Cody Teets

Cody is a practical, visionary thinker and resourceful guide to business owners and successors who value a creative partner as they craft their unique business and personal transitions. She brings more than 30 years of experience to each engagement in positioning key stakeholders to succeed in family-business transitions and designing executive succession strategies.

Cody works with two kinds of owners who face the same fundamental questions: privately held family businesses and franchise families. For both, the work begins with whether the next generation is ready, how to develop a successor who can lead, how to keep the family strong through the transition, and what to do when the next generation is not the answer. Franchise families carry an added layer of franchisor approval, successor qualification, and alignment with the franchise agreement and transfer process. Cody brings three decades as a senior executive at McDonald’s Corporation to help them navigate it.

In her prior careers as a Fortune 150 executive, university professor, and interim university president, Cody orchestrated organization-wide turnaround plans and mentored individuals into corporate office and director-level positions. She has also worked one-on-one with young people to develop the intellectual and emotional proficiencies necessary to become successful leaders.

Cody is an author and board member of both for-profit and non-profit organizations. She is an expert in designing business governance systems and developing strategic plans that add value and promote financial and talent growth. She holds a PhD in business from the University of Denver and an MBA, along with certificates in brand mastery and communications leadership. As a Strategist and Transition Guide, Cody leverages time-tested methods and experience-driven insights to guide owners and successors in maintaining strong family bonds and ensuring long-term business success.