the people. We have been fortunate to be surrounded by great people, many of them Fraternity brothers. That’s what always make the difference and is the core for any company,” Carlsen says. “They have a high integrity level and an incredible amount of respect for the business, customer, and co-workers.”

When Carlsen says he’s surrounded by Fraternity brothers, he means it. He hired Fraternity brothers that started with the company, and over the years he has probably hired several hundred Lambda Chis. He jokes that they also had to open it up to other fraternities as well.

“When you walk around and see people who have been with him for 10-20 years — that have been part of building the business — you know there is a common bond and that’s Lambda Chi,” says Vice President of Marketing Michael Wilson (Cal State-Sacramento 1982). “And people who aren’t members joke about it all the time.”

Carlsen says continued growth is the future of the company and that’s how they continue to attract good people.

“The opportunities are here. People rapidly get promoted because of our growth. New markets mean new leadership roles and new opportunities for people to grow.”

The company will do $350-400 million in business this year and Carlsen hopes to rapidly get to the half billion mark.

Friends

Looking back at his Fraternity days, Carlsen says he had fun every day. They had a lot of good functions, one of which he met his wife through. So it is no surprise that he is still very close with many of his contemporaries.

He says a group continues to hang out together, doing something as a group at least once a month. They dine together, travel together, and go on scuba trips together. As a testament to this bond, a group of five brothers joined Carlsen in Memphis, Tennessee, for the 2007 Stead Leadership Seminar, where he was presented with the Order Of Achievement.

In his speech to the assembled brothers, Carlsen proclaimed: “To me the Fraternity changed my life and made me who I am today. It is responsible in a large part for the success of our company because the values of the brotherhood transferred to the business, and onto what we do today.”