Susan Sarich
Susan Sarich
Susan Sarich and her father, Ken, at her SusieCakes bakery.
Company: SusieCakes
Headquarters: Brentwood, Calif.

Susan Sarich wrote her dad a letter this Father's Day thanking him for all the lessons he taught her.

''I thought that was a better gift than a tie this year,'' said Susan.

Susan said her father instilled in her a strong work ethic, which has helped her build and run her business, SusieCakes, a bakery with six locations in California.

Her father, Ken, was a fireman in Chicago. Firemen work 24 hours straight and then get two days off. Ken also had two other jobs. Eventually, he worked his way up to Battalion Chief in the firehouse.

''He was constantly working,'' said Susan. ''He never complained.'' That inspired her to always put her ''whole heart and soul'' into whatever she was doing.

Despite her success, Susan stays humble and involved in every aspect of her business -- another lesson her dad taught her. Her father, who started his career working for the Department of Streets and Sanitation, picking up trash and shoveling snow, told her: "You are not above any job.''

Indeed. To this day, Susan still takes out the trash, washes dishes, cleans the front mirrors and even unplugs toilets when duty calls.

''The general manager is not more important than the prep cook,'' she said.


Last updated June 20 2011: 12:29 PM ET
Join the Conversation

Running a successful small business is hard. But these 8 kid entrepreneurs are showing that it's just child's play. More

This list features franchises is based on low loan failure rates. More

Most Popular
 
 
 
 
 

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.