?? Domino's Pizza around the World and Failing vs. Learning

Domino's Pizza is the largest pizza company in the world, with stores in 90 different countries. They are also well-known for their award-winning marketing campaigns. But did you know their international business is helping to drive significant growth? Look what happened to their revenue by segment in recent years. While other segments declined, Domino's added nearly $100M in revenue from 2018 to 2023 thanks to international franchises.

Well as of this week, it's very clear that Domino's is going to keep investing in their future, by leaning into international opportunity. They just announced a franchise deal with Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd. that includes plans to open more than 5,500 Domino's stores (yes, 5,500 new locations!) across six different markets: Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Georgia, India, Sri Lanka and Türkiye. They currently have 2,793 in these markets, and 18,848 in total.

While this might seem like a lot of pizza, the world is a big place, and the pizza market is growing. Forecasted annual sales growth through 2023 was huge in nearly every part of the world, according to the Pizza Power Report (also, such a fun name for a report!)

The franchise model is very popular with quick-service restaurants expanding into new markets. I personally wish more B2B companies expanded through channel relationships also, as there are so many major benefits to going this route in terms of sales velocity and gaining instant ability to operate in a new market.

Failing vs. Learning

The number one reason I'm not afraid of failure is that I love to learn. The best learning often comes from challenges, not from sitting around never taking any risks. If you're stretching yourself and trying new things, you are pretty much bound to fail. The only people who do not fail are those who never really push themselves beyond their comfort zone or those who are... fictional.

I have failed so many times that I have learned to regard any failure as a learning opportunity. Here are some of the many ways I have failed throughout my life and how they have helped me:

• Failed at every team sport I tried out for as a child. I learned that hand-eye coordination was simply not a skill I was born with. It forced me to lean into other strengths I did have, like music. And hey, that led me to try out for the pom pom squad instead, which was way more fun for me! I learned that dance was easier for me, since music was involved.
• Failed at making a career out of music. I was good enough at classical piano to get a scholarship to college, but my advisor told me she didn't think I had what it took to be a concert pianist. She suggested I focus on international business and Spanish instead. She was right on both counts, but wow, was that a hard slap in the face for me when I was only in my teens!
• Failed at finishing my PhD. I tried and failed, a couple of times, to be an academic, both when I was a Fulbright scholar and did sociolinguistic research, and again later, when I started down a doctoral path. What I learned was that Academia moves way too slowly for me. I love the faster pace of business, and the idea of a tenure track position actually scared me when my advisor told me I could just take my doctoral research and basically spend the rest of my life repurposing my research in that one niche area. No thanks!
• Failed at getting a book deal. I faced so, so many rejections when pitching my first major book to publishers that I had an agent actually give up on me. That's right, someone I was paying for a service where I was the customer basically dumped me. Ouch! But I did not give up. I began pitching myself until an editor from an imprint of Penguin Randomhouse said "yes." Lesson learned? Keep trying.
• Failed at getting jobs I wanted. Oh, this one hurts. If you're looking for a new role right now, I feel for you. It's one of the hardest markets I've seen in my life. It's painful to be turned away from a job you feel you could knock out of the park, but guess what? Those companies and bosses are not rejecting you, they are simply allowing you to learn the relationship wasn't a great fit before it ever began. While it's hard, take the lesson as a positive and just keep networking until you find the right fit. Trial and error? The new normal!

The reason I'm writing about failure today is that it can be easy to look at a person and assume that when they are succeeding, that they have zero struggles, that their life is easy, or that they have their act completely together. That is never the case. Every person on this earth has their hardships and problems. And everyone fails. Normalizing failure is so important.

The best thing is, when you get older, you've often had enough failures that you're not afraid of failing or looking ridiculous or trying new things anymore. How I wish I had known failure is not only a good thing, but a totally normal thing, when I was younger.

Takeaway: next time you "fail" at something, remember, you're not failing. You're learning. You're growing. You're evolving. You get to decide what you call it. How you view it is a choice.

Grace Notes

What else is going on this week? Well, here's something interesting...

I was named a Top 50 CMO on LinkedIn, and found myself on a list with a lot of CMOs at much bigger companies, with marketing leaders I really admire.

I was in spot #6 in a list that included CMOs from brands like 辉瑞 , 百事 , Molson Coors Beverage Company , Visa , Chobani , Delta Air Lines , Nasdaq , 联合利华 , Ulta Beauty , Liberty Mutual Insurance , H&R Block , The North Face , and more.

At first, I thought this recognition might be a mistake (see above for how many times I have failed at things).

But when I read about the methodology (follower count, engagement, and overall use of the platform), I realized that hey, maybe I did belong on that list after all, even if #6 still seems surprising.

And, maybe if I want to set a good example for others out there, I should simply say "thank you" and own the recognition, versus trying to swat it away.

I enjoy LinkedIn, mostly because it's a place where I can engage with a group of people I've been fortunate to stumble across during my finite trips around the sun. LinkedIn is a place where you can so easily curate your own micro-community.

This newsletter has grown so rapidly, that it has nearly double the number of people now as the population of my hometown where I grew up in rural Illinois! I am very grateful to everyone who reads it and supports it. I hope it's a burst of inspiration for you, because it's always fun for me to write it. I have no idea if all the newsletter engagement also helped put me on that Top 50 CMO list, but I am grateful to all of my readers.

Other Ways to Connect with Me

Thank you for reading this newsletter!

Here are 3 other ways we can connect:

1. Get my new book.

Don't forget to get your own copy of my latest book, Take Your Company Global.

It was kindly endorsed by my longtime CEO at HubSpot, Brian Halligan:

“Take Your Company Global is the definitive guide to building a global business in the digital age.” —Brian Halligan, Co-Founder and Executive Chairperson, HubSpot and Co-Author,?Inbound Marketing

Already have it? Liked it?

Help others find it, and leave a review on Amazon.

(Thank you to everyone who has left one so far. I appreciate you!)

2. Find me online.

Looking for my books, blog, and other writing?

Get all this and more at my (recently relaunched) website, Born to Be Global.

3. Book me for a talk.

I can do the following types of talks, depending on availability:

• Virtual author talks. I often do virtual author talks. It's pretty easy. Order some copies of my book for your team, collect their questions, and schedule me for a fireside chat. I've done this for teams at Salesforce, Amazon, Google, and many others.
• Conference keynotes. I'm not doing many of these right now, but for those I am doing, I'm planning into 2025. In some cases, I can build a book signing into the event if that's of interest.
• Podcast guest appearances. I'm always happy to support podcasters on topics of international business, leadership, localization, SaaS, women in tech, marketing, advertising, work/life integration, personal branding, and other topics I write about in this newsletter and elsewhere.

It's pretty easy to find out if I can help you.

Just go to borntobeglobal.com and fill out the form to get in touch!

See you next week,

Nataly