Franchisee Overcomes Adversity to Fulfill Life-Long Business Ownership Dream with Wild Birds Unlimited

Like a lot of people, Silvia Slemmer had always dreamed about being a business owner one day—but it was a goal that always seemed just out of reach.

For most of her life, Slemmer worked as an executive assistant, handling the meetings, schedules and travel plans for top-level leadership. Slemmer says her core responsibility was to keep their lives in order. It was a rewarding—albeit busy—career.

But yet, Slemmer often found herself wondering what else life might have in store for her. On the weekends, she’d regularly visit the Wild Birds Unlimited* store in Carlsbad, California to buy supplies for her backyard birdfeeders. She says that’s where her dream to become a business owner began.

“I would visit the local Wild Birds Unlimited at every chance I had. I’d walk through the aisles and say to myself, ‘When I have a store like this…’” Slemmer recalls. “It was a dream of mine to have a store like Wild Birds Unlimited, but I knew I could never do it because I had no retail experience and I didn’t have the support from my husband to help make it happen.”

Then everything changed. The company she had been with for years had been acquired, and rounds of layoffs started sweeping through the office. She knew it was only a matter of time before she was next, and it forced her to take a hard look at her life. Slemmer realized it was time to do some rearranging.

“My husband had never been supportive of my dream to own my own business, so I decided it was time to take control of my own life. We got a divorce, and I knew I had to finally act on my dream,” Slemmer said. “That’s when I visited the Wild Birds Unlimited location in Carlsbad again. I started talking with the owner, mentioning that one day I’d like to have a store just like his. He told me it was for sale. That moment started a whole new world for me. I really wanted it, but I didn’t know if I could do it alone.”

Looking for guidance, Slemmer turned to Paul Pickett, the chief development officer at Wild Birds Unlimited. He provided her with a list of important books to buy and walked her through the brand’s business planning. This process includes an in-depth look at Wild Birds Unlimited’s comprehensive support services for all elements of the franchise operation, a sample Business Plan to work off of and a Financial Projection worksheet. Having this detailed information on hand ultimately helped Slemmer secure the business loan she needed to get her Wild Birds Unlimited location transferred over to her name.

“One of the saving graces to get that loan was having so much detailed information on hand. Whenever they asked me a question, I had all of the important numbers to help them make a sound decision. I got a loan because Wild Birds Unlimited was so thorough and organized,” Slemmer said. “I went from a place of having very little retail experience to opening the doors of my very own business. Since I didn’t have much experience, I realized it’s important to surround yourself with someone who does. That was Wild Birds Unlimited.”

In 2011, Slemmer became the new owner of Wild Birds Unlimited in Carlsbad. To this day, she says it’s still a challenging—yet rewarding—process, but that’s what makes being a franchisee with the brand so great: she’s never done learning.

“Every day I walk into the store, and I can’ t believe this is mine—that I’ve come this far. I’m right back where my dream started. If it wasn’t for Wild Birds Unlimited, I wouldn’t be where I am now,” Slemmer said. “Sometimes we get held back from going down our own path. I’m glad I didn’t listen when people told me it couldn’t be done. I determined my own happiness. And I found it with Wild Birds Unlimited.” 

Today, talk to anyone on the Wild Birds Unlimited team, and there’s a good chance they each have their own story about Slemmer and her impact on the brand. Pickett, who worked closely with Slemmer from the early discovery days to grand opening, can personally attest to the obstacles she’s had to overcome just to follow her dreams.

“Silvia had to overcome a lot of adversity and negativity to finally open her business. Today, you likely won’t find anyone who’s as passionate, dedicated and happy to walk into her very own store every day,” Pickett said. “There’s a big lesson to be learned through Silvia’s story, and that’s to fight hard every day to prove naysayers that it can be done.”