How This CEO Went From 400 Different Passwords to Just One This founder of a doggy boarding and daycare franchise uses apps to store passwords, stay connected to her workout buddies and handle travel plans.
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When Heidi Ganahl founded the first Camp Bow Wow in Denver, Colorado in December of 2000, most people had never heard of doggie day care or upscale boarding. The concept took off more quickly than even she imagined, and she now has 122 franchises with 23 more locations in the pipeline across 40 states.
Twenty-five employees (and their dogs) work in the Camp Bow Wow headquarters in Broomfield, Colorado along with 3,000 other employees in the franchises. Ganahl spends her days visiting franchises, managing five members of the leadership team, handling escalated issues and meeting with potential franchisees. All this with a husband, four kids and two dogs of her own. She juggles all this with the help of her smartphone and tablet. Here are three apps she can't live without:
1Password. Ganahl used to be an IT person's nightmare. She stored all her 400 different passwords for both work and personal into a spreadsheet stored on her computer. And just in case a thief had trouble locating the information, she had helpfully titled the document "Heidi's Passwords." She realized the error of her ways last year when her laptop was lost for almost two weeks and panicked trying to change all of her passwords. Without the spreadsheet, she couldn't remember them and constantly spent valuable time resetting passwords each time she forgot. After the laptop incident, an employee suggested she download 1Password, a solution which logs you into all of the sites and apps you have preprogrammed with just a tap of a single button once logged into the app. She says between not needing to reset passwords or hunt through her spreadsheet the tool saves her at least 30 minutes every day.
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My Fitness Pal. Since Ganahl spends at least one week a month on the road for business, eating healthy and exercising regularly is a challenge. Last year nine of her friends who also travel for work formed a support group on the online platform, sharing workouts and diet successes as well as pointers for her sister travelers. Before she joined her friends on My Fitness Pal she didn't always fit in her daily workout and found herself eating at the same restaurants that she knew offered healthy food or grabbing less healthy options. But now, she knows that if she skips a workout she has to answer to her friends and they often share ideas for quick meals on the run. "Last week one of the group members posted about a healthy and yummy meal she had in the Chicago airport so next time I pass through on a layover, I am definitely going to eat there," says Ganahl
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Orbitz. Earlier this year Ganahl found herself stuck in Los Angeles airport due to flight delays at the same time her husband was leaving on his own out-of-town trip. If she didn't make it home very soon, no one would be available to care for their 5 year-old and two-year old twins. Ganahl didn't trek back to the ticket desk, but pulled up the Orbitz app and bought a cheap one-way ticket on another airline that would get her home in time. While she's used other travel apps, she returns to Orbitz because it saves all of her frequent flier numbers and remembers that she likes to sit by the window so she can look at the landscape. Ganahl estimates that the app saves 20 percent of her time when booking tickets for herself and friends and family. "Orbitz even remembers that I like to connect through the Minneapolis airport since it's such a fun spot to hang out."
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