Frances joined the Richmond Jaycees in April 1987 through the urging of a good friend named Jamie Breeden who was one of the first 5 women to join the Jaycees after the merge of organizations. Jamie was about to ‘age out’ of the organization and stated, “I’m phasing out and brought my replacement.”
Frances served the Richmond Jaycees as Ways and Means VP, Membership VP, President, Chairman of the Board, Battlefield Regional Director and Individual Development Vice President under Alan Richardson.
Her first project was directing runners’ traffic for a 10k run and she stated, “I had no idea what I was going at the time, but I KNOW I was having a good time.” She became famous for the one who bought the much needed coffee instead of beer at 9:00am!
Frances told us that although she was chair of and involved in many projects, the main project that really got her going was the Richmond Christmas Tree lot. Someone asked her – “would you mind chairing the manpower?” She said, “Sure” and the rest is history. The project touched her heart because she had the opportunity to get to know people, manage and develop training (that is still used by the Richmond chapter today) as Trees 101. As a result of her involvement with the project and the community involvement from where they sold trees, she has now LIVED in the neighborhood for 22 years of where the Richmond Jaycees sell trees.
One of her favorite projects was entitled Liberty and Libation for all in which she successfully championed opposing efforts by the ABC Board to change the rule for a single license to one quarter for non and not for profit organizations.
In her active Jaycee career she has received many awards, including the Maddox award in her chapter for Outstanding First Year Jaycee for Richmond, Virginia Jaycees Leadership Award, Regional Director of the Year and numerous Projects of the Quarter and Year, her fondest memories are not of the awards, but of the people she had a chance to meet and the ‘things’ she had an opportunity to do in the Jaycees.
For fun – Frances states that any vacation she takes requires a passport – she loves to travel and will be going back to St. Thomas late summer to enjoy some time there. Whether it’s cruising, on a plane, in a car… have passport – will travel is her motto. Her dream is to be a Peter Greenberg type in traveling the world!!!!!
She works part-time at Macy’s and is a fan of their corporate policies and positive attitude. However, most of us know her as a successful entrepreneur with her business as Mrs. Marshall’s Carytown Café in Richmond. http://www.mrsmarshalls.com/ She has helped many a Jaycee organization and beyond with her dedication to her community. The latest venture from Frances is http://www.leftoverchicken.com/ - an initiative that asks the simple question --- How do you feed one or two people with leftover chicken??? Frances tells us to spread the word – if you have an idea/recipe, etc. Let her know through the website and you can note you’re from the Senate if you want.
In addition, (yes – there’s more) – she has also started her own homemade bar-b-que sauce that will be a great compliment to leftover chicken. You can order online at http://www.leftoverchicken.com/sauce/order.php
We’re so proud of Frances as she was recently asked to be a judge as part of the infamous Food Network program “Throwdown with Bobby Flay” – The network chose Frances! Whoohooo!
While she states that as an outside sales representative for her Jaycee career – “the only person to manage was me.” She never experienced leadership management supervision and it was excellent training for her. She knew at the time it would be something in which she could gain and give back knowledge. “The Jaycees offered me one of the best things in my life; leading other people.” When asked the question – “how are you going to prove that you can supervise and lead other people?” She answered, “I ran a project that had a $500,000 budget and trained people who thought they were just selling trees, but ultimately they were selling a vision of leadership and impacting the community and in the process have made lifelong friendships.” Now THAT’s Service to Humanity.
What you probably don’t realize Frances, is the impact that you have made on so many people. You have made a difference in the people AND the communities that you’ve touched and you have led by example. Thank you!
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