I used the best of what I learned during a 25-year career with a national department store to become a small business owner. During my career at Macy's, I worked in logistics, financial management, process/profit improvement, replenishment management, budgeting, planning, and buying roles. I also earned my certification as a Six Sigma black belt, which indicates a mastery of techniques to improve processes and productivity through analysis and team-building. The experiences served as the backbone for my transition to owning a franchise, which has been an extraordinary opportunity to manage every aspect of business. Regardless of the size of the company or my job title, my success has been based on my ability to improve processes, analyze data, identify outliers, appropriately benchmark, drive change, and build strong teams.