She Became CEO of Her Whole Company By Raising Her Hand and Saying This

In 2020, Just Between Friends was facing a crisis. It's an events-based business, which meant it was deed particularly difficult by COVID. Meanwhile, the hubby of 1 of its founders became earnestly ill, truthful she needed to measurement backmost from day-to-day operations.

The institution began looking for a president to return complete — and Tracy Panase was judge she'd beryllium considered. She was the brand's apical franchisee, aft all. Three of her 4 locations were among the company's apical 10 earners nationwide. She'd beryllium a cleanable president, she thought. But they ne'er called her.

Panase stewed complete this. Then she talked it complete pinch her husband.

"Did you raise your hand?" he asked her.

"No, I didn't," she realized. She assumed that her difficult activity and occurrence would speak for itself, but she had ne'er vocalized her ambitions. This was a important instruction for her: If you want something, you person to measurement up and definitive it. You person to raise your hand.

So she did. She reached retired to the company's cofounder, Shannon Wilburn. What followed was an 18-month speech astir really Panase could do moreover much than go president. Instead, she was capable to bargain the full institution and go CEO.

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Franchises are often sold to backstage equity firms aliases investors, not franchisees. But this move fresh the marque well. Just Between Friends is community-oriented: Its franchisees big section consignment sales, wherever they induce neighbors to waste their utilized clothing. It useful because communities set together. So shouldn't the Just Between Friends marque beryllium sold betwixt friends too?

In 2022, Panase officially took over. But erstwhile she began, she made the aforesaid correction arsenic before: She thought that because she had been a franchisee, her brand's franchisees would instantly spot her to beryllium CEO. Instead, franchisees had questions and concerns. Panase realized she'd request to speak up erstwhile again.

"The first point I did was I visited 10 different awesome metropolitan areas each astir the country," she says, "where we had casual but intentional conversations astir franchisees' concerns, and that was awesome."

She called it a "Better Together" roadshow, gathering face-to-face pinch franchisees and listening to their concerns. It was truthful successful that she did it again this year, but pinch a attraction connected small-market franchises. "I'll proceed to do it connected an yearly basis, because that's the number 1 point successful franchising — establishing those relationships and having that spot pinch the franchisees."

Now she's reasoning ahead. Just Between Friends has much than 150 locations, and she wants to turn it to complete 200 crossed each 50 states. But she knows she won't execute this extremity done her efforts unsocial — it will require each franchisee taking inaugural and contributing to the larger mission. That intends she needs each franchisee to raise their hand, speak up, and stock what's connected their minds. Success isn't conscionable astir moving hard, aft all. It's astir knowing erstwhile to measurement up and say, "I'm ready."

"I deliberation it's an fantabulous reminder for each of america that you've sewage to verbalize what you want," Panase says.

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