This Episodes Sponsosr: ServeManager Special Offer Get an Extra 60 Days Free! Listeners of the Process Server Daily podcast get a total of 74 days to try ServeManager free of charge. That’s an additional 60 days longer than ServeManager’s typical 14 day trial. To receive an additional 60 days, you must provide a credit card at the end of your 14 day trial. Your card will NOT be billed until the end of your additional 60 days. You can cancel at anytime before that date. After your additional 60 days, your card will be billed. **THIS OFFER IS VALID FOR NEW CUSTOMERS ONLY** ---------------------------- Server Nation, welcome back to the show! Our guest today is none other than the man, the myth, the legend, and the Sasquatch of the Northwest. The owner of Central Washington Legal Services, he has 10 years of experience serving papers and can bowl his butt off with a regular score of 300. Chris Svelnys, welcome to the show. Hey. Thanks a lot, brother. I appreciate it. Chris, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started in this industry? Well, it all started back in 2000 ... I want to say around 2007. I was working at Wal-Mart and I kind of befriended the department manager really quick. That's how I roll, make new friends with the bosses. He's a little ... He's just a couple years older than me and he's a nice guy. He just ... He asked me one day, after working for him for about six months to a year, he's like, "Hey, you want to make some extra money on the side?" I kind of knew what he did on the side and I said, "Oh, doing what?" He's like, "Serving papers," and I'm like, "Oh, man. Okay. I've seen the movie "Pineapple Express," it is kind of like that?" and he's like, "No, no, no. Well, sometimes."He's like, "Tell you what." He's like ... His mom kind of half-ran the office, It used to be her business 30 years ago. Her and this guy, Junior, was helping out this older lady that was doing it. She only had 10 customers, just barely making a few hundred bucks a month. Well, they took it over and she passed away, so they took it over and they ran it 10 times fold and grew the business exponentially. Her son, Derek, my boss, he was helping out, and so he was like, "Well, just swing by the office and the guy will take you out for a day. I'll text you and make sure your mind is all cleared and you're not a crazy person, which I know you're not," that's why he was telling me about it, kind of like who you know, not what you know. I said, "Okay." Took me out for a day and went up North to Oroville, to the border of USA and Canada, and we maybe hit three or four houses, all of which he went out of the car and I didn't get to see any of the dialogue so I'm getting super nervous and wondering how I'm actually going to serve papers if I don't know what the dialogue is like. He comes back and we just ... He asks me about my whole life story, the 12 hours that we drove, and i came back that night. The next day, I guess he told the owner, said, "Hey, yeah, he's a good guy. Hire him." The rest is history. The first few days, I went ... I started out as an independent contractor for a few months. I was only doing it part-time so it really wasn't worth my time, especially being new to the areas and not knowing where everything was at and new to the business. I ended up going on the books with the company for eight, nine years until last year. We took over the business again, my buddy and his mom, because she shared the business with another owner in Alaska, in the west-side, and he broke off. He's doing his own thing so they took it over last summer, so now I became an independent contractor again. It just ... It's more fortunate for me now, since I know everywhere, all the counties and all the clients and the clientele and the process and everything. That's pretty much how I started it. Well, that's awesome, Chris. You got a family? I do, yeah. I have a dad out here, I have a mom ... I'm from Connecticut, born and raised. I moved out here in '05. After 9/11, my dad moved out here and I have a bunch of step-family out here. One of my middle brothers is out here. My oldest brother is back east with my mom, so I got family up and down the east coast and New York and New England area, and then I have a bunch of step-family out here in Washington state, Idaho, and parts of Oregon. That's awesome. Super blessed. Just awesome people out here in the west coast. That's awesome, Chris. I've got to tell you that one of the main reasons I wanted you to come on the show is when I heard your story. We may get to that. If you want to share that same story, that's fine, but you got a lot going on. With these kind of stories, you got to be able to share it, man. You can't keep them to yourself! I know, I know. Really, really quick on that one story, if I do get into it, my boss was actually at a NAPPS meeting, N-A-P-P-S meeting, a couple states away. After it happened, I was so distraught and I called her up and she just starts busting out laughing. She's like, "Hold on, repeat what you just said to me. You're on speakerphone with about 10 other NAPPS members. Go ahead, Chris. What happened?" I told them and they were all just around a bonfire or something, just dying laughing. They're like, "How does this happen?" Then, from that point on, just the most bizarre, craziest stuff happens to me, and it's just laughable. Yeah. Well, we always like to get started ... We don't want to focus on the negative things in life, but there's a reason why you're on this show. You got a lot going on, you got a lot of great stories. First, we're going to start with your worst experience in the field. Can you tell us about that? Yeah. My worst experience by far would have to be ... I was going to a house and I'd been there a couple times before. It's a repeater house. Every time I go there, something bad happens. The first time, I got bit by a dog. Flesh wound, cut the skin. Second time I went there, I locked my keys in my car. The guy I served was the boyfriend of the lady I was serving and he was nice enough to accept the papers and help me get back in my car. I had to break into my car. Then, the third time, which was the worst serve ever, I was going ... It just rained out and it was like a single-wide trailer. I walked around the corner and I ended up slipping on the mud and pretty much thought I broke my leg. I did a full half split, right to the ground, screaming bloody murder. I thought I broke my leg. I'm rolling around in the mud, in the grass, yelling for help from anybody. No one's around, so I ended up crawling back to my Chevy Tracker that I had and hoisting myself up. Called my boss, got to my phone, called my boss. Screaming at her, telling her I broke my leg, I broke my leg, I need to go to the hospital, and she's like, "Oh, my God." She's like, "Okay, just call 911 and have the ambulance come there." I'm like, "No, I'm already in the car." All of a sudden, the people come up and they pull up, the owners of the property, and they're ... I'm screaming at them. Not at them directly, but just in pain. I was in so much pain. They said, "Did you want us to bring you to the hospital?" I was like, "No, I'm already in here," and they're like, "Oh, my God. I'm sorry." You could see the streak of where my leg came out under me on their property there and I just said, "Yeah, I got to go now. I got to go now." I just ... All I could think about was getting to the hospital. I was going, "Hey, by the way, is so-and-so here?" They're like, "Yeah." I said, "Here you go. You've been served." I got the papers served, that was all that matters, and I drove to the hospital, which was just five minutes away from there. I couldn't get out of the car. I saw a couple EMTs washing the EMT van, the hospital track, and I yelled at them. They came and got a wheelchair for me. I ended up pulling the worst hammy of all times, from my lower back down to behind my leg and my knee. Just completely black and blue. I couldn't walk for about three weeks, had to go on unemployment for a few weeks and physical therapy and ...Yeah, so I have yet to be back to that property. I'm prepared to wear all body armor and just go back there again. That was by far the worst, painful experience, serve I've ever had to deal with. Now, would you say that you fell because of the rain, the mud, or ... Oh, yeah, that was the rain and the mud. Right on. There was really nothing they could do about it. People say, "Oh, you go after the property owners." I'm like, "Nah, it was pure accident, myself." There's nothing they could have done about it. The way their low land is at, it's just mud and grass everywhere. That's a pretty terrible experience. What do you want Server Nation to get from your story? Oh, with that experience, just to really watch where you're going and tread lightly on all different kinds of terrain and property. That's not the only time I fell in the 10 years I've been doing this. I fell a lot, but that was definitely the worst. It can happen in our line of work. Just to really be careful. Safety is your number one concern, as always. Just to be careful and just watch where you're walking, watch where you're stepping. No, that's great. I got to tell you, people so often think, "Oh, have you ever had a gun in your face?" No, but I stepped wrong and went down a flight of stairs, and not just any, concrete stairs with the little rocks on them. I think that's worse. Right. Funny, I've actually had a few guns pulled on me over 10 years, all of which were really respectful once they found out who ... They knew who I was, they disengaged their weapon and put it in their holster or away from me, and they were super nice. I was way out in the country. I wouldn't expect anything less from the owner