In Sheryl Sandberg’s must read book (I think it should be required reading for every college freshman, girl and boy), Lean In, the Facebook executive points out bluntly and with gads of examples, that men still run the world. Just a few:
Worldwide Politics: 197 heads of state – 22 are women.
U.S. Politics: 18% of congressional offices held by women.
U.S. Business: Top 500 companies by revenue-21 are headed by women.
Sandberg argues – and quite convincingly — that internal obstacles hold women back. “We lower our own expectations of what we can achieve,” she writes. “We consistently underestimate ourselves. Multiple studies in multiple industries show that women often judge their own performance as worse than it actually is…,” writes Sandberg … Taking risks, choosing growth, challenging ourselves … are all important elements…,” continues Sandberg who quotes Pulitzer Price winning author, Alice Walker, ‘The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”
And, this is one of the reasons we are celebrating Women’s Small Business Month. Because the women who have forged ahead, ignored those possible internal obstacles (or perhaps hadn’t felt any), took risks, challenged themselves, etc., etc., etc., are the champions who have laid the groundwork. Reading the stories of how other women succeeded in business could be all that it takes for that next woman with an idea to start a business — next week, next month, next year.
We celebrate Susie Danick, founder of TAD Relocation, a move-management firm in the Washington, D.C. area, a company that grew from a “hobby,” as Susie called it, to a major small business that employs more than 25 people with more hires on the way. After 13 years and 4-thousand moves, in 2013 the company expanded to include a sister company, TAD Transport.
“We are the wedding planners of the moving industry,” explains Susie, organizing and arranging the entire move process. TAD serves to, “erase ‘the overwhelming’ and replace it with ‘organizing’ exponentially reducing ‘transitional trauma’ — the physical and most especially, mental, toll of a move.”
A registered nurse, Susie Danick founded TAD after her own personal experience when she downsized her grandmother (moved her from a larger home to a smaller one). Her grandmother’s friends saw just how easy Susie made it, and called her to move them, too. Within five years, her husband, Joel Danick, saw what Susie had built; he left his COO job with a major company and “moved” to TAD.
A hobby to a booming business — I want to take a moment and look at what happened to Susie and what happened in the world around her as she took an idea and made it a reality. Susie didn’t let her internal obstacles (if there had been any) stop her. Susie saw the value of her idea. But important as well, her husband saw the value of her idea and supported her. We celebrate Susie and her husband Joel for seeing, believing and supporting. We can do it alone, but it’s a lot easier to do it with an encouraging support system. Writes Sandberg, “The time is long overdue to encourage more women to dream the possible dream and encourage more men to support women in the workforce and in the home.”
As part of our series profiling small business women, we asked Susie a series of questions about her own business success:
1) Why did you decide to start your business? There was no real plan for TAD. I had a few small businesses in the past including private childbirth classes when I was a nurse and business that sold personalized baby gift baskets. After downsizing (we call it rightsizing) my grandmother to a senior community, I was asked to assist other seniors in need during their transitional move. I thought this, like my other businesses, would be a small hobby. But, it continued to grow. My clients became not only the person in transition, but their family as well. An example: One of my earliest jobs was for an 88 year old woman whose son and wife were unable to help consistently with her move; they were flying to Texas for regular cancer treatments. Our assistance was as important to him and his wife as it was to his mother. We stepped in to offer the support they couldn’t at that moment provide. He told me he could never have accomplished what we did in such a short time, even if he’d had an army of people helping him. That move day, and every move day since, has ended with many hugs and kisses. 4000 moves later that’s a lot of hugs and kisses! What was once a hobby turned into a successful business now entering its 14th year. As one of the early pioneers in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area move management, TAD has been involved in setting the standards for the growing cottage industry. Sitting on the national board for 4 years and president in 2009, our association (National Association of Senior Move Managers — NASMM) now has more than 800 members.
2) What has the experience been like? Have you ever owned a business before? Before starting TAD I worked part time as a nurse and was home most days raising my children. As the business continued to evolve my children became more independent and responsible helping around the house as well as in the business. My husband and I have what we call a servant mentality: the need to service and take care of others; my children have demonstrated this with a strong work ethics and the need to please others. We find those best suited for this career share these same qualities.
3) What does being an American Business Woman mean to you? As the company continued to grow each year my husband and I decided it was time for him to join TAD and to take it to the next level. This was 9 years ago and we have never looked back. Each year we have had continuous growth with each year even better than the last! Combining his business background and my organizational skills related to nursing and passion for design, we created a great team setting a great foundation for TAD. Finding a great partner is essential to help find balance in your personal and professional life. How lucky I am to have my life partner along for the ride in our business!
4) Has owning your own business enabled you to “have it all,” a family and work? Owning a small business can be exhausting as well as rewarding. We work long hours! Learning to find balance in life for family and friends can be difficult, even challenging at times. Over time and with great systems and an amazing support team in place we have had the opportunity to find time to enjoy the things we love as well as run a successful business… although I am writing this at 11 pm and was up at 5am to reread it!
Thanks Susie … now please, get some sleep!
Image – courtesy of Montgomery County Gazette (article landed by /’sas∙s’ē/ agency)
