fran·chi·see \ fran-chī-zē, -chə-\noun
1. An outstanding franchise owner 2. It's never too late to find your passion
TONI WREN
CHALLENGE ISLAND Central Long Island, New York
A
by Jill Abrahamsen
s a child, Toni Wren didn’t know what she wanted to do when she grew up. “I never had a real passion for anything. I just wasn’t one of those kids,” she says. She stumbled onto her first career, in finance, by accident and later discovered her ultimate passion, working with children. Wren chose political science as a college major even though she wasn’t sure where it might lead. But her side job as a bank teller was what shaped her path. “By the time I graduated, I was a branch manager,” she says. This experience eventually led to a lucrative career in finance at top corporations, including a project manager role at Goldman Sachs. The recession of 2008 came at a great time for Wren. Her company downsized 44
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and offered severance packages, and she jumped at one. “It was a no-brainer. Commuting every day was taking a toll. I needed a more flexible schedule to raise my family,” she says. KID STUFF After looking at different kinds of businesses, Wren decided that she wanted to work with children. “At one of my son’s baseball games, a parent asked me if I was available to run her kid’s party. It seemed like an odd request at first, but then she explained. She always saw me playing with kids at events. I was good at it. That’s when I realized my passion,” she says. Raising her children on Long Island, New York, Wren knew that any type of
