C-Suite Profile: Karri Callahan, Julie Cary

Our 4th Annual Women's Issue of Franchise Update magazine featured profiles of 28 "C-Suite Women" who are not presidents, CEOs, or founders. While not necessarily in the spotlight, these women fill critical roles necessary for a franchise system to prosper and grow. Their titles run the C-Suite gamut: chief marketing/brand officers, chief financial/accounting officers, chief development officers, chief legal officers, chief operating officers, chief technology/information officers, chief people/talent/HR officers, a chief communications officer, and a chief quality, supply chain, and commercialization officer. Several hold dual positions, including executive vice president, senior vice president, vice president, co-owner, co-founder, and board member. In short, effective female leaders who help make the franchise world go round. In recognition of their contributions to their systems, their franchisees, and to franchising as a whole, we're presenting their profiles, two per week.

This week: Karri Callahan, Chief Financial Officer at RE/MAX Holdings, and Julie Cary, Chief Marketing Officer at La Quinta.

Karri Callahan

Title: Chief Financial Officer, RE/MAX Holdings
Brands: RE/MAX and Motto Mortgage
Years in franchising: 3.5
Years with current brand: 3.5
Franchised units: 6,983
Total units: 6,986
Brand revenue: $176.9 million

Background: Karri Callahan oversees all finance and accounting functions at RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. and its affiliated companies, including RE/MAX and Motto Franchising. She joined RE/MAX in 2013 as a Senior Manager of SEC Reporting, assisting with the IPO of RE/MAX stock. She was promoted to Vice President, Corporate Controller in 2014. In January 2016, she was promoted to co-CFO and became the sole CFO in April 2016. A native Coloradan, she earned her B.S. in business administration and M.S. in accounting from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She came to RE/MAX from Ernst & Young with more than 12 years of accounting and auditing experience. She and her husband Rob and their two sons live in Denver and enjoy skiing and swimming. They also are diehard Denver Broncos fans.

Julie Cary

Title: Chief Marketing Officer
Brand: La Quinta
Years in franchising: 13
Years with current brand: 10
Franchised units: 567
Total units: 885 properties
Brand revenue: $783.6 million

Background: Julie Cary joined La Quinta Holdings in 2006 as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. Before joining the company, she served as Vice President at Brinker International from 2004 to 2006; Vice President of Marketing at Dean Foods from 2003 to 2004; Senior Manager of Marketing until promoted to Vice President of Marketing at Gerber Products Company from 1998 to 2003; and as Assistant Brand Manager until promoted to Brand Manager at Ralston Purina from 1991 to 1997. She holds an M.B.A. from Washington University and a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Illinois. Her specialties in consumer marketing include strategic planning, P&L management, advertising, digital commerce, innovation, loyalty/CRM, and customer experience management.