When we first met Victoria Donahue in 2023, she was an educator who wanted more for herself and her family, but she still wanted to make a difference in the lives of children in her community. 

By 2024, she was a Sticky Fingers Cooking® franchise business owner serving schools where she previously taught–and beyond! After her first year, she was ready to purchase a second territory and embrace growth.

The #1 thing she learned along the way? “Dream bigger!,” she says with a laugh. “Becoming a Sticky Fingers Cooking franchise business owner really opened my eyes to what’s possible!”

The details are inspiring: “My goal in 2025 was to pay off both my loan and to purchase the second territory, and we did both,” she says. “Once that happened, my next goal became to get in certain districts that I really wanted to work with and then that happened.”

Yes, there’s more. “I couldn’t even say it out loud, but I wanted to gross $1 million dollars, and now it feels so much more attainable and real,” Victoria says excitedly. “I felt the hunger and desire to take control of my life, and now I live it daily and to me that’s pretty priceless. It’s a form of freedom.

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What Is It Like to Be a Franchisee?

Now that Victoria is a franchise owner with a team of employees and meeting–or exceeding–her goals, she can reflect on how far she has come and what this new life looks like.

“My daughter says all the time, ‘I love how available you are!’,” Victoria shares. “Technically, our schools and clients are our bosses, but not of my time and I love being my own boss! I feel sooooo blessed.”

She describes a typical weekday as making sure there is nothing on her calendar before 9:30 a.m. so she has 30 minutes between 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. to just settle in to the work zone. 

“I like to start with catching up, responding to people, and take time to think about the big picture,” Victoria says. “I look at the focus for the day and the week, assess if we are close to our goals and what we need to do to get there. I correspond with my team and share our focus for the day.”

By noon, Victoria is ready to take a walk and get moving before returning to her home office, where she aims to wrap up around 2:30 p.m. by setting tasks for the next day. “Then I can pick up my high schooler, prep dinner, do some chores, and occasionally check a few work emails in the evening,” she says.

Victoria candidly shares this was not her experience growing up as her own mom worked as a supervisor in retail and could only be available to family on weekends, and sometimes missed holidays. Today she is inspiring her own family and those who work with her to also dream bigger to have flexibility. 

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What Being a Franchisee Has Taught Victoria

Today, Victoria measures success by the impact her leadership and business development has on the team as a whole.

“The impact we have on kids is still so important, but now that I’m not in the classroom and spend more time with our staff, that is so meaningful to me,” Victoria says of what she’s still learning as a franchise business owner. “I would say about 30% of our team came from the professional culinary industry and they felt really burnt out and underappreciated.”

Today, she sees these chef instructors happy and using their skills with the students. “They feel appreciated, purposeful, and I see them light back up!,” she says. “They have a passion for food, for service, for nutrition. It matters a lot that they feel valued.”

Learn about all of our franchisees here. If Victoria’s story has inspired you to take the next steps in your Sticky Fingers Cooking education franchise opportunity, click here to set up a call today.