When my husband Jonas and I started Auntie Anne's in 1988, we never expected or anticipated building an international pretzel franchise. It was the farthest thing from our minds.
If you knew my life and understood where I came from, you would agree that Auntie Anne's, Inc. is a modern day business miracle.
I didn't build Auntie Anne's alone. That would have been impossible. From the very beginning, we had a team around us that was exceptional. Our company was successful because of the dedicated people who worked for us.
My Auntie CeCe - I can kind of joke and say all I need to do is pray. But that's literally what she does... She lives what she sings. I've learned a lot about her in that way, so in bringing her to the stage, I knew what sort of demeanor she needed to have. Her songs are very reflective of who she is in real life.
My favorite airport snack is probably either a smoothie with berries and Greek yogurt from Jamba Juice or an Auntie Anne's pretzel because I cannot walk past Auntie Anne's smelling that without eating it.
My aunt was Frances Hodges, who in the Fifties was the editor of 'Seventeen' and later one of the creators of 'Mademoiselle.' She was my Auntie Mame; she loved culture. She was a Quaker, but she became a milliner against all Quaker logic - they feel that fashion and art are vanities - because she loved fashion.
My dad was a keen actor when he was young; my auntie is heavily involved in amateur dramatics back in Northern Ireland, and my great aunt was a woman called Greer Garson.
Quizzing is a family hobby - before I was born my granddad, mum, auntie and uncle were into quizzing.
We used to do sock puppet shows for my auntie back in the day. Me and my friends would do accents of Englishmen, and we would sip tea and act like we were rich in front of the family, and they thought it was just hilarious, the level of perception that we had about things that we'd never experienced.
My auntie Anne took me to 'Phantom of the Opera' in London. I thought it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.
