A Family Affair
By Kevin Madness
“My mom has always told me that if you love what you do, you won’t work a day in your life,” Heather Hendon recalls. If that is true, then Hendon has indeed never toiled. From the cradle to the boardroom, she has been working alongside her family on a labor of love.
Hendon is the vice president of operations for Danny’s Family, a diverse Valley-based business conglomerate named for her father. Her parents started the company in 1984 with one car wash. Today, Danny’s Family owns thirteen full-service car washes, thirteen convenience stores, three truck washes, and two restaurants. Hendon attributes the success of the business to a dedicated work ethic shared by her family, particularly her father, who is the hardest worker that Hendon has ever known. Danny Hendon, she says, put his heart and soul in the business and acted as an early role model for his family.
“Since I was five years old, I have been around this business,” Hendon said. “I lived, breathed, and slept the car-care industry.”
Heather Hendon practically grew up at a car wash. As a teen, she worked selling chrome to truckers to outfit their rigs. It was no surprise to anyone when Hendon returned to the family business after graduating with honors from Arizona State University to work alongside her father.
Hendon says that it is crucial for her to be involved in every single aspect of the family business. This allows her to understand her operation and know that it is running properly. To expand her expertise, Hendon plans to begin working more with Barcelona, the family’s bar, steakhouse, and nightclub. “It’s very multifaceted,” she says. “It’s a field that I’m not that familiar with but am really enjoying getting to understand.”
One concept Heather certainly understands is generosity, a notion that was impressed upon her by her parents.
“From a very young age, my mother made it a priority to instill certain values within me,” she says. “She made it a point to always show me how fortunate we were to just have the basic necessities in life. She also wanted me to get out in the community and help others who weren’t as fortunate. There is no greater satisfaction in the world than knowing that you have helped someone else.” Hendon has logged many hours volunteering at local children’s hospitals, food banks, and animal shelters.
Her father, too, lives by a charitable maxim: The more you give, the more you get back—a theory the Hendons utilize in their business. With Heather Hendon’s help, Danny’s Family has given more than $750,000 to local charities and has raised over 10,000 pounds of canned food donations for St. Mary’s Food Bank.
The size of Hendon’s “family” continues to expand. With every community the company enters, every charitable cause they support, and every new person they employ.
“That is the most important thing, and we have created that here at Danny’s,” Heather says. “We are one big family.”