Franchise Update Magazine Issue III, 2012 | Page 11

CEO
profile: Walking a Fine Line
Ray Margiano takes one step back to move
several ahead

A

Name: Ray Margiano
Title: Founder and CEO
Company: Foot Solutions
Brand: 173 units in 16 countries
Age: 71
Family: Wife Angela, daughters Bella,
Raina, and Kerrin
Years in franchising: 27
Years in current position: 27

year ago, Ray Margiano, an
admitted lifelong workaholic, had an epiphany. Having successfully created and
grown Foot Solutions to global prominence and 173 units in 16 countries,
Margiano decided to do what many
high-powered executives never dare. He
took a step back from the day-to-day
operation of his multi-million-dollar
businesses.
“Many entrepreneurs find their ideas
get too big to manage or they don’t
have the skill set to manage. That’s not
an issue for me. However, I’ve always
been a visionary, an idea person, and I
found that the more immersed I became
in day-to-day details—doing things
other people could do—the less time I
was spending on the concepts,” he says.
“Like many, I reached the point where I
realize the company will continue even
when I’m not here.”
The result of that insight? “I’m taking a little more time personally with
my family, as well as adding an extra
day of relaxation to business trips so I
can network with people and establish
relationships,” says Margiano, who remains CEO.
Other positives born from his new
approach include his latest concept,
Balance Walking, a 15-minute-per-day
program he designed to help people
“look and feel younger.” He has lost 35
pounds with the balance concept, which
incorporates the pole walking that has
taken Europe by storm with meditation,
good sleep habits, and a healthy diet.
In addition to serving on the advisory
board of the American Diabetes Association and the board of governors at the
University of New Haven, Margiano has
written three books and spent a great

Grow Market Lead

By Debbie Selinsky

deal of time helping returning veterans
find business opportunities.
He comes by his work ethic honestly,
having toiled in his father’s garage as a kid.
To afford college, he served in the Navy
before attending the University of New
Haven through the GI Bill, where he studied business administration as an undergraduate. After that, he worked full-time
by day while he worked nights earning his
master’s degree in computer science from
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his
PhD in international business administration from Canbourne University.
After starting his career working at
three large corporations, Margiano left
that world in 1984 to implement his idea
for Heel Quick, mall-based quick shoe
repair shops. “This was in the ’80s when
ladies were wearing heels to work all the
time. They could sit on the stool, wait
three minutes while we replaced their
heels, and get back to work,” he says.
By the mid-1990s, additional footwear
industry changes (cheaper materials
and an influx of “throwaway” products)
found the U.S. shoe repair businesses
disappearing.
“I realized we were in trouble, so
we began to focus more on the medical
side of the business, working with labs
and podiatric associations on orthotics
and shoe modifications. I could make a
shoe if I needed to, but I realized there
was a missing niche between comfort
shoe stores and medical orthopedic shoe
stores,” he says. In 2000, he launched Foot
Solutions, which uses medical