Franchise Update Magazine Issue II, 2016 | Page 12

Founder Profile

How would you describe your leadership style? I hope (and certainly aspire!) to be a servant-leader. My goal with
MOD (and my family) is to help support
the people around me to be the absolute
best version of themselves.

PERSONAL
What does your typical day look like?
6–8 a.m.: Up to prepare big breakfasts,
lunches, sports bags for the three boys
(our oldest is away at college) and drive
carpools. 9 a.m.–2 p.m.: Meetings at the
office or conference calls from home. My
time is split between brand and marketing,
PR, store design, meeting with potential
candidates, and executive meetings. 3 p.m.:
School pick-ups and sports drop-offs begin.
4 p.m.: Swing by MOD to pick up pizzas
and salads and take a few moments to connect and catch up with the MOD Squads.
7 p.m.: Join Scott for the tail end of dinner meetings with new potential partners.
8:30 p.m.: Finish homework, start bedtime
routines, try to wrap up unfinished business from the day.
What are your top 5 favorite things
to do? Be with my family, talking and connecting with a loved one or a dear friend,
making a difference or helping someone,
witnessing kindness, love.
3 key words to describe yourself:
Grateful, caring, loved.
How do you maintain a work/life
balance? My greatest focus is to make
sure that the people who are important to
me know and feel how much I love them.
Focusing on that dynamic helps me create
my work/life balance.
Are you involved in any female entrepreneur organizations? Not currently,
but only because I don’t have enough hours
right now between my work, family, and
volunteer commitments. However, this is
definitely something that I would love to
commit to in the future—one in college,
three to go!
Was being female an advantage or
disadvantage for you in building
your company? How? I am a mother

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“We knew that we
wanted to build
a company that
makes a positive
difference in
lives—for both our
employees and
the communities
we serve.”

LESSONS/ADVICE
What in your opinion, is the key to
your company’s success? Our people.
That is our number-one focus and certainly our “secret sauce.” We know that if
we take great care of our people, they will
take care of our customers and the business will take care of itself.
What’s the most important lesson
you’ve learned so far? Personally and
professionally, it all comes down to the
people you surround yourself with. At
the end of the day, there is simply nothing more important than the people and
relationships in your life.

of four active boys, so in many ways I am
one of our target demographic. Having the
lens of a working mom has been helpful
as we’ve evolved the brand. I am also used
to the world of juggling various deadlines
and responsibilities. In many ways, MOD
continues to feel like a family business, and
Scott and I want to keep it that way. As a
result, MOD has evolved into a lifestyle
brand. Our boys and their friends act as a
focus group for MOD on a regular basis!

If you could do one thing differently,
what would it be? I feel so lucky and
grateful for everything in my life. My
only regret is not taking enough time
to really slow down and enjoy important moments. I’m working on getting
better at this now!

Have you found specific advantages
or disadvantages to being a woman
business owner? Our business has always
been a “team effort” with many contributors. I feel lucky that I’ve been able to bring
my perspective as a woman to the table,
surrounded by many other perspectives.
I believe our business (and every business,
for that matter!) needs a female perspective. I also believe that MOD wouldn’t exist
without Scott. We are a team!

What advice would you give to
other women considering starting
their own franchise brand? Make
sure you care deeply about what you
are doing and surround yourself with
amazing people who inspire you. Remember, you can’t do everything, but
you can do anything!

What has been your biggest challenge as a woman entrepreneur?
Finding enough time each day to juggle
the challenges and opportunities of work
with the needs of our active family at home.
What do you think is the biggest issue for women in the workplace?
Finding the right balance and coming to
terms with the compromises required to
strike this balance. I feel so lucky to be surrounded by a great and supportive network.
The absence of this would really challenge
my ability to make a mark at work.

What’s the best piece of advice you
have ever been given? Take time to
enjoy the journey.

FUTURE GOALS
What would you like to achieve in
the next 5 years? Continue to prioritize
and help MOD create as many great opportunities as possible for as many people
as possible!
What’s coming up that you’re excited
about? We will be launching the MOD
brand in the U.K. this year. Obviously, the
U.K. holds a special place in our hearts,
so this will be kind of a homecoming for
us. And it will be exciting to go back to
the place where we “cut our teeth” professionally, and where we found so much
inspiration for the MOD brand. n

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