How to Modernize a Legacy Business Without Losing Its Core: Anne Huntington Sharma Artwork

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Badass Women in Business

How to Modernize a Legacy Business Without Losing Its Core: Anne Huntington Sharma

July 28, 2026 • Aggie & Cristy • Season 5 • Episode 24

0:00 | 53:30

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Anne Huntington Sharma explains how leaders can honor a company’s history while still making the difficult decisions required for its next chapter. Drawing from her path from “center number 17” to President and CEO of Huntington Learning Center, she explores succession, franchise growth, digital transformation, and the discipline of evolving only when change creates measurable value.

Show Notes

The Strategic Focus

This conversation examines what it takes to lead a second generation company with credibility, patience, and strategic clarity, especially when the business must preserve a proven model while adapting to new technology, changing customer expectations, and a complex franchise network.

Key Takeaways

Legacy leadership requires more than inheritance; it demands outside experience, operational credibility, and the humility to build a team with deeper expertise than your own.
Successful transformation begins with a real market need, followed by careful testing, franchisee input, and consistent communication before broad implementation.
Succession is not a single event but a long process built on trust, role clarity, honest dialogue, and a shared understanding of what the business will need next.
Franchising can create scalable impact and recurring revenue, but only when the model is repeatable, the founder can relinquish control, and franchisees have meaningful forums for feedback.

Guest Contact & Connect

Anne Huntington Sharma is President, CEO, and Board Member of Huntington Learning Center, where she leads strategy, partnerships, innovation, and the continued evolution of a nearly 50 year education brand.

Website: https://huntingtonhelps.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-huntington-sharma/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/huntingtonhelps/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HuntingtonHelps

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