从女招待到女总裁

    商学院是科尔证明自己的一种方式。科尔在一个单亲家庭长大，她的母亲离开了她的父亲，科尔帮助母亲带大了自己的两个妹妹。家里的经济状况紧张。“我总是试图证明，出身决定不了我的命运，”科尔说。“这就是我的动力。我希望用一切能够代表职业成就、代表学位的东西来告诉世界，我要成为一个与众不同的人。或许不一定是个更好的人，但一定是个与众不同的人。”

    科尔在商学院对私募股权投资产生了兴趣，她还获得了一个主持Cinnabon的工作机会【Cinnabon是Focus Brands的子品牌，而后者的东家是私募股权投资公司罗克资本（Roark Capital）】。科尔之前答应猫头鹰餐厅，她在财产案解决之前会一直留在公司。因此，罗克资本替她把职位保留了6个月，直到她在2010年10月入主Cinnabon。

    经济衰退对Cinnabon造成了巨大冲击，让一些加盟商仅仅只能维持生存。这个品牌在商场和机场的渗透率很高，而这些地方随着消费者削减开支也出现了客流量下降的现象。科尔关闭了表现不佳的特许经营单位，重新改造了门店，增加了食物分量不同的品种，还关闭了饮料吧台。她说：“我把2010年和2011年称为清理和重启之年。”到了2012年，这家公司新开的门店数量已经超过了关闭的门店。目前，Cinnabon正在经历7年来销售额以及增长率表现最佳的3个年头。

    在科尔的掌控之下，Cinnabon的消费品牌属性和它专营糕点生意的属性都得到了发展。它品牌标志性的肉桂出现在了商店货架上超过60种的商品当中（有经典的皮尔斯伯里肉桂卷、国际喜悦咖啡奶精以及家乐氏麦片，而这些只是其中几个例子）。Cinnabon还跟汉堡王（Burger King）和塔可钟（Taco Bell）这些连锁快餐店达成了餐饮服务许可协议。

    科尔说，就像克里奈克斯纸巾（Keleene）或施乐复印机（Xerox）一样，Cinnabon就是自己产品的同义词，这个因素正帮助所有跟Cinnabon品牌相关的产品达到接近10亿美元的销售额。科尔希望这个品牌能够拥有奥利奥（Oreo）那样的辨识度和持久的生命力，后者最近刚刚迎来了自己的101周年纪念日。这个梦想可能看起来很宏大，但科尔从来不会因为这种原因而停下脚步。（财富中文网）

    译者：王灿均   

    Business school was a way to validate herself. Growing up, her mother had left her father, and Cole helped raise her two younger sisters. Money was tight. "I was always trying to prove I wasn't defined by where I came from," Cole says. "That was the driving force. Everything that could be a professional accomplishment or degree was a way I was hoping to tell the world I'd become something different. Maybe not better, but different."

    Cole took an interest in private equity at business school and was offered a job to head up Cinnabon. (Cinnabon is part of Focus Brands, which is owned by private equity firm Roark Capital.) She'd promised Hooters she'd stay on until the estate was settled, so Roark held the job for her for six months until she joined in October 2010.

    The recession had hit Cinnabon hard, leaving some franchisees in survival mode. The brand has a large presence in malls and airports, which saw traffic drop as consumers cut back. Cole closed underperforming franchise units, remodeled locations, added portion size variety, and blew out the beverage platform. "I call 2010 and 2011 clean up and reset," she says. By 2012 the company was opening more locations than it was closing. It's currently having the best three years of sales and growth that the brand has had in over seven years.

    On Cole's watch, Cinnabon is becoming as much of a consumer brand as it is a franchise-bakery business. Its signature cinnamon appears in more than 60 items on grocery store shelves (there's the classic Pillsbury cinnamon roll, International Delight coffee creamer, and Kellogg's cereal, just to name a few). It also does food service licensing with outlets like Burger King (BKW) and Taco Bell (YUM).

    Cole says that like Kleenex or Xerox, Cinnabon is synonymous with its product, a factor that's helping sales from all Cinnabon-related goods near $1 billion. Cole wants the brand to become as recognizable and long lasting as Oreo, which recently celebrated its 101st birthday. That may seem like a big dream, but that's never stopped Cole before.