WOMEN IN THE C-SUITE
Karri Callahan
Title : Chief Financial Officer , RE / MAX Holdings Brands : RE / MAX and Motto Mortgage Years in franchising : 3.5 Years with current brand : 3.5 Franchised units : 6,983 Total units : 6,986 Brand revenue : $ 176.9 million
Background : Karri Callahan oversees all finance and accounting functions at RE / MAX Holdings , Inc . and its affiliated companies , including RE / MAX and Motto Franchising . She joined RE / MAX in 2013 as a Senior Manager of SEC Reporting , assisting with the IPO of RE / MAX stock . She was promoted to Vice President , Corporate Controller in 2014 . In January 2016 , she was promoted to co-CFO and became the sole CFO in April 2016 . A native Coloradan , she earned her B . S . in business administration and M . S . in accounting from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado at Boulder . She came to RE / MAX from Ernst & Young with more than 12 years of accounting and auditing experience . She and her husband Rob and their two sons live in Denver and enjoy skiing and swimming .
Julie Cary
Title : Chief Marketing Officer Brand : La Quinta Years in franchising : 13 Years with current brand : 10 Franchised units : 567 Total units : 885 properties Brand revenue : $ 783.6 million
Background : Julie Cary joined La Quinta Holdings in 2006 as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer . Before joining the company , she served as Vice President at Brinker International from 2004 to 2006 ; Vice President of Marketing at Dean Foods from 2003 to 2004 ; Senior Manager of Marketing until promoted to Vice President of Marketing at Gerber Products Company from 1998 to 2003 ; and as Assistant Brand Manager until promoted to Brand Manager at Ralston Purina from 1991 to 1997 . She holds an M . B . A . from Washington University and a bachelor ’ s degree in business administration from the University of Illinois . Her specialties in consumer marketing include strategic planning , P & L management , advertising , digital commerce , innovation , loyalty / CRM , and customer experience management .
®
Kathleen Donovan
Title : Chief Financial Officer Brand : Liberty Tax Years in franchising : 3 Years with current brand : 3 Franchised units : 4,177 Total units : 4,487 Brand revenue : $ 173.4 million
Background : Kathleen Donovan is the strategic , resultsoriented Chief Financial Officer at Liberty Tax , Inc ., where she has served in that role since February 2014 . She has more than 30 years of financial experience , including 15 years as a CFO . She came to Liberty Tax after 8 years at Catapult Learning where , as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer , she was responsible for accounting , financial planning , human resources , IT , and legal . From 2005 to 2008 , she served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Medquist , Inc . Before that , from 1997 to 2005 , she held various finance positions of increasing responsibility , including Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Dendrite International . Before that , she held finance positions at Unisys , including Director of Financial Planning . She has B . A . and B . S . degrees from Georgetown University .
Jennifer Durham
Title : Senior Vice President & Chief Development Officer Brands : Checkers and Rally ’ s Restaurants Years in franchising : 16 Years with current brand : 16 Franchised units : 543 Total units : 843 Brand revenue : $ 830 million
Background : Jennifer Durham joined Checkers and Rally ’ s in 2001 as an accounting manager , following her time at KPMG and Intermedia Communications in senior auditing and accounting positions . She grew steadily from her financial role into franchise development . In 2006 she was named Vice President and Corporate Controller , and then was promoted to Vice President of Finance and IT . In her current role she is responsible for developing the strategy , systems , and sales approaches that will energize franchise development and shape the future of the brand . She earned a bachelor ’ s and master ’ s degree from the University of Florida . She is a member of the AICPA , the Women ’ s Foodservice Forum , and is involved with Leadership Tampa Bay .
Franchiseupdate ISSUE I , 2017 11