Shannon Strunk, Co-Owner of Baber Strunk Enterprises and four APRO-member RNR Tire Express franchises, is definitely not new to rent-to-own (RTO) industry leadership. Strunk has served as an APRO Board of Directors Member for a dozen years since 1999, including a stint as Board President from 2004-06. He has also acted as TRIB Group President and is the current President of the Alabama-Mississippi Rental Dealers Association.
But a mere 39 years ago, Strunk was a brand-new Account Manager with Baber’s, Inc., having no clue the job would turn into a lifelong passion that would introduce him to his career calling, his future family, and his best friends.
Strunk was only two weeks into his new position, trying to pick up a washer and dryer, when he experienced his first “aha!” moment about RTO. The customer didn’t want to surrender the laundry set because, she told Strunk, she would “never own the laundromat.” Strunk suddenly understood just how RTO offers access, dignity, and stability to working-class families, and an enduring drive for building customer relationships was born.
“The most important person in our organization is the customer,” Strunk attests. “Often, the customer is viewed by their circumstances in life rather than the valuable person we get to work with. In rent-to-own, the normal people are the heroes – something we get to see as we develop a relationship and live their life story with them.”
Showing RTO’s True Colors
As a current APRO Board Member, Strunk says he wants to create more opportunities to demonstrate to the public and media who RTO people really are – something he has done with Congressional lawmakers for more than 20 years as an attendee and advocate at the APRO Legislative Conference in Washington, DC.
“The people I know in the rent-to-own space are some of the best people I know, period,” asserts Strunk. “They have a genuine desire to help others, and promoting that is high on my list of priorities as a board member.”
Unsurprisingly, Strunk is responsible for helping establish some of the RTO industry’s greatest assistance programs. In 2002, while serving as APRO Public Relations Chair, Strunk approached then-APRO President Gary Romine with an idea for developing a permanent national scholarship fund especially for RTO employees and their families. Today, the APRO Scholarship Fund has awarded 611 scholarships totaling more than $1.3 million.
Just three years later, Strunk was serving as APRO President when Hurricane Katrina struck, destroying Strunk’s own home and business headquarters in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Not only did he continue paying his employees while stores were shut down, but Strunk also spearheaded the creation of the APRO RTO Employee Disaster Relief Fund, which continues to offer emergency financial aid to RTO workers affected by natural disasters.
Sharing a Life & Spotlight
Strunk’s exceptional leadership within the industry has earned him many accolades, including the 2013 APRO President’s Award of Excellence and the 2018 TRIB Group Norman W. “Slats” Slatton Sr. President’s Award. But Strunk is the first to insist his professional accomplishments are all shared ones, thanks to his constant colleague and wife, Cynthia Baber-Strunk. In 2003, the couple was named together as APRO’s Rental Dealer of the Year, while they have separately received the APRO Ernie Talley Lifetime Achievement Award – Shannon in 2024 and Cynthia in 2016.
“Seeing Cynthia win the Lifetime Achievement Award was actually my proudest professional moment,” Strunk affirms. “We work side-by-side every day, and seeing her recognized for her talents and successes was huge.”
Shannon and Cynthia’s son, Shane Baber, has now joined the family business and is heavily involved in the day-to-day operations of the company – preparing to provide Shannon with more time and energy to devote to his non-professional passions.
“Something many people don’t know about me is that I love to cook,” says Strunk. “When Cynthia and I first married, I’d often have to persuade her to let me do the cooking, but now I’m the primary chef for all events at our house!”
About Baber Strunk Enterprises and Its RNR Tire Express Operations
Baber Strunk Enterprises oversees a 17-location RNR Tire Express operation across the Southeast. Based in Pascagoula, Mississippi, the business operates through four APRO-member companies: Gulf Coast L&P Inc. (five locations; APRO member since 2005), Gulf Breeze Investments (six locations; APRO member since 2007), Calm Seas Investments LLC (three locations; APRO member since 2023), and Island Time LLC (three locations; APRO member since 2026).
Together, the companies provide access to brand-name tires, custom wheels, and related automotive services through flexible rental-purchase options.
