WOMEN AT THE TOP, continued
COLE continued from page 20
help others be more successful, helping
to bring out the best in a culture, holding
franchisees and team members accountable, learning from others, celebrating
wins, or even the tough conversations.
They are all a version of helping people
and companies get to their best place
in life and business.
What do you like most about what
your brand/legacy represents? In
terms of our brand, Cinnabon embodies
the belief that in life we deserve sweet moments, treats, and rewards—“Life Needs
Frosting” really says it all. It gives people
permission to treat themselves and do so
with something so high-quality and so
very, very worth it. In terms of my personal legacy, I think it most represents
that anything is possible if you believe,
give, serve, learn, and have a bias for action. It takes away excuses, provides motivation, and empowers people who may
not have a clear path laid out for them.
“Cinnabon
embodies the
belief that in
life we deserve
sweet moments,
treats, and
rewards—
“Life Needs
Frosting” really
says it all. It
gives people
permission
to treat
themselves.”
What role does diversity play in
your management team? It’s key to
healthcare industry blurring, and we
are intensely interested in understanding how we will need to change our
model to meet the needs of the new
world of healthcare in the emerging
models. We expect to develop more
specialized clinical and telehealth
programs for clients and consumers
to meet the increasing demand for
care in the home and community setting. Our ability to stay relevant and
nimble, just as we have for almost 50
years, will keep us and our franchise
network at the forefront of improving
care at home through our mission to
improve people’s lives and living by
our core values.
want or need home healthcare. Most
often it’s unplanned and stressful, but
when they need it most, IHC is there
to help. It takes the compassion and
competence of our franchisees, their
staff, and caregivers to fulfill our mission to “improve people’s lives” each
day for almost 50 years.
our culture and success. It is foundational
to our understanding of our consumers. Having diversity of thought at the
table, having the most talented team
that continues to challenge ourselves
and innovate, and having our differences keeps things lively!
If you are expanding overseas,
does being a woman affect growth?
No. It’s about how you lead, not what
gender you are as a leader. We have
a great, diverse team that builds the
brand and an incredible team at Focus Brands International that builds
our business overseas. International
expansion is rooted in being able to
build strong, trusting relationships
as much as it is in having thoughtful
strategy. Being a woman makes you
no more or less likely to succeed in
that expansion. n
GILMARTIN continued from page 24
I hadn’t really thought about it. But
when the opportunity came along in
2007 to rejoin and lead IHC, I didn’t
think twice about pursuing it.
What do you love most about being CEO? I love that no two days are
alike, and seeing our brand expand the
continuum of care for clients and consumers keeps me inspired every day.
How much of your time do you
spend at that, and what are you
doing to spend more? Expanding
the continuum of care (meaning exploring the boundaries of the kind of
care delivered at home or in the community today) takes about 15 to 20
percent of my time. Going forward,
I will have the ability to spend 40 to
50 percent of my time working on
initiatives and partnerships that will
take us into the future. It’s exciting to
see the lines of separation within the
46
Franchiseupdate ISS U E I, 2 0 1 4
What do you like most about
what your brand/legacy represents? I love the fact that our brand
truly makes a difference in the lives of
the people we care for. People don’t
save up or decide ahead of time they
If you are expanding overseas,
does being a woman affect
growth? It’s early in our interna-
tional expansion, so my experience
is a small sample size. My experience
representing the brand and working
with the founders of Bluebird Care
is that gender didn’t help or hinder
the exploration and culmination of a
transaction between our companies.
Bluebird’s founders collectively contributed to their significant growth
over the last decade, and growing the
care business in the U.K. would appear
unaffected by leadership gender. n