Shelley Morris is a Strategic Consultant & C-Suite Advisor. Even though we talk about Breakers on this podcast, Shelley’s main focus is building; relationships, businesses and opportunities for her clients and herself. In this episode, she tells us how growing up at her Grandfather’s pharmacy shaped her entrepreneurial journey and gives some sound and perhaps uncommon advice for those starting out.
Small Town Charm With A Big Heart
Shelley’s Grandfather modeled what it meant to be an entrepreneur with integrity from a very young age. It was his pharmacy where Shelley learned what it meant to be invested in your community, to be a respecter of all persons ( even when customers couldn’t afford the medications they came to receive) and how to always put customers first by being courteous, efficient and kind. In this episode, Shelley tells us that everyone at the pharmacy was treated the same- even the celebrities. ( Listen to the full episode to find out who!). She credits her Grandfather’s influence for her profound sense of community, her investment in others and the steady work ethic that got her to where she is today.
Getting Her Start in Pizza
Though Shelley loved the family business, it wasn’t her plan to stay forever. As soon as she was old enough to get a job on the books, she began working at Papa Aldos- a now, franchised pizza restaurant in Oregon. She started out making some pies and working the register- but it was during the summer months when she began working full time hours that she was asked to train new franchisees. Who knew that pizza could lead to a career that excelled in franchises?
Shelley’s goal after college was to work for a big business to test out her knowledge and experience. She was recruited by a Fortune 500 company and has since worked for ADP, First Data and finally, at New Horizons in various positions- but she still tells us that every skills she uses now, she learned as a kid at her Grandfather’s pharmacy. Customer Service, Billing and Ordering, Inventory, Sales, and eventually, management skills.
Win-Wins
Shelly’s been at New Horizon’s for 23 years in which she’s gotten to flex her entrepreneurial skills working with enterprise accounts, finding solutions, leveraging relationships, building a practice within a practice and marketing to local businesses and government. When we asked about her philosophy, she told she was definitely a glass-half-full kind of person- which makes her exactly the person you want to work for.
“I’m a connector,” she says, “ Making an introduction might help someone.” Shelley is someone who only looks forward, looks for the positive and counts it a success only if everyone wins. We certainly celebrated a win-win by having her as a guest.
Don’t miss Shelley’s complete story of her background, the full scope of positions she’s held and her advice for others in similar fields by listening to the full episode. First Data financial services business (franchised) , then New Horizons. I was asked to switch industries to come to New Horizons and bring my team so we could replicate what we did in sales to a new education arena.