Stacy Madison
Building a Company that Cares
By Susan Josephs

For Stacy Madison, getting fired from a restaurant in Honolulu "was the best thing that ever happened." After months of working more than 80 hours a week as a manager, she had asked when her bonus check would be coming—and found herself without a job. "That's when the entrepreneurial gene clicked," she says. "I was now motivated to go into my business for myself."

Seven years after co-founding Stacy's Pita Chip Company with her former husband and current business partner, Mark Andrus, the 39-year-old Madison presides over a multimillion-dollar natural-snack-food company that's equally dedicated to its products, employees and charitable contributions. A single mother of twin baby girls, she also has a newfound respect for women who juggle work and family. "I am proud of all of my choices," she says. "I learned to stop waiting for things to happen to me and, rather, became proactive."

Ranked the number-two-selling snack food in Costco stores worldwide, Stacy's Pita Chips have earned Madison numerous accolades, including an invitation to visit the White House in 2000. As a successful female business leader, doing good works remains a crucial component of her modus operandi, which she attributes to her Reform Jewish upbringing. Madison, who donates pita chips and participates in charitable events, says, "We all have to take care of each other. As a kid, I didn't have much of an appreciation for what I learned in temple. Now that I have a family of my own, my attitude has changed."

Raised in New England, Madison followed in the footsteps of her psychologist father by studying psychology in college and working for seven years as a licensed social worker. The decision to leave social work for the restaurant industry "was very difficult for me because it meant shattering my father's dream," she says. But, she adds, her parents are thrilled by her success.

After briefly living in Hawaii, Madison returned to New England with Andrus and opened a sandwich cart in downtown Boston. The couple's healthy sandwiches soon became a noontime hit; to keep the customers happy as they waited in line, Madison offered them free pita chips that she had baked from the previous day's leftover bread. "Customers told us we should be selling them," she recalls.

In 1998, Madison and Andrus gave up the food cart and devoted their business to baked pita chips. Though their marriage ended two years later, they continued to flourish as business partners. "The business was really our child," she says. "It runs so much better now."

Though once again single, Madison "wanted to have kids and was petrified that I'd miss my opportunity. One of my proudest moments in life was deciding I was not going to miss that opportunity."

After undergoing in utero fertilization through donor insemination, Madison gave birth last December to twins, Samantha and Morgan. With the support of a nanny, her family—and a work environment that allows her daughters to visit—Madison strives to "be the best parent I can be while still running a successful business. Had I not been financially ready to bring children into the world, I would not have done it," she says. "I want to be a good role model."