1851

It&rsquo;s no secret that women&rsquo;s progress into senior leadership roles has been ridiculously slow. With all the attention the issue has gotten lately, you&rsquo;d think companies would be doing better. But instead, it&rsquo;s become more and more clear that it isn&rsquo;t easy developing strategies that encourage women to climb the corporate ladder. As a case in point, when Apple and Facebook announced they were offering egg freezing as an employee benefit a few years ago, some claimed the offer was merely a PR stunt or even a strategy to put motherhood on hold rather than create a work environment that accommodates a woman&rsquo;s reproductive years.

Egg freezing aside, there has to be more innovative ways to attract, retain and develop women in leadership at all levels. 1851 Franchise recently spoke with two women who have made a name for themselves in business over the years. Both took very different paths, but each has their own inspirational story.

Jennifer Durham, Chief Development Officer at <a href="http://checkersfranchising.com/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=how-to-develop-and-retain-more-female-executives-11308" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Checkers &amp; Rally&rsquo;s Restaurants, Inc.</a>, started as an Accounting Manager in 2001 with the ambition to become a CFO. She had a bit of experience in finance prior to Checkers &amp; Rally&rsquo;s but it was through hard work and commitment to the brand that she was able to work her way up the ranks to the VP of Finance. That&rsquo;s when she was stuck.

&ldquo;They told me there wasn&rsquo;t room at the CFO level because the spot was already filled,&rdquo; Durham said.

But Rick Silva, CEO for Checkers and Rally&rsquo;s, surprised her with a completely different offer &ndash; he asked her to run the brand&rsquo;s development team instead.

&ldquo;As a young person starting out in my career, I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do,&rdquo; said Durham. &ldquo;So when Rick called me into that meeting, I thought the development role could be a bad move and that I could completely fail. But, taking that risk ended up being incredibly rewarding &ndash; it was a way for me to expand my knowledge and learning. I&rsquo;ve learned that being functionally deep is good, but having a broader understanding of the business has been even better.&rdquo;

Durham not only found someone who truly championed her, but she also found a company and a CEO that would help her grow in her career, even if it wasn&rsquo;t in line with her original plan for herself. She advices both women in business as well as people in leadership positions not to be too rigid. Allow yourself to be guided, and be open to options that could help you broaden your skillset, even if it&rsquo;s not what you thought you would be doing.

Outside of working hard, being open-minded and having someone that champions your growth, there is one huge thing that women need in order to climb to the top and stay there: work life balance. Women are faced with a lot of pressure nowadays &ndash; they feel the need to act a certain way, stay fit, wear great clothes, be Instagram-ready at all times, and on top of that, be both successful in the workplace and at home.

Laura Novak Meyer, Founder and CEO of Little Nest Portraits, found her own way to make her career and family life work well together &ndash; she started her own business.

&ldquo;A lot of women come into our franchise system feeling like they haven&rsquo;t been able to succeed in business because they&rsquo;re penalized for prioritizing family,&rdquo; said Novak Meyer. &ldquo;Women will come into our system so they can achieve their career dreams while creating even more time for family. When done well, it&rsquo;s a great dynamic and a beautiful way to run your life.&rdquo;

Novak Meyer explained that everyone in an organization closely watches whoever is at the top. Whether you&rsquo;re a franchisee, franchisor or a leader in your organization, the team is looking at you to show them what work life balance looks like. That&rsquo;s why, Novak Meyer doesn&rsquo;t send email on nights and weekends &ndash; she wants to show her team that they don&rsquo;t have to look at emails at night so they can spend time with family. In fact, Little Nest prefers to hiring moms.

&ldquo;If you hire moms, you get an awesome worker because they don&rsquo;t goof around,&rdquo; Novak Meyer explained. &ldquo;They get in, get the work done and get out. Moms are more interested in getting their work done well and efficiently so they can provide for their families &ndash; then get home to them.&rdquo;

At the end of the day, you can spend a lot of energy swimming upstream, or you can create the work environment you want for yourself &ndash; or for your business. If you have a high performance culture where everyone carries their weight, it&rsquo;s important to encourage time off to be with family.

How to Develop and Retain More Female Executives 

1851 Franchise

Less than one in 10 senior leaders are women. What needs to be done to change that?

This brand page has been paid for by 1851. Content within this page that is paid will showcase a Sponsored icon. This means the brand has engaged 1851 FRANCHISE to write the content. Content without the Sponsored Icon is aggregated media placements the brand earned. Questions can be sent to editorial@1851franchise.com

how-to-develop-and-retain-more-female-executives

Children's Lighthouse

Why Children’s Lighthouse Is the Perfect Fit for Hospitality Professionals

why-childrens-lighthouse-is-the-perfect-fit-for-hospitality-professionals

Layne's Chicken Fingers

image of Taylor Thomas laynes chicken finger franchisee in Texas

Why This University of Texas Alum Invested in Layne’s Chicken Fingers

university-texas-alum-invests-laynes-chicken

image of Masroor Fatany, a prolific laynes chicken franchisee

Why This Texas A&M Alum Invested in Layne’s, Committing to 10-Plus Restaurants in the Houston Area

why-texas-a&m-alum-bought-laynes-franchise

Right at Home

Right at Home Expanding In-Home Care Services in Janesville, Wisconsin

right-at-home-expanding-in-home-care-services-in-janesville-wisconsin

petbar

petbar Franchise - Q3 2025 - Press Release - 1851 Franchise

petbar Celebrates 10 Years of Growth With Record Q3 Performance and New Franchise Signings

petbar-10-year-anniversary-q3-growth-franchise

Buying a Franchise Masterclass

 Franchise Opportunities

Get Support Buying a Franchise

How to Buy a Franchise White Paper

How to Buy a Franchise

How to Sell Franchises

How to Grow a Franchise

Find a Franchise Supplier

1851 Franchise Opportunities

Franchisor News

Franchisor Power Rankings

FranCamp Mastermind Summit

Franchise Development Website Builder

Franchise Resources

What ALEC-Laffer's Report Means for Franchising

Website Awards

Power Rankings

About 1851

Advertise on 1851

Contact 1851 Editorial

Terms of Use

1851 Login

GROWTH CLUB LOGIN

facebook

instagram

twitter

linkedin

youtube

Amazon outage, AWS outage, Amazon AWS logo

The Day the Cloud Stalled: How Amazon's Outage Impacted Franchise Economy

amazon-aws-outage-franchise-impact-travel-dining-failure

Thursday 1851 Franchise Agg - NASAA’s Noncompete Push

NASAA’s Noncompete Push Puts Franchise Growth on Uncertain Ground

franchise-noncompete-nasaa-advisory-reasonableness-standard

How a Steady Economy Could Help Franchisors Plan Their Next Move

how-a-steady-economy-could-help-franchisors-plan-their-next-move

Bed Bath & Beyond - Franchise Expansion - Retail Strategy - 1851 Franchise

Bed Bath & Beyond Launches Franchise Model as Part of Comeback Strategy

bed-bath-beyond-franchise-expansion-retail-strategy

Senior Entrepreneurship - Franchising - 1851 Franchise

Senior Entrepreneurship Is Rising — And Franchising Is a Key Outlet

senior-entrepreneurship-franchising-silver-startups

A Practical Playbook: Who To Call First When Franchising Your Business

franchising-your-business-who-to-call-first

image  of Happinest franchise collection and all their brands that work together. 

The Happinest Advantage: A Marketing Partner Invested in Your Bottom Line

happinest-franchise-marketing-strategy

Coffee & analytics image with photo of Nick Powills

Athletes And Franchising: Why the Connection Runs Deep

athletes-in-franchising

Ty McBride on Turning Preservan Into a Franchise: No Shortcuts, Just Persistence

ty-mcbride-on-turning-preservan-into-a-franchise-no-shortcuts-just-persistence

image of jerome hanway from right at home Las Cruces, New Mexico 1851 franchise franchisee spotlight

Jerome Hanway Is Building His Right at Home Franchise Around His Mission To Serve

right-at-home-franchise-las-cruces-jerome-hanway

NJCAR v. Ford - New Jersey Supreme Court Limits Standing Under Franchise Practices Act

New Jersey Supreme Court Limits Standing Under Franchise Practices Act

new-jersey-franchise-practices-act-njcar-v-ford

image of franchise deep dive from 1851 franchise on doody calls franchise authority brands

DoodyCalls Franchise Costs, Fees, Profit and Data for 2025

doodycalls-franchise-deep-dive

graphic image of an 1851 franchisee spotlight brayden and johnny steven of teriyaki madness

Father-and-Daughter Team Bring Teriyaki Madness to Wichita, Kansas, With Big Expansion Plans

johnny-brayden-steven-teriyaki-madness-wichita

1851 Franchisee Spotlight graphic with photo of Barb Volk and KidStrong logo

How to Develop and Retain More Female Executives

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS