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At first glance, it seems like a glamorous business: testingathletes for drugs. But when you look more closely at The National Centerfor Drug Free Sport Inc., a Kansas City, Missouri, enterprisethat Frank Uryasz created in 1999, you start to realize thatthere's at least one downside: He handles urine all day.
"We try to keep a very professional environment in ourcollection area," says Uryasz, 43, "but we're workingwith young people [mostly in high school and college]; and funnythings happen, so you have to keep a level of humor in thisbusiness." After all, according to Uryasz, whose companyemploys 10 and brought in $3.7 million in 2003, "all kinds ofthings can go wrong. Shy bladders are often a problem, and athletes[sometimes] drop their specimens. We've all lost a few pairs ofshoes."
It's also a business that may make your kids wish you had amore mainstream career. One evening during dinner, Uryasz's17-year-old daughter asked, "Dad, what should I tell peopleyou do?" He replied, "You could say we help kids stay offdrugs. But if you really want them to know, just tell them wecollect urine," Uryasz says. "She thought it wasgross."
It was then that the Uryasz family motto was developed: We loveurine. Meanwhile, his employees have submitted their own ideas forcompany slogans, but Uryasz has so far rejected gems like "Ourbusiness is 'number one'" and "Your urine is ingood hands." "It just goes on and on," saysUryasz.
As will the business. "Athletes have been cheating forcenturies," says Uryasz, "and I'm afraid they alwayswill."
