Colleen First News Today

Needed to be watching. >> all that changed when he heard about colleen mccracken. it was 2013. >> i was itching for a smarter partner, and it still took years to find the right person. i like to say that colleen rescued our company. >> shed been working as the ceo of another business, so she had the business chops. and not only that, she loved animals. >> i had worked with company founders in the past, and i learned very quickly what its like to, you know, run a business with the founder very in...

That was very good at one, two or three things. but the reality is, we had twelve things that we need to be watching. >> all that changed when he heard about colleen mccracken. it was 2013. >> i was itching for a smarter partner. and it still took years to find the right person. i like to say that colleen rescued our company. >> shed been working as the ceo of another business. so she had the business chops. and not only that, she loved animals. >> i had worked with company founders in the past,...

The changes. thats sometimes hard to do. >> that doesnt mean that there are not times when the pair dont see eye to eye. >> i would say alex and i disagree often. i mean, it does happen. we are not on the same page, but the difference is that we do listen to each other, and there are times when hes right and im wrong, and i change the decision because of that. >> technically, alex has the ultimate say, but thats not the kind of relationship he and colleen have formed. >> reverse the decision, bu...

Quickly. >> i do believe that the first role of any ceo is to observe. you never act initially. you really have to give some thought to observing and talking to people and learning more about the founder. >> she sets the tone by rallying employees and coming up with goals. >> there were a lot of things that people were working on, but not necessarily all working together towards common goal. to be honest, it was a little bit of a sigh of relief for the employees because they were not really sure...

Had to feel comfortable with colleen first. >> if i felt like i could not let go of a specific product or the trust was not there, its debilitating, and almost, to me, feels like a dog leashed to a tree. >> colleen agreed with alexs plans, thinking it was better for everyone to get to know each other. >> it was different to come in, heres our new ceo, versus here is someone to help us on the prompt were working on, and so i think it was a really good opportunity for the company to meet me and me...

The company, obviously, benefits. >> sales continue to climb, and both colleen and alex say its the combination of the founder and the ceo that have gotten them there. >> the founders perspective is often very different than anybody elses, and its important to put yourself in their shoes from time to time. we all like to look back and say, well, theres things i would do differently, sure, but at end of the day, i think we did it quite right. >> all right, now your dog has a toy. your dog is watc...

Is, we have 12 things that we need to be watching. >> all that changed when he heard about colleen. it was 2013. >> i was itching for a smarter partner, and it still took years to find the right person. i like to say that colleen rescued our company. >> shed been working as the ceo of another business, so she had the business chops, and not only that, but she loved animals. >> i worked with company founders in the past, and i learned very quickly what its like to, you know, run a business with t...

Watching. >> all that changed when he heard about colleen mccracken. it was 2013. >> i was itching for a smarter partner. and it still took years to find the right person. i like to say that colleen rescued our company. >> shed been working as the ceo of another business. so she had the business chops. and not only that, she loved animals. >> i had worked with company founders in the past, and i learned very quickly what its like to, you know, run a business, with the founder very involved. >> a...