Female Founders
course or to point out issues that others
may prefer to ignore. The words and tone
I use would be considered assertive if a
man used them but can be labeled as aggressive or worse when used by a woman.
I find the bias as strong (sadly) in women
who grew up during a time when women
deferred to their male counterparts and
are deeply uncomfortable with confrontation. I hope in time that organizations
and the people within them show as much
support for the diversity of style as they
do for the diversity of ethnicity, gender,
sexual orientation, etc.
From a woman’s perspective, what
notable changes have you seen for
women in franchising since starting
your brand? I think more women leaders are getting involved in advocacy and
association leadership in franchising. I
think more women leaders are networking
with one another to share professional and
personal best practices and to support one
another to continue shattering the glass
ceiling for ourselves and for the women
who come after us.
Which female leaders do you admire? Why? One person I admire, as a
mother and entrepreneur, is Gloria Jean
Kvetko, founder of Gloria Jean’s Coffee.
She was a member of my advisory board
for many years, constantly encourages me
to see a different perspective, and has been
a great role model and friend to me over
the years. She took such a risk following
her passion and established the flavored
coffee industry despite naysayers. She
is brilliant yet humble and is the most
resilient, positive person I know. Catherine Monson, CEO of Fastsigns, is also
a great example of an outstanding female
leader in my life. A couple times a year
we get together for a “girls trip” to not
only recharge, but to bounce ideas back
and forth. Catherine is an amazing leader.
She never settles for the status quo and is
always reading, learning, and sharing to
be and make others better. I feel it is extremely important to have other women
in my life I can relate to and talk through
problems with.
Has mentorship made a difference
in your professional and personal
24
life? How? Mentoring has made a huge
difference in my professional life. From
Lane Fisher introducing me around at
my first franchise event (the 2006 Franchise Update Leadership & Development
Conference), I recognized that learning
from the experts in franchising to accelerate my learning curve was key to success.
My mentors continue to provide valuable input and have become dear friends.
Mentorship has made a profound impact
in my personal life as well. I get great joy
from mentoring others, and I continue to
make more and more time for mentoring.
I usually have 10 to 20 active mentees at
any one time.
Are you involved in any female entrepreneur organizations? Women
Presidents’ Organization.
PERSONAL
What does your typical day look
like? Nowadays, I spend 50 percent of
my time outside the walls of the office
working on behalf of franchisors and
our franchisees in combating regulatory
threats, researching healthcare trends,
etc. I have brought on an experienced
executive team including President and
COO Thom Gilday, who takes care of
day-to-day company operations. Thom’s
leadership allows me to use my time on
strategy, culture, public speaking, and
industry and advocacy issues. In addition, I spend about 20 percent of my time
mentoring other business owners and
helping them develop franchise concepts.
How do you maintain a work/life balance? I have given myself permission to
not be Superwoman. In any given month,
I know I will be a great mom, wife, and
businesswoman, but I am okay knowing
that sometimes one is going to win over
the others. Vacations are a very important
part of our family life, and we are sure to
take them, whether out of town or on a
“staycation.”
What are your top 5 favorite things
to do? Spend time with my twin boys,
drink great red wine with friends, attend
a YPO-Harvard event every year, read,
and buy shoes.
What are 3 key words to describe
yourself? Tenacious, driven, passionate.
LESSONS/ADVICE
What’s the most important lesson
you’ve learned so far? The single biggest contributor to BrightStar’s success has
been our commitment to hiring ahead of
growth and focusing on having the right
people in the right seats to deliver the
highest level of support and care to our
customers, franchisees, and the communities we serve. I’ve made slight adjustments to our organizational structure to
help me move into a visionary role for the
organization and to empower my senior
leadership team to manage the day-to-day
business. This has freed me up to work on
the big picture opportunities and threats
for our franchisees, our brand, and all our
stakeholders.
If you could do one thing differently,
what would it be? I would have backfilled
key roles earlier when I knew someone was
leaving. I would have forced conversations
sooner when someone’s work performance
declined so we could plan for change and
handle the team member more gracefully
in their need for an exit.
What advice would you give to other
women considering starting their
own franchise brand? Believe in yourself. Surround yourself with positive
influences. And be adequately capitalized to reach 50 to 75 units—the level it
typically