Crown Bakeries
Cordia Harrington, the founder of Crown Bakeries, is one of the most successful self-made women in America. The key to her success? Passion and perseverance. With that, and “a dab of luck”, you can do anything, she believes.
When she was 11, Cordia Harrington started a nursery school. She would gather children from the neighborhood who enrolled, bring them to the family’s backyard, where she organized games and served snacks that she bought with her own money. By the end of that summer, she earned USD 60.
Cordia Harrington has always loved doing business. She worked as a waitress and a lifeguard. She graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in home economics, the first in her family to earn a degree. While she had a real estate firm, she started working at McDonald’s – as a prerequisite to becoming a franchisee. As a McDonald’s operator, she became a member of the bun committee. She wanted to be a baker. Today, if you search for ‘the bun lady’ online, Cordia Harrington is the first result.
In 1996, she founded Crown Bakeries. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, the business now operates with nine manufacturing facilities, baking over seven million items daily and employing over 1,800 people. They manufacture a diverse line of fresh and frozen croissants, buns, bagels, biscuits, sweet goods, and dough products for leading foodservice, food manufacturing, and retail customers in the United States. Crown Bakeries is an award-winning business, with recognitions such as the Burger King Supplier of the Year (2022, 2025), Conagra Brands Supplier of the Year (2020), McDonald’s Supplier Leadership Award (2012) and Wholesale Bakery of the Year (2010). The company was also named one of the 2024 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For® by the National Association for Business Resources.
Forbes named her one of the most successful women business owners in the country.
Cordia Harrington wants to encourage others to succeed, too – people who work for Crown Bakeries and people at the beginning of their careers. She is granting scholarships, trying to target students who are also the first in their families to graduate, knowing the change that has brought for herself.
In 2026, she received the Horatio Alger Award from the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc., a non-profit that honors leaders who have overcome adversity and supports young people in furthering their education. Harrington becomes a lifelong member of the organization, joining 10 other corporate, civic and cultural, as part of the 2026 class of honorees. She supports the Association’s scholarship programs: “For me, education is not so much what you learn in the classroom; it’s the people you meet and the broadening of your world.
College is a time to explore – to learn and to understand. I am especially encouraging to young people who want to travel as part of their education. Being exposed to different cultures is so valuable. It influenced me in many positive ways,” she underlined.
Reflecting on her path and work, she shared her thoughts on the recognition: “Receiving the Horatio Alger Award is deeply meaningful to me because it reflects a belief I have lived by my entire career — that persistence, preparation and hard work can open doors, even when the answer is ‘no’ more times than you can count.”
Last year, she transitioned from her role as CEO to Founder and Co-Chairperson of Crown Bakeries. Yianny Caparos, formerly President, was appointed as CEO. Doug Bame, previously COO, is now President, in charge of Crown’s strategy toward an “exciting future”, as Caparos anticipates.