Let me introduce to you Gloria Jean

She is the woman who started the gourmet coffee craze around the world!

In 1979 she opened a small shop in the village of Long Grove Illinois. By 1981 two major shopping malls wanted to test the waters by having a unique store they weren’t certain would be able to make any money. As they say, the rest is history!!!!

Gloria Jean sold her business in 1993. Today there are almost 300 stores worldwide. She also was one of the first women to definitely break the "glass ceiling".

As she tells her success story people are thrilled to meet her and hear the honest hard working lady and what it took to get there. She speaks from her heart and not a memorized piece of paper.

She will tell you how she had to fight the big guys and prove to them that coffee is a good thing. Her troubles and loses but how the fight was won. How she made coffee and the color green, the signature of a great store. Why they decided to franchise, and how that saved the day.

Fighting Up the Ladder from Bernard Street

She grew up poor on the Northwest side of Chicago. She will share her memories and how a poor girl without a college education can work herself up to being a household name. She will tell you about her first business a beauty shop, which she also ran for 12 years while Gloria Jean’s was growing. She swears being a hairdresser was her best education. She will make you laugh and you will be enthralled by her heart-warming stories.

Her newest Battle With Cancer

Just when she thought life would be really good and she could sit back and enjoy life after selling Gloria Jean's, her husband asked for a divorce by fax and a couple years later she finds breast cancer. She approaches this with the same energy and positive thinking she has everything else in her life. She never loses her of sense humor, which she swears is her secret to her success.
Gloria Jean speaks openly about her war with cancer and the importance of showing no fear and your need to run to your doctor. Fear lets cancer grow.