Better Business for Small Business Leaders

Why Culture Fit Matters More Than Money When Choosing Your Business Path with Terese McGroarty

• Chrissy Myers • Episode 18

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Freedom of choice may be entrepreneurship's greatest gift. While corporate employees rarely select their colleagues, business owners—especially franchisees—can intentionally choose their culture and community. This powerful insight anchors our conversation with Terese McGroarty, whose entrepreneurial journey began at just 21 when she and her husband borrowed family funds to purchase their first Shell auto care franchise.

Terese shares how they expanded to three locations before making a deliberate lifestyle choice: selling their 24/7 Shell stations to purchase a Goodyear franchise that allowed Sundays off. This decision exemplifies how business ownership enables alignment between work and personal priorities. Years later, after selling their Goodyear franchise and exploring different paths, Therese found her calling as a franchise consultant with FranNet—where she now helps others navigate similar journeys.

Drawing from decades of experience, Terese offers valuable wisdom about the dangers of closed-mindedness in business exploration. She recounts stories of potential franchise owners who completed thorough validation but allowed external opinions or unfounded fears to derail their plans. Her process helps clients systematically evaluate opportunities by speaking with franchisees at various performance levels—those excelling, those performing adequately, and those struggling—to gain comprehensive understanding before making commitments.

Perhaps most compelling is Terese's perspective on franchise culture. "When you're going into business for yourself, you get to decide about the culture," she explains, noting how different franchise systems develop distinct personalities—some more faith-based or fun-oriented, others more corporate. This often-overlooked consideration can significantly impact long-term satisfaction, as franchisees become part of a community that shapes their growth.

For established business owners, Terese advocates scheduling intentional recharge time to build longevity. Whether through morning devotionals, scheduled workouts, or daily walks with audiobooks, she demonstrates how deliberate self-care prevents burnout. Her parting wisdom resonates deeply: always focus on your clients' needs rather than your own, and consistently put one foot in front of the other to achieve incremental improvement.

Whether you're considering franchise ownership or seeking to strengthen your existing business, this conversation offers practical guidance for making intentional choices that align with your values and vision. The entrepreneurial path may be challenging, but with proper due diligence and self-awareness, it offers unparalleled freedom to create the business—and life—you truly desire.

🎙️ Connect with Chrissy Myers and discover how resilience, expertise, and community can transform your world:

🔗 Follow Chrissy on LinkedIn for behind-the-scenes insights, leadership tips, and updates on her journey as the CEO of two thriving businesses.

📘 Grab your copy of 'Reluctantly Resilient' to learn how Chrissy turned challenges into opportunities and how you can do the same in your life and business.

🤝 Explore Clarity HR and discover how Chrissy’s team simplifies HR for small businesses, giving you peace of mind to focus on what matters most.

💼 Visit AUI to see how Chrissy's employee benefits expertise can help you build a healthier, happier workforce.

Speaker 1:

When you go work for corporate America, you don't get to decide. Are these the people I want to hang out with? A lot of times, sadly, for people, the first requirement is money, and when you're going into business for yourself, you get to make that decision about, especially in a franchise situation. Is this the culture that I like?

Speaker 2:

We're talking with seasoned entrepreneur Therese McGrory today about how to grow and find new businesses. Therese, thank you for your time today on the podcast. Hey, thank you so much, Chrissy, for having me. So can you tell me a little bit about your entrepreneurial journey, where you've been, Because I know you've done a lot of different things and then what you're doing now?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you know. So my husband and I went into business when we were 21 years old. We went into a franchise shell auto care business. You were babies, we were babies, we were 21. We knew everything. Okay, everything, yeah, I'm sure. And the only reason why we went in was because, you know, we had the opportunity. My husband was working at a dealership, his dad, he, actually grew up in the shell automotive industry, I think from the time he was like 9 or 11. I think from the time he was like nine or 11. And you know, he started out, you know, scraping the curbs at his dad's gas station when he was growing up. You know, because she had to scrape them to paint them, and it was an honor and a privilege to get to pump gas.

Speaker 2:

Wow, the things we tell our children when we're entrepreneurs, you get to empty all the trash. Yes, good for you. Yes.

Speaker 1:

When my daughter was younger, we used to make her pick up the cigarette butts. That was their job Anyhow. So long story short, when we were 21, we bought our first shell station and really, quite frankly, how a lot of people start now, we borrowed money we borrowed from my father and we borrowed from my husband's grandpa and we worked really hard to pay that off immediately, I would say within six months.

Speaker 2:

We were able to pay back.

Speaker 1:

And I was working at the phone company because I had the benefits, so we didn't have to pay for those. Because I had the benefits, so we didn't have to pay for those. But I could see that my husband could just use that little extra help. I was doing the books at night, which wasn't a problem, but it's hard when you're Back. Then people worked in their business and not necessarily on their business, right. So it was a little hard to work on the business, you know hiring people and you know and fixing cars and all of those things. So I I quit work pretty quickly so that we could work together and I kind of took over the HR, so to speak, and the advertising and those kinds of things. And my husband took over the training and you know the operations.

Speaker 1:

We grew that footprint to three Shell stations within a certain amount of time I know one year was the second one and I don't remember when the third one was and then at a certain point we just Shell changed. You know, as franchises do, they changed and wanted to be open 24 hours. And we didn't want to be open 24 hours. So we sold our businesses and bought a Goodyear just one location where we could actually have Sundays off. Wow being very intentional.

Speaker 1:

It is kind of amazing how you think wow, having Sundays off is really something.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's a really good point. And business services, we don't think about weekends. Weekends are just kind of given, but at Shell Oils you were all the time.

Speaker 1:

All the time 24-7. Wow, yeah. So then at a certain point we had had a competitor, another Goodyear guy, come along, and at that time that was well, conrad's is still there, they're, you know, have a lot of yes. And that engine was growing. And so somebody came along and said could you you know, I've always wanted your location how much would it take for me to buy? And we had only one location, we only wanted one location. And you know, we sat down, worked out a deal.

Speaker 1:

And you know, it was kind of a sudden decision, a sudden, yet not sudden. You know how sometimes you just get tired of what you're doing, yeah, and so we had been thinking about we were tired of what we were doing and it was nice that this guy came along at the right time and yeah, so we sold our business and didn't really know what we were going to do next. To be honest, we had just started our family. So you know, by then we had been married a long time probably 18 years or something like that before we had our first kid.

Speaker 2:

Well, you had businesses, so they were like children too.

Speaker 1:

They were they were, and so we just kind of poured into that being a family and my husband became a small repair shop automotive coach. But then when the pandemic, not the pandemic.

Speaker 2:

The 2010, 2008 recession, people could not get a loan.

Speaker 1:

And so small businesses couldn't get a loan and so that kind of went by the wayside. So he just kind of went back into working and our Goodyear business manager so at this point we probably talking we're out of business for probably seven years Just called me and said hey, I own FranNet in Cleveland. He owned it in Cleveland, toledo, in Cincinnati, dayton and said I could use somebody in Cleveland and I think you would be a really great fit. Would you like to interview for the position and all of that? And so I did that December of 2013.

Speaker 1:

And I started what I'm doing now in February 1 of 2014 and haven't looked back. So it's been a very interesting journey to be a franchise consultant. Now I can see such value in what I do because I think to myself if somebody talked to me before we'd opened those shell stations, maybe we would have done something different. I don't know, but that lesson, those times were good, learning fertile ground, and now I can use those lessons to help my clients really think about what it is that they want to do.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so what you do with FranNet is you take them through individuals that maybe want to own a franchise, taking them through a process of understanding what it means to be a business owner. Do they have what it takes to be cut out to be a business owner? Because, again, you said not working on Sundays was going to be a big deal when you moved from Shell to Goodyear, so sometimes we don't always think about all of the things I've heard you talk about open-mindedness, and open-mindedness is vital for growing any business.

Speaker 2:

So, can you share an example of a time that you've witnessed closed-mindedness? I'm sure you've had this experience in interviewing people as they're trying to figure out what they want to do in franchise space, so how that closed-mindedness can hinder someone's potential in a franchise and how it could have been avoided.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you know, sometimes when you say to somebody, you know I'd love to tell you about a business that meets all the criteria that they just laid out. You know, let's say it's a Monday through Friday franchise, you know they really wouldn't have to work past six o'clock and you know they wouldn't have to hire more than nine to 10 employees, and when you then mention the name of the franchise, they go, nope, not doing that, what? And actually I had a client at one point that I mean him and his wife had gone through the process. I think that that's one of the great things about working with a consultant is that one people weed themselves out. If they can't follow a process with me of exploration, more than likely following a process in a franchise business may not be a good fit for them either. Right, because my process is simple.

Speaker 1:

But you know, I had somebody who was at the end of the process and I could tell he was beginning to I don't know if it was fear, or maybe they'd been to a party and told people what they were doing and people might have said, oh, you are a little crazy. And so he started throwing all these wackadoodle things at me about why it was a bad fit and I said so let's just break things down for a second. Did you or did you not tell me that you needed something, that you could earn $100,000 or more, working 20 hours a week? And he said yes, I did. And I said okay, so did you validate this business could do that? And he said yes. And I said and did you, or did you not tell me that you needed something that your family could be involved in, because he had teenage children, your family could be involved in, because he had teenage children? And he said yes, and I said so, did you validate that this could be done? And he said yeah, and I said so. And did you validate whatever the start time was? And there was probably five questions that I asked.

Speaker 1:

And then he looked at me and I said so, if you could give me a good reason why it's not a fit, I'm happy, but if it's something else like somebody talked you out of it over the weekend, we need to have more conversations you out of it over the weekend, we need to have more conversations. And he went no, no, you're right, it's everything you know, but it's sometimes you allow people to rob you of what you think might be good, even though you did the homework. So that's sometimes an example of closed-mindedness. You know, another time might be, you know be. You have a friend who says, yeah, but you remember Joe from high school. He went into business for himself and he went broke. And I mean, what happens if you go broke? What are you going to do with your retirement money? And just all of those things is a big closed-mindedness and actually I think you know just negative thinking.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and I hear your point about also being risk-averse. Sometimes we forget, as business owners, that taking risks is what we do every day, and so we think, you know, as I'm leaving a corporate job and I'm thinking, okay, I want to go into business for myself and I want to have the freedom to be able to say, yes, I'm going to work on this day and no, I'm not going to do this. But there's a lot of things that we have to assess and take inventory of when we're deciding. You know, we're going to move things forward, we're going to invest in ourselves, we're going to take this large loan to build a business. And one thing that I appreciate about you, therese, is you really help people walk through the due diligence part of buying a franchise, and I think FranNet does a good job of that.

Speaker 2:

And one thing that has always been interesting to me is franchisees individuals that I know that have bought a franchise and then have decided, a year in, or 18 months in, that it is just not for them and they want to sell it and they want to move on. I usually ask like, well, how many people did you talk to? Or well, oh, many people did you talk to or well, I just decided I was going to do it. So can you talk about your experience and what you feel is a good way to do due diligence? It's not just calling one person and going to one presentation. I know that there's a lot of rules and regulations around franchises, but you tend to take a more different approach to encouraging the individuals who work with you to really spend time in due diligence.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I want people to talk to someone that is knocking it out of the ballpark and somebody that's doing average and somebody that is not doing well. Many times you will hear they may not say these exact words, but you will hear that they're not doing well because they're not following the system. I can tell you, when I you know Franet made me do this, you know call a bunch of different franchisees and see if I wanted, before I decided to do this, and the couple of people that I did speak to that weren't doing well, I mean that's he says well, I guess I have to get out from my desk, you know, and get out networking a little bit more before I can do well, and I'm like, oh, that's all it takes.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we do have to do sales.

Speaker 1:

Sales are important. And then I really want you to talk to somebody that's been in business a year, five years and ten years. And then you know we have something called the Federal Disclosure Document, which is a federally regulated document that has all the franchisees on there that have been part of the business for the past three years and on. And you know, and I say, close your eyes and pick four more people that haven't been handpicked to give to you. And you know, just really the number one question would you do it again? And if somebody stumbles over that question, you know you really need to dig in as to why they're stumbling and you need to be asking those kinds of questions. Well, you know, what would you have done differently when you're talking to that guy that's been in a year? What would you have done differently?

Speaker 1:

Because there's just such a vast amount of knowledge and I think it's great to get that widespread information from everybody and just try to chunk it down a little bit for yourself. And it's also the way to find out are these the kinds of people I want to hang out with? Right, when you go work for corporate America, you don't get to decide are these the people I want to hang out with. A lot of times, sadly, for people, the first requirement is money, and when you're going into business for yourself, you get to make that decision about, especially in a franchise situation.

Speaker 1:

Is this the culture that I like? Is this the culture that resonates with me? And I resonate with them, and I think that that's so, so important because and that's what I tell my people, my clients, to look for you know, there are some franchises that are a little more geared towards a fun culture I don't know how to put it any different, but they're more fun. Part of their discovery day is going to Idaho and riding horses, and you know, it's not that you wouldn't become a franchisee if you didn't ride a horse, but it's kind of more fun.

Speaker 1:

How do you handle that? Not riding the horse not being part of that, right Um, but it's the culture of fun, right? Um? And and and a lot of that particular group is also, um, a little more faith-based, um, as opposed to another franchise that does the same exact thing, to another franchise that does the same exact thing, and I consider them to be a little more corporate. There's nothing wrong with either one. They're both great franchises, they're both a great opportunity for people to make money. It's just which culture do you fit?

Speaker 2:

in better.

Speaker 2:

I think you make a really good point and I had never thought about this until you said it about.

Speaker 2:

You know, the other franchisees are your peers and so if you want to get to a certain point within your business life, your personal growth, looking at some of the people that are around you and that you're surrounding yourself with, especially when you're in a franchise, that makes so much sense, I feel like you just kind of unlock something for me in understanding. And also, I mean it goes back to the concept of, even if you're not in a franchise, if you're in the small business space, like aligning yourself with people that are similar to you, that you can continue to grow with, that can push you, that can hold you accountable but then can also get you to the next level. So there's that quote about you are the sum of the five people that you spend the most time with. So, especially for us as business leaders, finding other organizations and other business leaders that we want to align ourselves with, that we can have, that are aspirational, to go and grow to that's beautiful.

Speaker 1:

Well, it is, and most franchises have what they call it's not necessarily accountability groups, but maybe masterminds or something like that. I know within FranNet and several other groups that I know I've been with the same group for a little different shades of variations where we are mentoring each other. Some of us are a little stronger, some of us are a little weaker, but we mentor each other. We talk every other week for an hour. You know about different franchise ores, you know different ways that we can help our clients better, different things that maybe we learned about certain franchises or maybe the people that are working for those franchises, or you know lead gen, all of those things that are important to a business. But then coming back the next week and saying, okay, so what did you do to work on this, this problem, and sometimes all five of us have homework yeah Right, to come back to and share with one another so that we're learning together.

Speaker 2:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

So, let's transition a little bit into longevity, because I think we talked about, you know, the due diligence part making the decision, whether it's the right decision or the decision in the moment, that doesn't making sure that you have the right research in place. But then you know, you get the paper signed, you get your funding, you start your business. There's that giant ramp up and all of this energy focused in growth, and oftentimes I think, especially as small business leaders, whether we're in a franchise or we're building it separately we can really get lost in that. 12 to 18 months of like go, go, go, go, go, go, go, and then it turns 18 months, turns into 36 months, into three years, into four years, and then we're reaching a burnout point. Yes, so I know that you talk about having intentional time to recharge as being important, not just for a franchise individual but also for any business leader. So can you talk a little bit about what does giving yourself intentional time look like and how does it kind of build longevity into your business?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I try to live by my calendar. Yeah, I'm not always perfect, but you know. So I schedule time, you know, every morning to read my Bible. That's one of the things that I try to do. First thing. I'm, you know, and then I purposely scheduled three times a week with a trainer at the gym, so that you know I'm working on those things like balance. As we get older, you know those kinds of things, and so it's really about scheduling. Everything is about making sure that you schedule it and that you follow that schedule.

Speaker 1:

Now, when the weather is wonderful for me, I don't necessarily have to schedule a walk. I mean, I am walking today and I don't care if it's dark. I'm going for a walk because it is something that re-energizes me. It gives me that ability to put on, you know, a fun book. I call them. Yeah, just you know whether it's I like a lot of non or historical fiction. I should say so. You know, I just kind of like to put on a book and go walk it out and just get lost in my book, and you know that kind of stuff. So when the weather is nice, I'm out there walking and I intentionally my husband and I just had this conversation yesterday, actually, where he works. They wanted him to tell him what week he wanted off for vacation by the end of January, and he's like I don't know. And I said, well, it's fine, you know, let's just give them these.

Speaker 1:

Let's just pick a week. Well, I said you know, let's not even pick a week, because they said a week is kind of, you know, for me stinky because I can take time off whenever I want. And so I said let's just pick some of these long holiday, turn it into a long holiday weekend. And he went oh, I didn't think about that, you know.

Speaker 2:

So, being just intentional in how you're trying to pick and schedule your time off, yeah, I've noticed for me as I've gotten more into my business and I think this is for you too, and so for those of you that are newer to business leadership there are seasons where it is not going to be busy People are not going to call you, and then there are seasons where it is not going to be busy, people are not going to call you, and then there are seasons where you wouldn't expect anybody to be calling you, but everyone else has downtime, so we're all using it the same way.

Speaker 2:

So, figuring out those times as you continue to move along in your business. I think is really important because then you can schedule and kind of bonus some of that time with your kids, with your family. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you're very good at that, you guys are very good at that. We continue to work on it. Yeah, I would say too, the one thing is that you, you know, and I'm sure for you too, when you take a week off, it's probably a little bit difficult to be off a whole complete week and not make one phone call.

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah, that doesn't happen.

Speaker 1:

Right one phone call. Oh yeah, that doesn't happen Right Someday, so sometimes you just have to go all right, I might have to make a call. It's not a biggie, no, I make a call.

Speaker 2:

I got the rest of the day off Exactly. So for me it's one hour I guarantee with my family I'm like I need one hour every day that we're on vacation so that I can do X In that hour. You do not bother me, but after that hour is done, I am done. And so I think that, especially as business owners, when we can unplug intentionally. I know there's other organizations that say you have to take a full day off, you have to take a full week off. You know we do what we can to be as successful as we want to be.

Speaker 1:

Well, and I don't think that one hour puts any of us in jeopardy of being successful.

Speaker 2:

No, especially when I do it at five in the morning and everybody else is asleep. That's right. There's no problem there. So, Therese, I really appreciate the time that you have you've given and you've spent with us. I have one more question for you. And it's a question that I ask everyone on the podcast. So what we do here is to work to get 1% better in our business every day. So what is that one thing that you'd like to leave listeners with? To get 1% better in their business.

Speaker 1:

To always be thinking about your client and who they are and what they need, and not about yourself and what you need. You know, I think when you're always putting one foot in front of the other and doing the next best thing, you're always getting 1% better.

Speaker 2:

I love that. Yeah, thank you for your time today, terese. Hey, thank you.