Wichitan buys Dale Carnegie franchise to help people ‘both professionally and personally’

Longtime human resources executive Molly Crowe has purchased the Dale Carnegie franchise for Kansas, which is known as Dale Carnegie– Kansas Heartland.

She said the purchase fits with her original business administration degree with a major in human resources and a minor in leadership studies.

“I knew that I wanted to work with people and basically just help people with their careers,” Crowe said.

She’s done that in various industries, such as banking, agribusiness and the nonprofit sector.

That included being a talent-acquisition specialist for years.

Crowe also has been an HR consultant, which is when she encountered her first Dale Carnegie course.

“During that time, I had the opportunity to go to their high-impact presentations course.”

That’s a course that helps people learn how to present information, whether that’s to a small or large audience.

“I was amazed,” Crowe said.

She said the two-day course was especially interactive.

“I mean, we just practiced and practiced and practiced different things they taught us in the course. . . . It was such a comfortable environment to try things out.”

In 2021, Crowe took a different Dale Carnegie course and once again learned a lot.

A trainer asked if she’d ever considered becoming a trainer, and Crowe said she already worked full time.

Previous franchise owner Gordon Hibbard encouraged her to start the process and see what she thought. Crowe used paid leave to start training and became an independent contractor for the franchise before Hibbard then approached her about buying the business.

The move made sense to Crowe.

“It still relates to human resources, I feel like . . . because we’re developing others.”

Sales and operations are what she does daily, but Crowe still will train sometimes, too.

“We basically have a couple of different options for training,” she said.

There are public courses that people can register to take with a mix of other people, and there is in-house training when a company hires Dale Carnegie to come on site and teach a course.

Crowe has the franchise for the entire state of Kansas minus three counties near Kansas City, Mo. She’s based in Wichita.

If you think you could use a Dale Carnegie course, Crowe recommends you speak with someone who has attended one.

“It’s a great experience, and I encourage people to learn more about it,” she said.

“It really does provide an experience that you can use throughout your entire life for the better.”

This story was originally published February 5, 2025 at 1:38 PM.