How long have you been a Crestcom International franchise owner?
I purchased my Crestcom Franchise last June but started operations later in the year before the Holidays, I call that my soft opening. It took several months of research and significant interactions with the Area Representative Jonathan Seitz in San Diego but I finally took the plunge. January 3rd of this year we hit the ground running and haven’t looked back, ok, maybe just once to smile in the rearview mirror!
What did you do before joining Crestcom?
Before Crestcom most of my career was in industrial sales and marketing in the plastics industry for some small but mostly large companies including GE, I had the opportunity to train and mentor in several of those organizations. I tended to gravitate to leadership positions and was a VP of a manufacturing company 3 years out of college, I did quite a bit of association and nonprofit work which led to being elected to two boards. I’m grateful for all the leadership experiences I’ve had.
Why did you join Crestcom?
So much has changed for me personally, maybe you can relate, my priorities at this stage in life are different from when I was just starting out. I joined Crestcom because I spent a lot of time ‘moonlighting’ doing volunteer work and ministry, my personal mission statement is to build up, encourage and equip people to overcome the things in life that trip them up! Crestcom was an opportunity to incorporate my personal and career goals together and share my passion where it matters most, in people lives.
What is the best thing about being a Crestcom Franchisee?
The best thing about being a Crestcom Franchisee is that we have a power house at corporate constantly working toward excellence but locally I am the brand. What that means is before I even started there were people working on making my company better, new products, new software, portals, startup strategies and new approaches for success. Locally I run my own company but I’m part of a group of individual business owners that pool and share knowledge, experiences, ideas and support, I couldn’t have designed it better.
Why did you decide to go into franchising?
I chose franchising because I wanted to run my own company but knew I didn’t want to start everything from scratch or the ground up, for example, if I were making scones because I’m extremely busy, I’d go to Trader Joes and buy a box and add fresh blueberries to it – get the analogy? I’m also pretty independent but like having a team of talented and innovative people to work with. Part of my strategy was to best position myself for long term success by shortening the time to start making a return on investment.
What is your advice for others interested in franchising?
My advice to anyone looking into franchising is to talk to as many people as you can at all stages of the process, take a good look at yourself, identify your strengths, passion and purpose and make sure that’s in alignment with what you choose to do. Count the cost… all of it! Include in that time, focus and discipline. You are here on this planet for a reason and there’s a good possibility it has something to do with your talents, the people around you and your sphere of influence. Why not be someone who impacts the world with power, passion and purpose?
