We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cris Sweeny a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Cris Sweeny, thanks for joining us. We are excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about growing your team: How did you recruit the first few people? What was the process like? How’d you go about training? And if you were to start over today, would you have done anything differently?

Thank you for this opportunity. I am always happy to share my business ownership experience in hopes of encouraging women to keep breaking the glass ceiling. Long before I launched our art and framing company over 30 years ago, I knew one thing: Whatever business I started, it had to be about the people. 

In 1989, I moved to Miami from New York and spent 10 days in a Key West frame shop where I learned the process of framing…from there, FrameWorks was born! Over the years, we have built our team intentionally with the core belief that diversity is simply who we are. We look for individuals with both natural skills and skills that can be developed. We do not necessarily select candidates based on their college degrees or resumes. Instead, we give opportunities to those who might not otherwise be offered them for their unique skills. This reflects our profound commitment to making a difference – inside the workroom and outside in the world. 

A more recent example of how we’ve grown our team and embodied our commitment to diversity is through our relationship with the Miami-based de Moya Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to creating employment opportunities for young adults with unique abilities by building long-term partnerships with the employers and providing support for the employees. Through our partnership, a de Moya job coach is trained alongside our FrameWorks placement employee, who is matched according to their skills. This coach is part of the triangular relationship – FrameWorks, employee, and job coach – to ensure mutual success and solid communication. We welcome the job coach on-site at our facility 1-2 times per week.

Our team also went through a de Moya training to learn how to communicate and support placement employees, which is helpful for the whole company. The partnership speaks to our promise of inclusion. Before de Moya, we did not have this specially abled representation on our team. Joey has been with us for 1.5 years; Katie joined more recently. Having these two individuals join the team highlights in our minds that “the world changes in small little steps.”

Awesome. So before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers?

As the co-founder of FrameWorks, I lead our team in creatively solving art and decision challenges brought to us by decades-long clients, including brands and interior designers. Geographically positioned near our hospitality clients in Miami, we offer “concept to crate” service with full in-house fabrication capabilities. Our diverse and inclusive 33-person FrameWorks team works out of our 20,000-square-foot studio and showroom facility on Bird Road. 

At our core, we believe in “limitless possibilities.” Every day, my intention is to live this out in front of our hospitality clients, in the background of our workroom, and outside in the community. Who we are and how we think is the foundation of FrameWorks’ past, present, and future. As the scope and scale of projects in hospitality continue to grow, our clients look to us for our innovative approach and our relentless pursuit of excellence! After 30 years of serving the art and framing needs of the hospitality industry, we provide both expertise and fresh eyes to each project. 

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

I placed an ad in the New Times, before the internet, and Claire Lardner answered it! She was an attorney at a private practice, and I was fighting for business survival. Claire began assisting at FrameWorks on weekends and developing hospitality contacts and contracts. After sealing several deals, she came on board full-time, and we haven’t looked back since.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

As a company, we have been in business for over 30 years, and there are times that call for us to remodel ourselves and make changes. Sometimes, it’s done internally; sometimes, it’s done from a business perspective; and, sometimes, life throws a curveball. 

The story of FrameWorks rebranding as the phoenix, featured in our logo, is a reflection of how we rebuilt from the ashes of losing our 16-year-old daughter to suicide. At the time, the grief made it difficult to lead our team and forced Claire and me to look at ourselves on a deeper level – and our team fully stood by us. They were there to lift us and walk through the challenges with us. Not only our team, but friends, colleagues, and clients reached out to offer their help, and through these kind gestures, we came to really know the people behind us and with us. 

It was an extraordinary journey forward in the face of such deep sorrow and pain, but we willed ourselves to find a way to build a life and a future. 

As we came out of the cloud of despair, we looked at life and decided we couldn’t be the same old FrameWorks. We couldn’t be the same parents or even the same people anymore. It was time to reinvent ourselves. We felt that a phoenix rising from the ashes was the perfect symbol. 

From there, we decided this would be our rebirth, rising from the ashes of pain and disaster, and we were determined to be stronger people and leaders. We aimed to be better at supporting our team. Also, part of our journey was not just limiting ourselves to the business; it continues to be – and will continue to be – touching people outside the business. 

In losing our daughter, we realized the depths of our relationships. This life-changing experience was not the preferred route to discover this, but it didn’t mean we couldn’t be better humans and bosses, better leaders, and better partners and parents. She lives inside us this way and certainly has freshly imprinted everything we do at FrameWorks.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://frameworksmiami.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frameworksmiami/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FrameWorksMiami
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/frameworksmiami/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYcWK-dbwnP1OQIpNFNz0Qg

Image Credits
Image credit: FrameWorks Miami