{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Bicycle For The EO Mind","title":" ACE in the Hole: ACE Hardware’s Gina Schaefer on Becoming an ESOP","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2547,"description":"Meet Gina Schaefer, founder and former CEO of A Few Cool Hardware Stores, and current CEO Craig Smith. Based in the Washington-Baltimore region, they are an ESOP of 13 brick and mortar hardware stores, generating roughly $50M in annual sales, which transitioned in 2021, creating over a hundred employee owners.Some takeaways:How an excited employee owner at New Belgium Brewery, and realizing employees paid $0 to become owners convinced Gina and her CFO husband Marc to choose an ESOP exitThe Hogan leadership assessment helped Gina zero in on change management as a key trait to find in her successor, CraigGina and Craig’s quest to professionalize the neighborhood brick and mortar hardware store retail experience – including building significant wealth for employee ownersGina had to overcome obstacles as a woman in a male-dominated business world, including how she let go of the title “CEO\".MAILBAG | GET IN TOUCH WITH USHave a question for us? Leave a voicemail at 650-203-6565, or send an email to social@zolidar.com. ZOLIDAR LINKS:https://zolidar.comhttps://zolidar.com/podcasthttps://zolidar.com/blogZOLIDAR FEATURES:https://zolidar.com/exit-plan-guidehttps://zolidar.com/exit-financial-planhttps://zolidar.com/dashboard?zolidai=trueZOLIDAR SOCIAL MEDIA:https://www.linkedin.com/company/zolidar/https://www.youtube.com/@zolidarhttps://x.com/zolidarhttps://www.instagram.com/zolidar_comhttps://www.facebook.com/zolidarioCHAPTERSCONNECT WITH A FEW COOL HARDWARE STORES https://acehardwaredc.com/https://zolidar.com/community/organization/bkGWemREFERENCED IN THIS EPISODE:Gina Schaefer (Founder, Former CEO): https://zolidar.com/community/person/ZVQCOTCraig Smith (Current CEO): https://zolidar.com/community/person/ajOKqwMarc Friedman (Former CFO): https://zolidar.com/community/person/-uZdOKuEmployee Ownership Expansion Network (EOX): https://zolidar.com/community/organization/-97slr0Steve Storkan (Executive Director, Employee Ownership Expansion Network):...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/uJqpzIPNlLKXYo1d9uhUg3Vxe9TXy51iWrNAFDOt9V0/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8wYjNm/ZjFhNmMxNmI5ZGNl/YTQwNjYzY2MzN2I4/M2E5MS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}