[3] Keyes attended Millbury High School before being educated at the College of the Holy Cross, where he graduated cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor's degree.

[8] He retired from 7-Eleven when it was sold to Seven & I Holdings Co.[9] As president and CEO, Keyes implemented new retail systems technology that improved product assortment decisions.

[14][15] Keyes chose to shift focus from online to the stores and tried to improve the company's finances through moves such as restoring late fees.

[12][16] Keyes attributed its struggles to having to both grow the company to please Icahn and to pay back its $1 billion in debt in 2009, which made refinancing very difficult owing to the financial crisis.

In 2005, Keyes received the Horatio Alger Award, which is given to leaders in the community who exemplify "honesty, hard work, self reliance and perseverance".