I want to share with you a conversation that is happening every day in America.  This is a conversation that you have had, that you friends have had and that we would all prefer to avoid.  It is –
 
The Most Awkward Conversation in America
 
The conversation happens as follows.  You discover that another person you know has lost their job.  It seems like this is happening almost every day.  Friends, relatives, neighbors and business acquaintances – it’s epidemic. 
 
How do you handle their request for help when they attempt to network out of their current situation?  What do you say?  What can you do to help?  What suggestion can you offer them that might be a positive path they could explore?
 
In many cases, you know for a fact that these are wonderful, talented people who are simply victims of current economic circumstances.  They will deliver great value wherever they end up next, but unemployment is rising so fast that no one knows when or where that might be.  

There is one positive suggestion you could offer.  While they are exploring all their other options, perhaps they should also look into the idea of owning their own franchise business.
 
I’d like to help them.  My consulting service offers a comprehensive assistance program for people who would like to explore this option.  Whether a person decides that a franchise is the right option for them or not, I stand ready to do whatever we can to make their research and investigation be as focused and effective as possible.
  
Best of all, my service is both low pressure and free of cost.  It is all about helping people make the right decision.  All your friends would risk is a little of their time and that’s one thing they now have plenty of.  My service represents a very positive suggestion you can offer the next time you get into one of these awkward conversations. 
 
If you find yourself in this type of awkward conversation, consider introducing me to your friend.  I am able to provide thoughtful advice and solid alternatives in this time of change. Forward their name and phone number – I will do the rest with both discretion and professionalism.

I recently received a very enlightening slide show presentation showing how the rising unemployment rate has swept through our country. (see this link on my home page) There are not many areas affected by unemployment rates nearing 10%. While we’re all optimistic that the unemployment situation will improve, the fact of the matter is, that true stability now and into the future is in forging your own path and taking control over your own destiny.

Not many years ago when I worked corporate HR, I lived very much the part of George Clooney’s character in the movie “Up in the Air”. I had the unfortunate task of flying in and laying off offices and managing large scale lay offs for the companies where I worked. In a few cases, I even layed myself off.

In all those situations most employees looked at me blankly, having been caught completely off guard, and said “now what?” While my parents may have been part of a generation where they could work for and retire from one company in their whole career, the reality of my generation and our current environment makes that increasingly difficult to do so.

Jobs move oversees. Businesses consolidate. Technology comes in and replaces workers. Businesses make decisions based on numbers and projections and not so much based on the people working there. It’s just business. When you’re on the receiving end of a pink slip after 25 years it doesn’t feel like business. It feels personal.

I have had many friends of mine over the last few years who have become increasingly disenchanted with their corporate jobs. Having survived rounds of layoffs, cuts, pay freezes and instability, they just don’t know if they can survive the roller coaster much longer and they don’t have a solid plan B.

Might I suggest that if this rings true for you that now might be the time to explore your Plan B. That may include; going back to school, launching your own business or exploring whether, as this book will highlight, whether a franchise business is a fit for you.

What are your life long goals and dreams? Can you reach them by what you’re currently doing? What if you lost your job tomorrow? Would you be able to still reach those dreams?

I know change is scary. For me, the unknown and not having a road map that I’m controlling, is even scarier.

Greetings All,

I am very excited to be launched as an author for the 50 interviews series. This subject is a natural fit for me as I am both a passionate franchise owner and have been working as a franchise consultant for nearly two years. It will be a fun book to write and I look forward to sharing updates and progress and brief interview highlights along the way towards publication. In the mean time, to get to know me a bit more, I thought I’d share with you a recent blog article  that describes a day in the life for me.

Crumbs in the Executive Suite….

 It’s a Friday around 11:30. Having finally taken a shower and gotten out of my pajamas for the day, I’m streaking across town (carefully noting the police traps), to my children’s preschool to pick them up. I shuttle both my kids (5 and 4) out of their rooms holding paper flowers, crafts still sticky with glue and paint and load them into the car. We’re back home around 11:45. I have 15 minutes to feed them (microwave macaroni and cheese, a fruit roll up and juice box), settle them down to an obnoxious cartoon (usually SpongeBob), separate the two cats so they won’t fight and give my daughter the usual speech “When mommy’s on the phone, you need to be quiet”. I sequester myself into my executive suite (aka known as our home office, craft room, cat room, dumping ground), take a deep breath and dial in to a franchisor introduction call.

 Oh, such is the life of a work from home mom.

 My days may sound a bit hectic. From one day to the next I could be doing my CFO duties for the franchise business my husband and I run, to doing a compensation project for a small business across town, to talking with a potential franchisee owner about their plans for opening their own business. I could be in pajamas making calls from home or dressed up in a business suit attending a networking lunch for the Chamber. I could be taking the kids ice skating or to the doctor, going grocery shopping or if I’m feeling self indulgent taking in a mid-day mani/pedi.

I thrive on the variety and flexibility that working for myself from home gives me. It’s a freedom and schedule that suits me, where I am in life and what is most important to me.

 Before the kids came along, my husband and I were working the corporate life in the Bay Area of California. We both had six figure incomes, two hour commutes and 60 hour work weeks. We paid crazy taxes, lived in a small house that was obscenely overpriced and always felt that we were on this treadmill, really going no where.

 In 2005, when our daughter was about 7 months old, we hatched a plan that would take us away from the craziness of the Bay Area, from our corporate lives and that stress. We knew we wanted to leave the Bay Area and we knew we wanted to end up in Colorado. What we didn’t know is what we’d do for work when we got there. We had decided we wanted to relocate to Fort Collins, a great college town about an hour north of Denver. We liked the small town feel, the college vibe and the proximity to great fly fishing!

 I started investigating jobs in the area that would be a fit. My corporate background was in Human Resources. My husband was a business development manager for a high-tech company in San Jose. Most of the jobs that were a fit for us were south  of Denver, requiring a two hour commute each day. We knew we didn’t want to move out to Colorado just to continue the same merri-go-round we were on in the Bay Area.

 I suggested to my husband that maybe we should look into getting our own business. I had run a successful HR consulting business in the Bay Area and enjoyed being in business for myself. My husband was a little less excited about the concept. He always had had corporate jobs, with predictable corporate pay. I began doing initial internet searches for businesses to buy in Fort Collins. I had thought “gee, running a pizza parlor would be kind of fun. Everyone loves pizza.” On one of my fateful internet searches, I stumbled into the net of a franchise consultant and so began a path that has totally changed our lives.

 Stephen Hogan from FranChoice contacted us and we began a journey that facilitated a sell of a house, the purchase of a new house in a new state, an investigation and purchase of a franchise and a cross country move with a 10 month old, while I was 10 weeks pregnant all in a span of less than two months.

 Fast forward 5 years. It’s March of 2010. Our franchise business is doing well.  Having survived a somewhat rocky and scary first year, we’ve been self-sustaining and profitable since our second year. I am working part-time in the business with my husband handling all the accounting, administrative and strategic marketing functions. I also am running a small HR consulting practice and am starting my second year working with Stephen Hogan as a franchise consultant. Because I was so happy with the results of our investigation and purchase, I asked Stephen to take me under his wing and tutor me.

 There are challenging days. There are frustrating days. There are wonderful days, where I absolutely know that what I’m doing is the right thing for me and for our family. In corporate life, I couldn’t just on a whim on a sunny day pack up the kids and take them to the park for a picnic. My husband and I couldn’t just play hookie on a Friday afternoon in the summer and take in a few hours of fishing. We weren’t in control of our destiny. Our efforts were contributing to the bottom line of others.

 I realize a risk like this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. It still is a challenge at times, especially for my husband as I think he still remember the stable pay and predictability of corporate America. I’m more of the maverick in our family. I told him not long ago, if you ever change your mind on the franchise business, know that I won’t go back to corporate life. I just couldn’t go back to working in a cube, starring out at the same few parking spots in the parking lot, having to be to work by 9 and out by 5. I can’t. You might be able to, but for me, I need to have this freedom, this flexibility and variety.

Oh sure, there are days when I’m running around town and I see a power woman lunch, women glammed up (as much as they do get glammed up in casual Fort Collins), talking over salads and tea about their corporate jobs and pressures and I remember back to those days, but then my daughter says something silly and my son shoots his straw wrapper and hits me in the face and I laugh and know that they’ll remember their mother being home and available to them when they were young. They’ll see a mother who can balance being an entrepreneur with shuttling them to play dates. Perhaps my daughter will be inspired to own her own business some day.

I’ve gotta run. Have a chamber lunch today. I’m getting dolled up to power lunch with three male executives in town. This work from home mom has got to find her pumps somewhere in the back of my closet.

 Stay tuned….

This book willl explore franchising and what it takes to be a successful franchise owner. In interviewing 10 franchisees that have been in business for at least one year, I’ll explore their journeys of how they arrived with the franchise they’re now running, how they decided to become a franchisee and what they believe are the keys to being a successful franchise owner. The book will also include self-assessments and interesting articles to help the reader assess whether becoming a franchise owner is the next step towards realizing both their short and long-term goals. For anyone considering whether to stay put at their corporate job,what to do next if they’ve been down-sized out,whether  to start a business from scratch or to purchase a franchise, this book will provide keen insight into others who have blazed the franchise trail and have lived to tell about it.