POWERHOUSE WOMEN
IN FRANCHISING
and Mary Kennedy Thompson.
How did you benefit from networking? Throughout my career, I’ve been very
active in the IFA, including the Women’s
Franchise Network, and I’m active on many
committees. I serve on the IFA board and
have benefited from the great network of
people there. The key is to serve and get
involved.
What role, if any, did mentors play in
your career? How have they helped
you? I’ve been blessed with many mentors
during my career, and I’ve worked to implement their advice in my experience. From
my very first job at Fluor, where I worked
for six months, I developed a mentor. At
Beckman Instruments, I spent three years in
purchasing and worked with the vice president of manufacturing as my mentor. For
more than 20 years, my mentor was Don
Lowe, CEO of the multi-brand franchising
company Franchise Services, Inc. Today, I
benefit from several close friends and mentors
including Shelley Sun, CEO of BrightStar
Care, Barbara Moran-Goodrich, CEO of
Moran Family of Brands, and David Barr,
fellow IFA board member. By working with
mentors, I have improved and developed
essential management skills. My mentors
have coached me through specific individual
challenges as well as inspired me.
Are you now mentoring others? I
mentor several individuals at this time. I
receive requests from people for mentoring through public speaking engagements
for the IFA. Often, I am asked for guidance
by people in franchising who seek specific,
short-term guidance. I also mentor people
within Fastsigns International and have
some long-term mentoring relationships
outside of the company.
What communication skills helped
you reach the top? I believe that strong
public speaking skills are critical for effectively attaining and maintaining a C-level
position in any business or organization. You
must have effective written and interpersonal communication skills to communicate
your vision for the company. You need to
have good listening skills and understand
how to set and achieve goals. The ability to
motivate others is also important.
What other skills were important?
I believe there are many important skills
to help you reach the C-level. You need
to be a great leader and strategic planner.
It’s also helpful to have financial acumen.
I think you should be able to delegate to
others and identify the strengths of your
organization. I believe you need a positive mental attitude to keep your motivation and spirits up in order to motivate
and inspire your team. You need to be
great at inspiring people to focus on and
achieve goals.
women don’t place their career at the same
priority as I did. If men take off work to be
the primary caregiver to their children, they
likely face the same issue.
Did you encounter stereotypes/sexism,
and how did you overcome that? Of
course I ran into some sexism. My response
was to work harder and longer than any of
my competition. I never stopped learning
and taking personal responsibility for increasing my skills and competency and winning through sheer determination. One of
my favorite sayings is, “Life isn’t fair. Fair is
two weeks in the summer with cotton candy
and a midway.” Life isn’t fair, and we just
need to get over it and move on.
What’s at stake if women continue to
be underrepresented in the C-suite? If
you see this as a problem, please explain. Although more women are entering
the C-suite, they are still under-represente