Episode 26: Breaking Gender Barriers Through Excellence with Fanny Hanono

What does it take to dominate an industry  that wasn't built for you? Meet Fanny from   GFX. The automotive industry isn't  known for making room for women,   so Fanny didn't wait for permission. She  learned the game, earned her seat, and built   real authority in a space most women are told to  avoid. Find out more this week on Jewish Grit. This week on the Jewish Grip podcast, we're  sitting down with Fanny, and it is really nice to   meet you. Thank you so much for coming. Please, it  was my pleasure. For those who do not know you and   they're meeting you for the first time, can you  please tell us a little bit about who you are and   what you're building? So, my name is Fanny Hanono.  Um I own a automotive transmission aftermarket   transmission company and we manufacture in Asia  in India parts for automatic transmissions that   is that thing in your car that has a PRND2 uh as  opposed to a manual transmission which is like a   stick shift. So we started my father started  this company in 1961 and I have been working   here since the early 80s and um I have since  then owned it, sold it, rewent went back into   the industry and here I am today. Wow, that's a  lot. Okay, I have so many questions. There's so   much to get into. I guess the first question that  I have is are there many women in this industry?   basically none. There's I think a woman who owns  a trucking company out of possibly Chicago and   of course there's uh the president of General  Motors who's a woman for I think the last two   or three years but that's a first in the we call  it the original equipment manufacturing OEM. Um   but that is obviously not the typical business for  to have women in. Can you tell me a time while you   were building this company where you were stuck  against the wall? You you had nowhere to go and   you just had to get yourself out of it. So I have  had many difficult times. When in 1999 we were   ready to sell the very large company uh because  the we thought the world was coming to an end with   a new millennium and this and that and we bought  new computer systems that would go go into the new   millennium and lo and behold nothing happened.  The world just kept going. But we had spent a   fortune on computer systems. And a year later,  a very large company who was a customer of mine   offered to buy the company. And um a year later,  we finally did the deal and we finally closed the   deal. And then we went from being Carfell to GFX.  We just sold certain assets of the company and we   maintained certain assets of the company in 2001.  At that point um I stayed working in what is GFX   but my family owns another company uh called Perry  Ellis International. So I was working with both   companies at that time. Well I still work for both  companies now. We manufacture men's clothing on   one side and I manufacture automotive parts on the  other side. So the automotive part is 100% owned   by me and the Perry Ellis I share with my brother.  in regards to Judaism and your Jewish values when   uncertainty happens and you are just facing  some hardships, your back is against the wall,   things are going wrong. Um, what grounds you?  Well, my family definitely grounds me. My kids   ground me because I always think that that's  more important than what's happening out there.   I pray I pray a lot. I sometimes maybe pray more  when I'm going through worse times than others,   but I do pray. I have an incredible faith in in  Hashem that he's watching over me and whatever   he put in front of me was because I'm going to be  able to get through it. And I believe that I have   had a lot of this year has been extraordinarily  tough for me probably a long time. I am a divorced   mom. I had a very bad year during my divorce  and I was with five kids that I raised on my own   basically. My older ones were already older, but I  I believe a divorce in any family is difficult to   begin with. So, I have had some tough years, but  you know, when I wake up in the morning, I think   all my kids are healthy, my grandkids are healthy,  and I have more to be thankful for than more to   complain about. And that grounds me all the time.  Somebody said to me, actually, today, you know,   it's been difficult and you know, you're tired  and this and that. And I said, yeah, but you know   what? All my kids and my grandkids are healthy.  My family's healthy. My brother's healthy,   so I'm I'm okay. The rest I'm going to handle.  Wow. And so how did you get involved in this? Like   how did you get started? So I like the automotive  side because it has a beginning and it has an end.   So you manufacture a part. You might pay for the  molding or the tooling, whatever you might call   it. And that part will only be good for maybe 20  years. So it has a beginning and it has an ending.   A Ford transmission could last in the industry 20  years. It could only last four years. It depends   what transmission it is. Um, what is called a  ZF, which is a BMW transmission. BMW changes   their transmissions very often. They upgrade them,  they make changes. So, I like things that have a   tooling that you go in, it's you manufacture  the part, you continue to manufacture for so   many years, and then the part is done because the  car gets off the road, the transmission is done.   I also love the manufacturing, going to factories.  I love the to learn about the difference between   aluminum, iron, you know, powdered metal.  I I love that world. I love the world   um where it's just first of all very different,  very different. I don't know women in my industry.   I am very blessed. I have the same staff, some  of them 40 years, 30 years, 45 years. It's a   testament to you. It's a testament to myself  and some to my dad. All in all, I would say   that I don't have anybody here younger. Maybe  warehouse staff that's here maybe even my big   warehouse staff is going on 30, 17, 18 years.  And in the office, most people are 10 and up. So,   how old were you when you started with your  dad? So my dad started the company in 1961,   a couple days after I was born. Wow. Okay. So  I have a the company's year is May 31st. I was   born May 30th. So I always my father always said  I brought in Spanish they say the bread underneath   your arm. I always I I got married. I went to  college and got married and went to live in Panama   for six years. I had two children in Panama. Then  we moved back to the United States to Miami and I   had another three kids. So I have like a total of  five. And when I came back, I I wanted to to work.   I had uh thought about going to law school. But  then I started working with my dad. My dad said,   "Why don't you come help me?" And I started and  my brother was already for many years in the   clothing business. I didn't want to step on his  toes either. So I went to the automotive side and   it's been 40 years and I love it. Wow. So you said  you mentioned that you have five kids. How did you   integrate your family life with building? I want  to tell you I people have asked me this before   and I tell you there's no perfect balance. One  always gets affected by the other. Yeah. I have   been very blessed. You know once you're an owner  also you I am a woman so I am very considerate   and thoughtful when my employees have to go  to school plays and do things with their kids.   I think that I spent a lot of time. I don't miss I  didn't miss school plays or at least I tried never   to miss a school play. I went to all the school  events. I went to all the school field trips over   and over again because you have five kids. So,  it's the same field trip five times. Never ends.   Never ends. But I I think I did a very decent job.  I hope anyway in my own mind that um but I will   tell you it's not easy at all because I really  believe the work starts when you get home with   the kids. It's I think work is easier than your  kids. You know, work ends and you have a you have   a decision to make and you make it and you move  on. But with kids, it doesn't happen that way. You   have decisions to make and then you second guess  your own decisions and then you think wow maybe I   I should have done this instead of this. You don't  you feel that in business but not the same because   there's actually a human being that is your child.  Yeah. And but I will tell you this I am extremely   proud that I worked while my kids were growing up.  I wanted my daughters to know that you could do   it. It's not something that is so far-fetched. You  can work and you can have children. I have been   extremely blessed to have very good help around  me from actually paid help to my friends that   have helped me when I'm in Asia. I have called  them, hey, my kid can't find his homework. Can   you go to my house and help me look for it?  And people have been very good. I have been   very blessed in that respect. I want to go into  something that you said, you know, beginning that   there aren't that many women in this industry  and, you know, raising a family and let's talk   about it from the business perspective. What are  some push backs that you have gotten or received   by being a woman in this industry? So, I'll tell  you a funny story. I was interviewed recently for   something else and the woman said, "Oh, so how how  do you establish relationships?" I said, "For me,   I find it extremely difficult because if there's a  golf tournament and the men are all going to play,   they never ask me to participate in the golf  tournament. They ask me to sponsor the golf   tournament." Correct. Right. So, nobody says to  me, "Well, if you're not going to go golfing,"   says, "Would you like a spa day?" It's not it's  unheard of in my in my world, but they would   love me to sponsor a hole or the golf tournament  or anything. So, I think it's very hard for me.   Some ways I think men are more kinder in some  ways when they see a woman, but I think that their   buddies are always going to be men and if they can  give the order to the man, I think they actually   do. So, how do you deal with that? I tell you that  I just work hard and I go and I hope that there'll   be another opportunity that I will take it. And  you know your relationships in your industry are   very important and people that you do speak to in  your industry and you do have conversations with   with you have to form a bond with those people and  those are the people that will come out to rally   for you. Was there ever a time that you wanted to  give up? There was many times I wanted to give up.   Many times I had one year that I bought so much  inventory I thought I was going to go bankrupt.   I made an investment in a specific part. So the  way transmissions work is they are first seen in   Europe and in Eastern Europe before they even  hit the United States. So I had what's called   toled up bought a molding for a part thinking  it was going to sell like crazy. And I bought   so much inventory but so much inventory I almost  bankrupted my own company. Five years later,   that part is now extraordinarily popular. But I  had sold so much of it uh to get rid of it at any   price. And I paid a very heavy price. It was it  was a very very eyeopening experience for me. I   have had many situations like that. not where I  buy a lot of inventory, but I bought inventory,   a lot of inventory be when Trump became president  because I knew he was gonna go right after the   tariffs. So, I bought a lot of inventory and  I'm still sitting on a lot of inventory. Um,   also a very big cash expense and it puts it puts  a very big strain on the company's finances. When   you're building a company, it's and you're growing  and there are all these different incidences that   are happening globally, politically, economically,  right? There's a lot of risk takingaking. So,   what's your risk aversion or h how big of a  risk taker are you as an entrepreneur? Well,   I'll tell you, if you're going to be in the  international world, there's a lot of risk   takingaking. You have issues with currency  fluctuations, political fluctuations. I mean,   you think of Ukraine. Ukraine is a huge market  for me. Was a huge market for me. I went to   war. It's been three years. It's still a decent  market because they still have to fix their cars,   but I shipped a customer parts to Ukraine and he  it sat in Ukrainian customs for almost a year. So,   you have to extend circumstances where you give  them longer credit. There's other things you have   to do. It's it's difficult. You have to be on top  of the politics of every nation. You have to be   careful when you give credit. Mexico is is a case  in point. We do, thank God, very well in Mexico,   but you have to be careful, you know, because  sometimes it's hard to get dollars in Mexico and   send you money. So, it's you really have to be on  top of of what is happening in the world. Currency   fluctuations are extremely important to me because  if the currency isn't worth anything or is very   low, then they can't afford to pay their bills.  and then you can't ship because they can't pay.   Well, let's talk about the Jewish bubble. Let's  talk about the Jewish bubble. How does Jewish   resilience or your Judaism play into you as an  entrepreneur, as a mother? So, I my Jewishness is   probably my most important is the most important  thing to me. My children knew that. They all   went to Jewish schools. Um I am not Orthodox. I am  spiritual. But everybody knew Shabbat was Shabbat.   Nobody went out. It wasn't like a question.  Interestingly enough, when everybody went away to   college, as they came back, they no longer wanted  to go out Friday nights. They may have gone out at   11:00 at night, whatever. But most of them did not  want to go out Friday nights anymore. And I'm very   proud to say all my kids still do Shabbat. Now,  my daughter is Orthodox, so I go to her after sh   every Saturday afternoon for lunch or, you know,  sometimes on Friday night. I usually hit my son   on Friday nights for Shabbat or, you know, I do  it in my home and they come to me. I'm I'm very   proud that my kids know who they are, what they  stand. I'm very proud that they know where their   Jewishness is important to them. That's beautiful.  What What does success in business or life look   like to you? So success in my life, I would say  that you have good kids that have good moral   and good ethics and know that they're Jewish.  That is success to me. That they're Zionistic,   that they give a lot of charity, that they go to  all Jewish organizations, that they know who they   are in their Zionism and their Judaism and and  their spirituality. That is extremely extremely   important to me. Business-wise, I am blessed  again as always to have a lot of good people   surrounding me and that has allowed me to be  successful. What's your one piece of advice   that you would give to young professionals or  college students that are, you know, looking to   grow a business or build a business? So, I would  give them a few pieces of advice as I get older.   It's up to you. No matter how hard it is to  work harder. And I really truly believe that   you really want to make it, you're going to have  to work harder than the next guy. And that means   if you got to be 24/7 answering emails, answering  people, you got to do it. It's not going to come   from 9 to5. You really have to put your guts and  your soul into anything you do. We've gotten so   deep into so many different topics, but I really  want to bring it back to this one question,   which is what makes you proud to be a Jew? Israel  makes me extraordinarily proud that we started a   nation and we are where we are today. It makes me  proud, these people throughout our history that   have come and shown how we can survive things. I'm  a real big reader about the Holocaust. I literally   just finished a book today and I think to myself,  people like say, "Oh, they went to the slaughter   like lambs to the slaughter." I don't think  anybody did. It's very easy for you to say that   in the 2000 in this generation when they didn't  have a phone. You couldn't call your mother. You   couldn't call your sister and tell them what was  happening. Get out and escape, you know. And then   I think that we have so many heroes whether it's  Jabatinsky or Trumbledore or you look at histories   in Judaism where they one person affected so  many. It's a blessing. Fanny, thank you so much   for sitting with me today. Oh, it's my pleasure.  This was such an insightful conversation, a very   inspiring conversation. I learned so much today  from you. Oh, please. I learned from you too,   Shamon. Yeah. Uh, no, it's it's really beautiful.  Thank you so much and um I look forward to seeing   you again. Thank you for listening to Jewish  Grit and Ol mentorship podcast. At Ol mentorship,   we believe that everyone needs a mentor. What  better way is there to tap into your personal and   professional potential than with a Jewish mentor  at your side. Learn more at olam.org/metorship.   Don't forget to keep listening on Apple Podcast,  Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.