from the chairman
Performing Under Pressure
A
s I reflect on my new role as chairman of the NFA, there are many experiences in my past that have impacted both my personal and professional life. Competitive team sports had a strong influence on me during my developmental years. From childhood through high school I participated in football, basketball and baseball. I was most successful in baseball and a baseball scholarship paid for my college education at Grand Canyon University. I was drafted twice in the major league baseball draft as a right-handed pitcher. The first time was right out of high school by the Milwaukee Brewers and the second time was by the Cleveland Indians out of college. After much soul searching, I opted to go to law school instead of sign a professional baseball contract. Because of my baseball success I was fairly well-known in the state of Oklahoma and in my small hometown of Woodward they called me“Mitcher the Pitcher.”I think that being a pitcher was particularly influential on my professional career. When you take the mound as a pitcher in a competitive setting all the attention and pressure is on you. As a pitcher you control most aspects of the game, including the success of your team. I liked the pressure. I liked pitching in big games. At Grand Canyon University, as part of our #1 nationally-ranked NAIA baseball team, I was able to take the mound against some of the best college baseball teams in history, including NCAA #1 ranked Arizona State University and the University of Arizona among many other great college baseball teams.
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Of course learning to get back up off the ground and learn from your mistakes after a bad outing or devastating defeat was part of the experience as well. But with the success I had in those pressurized settings came a confidence, strength of demeanor, and composure that has served me well in my career. The time I spent as a pitcher, as an attorney, and in other leadership roles has prepared me for the position I now fill as your chairman. Just as I had to take the focus, pressure and responsibility when I took the mound as a pitcher, I now am in a similar position as NFA chairman. I accept those aspects of my new role and am eager to direct the NFA for the next two years. I am determined to be an effective advocate and leader for the franchisee community. These first few months in my new role as chairman have already been eventful. I have been listening to the distress of many franchisees and have been striving to advocate effectively the concerns of franchisees to BKC management. I know our system is struggling with profitability and operational complexity within our restaurants. I have attended several regional meetings to hear firsthand the problems franchisees are experiencing. I have candidly and honestly expressed your frustrations to Steve Wiborg and Bernardo Hees in Miami. While we are nowhere close to where we need to be in terms of profitability and complexity, communication with BKC has been good and we are actively working to improve those parts of our businesses. BKC is now investing significant manpower and financial resources to address those two critical issues. Moreover, as we have consistently requested, hiring a highly qualified
executive vice president for operations is now an extremely high priority for BKC. As you know, Steve’s goal is to increase gross profit by mitch laird margins by 2 percent in 2013. Vice Chairman Joe Clements, a CPA by education and experience, and I plan to closely monitor progress with respect to profitability. We review system-wide financial statements fr