Joanna C. Murray, MBA

I think I have a lot of grit. I have been through a lot. I've worked in male-dominated industries pretty much my whole career. I was a finance major in college in the 90s, worked in commercial real estate, in industrial real estate for most of my career, so always surrounded by men, not always the easiest environment. And I just, no matter what, I always just kind of would pick myself up and brush myself off and just show back up again. And that grit is what got me through. It got me through some difficult work situations, and it got me through my illness, and it has gotten me to this better place. So it's grit, and it's being willing to take some risks. I think that combination. I left corporate, and that was a risky decision. It was a really risky decision. I had a vice president job, I was doing really well, I was making good money, and I left because I didn't feel like my values were aligned, and I didn't feel good about where I was. I was doing well, but I didn't feel good about where I was, and I took a big risk to leave and go off on my own and start something new. And I don't regret it, but it was a big challenge, and it was a big risk, and it took a lot of grit and determination, and I did it, and I'm proud of myself for doing that. So yeah, I think it takes grit and determination to power through tough situations because it's not always easy. I think business as a woman, even in the 2020s, I don't think it should be this way, but I think it still is. It's difficult to be a woman in the business environment. It's not always easy. I think some fields are easier than others, but it isn't always easy.

Probably, it goes back really far back in my career. I think some of the best advice I ever got was to stand up for myself and to never let anybody talk to me in a way that I wouldn't speak to someone else. This was when I was young. Always stand up for myself and let everyone know the value that I feel for myself, and make sure that my value is understood in a room.

For me, advice that I would give to women, to younger women coming up behind me, I think be yourself and stand your ground. And don't lose your voice. You know, speak your voice. Say what's on your mind. Have your seat at the table. And when you have your seat at the table, you need to use it wisely. You need to have your voice be heard, and you need to have that voice be loud and proud. My former industry is so male-dominated that being a woman in business is not always easy. So I think for me, advice that I would give to women is to be yourself and stand your ground and don't lose your voice.

I think the climate that we're in right now for the job climate, with all the layoffs, I think there's certainly an opportunity for franchising. I think there are a lot of people who've been laid off or are worried about being laid off. There's definitely an opportunity for me to help a lot of people to have a business. You know, it's a little bit less risky than going off and starting your own business, to go off and have a business that is your own, but you're doing it with the backing of a franchise brand and their playbook and somebody who's going to help you to start the business and know exactly what to do. And I can help people to do that. So I think that's the opportunity. There's so many people who need what I have to offer. The challenge is that a lot of the people who need what I have to offer either don't know they need it, they don't realize that they could benefit from it, or they do and they don't know how to find me. There's a disconnect in the people who need my services and people like me who want to help them. There's not really a good platform where we find each other. There are platforms where people who want to buy a franchise can look for franchises. There are platforms where people look for jobs, you know, like LinkedIn. It's not really a great place where people look for a franchise consultant, or people don't really know that franchise consultants exist. So our services are free, so it's just this great thing that people can tap into and they don't really always know about it. So there is a wonderful opportunity to help people, and there are a lot of people who need the help, especially right now. You know, every day you read the news, business news, and it's, you know, Oracle laid off 30,000 people today, and the government is laying off hundreds of thousands of people this year, and there's so many people who are looking for jobs. And not all of them want to own a business, but many of them are open to that as an option, especially the ones who have gotten a large severance. You know, some of them have a severance that can be the down payment on a business. But the disconnect in finding each other is the challenge.

I think integrity is, like, the number one thing that drives me in my work and just in my life. I think integrity is so important. Yeah, without it, it's the reason that I left my corporate job. I felt like there was a lot of toxic toxicity in the environment that I was working in, and I felt like I needed to go find something where I felt my values were aligned and that I felt like I had the integrity that I wanted to have, and that the organization that I was with had the integrity that I could feel good about. You know, I show up with integrity every day. I am, I truly believe in the work that I do. I'm not out to get a commission. I am out, I mean, of course I need to get paid, but my primary reason for doing what I'm doing is to help people better their lives, and I show up with integrity every day. And that is the number one value that drives my work every day.