---
title: "Franchise Owner Wins National Business Award In Celebration of Women’s History Month"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/c98620dd-f1fc-4cec-b203-8802ffafcb4c
source: "Franchising.com"
original_url: https://www.franchising.com/news/20220308_franchise_owner_wins_national_business_award_in_celebration_of_womens_histo.html
category: "Travel"
industry: "Lodging & Travel"
segment: "Travel"
published: 2022-03-08T12:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:11:48.931Z
image: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1551836022-deb4988cc6c0?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop
---

# Franchise Owner Wins National Business Award In Celebration of Women’s History Month

**TL;DR:** Dream Vacations honors a female franchise owner with the OPAL Award for Women during Women's History Month. Ellen Overcast, a Dream Vacations franchise owner, received the 2022 OPAL Award for her outstanding performance and leadership.

*originally published in Franchising.com on 2022-03-08. [Read the original](https://www.franchising.com/news/20220308_franchise_owner_wins_national_business_award_in_celebration_of_womens_histo.html).*

## Story

The OPAL Award recognizes a female franchise owner who exemplifies Outstanding Performance And Leadership. The honorees are active in community and civic organizations and demonstrate leadership within Dream Vacations. This year’s award also celebrates women who not only survived but thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic by reinventing themselves and their businesses.

“Ellen not only created new ways to do business during the pandemic, but she continued to devote time to serving her community through volunteering and fundraising,” said Debbie Fiorino, chief operating officer for Dream Vacations. “She epitomizes what it means to be an OPAL winner, and I am honored to present Ellen with the 2022 OPAL Award.”

Overcast has been a travel franchise owner since June 2010, starting her franchise as CruiseOne and transitioning to its sister brand Dream Vacations in 2016. Overcast sponsored the annual dinner for the Northeast Berks Chamber of Commerce and was instrumental in converting it from a live event to a virtual one. She created “The Chamber Gang” and produced videos at each of the participating restaurants to promote the event.

During the pandemic, she also reached out to several fellow franchise owners to participate in a virtual Murder Mystery so that they could stay connected. Overcast also serves on the Board of Friend Inc., volunteers at the local food pantry and will be the President of the Kutztown Rotary Club starting this July.

These are just a few examples of how she found creative ways to stay connected to her community so that, as the pent-up demand for travel returns, she is top of mind.

## Entities

- Franchising.com (publication)
- Lodging & Travel (sector)
- franchise award (topic)
- pandemic response (topic)
- Dream Vacations (company)
- Debbie Fiorino (person)
- women's history month (topic)
- community leadership (topic)

---
Originally reported by Franchising.com (https://www.franchising.com/news/20220308_franchise_owner_wins_national_business_award_in_celebration_of_womens_histo.html). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/c98620dd-f1fc-4cec-b203-8802ffafcb4c).