Remarkable Women: Abilene business owner gives 2nd chances through employment

ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – In our fourth and final installment honoring four remarkable Big Country women, we are introduced to Abilene Business owner Fran Beale. Since taking ownership of A-town Cleaners in 2008, Beale says she’s gotten to know the community quite well.

Whether through a routine cleaning of a “lucky” pair of pants, or acting as the saving grace for a bride with a gown in peril, Beale told KTAB/KRBC she finds her job infinitely rewarding, “I never will forget this one. 80-year-old lady came in and said, ‘you wouldn’t think you’d be cleaning a wedding dress for someone that was 80 years old, would you? But I lost my husband and I fell in love again.'”

Beale was nominated for KTAB’s 2024 Remarkable Women contest by her peers for her dedication to the community, fostering relationships, and helping women succeed.

One nomination for Beale reads in part, “As a mother of three and grandmother to seven grandboys, Fran’s dedication to family is surpassed only by her commitment to community service… Her brainchild, ‘Jackets for Joy,’ is a testament to her compassionate nature. This project, which she initiated at her cleaners, involves cleaning gently used jackets for free and donating them to those in need within our community. Fran’s love for her community is evident in her willingness to serve, and her multifaceted contributions have undoubtedly enriched the lives of many.“

Where some see a stain as a clumsy mistake, Beale said she sees a story and an opportunity to make a friend. It’s this positive attitude toward life that her Husband Paul told KTAB/KRBC makes her not only a good boss but a good person.

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“She just always tries to find the good in everything and its opened up my eyes to start looking for the good in people,” said Paul.

If you ask her employees, you’re likely to find the same answer.

Jessica Jenkins has been working at A-town for two years. It’s a steady job and a supportive environment that makes a stable life for her family. This is a far cry from her position just a few years ago.

“She’s not only my boss, she is my friend. I can confide in her,” Jenkins shared. “Without the support of New Beginnings and Ms. Fran… I would be back in Prison.”

Through her partnership with a local women’s transitional home, New Beginnings, Beale provides employment and opportunity for women with troubled pasts.

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“A lot of employers, because they’ve had a bad experience, they don’t want to hire anybody that’s been through lifestyles that some of our women have been,” explained Missy Denard, executive director for New Beginnings. “You know what it means to me to know that my women are working in a safe place that somebody that truly cares for them?”

A calling from God is what Beale credits her drive to continue to open her life and her business to the women she helps. Adding, her reward is well worth any risk she might take just to see their lives transform and hope restored.

“Some of these people that come out of prison or challenging situations, they… They need a second chance, and I’m just thankful to be able to have that opportunity to give them a second chance,” Beale spoke to her work with New Beginnings.

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The grace she extends to these women doesn’t end when they leave her laundry business. Former A-Town Cleaners employee, Amy McClatchey told KTAB/KRBC her time at New Beginnings and her friendship with Beale were the turning point to which she traced her current success.

“I was lost. I was in drug addiction and I didn’t have self confidence, I didn’t have self worth, I didn’t know where to turn, but I knew I had to start somewhere,” revealed McClatchey.

Feeling aimless and a bit hopeless, McClatchey said she found that much-needed re-do at A-Town Cleaners. Beal was different from others she had met at that time, McClatchey included, seeing her not as the person she was, but for the potential she had to succeed.

“She left because she wanted to further her education, and from there she has gotten her associates and is working toward a career,” Beale said with pride.

Now pursuing dreams she hadn’t imagined possible just a few years ago, McClatchey now gives support she learned from Beale to other women, continuing a chain of success

“When I transitioned to my current job, she (Beale) cheered me on the entire way because she knew that I was going for something that I was passionate about, and she knew that I was growing myself, and in turn that allowed me to pour into other women,” added McClatchey.

Throughout the month of March, KTAB/KRBC will highlight four women of the Big Country nominated for our parent company’s Remarkable Women contest. Our 2024 Remarkable Woman will be announced at the beginning of April, and she will be awarded a physically large check in the amount of $1,000 to go to a nonprofit of her choosing. Then, she’ll be flown into Hollywood, California for the national Remarkable Women event by Nexstar.

If chosen as the local winner, Beale said she plans to donate her winnings to New Beginnings. She said the lives she has seen changed through the organization’s assistance, teaching life management skills, and finding employment with multiple local businesses is a cause very near to her heart.

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