‘Mike and I used to have bunk beds, now we share the same office’
Getting into the flying business was never the plan for the Dwyers. But when the two brothers blew their first bonus on pilot lessons, it became clear that Guardian Jet wouldn’t be long coming. Words: Megan Kelly
Don Dwyer, co-managing Partner, Guardian Jet, was tempted away from the solid carbon business by his dream of an aviation career.
‘Mike and I used to have bunk beds, now we share the same office’
Getting into the flying business was never the plan for the Dwyers. But when the two brothers blew their first bonus on pilot lessons, it became clear that Guardian Jet wouldn’t be long coming. Words: Megan Kelly
Don Dwyer, co-managing Partner, Guardian Jet, was tempted away from the solid carbon business by his dream of an aviation career.
BUSINESS AND FAMILY don’t mix. It’s common advice, but doesn’t apply to Guardian Jet. They go by a different saying. “I care more about your success than my own,” Don Dwyer, the co-managing partner of Guardian Jet tells his brother Mike. It has become the mantra of the family-run brokerage and consultancy.
The two brothers, joined by Don’s son Doc, who is president of the company, explain the origin of the mantra to Corporate Jet Investor (CJI).
The ethos is straightforward, but its genealogy is more complicated. It began as an “incredibly simple Mark Twain truism,” says Mike, the firm’s co-founder. He gave a version of it in a wedding toast to his daughter but heard it originally from a close friend and business mentor, who was “a high school graduate, commercial roofer, Vietnam vet, and a tough, shrewd businessman”. During a conversation about trying to collect unpaid debts, the Vietnam vet told him: “Mike, if a guy owes me money and he’s not worried about it, I worry about it. If a guy owes me money and he’s worried about it, I don’t worry about it.”
Mike tells CJI: “If you worry about each other more than you worry about yourself, then you’ve got nothing to worry about. It’s a beautiful sentiment, but it got me thinking about the business application of it.”
And so, the company ethos was born. The family use it in their business dealings with each other and with clients. “It explains our success,” says Mike. “We work for the biggest corporations in the world and some of the smartest people in the world. If you behave in that way, they get it and it pragmatically works. I feel that way about my brother and my nephew and our trading floor and our clients.”
Guardian Jet was founded by Mike and a co-founder in 2002 in Connecticut. Before that, Mike and Don worked at a different Dwyer business, a graphite machine shop, which the brothers’ grandfather had started. They bought their father out, and at 27 and 28 years old, they were business owners.
Flying buddies Don and Mike Dwyer pictured with their beloved Mooney single engine aircraft in 1992. Their love for flying led to the birth of the new family business.
Meritocracy in action: The management team, (L to R) Mike, Don and chief operating officer Michael Mikolay and others, make a point of rewarding merit within the business.
Meritocracy in action: The management team, (L to R) Mike, Don and chief operating officer Michael Mikolay and others, make a point of rewarding merit within the business.
Don Dwyer: While far from recession-proof, Guardian Jet is confident about meeting whatever challenges the future may hold for the business.
The brothers had always wanted to learn how to fly. In the late ‘80s, they used their first bonuses to take flying lessons. Don, who joined the company in 2010, says: “Back then, it was $3,000 to learn to fly. It seemed like all the money in the world at the time.”
The company is now 20 years old and hit the milestone of generating more than $1bn in sales in 2018. Don’s son Doc didn’t arrive at the company until 2009. He always knew he wanted to do something in aviation. “I grew up flying in airplanes and I just loved it,” says Doc. “I was a quiet, shy kid, so aviation sales probably wasn’t high on the list of things anyone would have guessed I’d go into.”
“I wanted to jump out of an airplane in Spring 2020 and then it ended up being our best year. We are a business that has got a lot of growth in it.”
Once he graduated, Doc taught flying for a few years at Monarch Air, trying to get enough hours to become a demo pilot at a manufacturer. But just at the same time, around 2008, the economy crashed and there wasn’t much demand for young flight instructors. “Eventually, I said I’ve had enough of that, I need to get into the aviation sales world,” he says. He initially refused to take a job at Guardian Jet, determined to gain experience somewhere else and take his own path. That was until Mike told him not to “be an idiot” and refuse it just because he was a Dwyer. “Once I realised that I was being stupid in not taking the job because of my last name, I took it, and it’s been fantastic ever since,” he says.
Working with family comes with its benefits. “I get to see my uncle and my dad every day,” says Doc. “There’s not a day that goes by, even if we’re all in different parts of the world, where we’re not talking to each other, which is amazing. It keeps you close without even trying.”
Gulfstream GIVs make up a large part of Guardian Jet’s fleet for sale. The firm manages more than $1bn in transactions annually.
Don says the close bond with his brother is something they never grew out of. “Mike and I used to have bunk beds, now we have our desks in the same office.”
The family name does come with some challenges. Mike is keen to highlight the hard work of everyone at the company. “We have a full team of people, and I don’t want anyone to get discouraged that their last name isn’t Dwyer,” he says. “It’s a meritocracy.”
Doc agrees. “We have to be careful to show all our employees have an equal chance at success, because they do.”
Outside factors can strain not only the family relationships, but the business, too. Don says that things like flight-shaming are something they are mindful of. “We’re subject to the same threats that the rest of the industry is,” he says. “I won’t say we have a recession-proof business, but if the economy turns, people will sell airplanes and it continues to be good for us. We’ll continue to meet the challenge that’s in front of us.”
His brother is equally optimistic, pointing out that in 2009, “arguably the worst year in aviation”, the business grew by 40%. “Don had a great line about how I wanted to jump out of an airplane in Spring 2020, and then it ended up being our best year,” he says. “We’re a business that’s got a lot of growth in it.”
The company has grown by 20% every year for a long time, according to Don. It now has operations in the USA, Mexico, Brazil and across Europe, with the aim to grow its international footprint even more. With about 35 employees, the company has grown its staff well beyond its family roots (although there are several other Dwyers within its ranks). Guardian Jet is currently handling the transactions of 36 jets, according to AMSTAT.
Luxury for sale. In January the company handled more than 35 private jet transactions. Among the aircraft offered for sale is this Gulfstream G550.
So, what does future success look like to the family firm, and how will they measure it? It’s not a hard question for Don. “It’s pretty easy to measure success in a business – you make money,” he says. “We don’t see any reason that we should slow down. We’re now in Mexico, Brazil, Europe and we’ll continue to grow the international and domestic business. We have technology that we think will really spur us on and we give a lot of support internally to the sales force. It’s not a cheap model, but it’s one that works for us.”
Doc agrees. Investing in Guardian Jet’s sales force will pay dividends now and in the long term, he says. “We think the sales team, what we call the trading floor, is just this incredibly powerful engine to our company and it’s been an area of investment for a long time.
“There are a lot of salaries that other brokers don’t have to pay, but we’re getting to the point now where they are starting to pay for themselves. They’ve been at this for a while and they’re bringing their own deals to the table,” he says. “If we can make that side of the business pay for itself, we can grow the trading floor even more.”
Looking ahead, Guardian Jet’s co-founder Mike contemplates the company’s evolution, much like the evolution of its ethos.
Offering advice to his past self and to the current extended Guardian Jet family and its workforce, Mike says: “Relax, don’t overthink. Just go be the best trading floor person you can possibly be.”
Guardian Jet timeline
2020:
Best revenue year on record
2019:
Launch of Vault 3.0 online asset management portal
2018:
$1bn generated in sales
2016:
Completes over 50 transactions during the year
2012:
Launch of Guardian Jet’s asset management portal – Vault
2010:
Don Dwyer joins as co-managing partner from another family business
2009:
Revenue grows 40%
2008:
Consulting division grows
2005:
Serves 8% of Fortune 100 companies
2004:
Serves 5% of Fortune 100 companies
2004:
Provides first fleet plan
2002:
Mike Dwyer launches Guardian Jet as an aircraft brokerage.
