Meet Carol Frank
Carol Frank is a rare bird.
Carol is passionate about business, networking, animals and the intersection of the three. As a one-time auditor for a large CPA firm, she gained an inside-out understanding of how companies operate. Her first business was a pet shop in Dallas called The Animal Kingdom. Through this retail endeavor, she discovered her passion for the pet industry, which fueled her next business: Avian Kingdom Supply, Inc. From 1990 to 1998, Carol owned and operated what grew to be a multimillion distributor of 2,100-plus pet products. In 1996, she launched Avian Adventures, one of the world’s largest designers and importers of exclusive birdcages and accessories, which she operated for 11 years before selling to Midwest Homes for Pets in 2007.
She then leveraged her significant experience and passion for entrepreneurship to start BirdsEye Consulting. BEC helps companies develop business plans, connect with the right people, launch new products, identify key market opportunities, and better utilize their resources so they can reach their highest profit potential.
She recently formed a strategic alliance with SDR Ventures, a boutique investment bank, as the managing director in charge of their pet industry vertical.
Carol is the author of the highly-acclaimed book, Do As I Say, Not As I Did! Gaining Wisdom in Business Through The Mistakes of Highly Successful People ( translated into four languages ). The success of her book, combined with her extensive experience as an entrepreneur, has made Carol a sought-after speaker and interview subject. Her television appearances include Oprah, MSNBC, Good Morning Texas, NBC News and she has co-hosted the nationally syndicated television show “Great Pets”.
Her professional blog “Business Savvy” appears every other week on www.petproductnews.com
She has been featured in numerous publications including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Entrepreneur, USA Today, Business Week, The Dallas Morning News, among others.
Carol began her career as a CPA with Ernst & Young and also spent three years as an executive recruiter for Robert Half International. She has a BBA in accounting from The University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from Southern Methodist University.
Over the years, Carol has served in leadership roles within the pet industry and on the board of more than a dozen nonprofit and business organizations, including (leadership role in parenthesis):
Pet industry and related organizations
•Pet Industry Distributors Association (First Vice President)
•The Pet Care Trust (Treasurer)
•Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council
•Audubon Dallas (Treasurer)
•The Dallas Zoo (Chair, Collection and Conservation Committee)
•The Parrot Education and Adoption Center
Business associations
•Entrepreneurs Organization (Education Chair)
•National Association of Women Business Owners (Program Chair)
•Dallas Women’s Foundation (Executive Committee)
Carol is a long time member of The National Speaker’s Association. She is passionate about entrepreneurship and sharing her expertise with others: Carol’s exuberance and humor combined with her unique story-telling ability results in audiences that are educated, energized, and enlightened.
Carol subscribes to the theory that exercise is “nature’s greatest stress reducer” and therefore is an avid runner and skier. She also enjoys cycling, hiking and tennis.