Chicago Entrepreneur Is First African American Female to Own a Midas Franchise in the U.S. and Canada

On September 1, Andrea Brown will be honored by receiving the 29th Annual Woman Veteran Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Women's Business Development Center (WBDC) in Chicago, Illinois. She has worked hard for this award and has traveled an interesting road that has taken her from a pre-med focus in college to becoming the first African American female to own a Midas franchise in the U.S. and Canada.

Andrea's road to success

Andrea is a native of Mississippi who originally planned to take a different course. She graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Biology with plans to go on even further in her pre-med career objective. When financial issues stopped her from continuing, she found another way; she joined the Army. There she served as a pharmacy specialist.

She picked up on her education by earning her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Eastern Illinois University after finishing her service in the Army. She also worked at a VA Medical Center. But her heart yearned to become a business owner, so she found a way to do it. Why Midas? Midas is one of many Fortune 500 companies who work with the government to give franchise opportunities to veterans, and she qualified. Now she is not only the company's first female military veteran but also the first African American female to own a Midas franchise in the United States and Canada.

To what does Andrea owe her success?

Perseverance. She never gave up. She never took no for an answer. When one door closed, she found another way in. You might call her "the woman with the Midas touch."

Congratulations Andrea Brown!

Read more at www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/community/chi-ugc-article-chicago-heights-business-owner-to-receive-awa-2015-08-26-story.html