Consumer Services
Judi Sheppard Missett
Founder and CEO, Jazzercise
By Kristy J. O’Hara
Smart Business San Diego | September 2006
Judi Sheppard Missett’s accountant mother always told her she would never make it in business because she didn’t have a head for numbers. The dancer grew up, earned a theater degree from Northwestern University and founded Jazzercise, the international dance aerobics phenomenon she still runs today. And she’s figured her numbers out — the company earned $71 million in revenue in 2005 and employs 148 energetic, passionate employees.
Smart Business spoke with this CEO about how she runs her business and keeps it growing.
Go with your gut.
It’s about instinct. It’s about what feels right inside. In the end, I go with my gut. Inside, when you do your passion, your heart tells you the truth, and I listen to that.
I don’t always take the advice of people that think they know better. If I don’t listen to it, and I take someone else’s advice, it’s usually wrong.
Hire and empower energetic people.
I hire fantastic people. I trust my instincts. I look for caring, giving people that like to do things for others, and when you have that kind of person, you know that you’ve developed a team that lifts you up every single day.
You can move forward because you have that kind of team that brings you to new levels, and on the same side of the coin, I have to do that for them, as well.
Be passionate about your goals.
I create a vision of what I want to happen for myself and for the company in general. Then I let the people that work here go for it. I give them the time and the energy that they need from me.
When you do that, you just keep growing. It is about getting those good people in place.
Be passionate about whatever it is you’re doing. Enthusiasm is like a magnet, and if you’re enthusiastic about what you do, people see it, and they’re drawn to it, and then you get the right people.
Get moving.
When you have a lot of physical movement in your life, it puts a lot of other movement in your life, as well. Whatever other things you’re doing, whether it’s in your personal life or your business, you’re not afraid to move forward in other avenues if you have physical activity in your everyday life.
Prepare employees for change.
One of the biggest things that promotes growth is change, so we change a lot. We keep changing the program, the way we do business, the way we manage.
We give our people enough time to assimilate what they have to do and understand it, and then they begin slowly to make those changes. It’s always keeping them educated and fresh and knowing that they’re always going to be moving forward.
It keeps them excited. It’s terrible to do the same old thing over and over every day and never make any changes, because how boring that is.
Lead by example.
The people you have at the top have to talk the talk and walk the walk. I don’t ask anybody to do anything that I wouldn’t do myself and that I don’t believe in.
If you have leadership that does not have integrity, if you do not ask excellence of yourself as a leader, then you’re not going to be successful, because nobody else is going to ask that of themselves, either. It’s got to start at the top and go all the way down to wherever the bottom is.
It’s about integrity. It’s about excellence. It’s about accountability and quality and asking that of myself every day so that when I ask it of others, they understand it’s important and it makes the company strong.
Embrace new ideas.
Awards are fine, and it’s really nice to be recognized; however, they’re only as good as the plans you have right now for the future.
When you do your passion, it’s easy. When you’re really actively integrated into the meat, the body, the muscle, the bones and the skeleton of the company, you can’t help but always be coming up with great ideas. Your customers give them to you, and you’re active in that.
I have such a team of creativity here. They know that I want them to take a certain percentage of their day every day to think of fabulous ideas that are out of the box, that might even be a little crazy. We’re not afraid to tackle them.
Take calculated risks.
Don’t be afraid to take risks and make mistakes, but only if you can learn from the mistake and move forward in a better way and be better because of it. A leader has to also exhibit a sense of responsibility to the people you serve and care about them, and they have to understand that you do have that sense of responsibility.
That’s really important because then it trickles down not only to corporate employees, but it trickles right down to the customer, who is our whole basis for being.
Show you are part of the team.
I’m here as much of the day as I can be here working right with them. I make sure that they know that I’m in tune with whatever projects are going on, and I do the work.
If the warehouse has to be cleaned out, I’m not afraid of going down there and getting dirty and doing it. If we have to ship things, I’m down there collating stuff and making sure it all gets put in the right box. ... I’m just part of the team, and that’s what I want them to know.
Balance your life.
Awareness is really important. There’ll be signs and cues that tell you, ‘Oh, not spending enough time with my personal life’ or ‘Uh oh, spending too much time there and not enough with the business.’
The little things will go wrong. It’s important to tune into those little signs that make you aware, ‘OK the scale has tipped here. I better work on getting it back to the middle.’ That’s what’s difficult. It’s about being aware and making time for each end of it.
HOW TO REACH: Jazzercise, www.jazzercise.com
