When our CEO and Founder Bret Martin was 12 years old (1973),

he acquired a paper route.

As days turned into weeks, and months into years, he began to notice not only the families he delivered the newspapers to, but the individuals within the families themselves, that made up the family dynamics of that particular home.

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Not unlike his own home,

family dynamics were taking place as he delivered the newspaper. 

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As time went on,

his insight into these people lives and homes turned into mental notes,

then eventually physical notes.

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At the suggestion of one of his subscribers on his newspaper route (a psychiatrist named Mr. Brown), Bret was encouraged to engage his 5 senses around these people within these families and on occasion he and Mr. Brown would discuss the Varying different families and the members and dynamics within their homes. 

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Bret was intrigued as to why there was so much meanness among them, name calling,

drinking, drug use, hitting and cussing, and general chaos and drama going on within these family homes.

 

Mr. Brown would send Bret off with Xeroxed articles and books now and again regarding what they had discussed based on what Bret had been part of with many of his subscribers.

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Bret was particularly interested in Abraham Maslow's Self-Actualization Theory, and Maslow's hierarchy of needs, among other things, at Mr. Browns suggestion.

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Mr. Brown died young, and his tutelage ended abruptly,

but Bret had learned the Dewy Decimal System, and he was constantly engaged in human development and what made us do the things we do.

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The constant that Bret saw as time went on was that almost every family seemed to be in disharmony. Rarely did he witness as he frequented their yards and their lives delivering their papers, much harmony or happiness.

 

In fact, this was the same in his own home daily. It seemed like mayhem and chaos were a common denominator all around him.

 

Bret had his favorite homes he delivered to, and these homes had a different vibe, a different energy as Mr. Brown (Bret's psychiatrist friend on his paper route) would put it.

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Bret would go on to describe these few homes (11 of which to be exact, out of 139 subscribers of the newspaper) as homes who had mothers and fathers who were Happy!

Bret had noticed that happiness prevailed in these homes.

 

Bret went on to describe to Mr. Brown,

even their yards, cars and dogs appeared happier, and that there was far more joy and positive energy in these homes and around these people and their homes. And he noticed that the kids, most of which were his age, were doing better in school, sports and life in general.

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These data points were never far from Bret's memory as he grew older. 

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Forward to 1999 and Bret's mortgage brokerage firm won an award as the 2nd fastest growing company in Oregon and not unlike like his Paper route days, he was surrounded and wallowing in the daily dynamics of over 300 employees in multiple locations'.

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In an effort to keep the 'drama' to a minimum Bret built his company a Human Resource division with the intentions of minimizing his liability and drama within his companies, as drugs, alcohol, sex, fighting and infighting, multiple murders and countless suicides had become part of hid daily life as a business owner.

 

In the mid-nineties as computers started to improve,

so did the ability to try to 'vet' perspective employees and in an effort to improve the quality of his companies and the company culture Bret and his HR team went on the lookout for the best employee assessment hiring software.

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Try as he and as his managers of the HR Departments did, the assessment software failed. They spent over $175,000.00 on 15 different assessment software hiring systems, all swearing they were the newest and the most up to date and the best, but to no avail. 

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Bret's company and the culture stayed the same.

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COMPLETE AND UTTER MAYHEIM CONSTANTLY

JUST LIKE MOST OF THE FAMILES ON HIS PAPER ROUTE GROWING UP!

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As Bret puts it to this day,

his full-time job was breaking up fights,

dealing with lawsuits within the company,

and placing employees in detox centers or entering them into rehab.

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Not to mention the funerals from overdoses,

murder and suicides. 

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So, one day he had it up to his gills.

 

He retreated into Yellowstone National Park for a weeklong fly-fishing vacation.

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While on that trip he did an immense amount of reading on personality's, feelings and emotions. 

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It was at this point that Bret knew he had it all wrong.

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He wasn't hiring employees; he was hiring emotions!

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And since there are only 6 Primary Emotions,

he had been on the hunt for Happiness. 

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So, he coined the phrase Home Row Emotion. 

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Not people, but instead, 6 primary emotions

had been what he had been witnessing since he was 12 years old on his paper route.

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He had connected the dots with his paper route families,

both in harmony and disharmony and with his current employees, friends and family members alike and what he knew to be true was that each and every person's Home Row Emotion could be described as one of the following.

1). Anger 

2). Sadness

3). Disgust

4). Fear

5). Surprise

6). Happiness. 

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These emotions were ruling these people's lives, 

and most of them were seeking happiness,

Because they were in disharmony.

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Bret was 32 years old,

and he's 61 now. 

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Forward to 2023,

having employed hundreds of thousands of men and women who are/were salaried, hourly or 1099 contractors, Bret now, eats, drinks and breaths the theory that you and I, each and every one of us is a servant to one of these 6 primary emotions and that if we do leave that emotion for whatever reason, we will always come back to and service our lives from its vantage point unless we knowingly choose to operate out of a different emotion.

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We are either happiness seeking individuals in disharmony,

or we live in happiness.

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There are few people living in happiness as their Home Row Emotion.

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Money can't buy happiness.

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But money can, purchase Home Row Emotion Assessment Hiring Software and help your organization eliminate those that are controlled by the Home Row Emotions of fear, sadness, anger, disgust, and surprise.

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Home Row Emotion Assessment Hiring Software sorts through the 6 primary emotions and finds that prospective employee that's Home Row Emotion is Happiness, so as to help create a workforce and a culture that is liability, drama free, healthy and thriving.

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Thus, the reason why we developed Home Row Emotion Assessment Hiring Software to provide HR Department's and People Operations departments hiring assessment software that can vet the angry, sad, disgusted, fear based, surprised prospects and sniff out those that are full of happiness, so as to avoid unnecessary disharmony in the workplace!