DEGREES - Key Persons

Tiffany grew up in a family of entrepreneurs all of her life. She was filling sauce and stocking cups for her mom's franchises since she could walk. She always knew to always wash her hands before touching anything, to clean up after a project, and to always be organized. She also knew by the time she was ten how much a taco cost and why it had to be marked up. One very important lesson that has always stuck with her is that you need to have more money coming in than going out so don't waste anything! At family meals she would sit and listen and learn from her parents as they discussed every aspect of business and the people and how to work with others. She is well versed in the importance of confidentiality and most importantly, that everything she did or said either added to or detracted from her credibility and integrity which would be the most valuable things she would ever possess. And of course, she would always ask herself her mom's famous question, "Who do I want to be when this is all over?" Tiffany graduated from Creighton University in Omaha, NE with a degree in 2009. Upon graduation, she decided to join her family's Auntie Anne's business back in Sioux Falls, SD. It was tough being the boss' daughter and was put through the ringer but came out on top when she replaced the entire crew and took the store to one of the top locations in the chain. She did this by working 60-hour weeks, nights, weekends. A few years in, the family purchased a Villa Pizza franchise which Tiffany then managed by once again hiring a first-rate crew and implementing the operational skills she had been honing all of her life. At this juncture she also learned what it was to work with the franchisor and about the agencies that influence and have a say in a business and how to best work with them. The store became more profitable than it had ever been and the family was able to sell it for a premium price. Tiffany's tenure running both Auntie Anne's and Villa Pizza taught her about being on the front line of a business, about advertising, hiring crews, food costs, and creative managing. She really learned the value of delegation, developing people, and balancing her life. When Tiffany decided that she wanted to start a family she knew that she needed something with somewhat more family-friendly hours than the food industry had to offer. This is when Tiffany and Penny researched, found, and purchased what was destined to become 3 Degrees®. It was a phenomenal business model and idea with mountains of kinks to work out. Tiffany and Penny diligently went to work trudging through learning a completely new business than either of them had ever experienced. They had to figure out vendors, equipment, layout, marketing, HR, products, and pricing. Being true partners, Penny and Tiffany balanced on another out as they maneuvered the 3 Degrees® learning curve; what made Penny nervous didn't hinder Tiffany and Penny had the answers for whatever unnerved Tiffany.