Franchise owners with The UPS Store share a common work ethic, attitude and passion for serving the community. Among many other qualities, they are dedicated to their business and their team, which has helped grow their stores and made them beloved in their community.
Hear more from a few of the women-owned The UPS Store locations, what makes each unique, how they inspire and strive to make a difference in their personal and professional lives.
Maya Warrier
Maya Warrier is a retail owner of The UPS Store in Louisville, Kentucky and has perfected the art of the work-life balance. With her busy schedule as a retail owner, a part-time lawyer, real estate investor and community leader, Maya is also a mom of four kids and continues to inspire those around her.
Growing up with a strong interest in the legal system, Maya earned her first degree in finance, then went onto earn an MBA, and continued her education even further, attending law school. One of her earliest jobs was working as a criminal defense attorney for Louisville Metro’s Public Defender’s Office, and from there, worked for a large private law firm, then practiced family law on her own.
Strongly believing that “everything will work out the way it’s supposed to,” Maya met with an acquaintance who owned a The UPS Store, and she was instantly intrigued. She was already part of the business community with her legal career, and after that meeting, her entrepreneurial spirit came to life, encouraging her and her husband, Matt, to buy their very own The UPS Store location in 2017.
Maya’s career pivot has paid off, not only for herself but for her employees and the community at large. She’s a firm believer in employee growth and training, crediting her outstanding team for developing relationships with customers. One even returned from vacation with a souvenir hat for a favorite employee!
In addition to creating a strong team at The UPS Store, Maya also dedicates time to serving the community. Her store proudly supports charitable donations for the Toys for Tots Literacy Program, and personally Maya serves as an advocate for several causes that support the legal and humanitarian rights of women and children.
Leanne Dobard Alvarez
She’s a multi-talented mentor and community leader, owner of The UPS Store in Pearland, Texas and an inspiration to other women-owned businesses. Meet Leanne Dobard Alvarez.
Leanne is a proud New Orleans native, living there during her college years and her early career which started with Anheuser-Busch. With years of sales experience, she went on to become a medical-surgical instruments sales representative before being introduced to a friend’s brother, Rick, who happened to also be a retail owner of two The UPS Store locations in Dallas. Leanne was intrigued, and after shadowing Rick at his stores, he became her mentor and inspiration to pursue franchise opportunities of her own. Leanne made a career pivot, and now uses her wealth of knowledge in sales and customer service to thrive as a retail owner of the Pearland The UPS Store location.
Since she became a franchise owner in 2006, Leanne has enjoyed watching Pearland grow from a sleepy landscape to a thriving business community. Leanne loves serving this new community and lends her support and leadership to several organizations and charities, serving as President of The UPS Store Houston Co-Op Board, President of her HOA and is active in the Pearland Chamber of Commerce. She’s also passionate about Pearland’s own Community Theater, where she’s a founding member and the self-proclaimed “props mistress.”
Leanne also believes in her “open-book” philosophy as a community leader, inspiring other small business owners and sharing the life lessons she’s learned along the way. She tells other owners to hire for personality and positive attitudes, reminds them about the hard work it takes to own and operate a business and encourages a healthy work-life balance by allowing time for relaxation.
Leanne is an inspiration to many including her team, her family and her customers. Her son, Evan, has even joined her in running her The UPS Store location to continue to provide their well-known and loved New Orleans-style hospitality. A customer once told her, “Leanne, you make me want to go find something to ship — just so I can come visit your store!”
Snover Uppal
The cornerstone of a great business is when you can go into a store, and they know you by name and treat you like family. Snover Uppal demonstrates this philosophy daily as an owner with The UPS Store at her Orange, California location.
Serving the business community for the last five years, Snover has shown that even the most varied backgrounds and personal interests can combine to form the ideal retail owner with The UPS Store. Beyond her friendly greeting, business acumen, organizational skills, resourcefulness and cheery demeanor, you’ll find her many hidden talents and interests outside of the store, some of which relate to the equestrian community.
One of Snover’s biggest passions is her love of quarter horses. She owns two horses, Pistol and Peyton. Snover has become very involved in many local horse events with her daughter, and competes in fast-paced rodeos. In an interesting twist of fate, her love of horses and The UPS Store were brought together several years ago when a devastating wildfire hit local neighborhoods. While Snover and her family evacuated their home due to the fire, she also bravely helped evacuate many local horses being impacted by the fire. Directing horse trailers to be parked at The UPS Store parking lot as a safe haven during the tragedy, she selflessly and heroically served the community as she would in her daily business.
Snover loves giving back and being active in her community through charity work with the Women’s League. Her “unmatched work ethic” serves as inspiration to other women-owned businesses, and her philosophy in life is to “work hard, take pride in what you do, strive for improvement and above all, LOVE what you do.” That dedication can be seen inside Snover’s The UPS Store as well as in the community she serves.
To explore franchise opportunities or learn more about opening a franchise of your own, check out our upcoming webinars or reach out to our franchise development team.
