and To Your Portfolio.

"I helped a lot of people to buy
franchises," said Ms. Mark.
`They'd sit in my classes and I'd
say, 'Why don't you take a fran-
chise?' So I'd send them to New
York and they'd buy a franchise.
One couple, the Levines, bought
a franchise in Cincinnati. When
they decided they wanted to re-
tire to Phoenix, they called and
asked if I'd like to buy them out.
`That was the beginning of our
real growth. I had always felt that
in order to grow, I had to buy
more territory, buy more fran-
chises. And I always wanted my
business to grow."
That first franchise cost her
$10,000. "They let me put $500
down and pay them off. Every-
thing else I've ever bought has
cost millions of bucks.
"And they wanted me to take
the state of Michigan. And I said,
`Michigan! I just want where I
live. Just give me Detroit, that's
it, period."
Ms. Mark was the first person
to buy a Weight Watchers fran-
chise who wasn't a New Yorker.
"Now I'm the largest [Weight
Watchers] franchise in the world,"
said Ms. Mark. "I am 20 percent
of the system. And Weight Watch-
ers International who, when I
started to buy franchises decided
they wanted to buy franchises too,
are 40 percent."
The other 40 percent is owned
by individuals throughout the
United States.
In Ontario, Ms. Mark has the
northern tier of the province ex-
tending up to Thunder Bay. She
has most of Ohio, and almost all
of Michigan, with the exceptions
of Lansing, Kalamazoo and
Grand Rapids. Her franchises in-
clude most of Massachusetts, all
of Rhode Island, some of Ken-
tucky, Indiana and Virginia, a lot
of Pennsylvania and all of Mexi-
co.
Said her longtime advertising
agent, James August of Troy-
based Stone, August and Baker
& Company, "I've worked with
her for 17 years and have been
part of her growth. She's an ex-
traordinary, dynamic, high-ener-
gy woman who has a huge
commitment to service ...
"She is constantly questioning,
trying to make everything better,
and never satisfied with the sta-
tus quo ... She's smart, and she
mrorks really hard at delivering
something she believes in, and
has a real passion for."
Ms. Mark's operation became
global long before that became a
buzz word. "About 15 years ago,"
she said, "I had the rights to some-
thing the parent company want-
ed, some food rights, and they
needed it desperately in order to
license their food. They kept ask-
ing me what I wanted, and I
didn't know what I wanted.
"One night, one of the owners
of the company called and said,

CUTTING page 62

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