Winners Never Quit... Bright House Regional Business Awards

Big Frog Co-Founders: Tina, Ron, Kerry, Leeward (Left to Right)

2014 was the inaugural Bright House Regional Business Awards for the Tampa Bay Area.  I somehow missed the announcement of the award application and my father emailed me and said "Apply!"  So, of course, I did.  I always do what my father tells me - although (obviously) not counting my teen years and early twenties. I'll let you in on results up front, we did not win.  We were in the top 10 small business finalists, but we didn't win the top honor. 

While we were disappointed, we were also inspired to try harder next year.  After all, "Winners never quit, and quitters never win."  I know we can write a better application or create a more inspired presentation.  One of the themes of the award was community/charity involvement.  While we each do our individual part with local charities, we realized that we need to bring that to the office.  New 2014 Goal:  Find a local charity and putting our passion behind it in 2014. 

This photo represents the highest point of our Big Frog franchise system to date.  52 stores open in 22 states with 9 more to open (and some of the best franchisees in the world).  A great team of employees that are Big Froggers to the core.  And an enviable partnership that has lasted for over 7 years.   We have old bull, Leeward Bean, that brings wisdom and patience to our organization, young bull, Ron DeFrece, that exudes the passion that is needed to create a business and me - a bit of both worlds.  And finally, Leeward's wife, Kerry Bean, that has empowered and inspired him to create and partake in another successful business.

 

While this picture shows us at the pinnacle of Big Frog, we’re not done... our goal is 300 stores by 2018. And we’re not quitters, so you know that that means.