Franchise Update Magazine Issue II, 2011 | Page 14

Grow Market Lead

By Debbie Selinsky

CEO
profile: “Grow Smart, Risk Less”
BrightStar CEO builds on her rapid success

W

hen Shelly Sun and her
husband JD founded
BrightStar Care, their
full-service healthcare
staffing agency in 2002, the concept was
rooted in their experiences searching for
quality care for JD’s sick grandmother.
“We were managing multiple relationships and thought how great it
would be to have one company handle
the entire continuum of care,” says Sun,
CEO of BrightStar.
In forming the company, she conducted research on aging and health
trends and drew from her background as
a CPA, corporate controller, and execuName: Shelly Sun
Title: CEO and co-founder
Company: BrightStar Group Holdings, Inc.
Brands: BrightStar LifeCare, BrightStar
KidCare, BrightStar Staffing, BrightStar
Senior Living
Age: 40
Family: Husband JD Sun (co-founder
of BrightStar) and twin boys, Mike and
Luc, 6
Years in franchising: 5
Years in current position: 8

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Franchiseupdate Iss u e II, 2 0 1 1

tive at two major insurance companies.
And after she and JD became franchisees
for two hotels, a Choice Hotels property
and a Carlton Suites unit, Sun began to
see how well franchising would work
for their emerging concept.
In 2004, while on bed rest awaiting
the birth of her twin sons, she wrote the
franchise operations manual. In January 2005, the franchise was established,
becoming the first franchisor in the
country to specialize in both medical
and non-medical care and healthcare
staffing. She jokes that was the birth
of her “first baby,” followed days later
by the twins.
Since then, BrightStar has grown
from one company-owned store in the
Chicago area to more 160 locations in
31 states.
Sun, who was named IFA Entrepreneur of the Year in 2010, says she expects
to have 400 franchise units sold by the
end of 2012. Her “2019 plan” is ambitious (see below) and includes launching a total of eight franchise brands, a
technology company, and a franchise
consulting company.
Leadership
What is your role as CEO? I oversee
the strategy and innovation plans for
the enterprise, including the development and launch of new brands. I also
engage with all departments, plugging in
with them continually to keep our ship
pointed toward our goals at all times.
Leadership style? First, I seek to attract world-class talent. Core philosophies also include finding people with
a true passion for the business, an undeniable work ethic, and the potential
to move to the next position within
18 to 24 months. Second, my team
understands that this is hard work and
we have particularly high standards as
an organization.

What has inspired your leadership
style? I’ve had great success building

a team by hiring world-class talent, and
we have developed fairly rigorous recruiting practices that help us ferret out
individuals who don’t share the same
passion for building a great business.
The result is a team that is empowered
and engaged, and one that shares a passion for continuing to innovate when
it comes to serving our franchisees.
Biggest leadership challenge? Not

taking on too much. I am very driven,
and with the quality expectations I
have for myself and my team I try to
be first whenever possible. Innovation
is also extremely important to me, and
we are always searching for new ways
to better our organization and our
franchisees, and to provide more to
our customers.
How do you transmit your culture
to your front-line employees? We

take prospective franchisees through
a long vetting process where we get
to know each other really well. With
the constant training and support of
our franchise family, franchisees then
become responsible for carrying out
the BrightStar vision.
Where is the best place to prepare for
leadership: an MBA school or OTJ?

I believe the best place to prepare for
leadership is on the job. Leading is about
assessing individuals to determine how
to motivate them to get the best results
for the organization. MBA school can’t
teach you that.
Are tough decisions best taken by one
person? I’ve had positive experiences

with both: tough decisions determined
by a committee, and those that landed
solely with me. At the end of the day,
I take full responsibility for the tough
choices we make.