Title: Owner

Company: SHOW SERVICES LLC

Location: Springtown, Texas

Drawing upon her organization, leadership and management abilities, Robin Ford considers herself lucky to be able to work in a family business, which was originally run by her husband’s parents. Not only does she love what she does as president of Show Services LLC., but she has the flexibility required to be both a business owner and a mother. Although Ms. Ford is still working to strike a balance, she knows that many other women aren’t as lucky as she is in that regard.

Ms. Ford prepared for her career by building up a skill set throughout her career that prepared her for her position. She considers herself a jack of all trades, although she admits that there is no real way to prepare for everything that needs to be done. Her greatest accomplishment has been transforming a mom and pop business into a large successful company with union contracts working in the largest convention centers. Throughout the work-wee, Ms. Ford’s husband does the hands-on work, while she does just about everything else. She negotiates contracts, deals with the unions, manages all payroll and human resource issues, and takes care of customer service.

Ms. Ford’s biggest challenge has been being a woman in a male-oriented business. Sometimes men don’t think that this is a job that a woman can do, so it is a respect issue. She has also seen some interesting interactions where business really isn’t being done ‘above board.’ Her goal is to take advantage of some of the flexibility that is built into working in a family business. She wants to spend as much time as she can with her teen boys before they move towards leading their own lives. She would also like to learn to fly a plane.