“It was a complete culture shock for us,” Narayan said. “The lifestyle in California was so different from what we were used to.”
Narayan’s family moved to Springfield, Ohio in 1996 because there were family members already living there. A graduate of Northwestern High School (2001), Narayan joined the Air Force immediately after graduation.
“Education was my primary factor for joining as I didn’t want to have to take out loans,” Narayan said. “I wanted to serve my country.”
Adjusting to life in Ohio was easier for Narayan and his family, especially in a smaller community of Springfield, which was similar to what they experienced in Fiji. Narayan was pursuing a path to US citizen when he joined the Air Force.
“If you are a permanent resident, you can join the US military,” Narayan said. “They help speed up the citizenship process too.”
In 2004, Narayan became an official US citizen. He was working in heating and air conditioning in the Air Force then switched to a recruiting role. He was stationed at Elsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota and was deployed to Iraq for Operation Enduring Freedom twice.
“I moved back to Ohio in 2007,” Narayan said. “My parents were still living there and since I was newly married, I wanted to come back so she could get to know my family. So, I requested my next transfer be Wright Patterson.”
Narayan’s wife Roopsi is from India and the pair met at an Ohio State University football game. Back in Ohio, Narayan continued his recruiting job and worked on finishing his college degree in computer science.
“My plan was to stay in the Air Force for 20 years,” Narayan said. “But I got a blood clot and was medically retired.”
Shocked by his diagnosis, Narayan retired a decade before he planned. He had finished his degree but was sidelined by the blood clot, never achieving officer status. Six months later, in 2011, he was working in heating and air conditioning with Applied Mechanical Systems in Dayton.
A year later, he lost his job due to a layoff. Frustrated, he wondered how he could find a career path that would help him avoid job losses in the future.
“I looked at business opportunities and The UPS Store in Oakwood went up for sale,” Narayan said. “I went into that store quite often and saw opportunities for improvement. So I decided to look into buying it.”
The UPS Store is a franchised brand, and Narayan had to go through a qualifying process and extensive training in San Diego, California. He was fortunate to be hired by the previous owner and worked in the Oakwood store for a month before he bought it in September of 2013.
“I got the store fixed up and the employees were running it and doing a great job,” Narayan said. “I had a lot of time when the Centerville store went up for sale. I got that one next.”
Living with his wife and son Abhiraj in Xenia at the time, Narayan began buying additional stores as they came available – one in Westchester and another in Colerain. Narayan decided to move to Washington Township in December of 2020.
“I had four stores during the pandemic, and we were deemed essential so never shut down,” Narayan said.
Today, Narayan owns stores in Blue Ash, Washington Township and Westchester, in addition to the original in Oakwood. He does all the administrative and IT work, and his employees run the stores while he is not there.
Grateful for his time in the Air Force, Narayan also supports service members and veterans however he can. He offers waived shipping fees to anyone sending a package to a deployed service member.
“We also work with the Gala of Hope Foundation,” Narayan said. “Supporting veterans is a cause I hold near and dear.”
Narayan has a goal of eventually owning ten UPS stores, saying that is definitely the “magic number.”
“Once you hire a good team and support them with the right training, it becomes very hands off,” Narayan said. “I don’t want to have too many employees but with ten stores, I think the number will be just right.”
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