Franchise Update Magazine Issue I, 2014 | Seite 54

WOMEN AT THE TOP, continued
REYNOLDS continued from page 34

alone president of the company. It was
believed that my being a woman limited my abilities to lead an automotive
franchise system. My objective over the
years was not to show that they were
wrong, but to learn as much as possible
so that I could one day take that step.
When my dad needed to step back from
the business in the late ’90s, I was not
being considered for any key leadership
position. However, the management
consultant we hired to find a replacement basically said the best person to
run the company was already there, and
it was me. I knew I could do it, but it
obviously wasn’t in anyone else’s plans!

dom in empowerment. I set the strategic direction and tell people, “You’re
empowered.” I want them to take risks.

What do you love most about being CEO? I love being the visionary

What do you love most about being president? I like having the op-

and thinking ahead, looking for new
opportunities and identifying how we
can grow our business.

portunity to help people grow. And
I’m proud to carry on my dad’s legacy,
making the company stronger for him
and my mom.

How much of your time do you
spend at that, and what are you
doing to spend more? I wish I could

spend the majority of my time doing
that, but right now I am spending a lot
of time operating the business as well.
What do you like most about what
your brand/legacy represents?

Our brands (Mr. Transmission, Multistate Transmission, Dr. Nick’s Transmission, Milex Complete Auto Care,
and Alta Mere) have been around for
many years—more than 50 for some of
them. The longevity of our brands is a
testament to the franchisees we have in
place and the business model. Brands
don’t survive that long without great
customer service, great franchisees, and
a sound business system.
What role does diversity play in
your management team? Diversity

is important in our management team
as well as in our franchise system. I
believe it is important to have different perspectives. It can only make your
system stronger.
If you are expanding overseas,
does being a woman affect growth?

At this point, we do not have plans
overseas. n

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Was becoming CEO of an organization part of your professional
plan? There is a videotape of me at

about age 20 visiting my family for
Christmas, and at one point I say to my
dad, “You’d better be careful because
I’m going to be signing your paycheck
one day!” I was obsessed with corporate
America and I knew I had to succeed as
a franchise partner in order to lead the
company. That said, I never thought I
would be CEO.

How much of your time do you
spend at that, and what are you
doing to spend more? I spend the

majority of my time, about 70 percent,
at my job. The evolution of the company
as it grows allows for new staff to take
on a bigger role and take a few things
off my plate.
What do you like most about what
your brand/legacy represents?

For me, our brand and legacy are tied
together, as I am trying to carry on my
dad’s vision of growing an organization
committed to quality. “Quality” can be
an overused word, but it ties into everything we do. We strive to improve
our clients’ quality of life by enabling
them to live where they want to live.
We hope we can give the adult sons and
daughters quality of life when they are
able to spend more time on responsibilities beyond caregiving. For our owners,
having a quality and rewarding business means giving back to their communities, creating jobs, and providing
excellent care. We don’t want to be the
biggest company in home care, but we
do want to be the best at what we do
and how we do it.
My dad started the business in Denver in 1980, and since then, Homewatch

CareGivers has been providing in-home
care to seniors and people of all ages.
He set the vision of compassion and
care for all people in need of home
care services and established himself
as a leader in the industry. My father
began franchising the concept slowly,
always more focused on the care than
on selling franchises. We really didn’t
start franchising seriously until 2000,
and even then it was always to grow the
right way, with an emphasis on remaining true to our mission and values, and
effectively supporting our franchisees.
Now, we have more than 220 locations
in six countries. We’re growing in the
U.S. and investing in building the brand
in Ontario. Eventually, we plan to grow
in additional Canadian provinces. We
provide care to people of all ages, but
the majority of our clients are seniors
over the age of 65. Our services can
range from companion care with light
housekeeping, meal preparation, and
transportation, to more complex personal care, such as bathing, grooming,
transferring to a wheelchair, assisting
with movement, etc.
What role does diversity play in your
management team? The healthcare

field attracts more women than men,
so we represent a somewhat different
situation from typical business diversity.
We struggle sometimes with lacking
enough of the male perspective. We
make sure that we are looking at a balanced approach in our leadership team.
If you are expanding overseas, does
being a woman affect growth? We

have offices in Canada, Panama, Costa
Rica, Mexico, and Guatemala, and I
don’t think that being a woman has
affected our ability to grow the business overseas. I have, however, noticed
that in the Latin American countries it
does make a difference to have a male
face representing the business. For example, if we have a husband-and-wife
team, the husband might go out and
make the connections while the wife
will work more