No is not an option

I have to relay the story of a strong woman I saw interviewed last night on CNBC's The Big Idea. Cordia Harrington, founder and CEO of the Tennessee Bun Company, had a motto that really stuck in my mind, "NO is NOT and option." Cordia started out as a young mother needing to find work to raise her 2 children. She rented a cheap office, cheap desk, and cheap chair and decided to start her own business in selling real estate. She next got the idea to buy her own McDonald's franchise. McDonald's execs were hesitant to grant her a franchise when they interviewed her, but she wouldn't take "no" for an answer and kept hounding them until they did. During her franchise ownership, she had a bright idea that getting a bus station next to her McDonald franchise would bring in a lot more business, so tried to purchase a Greyhound franchise so that she could position it next to her McDonald's store. Again, the powers that be did not want to sell her the franchise until she hounded them with her persistence. After buying her bus franchise, she worked her way at running two successful franchises, and owning one of the nation's top producing McDonald's, in spite of being one of the very few women-owned franchisees.

One day, she attended one of McDonald's conferences on making buns. She discovered how inefficient the whole process was and decided to purchase a bakery that would make the buns for McDonalds. Again, the McDonald's execs thought she was a nutcase and told her "no" until she convinced them that this would work. The Tennessee Bun Company now does $40 million in sales and sells to McDonald's and other reputable restaurant chains.

All I can say is WOW...that's a lot of "no" to overcome for anyone in business, let alone a fragile looking blonde lady. To the casual onlooker, her character of persistence was very well concealed in a charming, well-spoken middle aged women. The host, Donny Deutsch, was absolutely delighted by her and adored her story. Cordia possesses what many of us women should have, the persistence in executing what we know we can do. I found this woman particularly inspiring because she did not let anyone influence her belief in her capabilities. She knew she could do it, so it was just a matter of convincing others she could do it, not the other way around. So many of us start out believing we can do it, and then wimper away when others start to tell us we can't. If you know you can do it, don't let anyone tell you that you can't.