WOMEN AT THE TOP, continued
OLSEN continued from page 32
plan? Not early on, but once I did be-
the culture that could hold us back.
come a VP, I had many female friends
who pushed me. And when I became
president it was clearer to me that I
wanted to take that next step.
How much of your time do you
spend at that, and what are you
doing to spend more? I do spend
What is it you love most about
being CEO? Thinking… thinking…
thinking. Looking at the business differently. Looking at the business 10
years from now. Thinking about all of
the ways we can connect to our customers and how to make the stylists
feel great about the way they connect
with our customers. Looking at different things that connect the business.
Looking at ways to leverage our incredibly talented, experienced franchisee base. Thinking about continuing to create strong, positive, caring
emotional connections at every level
of the organization. Looking at ways
to perpetuate the positive elements of
our culture and change those parts of
a lot of time thinking and looking at
our strategy. I also think I need to be
out in the field, in the salons with the
franchisees, to assure that I am still
connected to reality. So I would say
it is about 40 percent on the strategy/
thinking side and the remainder on
internal management and being the
face of the brand externally.
What do you like most about
what your brand/legacy represents? The strength of every person
involved. The fact that we clearly know
how important the stylist is—we fully
engage our franchisees and make sure
our staff know that they create the
heart and emotion of the business.
The fact that we are “emotional” and
we value the connection in our business. We are very customer-focused,
and our stylists do things every day
that blow me away. Their kindness,
taking the extra step, connecting to
their repeat customers, and creating
a team that is committed to serving
our customers well.
What role does diversity play
in your management team? We
believe diversity adds strength in our
system. From strong female leadership
to a diverse franchisee base to connection in our community to leveraging
diverse talents, it plays a role. We are
looking at ways to better leverage diversity, both in our corporate staff and
franchisee base.
If you are expanding overseas,
does being a woman affect
growth? We are currently not ex-
panding overseas. n
SPECHT continued from page 36
growth. In 2008 I drafted a proposal to
my father, Bill Specht, who co-founded
the company and still serves as CEO,
and shared with him my vision for the
organization. Shortly thereafter he
promoted me to COO and president.
What do you love most about being president? Building relationships
with our employees and franchisees.
As I mentioned, people are the most
important part of any business. For
our employees, it is a pleasure working with them to help them achieve
their goals to be their professional
best. There is nothing more satisfying
than watching an employee accomplish a goal and knowing that they
contributed to the organization. For
our franchisees, I enjoy visiting them
in their restaurants. That is where the
action is, where the rubber meets the
road. It’s important to be mindful of
what is happening in the restaurants
“There is
nothing more
satisfying
than watching
an employee
accomplish
a goal and
knowing that
they contributed
to the
organization.”
every day—both good and bad—because that can affect our overall system.
Our franchisees are the backbone of
the organization.
How much of your time do you
spend at that, and what are you
doing to spend more? Time moves
quickly, and visiting with our franchisees is not a spontaneous activity. The
challenge is breaking away from the
office and getting out in the field. I
know that if I plan for it, it will happen. I will usually visit the restaurants
with one of my employees, which is
a great way to spend time with them
while on the road.
What do you like most about what
your brand/legacy represents?
Our brand has been serving amazing
sub sandwiches for almost 42 years.
We built quite a following of fans,
but what I am most excited about is
venturing on to new frontiers. We are
taking the best of the past 42 years,
reinventing ourselves where we need
to, and taking that into the future. It’s
exciting to be able to capitalize on the
brand’s history and fan base, while also
shaping its future. n
Franchiseupdate I S S U E I , 2014
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