The CEO of Les Schwab Tires shares how he is building on the founder’s people-centric legacy.

“The real currency that matters most to me is people and time,” says Tom Nolan, chairman and CEO of Les Schwab Tires. “I want to surround myself with great people and be protective of time, because that’s the one currency you can’t make more of.”

Nolan, former CEO of Kendra Scott, has found he can prioritize both at Les Schwab Tires, which he joined in April 2026. As such, he leads 9,000 employees and more than 630 stores across 15 states.

Nolan joined the company because he was inspired by founder Les Schwab’s vision of profit sharing, employee ownership and long-term wealth creation for frontline workers. Schwab’s model of promoting from within, sharing store profits and funding a retirement trust now exceeding a billion dollars built it into a powerful example of a Social Capital company in action. It has helped the company retain key employees for decades and bring their children into the company. And when it is time for retirement, the company has set up the employees to become millionaires, all the while maintaining strong profitability.

To further that legacy, Nolan said he aims to make decisions that would make Schwab proud, grounding them in love, empathy and treating employees like owners. His ultimate goal is to extend that vision to as many as 1,000 stores, doubling the employee base and “preaching the gospel” of Les Schwab’s vision to new markets while furthering the company’s philanthropic commitments, like a recent $1-million donation to support communities affected by wildfires and first responders in Central Oregon.

He spoke recently with founder and president of the Dave Alexander Center for Social Capital and the publisher of the Social Capital Insider. Click on the link below to hear him share more about making vision reality.