Shane Evans
ing brand, there are franchisees who
need support, team members who
need to be hired and trained, and
all these different things,” she says.
“What I have found is that it
is so completely beneficial, from a
health perspective, and obviously
from a learning perspective. You
learn so much more from being
around other people, and in the
franchise world we all have the
same challenges,” she says.
“Sometimes you think you’re the
only one, so it’s nice to be around
other franchisors, especially other
women, and recognize that you’re
not alone, that we’re all doing this
together, and learn from them. I
think our company might have
grown faster had I realized the significance in it. I wish I’d figured that out a
long time ago.”
Learning to network
Debbie Shwetz co-founded Nothing
Bundt Cakes in 1997 with her longtime friend Dena Tripp. In 2014, they
celebrated the opening of their 100th
location. Shwetz, now in her first year
as chair of the IFA’s Women’s Franchise
Committee (WFC), is a strong proponent of the value of networking. But she
wasn’t always as comfortable with networking as she is today—especially as a
franchising newbie attending her first
IFA conference.
“I remember going to some of my
early meetings and thinking, ‘Okay, you
got yourself here, you got past that hurdle. Now, what are you going to do with
it?’ There’s no one that is going to come
running over to you saying, ‘I’m so
excited to network with you.’ You
have to put yourself out there and
make it happen. And once you do it,
just get past that first moment, then
generally you find a connection.”
During a roundtable at one of
those events, she met Mary Ann
O’Connell, founder and president
of FranWise. “We became friends.
I would call her with questions and
we’d see each other at different
franchising events in California.
She invited me to join the WFC,”
says Shwetz.
“That whole process of meeting her, having her introduce me to
this networking group, and being
a part of that group for six years
has been a huge commitment from
me, but it has been so rewarding. I love
the women I have met. We network and
share business with each other, and have
great referrals. It’s just been a great experience. I’ve learned so much—not only
about networking and how valuable that
is, but also about running conferences,
being a leader, and all kinds of different
information I wouldn’t have expected
from that initial foray into that committee. It’s really helped me grow as a leader
and as a person.”
And don’t be shy. “Even when you feel
uncomfortable or un-knowledgeable, or
lack confidence, you have to put yourself out there. You have to be thirsty and
hungry for the information you need to
get to be successful. I was a sponge with
legs and put myself into every possible
position that I could where I could hear
from people like Catherine Monson [see
page 15], who was a little intimidating for
me as an emerging franchisor, but I
thought she was brilliant. So when I
could, I was at her roundtable because
I wanted to hear from her. I might
not have said a lot, but I learned a
lot. And after a while, if you’re the
person learning, ultimately the transition happens and you’re the person
teaching, and helping.”
Says Evans, “If you’re going to do
the networking, attend these events,
and invest time and money, it is really
important to get the most out of them,
and the only way is really joining in
and asking questions, whether it’s in a
small group or one-on-one. And going to others you respect, who you see
are doing a great job, who have great
values, or their companies are succeeding, and asking questions and finding out
how they did it. What do you do every
day? What was the difference? When did
you see the difference? What happened?”
“Network more, do less”
“It’s very easy to get discouraged by the
obstacles, because you get frustrated.
We say ‘Look at my results: I’m loyal,
reliable, efficient, productive, I continue
to add value to my group. Why am I not
getting recognized?’ The assumption
is that in a meritocracy you’re going to
get exposure and be recognized for your
contributions,” says Lambert. “Today it’s
much more about relationships, it’s much
more about who knows you, who likes
you, and who’s willing to sponsor you
and mentor you.”
That’s where the power of networking comes in. “It’s a much broader skill
set than we historically have been told we
needed to be successful in our careers.
The game has changed, and so our
behavior has to change to adapt and
to advance in the new world. There
are some women who have done that
very effectively and advanced to the
C-suite, but it’s still a very small number,” says Lambert.
“There clearly is a different game
being played when you get to the senior level,” she says. “Getting a college
education and getting a job is something women know how to do very
well. Getting to those senior roles does
not have the same rules. Otherwise,
you would see the same penetration
at the senior levels.”
The takeaway here is that the
skill set that took women to middle
Debbie Shwetz
management positions is not the
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