WOMEN AT
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Shelly Sun
Co-founder, CEO, BrightStar Care
How has your life experience
made you the leader you are today? When I reflect on the beautiful
fabric of my life, there are many experiences that have helped shape me.
While in some respects I was luckier
than many, my childhood was far from
perfect and I experienced more than
my fair share of personal challenges.
As a result, I was driven to get out
and succeed on my own. By my early
thirties, I was thriving in corporate
America and expected to be the CFO
in a large company. However, a series
of events changed the direction of my
life. In late 2001, my husband’s grandmother was in need of quality in-home
healthcare. Through our personal journey, we identified a gaping hole in the
healthcare sector: we saw the need for
a better in-home care option. The day
before our wedding in early 2002, my
husband’s grandmother passed away. It
was a difficult and emotional time for
us. Shortly after her death, we were
given the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad by
Robert Kiyosaki as a gift. The book
relays a message for its readers to take
control of their own destiny, and we
took this as a serious sign to start our
own business that would offer families like us a service that we were once
desperate for, a service that was not
being provided anywhere else.
Role models? At this time, I have
two highly engaged, brilliant board
members that I consider to be role
models: David Barr and Sid Feltenstein, who have built great businesses,
helped others build great businesses,
and understand franchising.
Management gurus or books that
have deeply affected you: Traction
and Get a Grip by Gino Wickman,
Uncommon Service by Frances Frei,
and The Ultimate Question 2.0 by Fred
Reichheld.
Has mentorship made a differ-
SYSTEM REVENUE: $254 million
NO. OF UNITS: 275
PUBLIC OR PRIVATE: Private
FOUNDED: 2002
ferent perspective, and has been a great
role model and friend to me over the
years. She took such a risk following
her passion and established the flavored
coffee industry despite naysayers. She
is brilliant yet humble, and is the most
resilient, positive person I know.
Catherine Monson, CEO of Fastsigns,
is also a w&VBW