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Like most young girls, Maria Frizelle Roberts loved dolls. But when she played with them, they weren’t just plastic toys, they were CEOs.
One of six children of an Air Force officer father and a nurse mother, Roberts always dreamed of owning a business, though she wasn’t sure what type. "Where it came from, I don’t have a clue," she said, "but I used to fantasize about having my own company."
Some 40 years later, the Queen Village resident, who was born in Chicago and raised in the Mount Airy section of Philly, as well as England, is living her dream as president and CEO of MFR Consultants Inc., an Old City-based firm specializing in management consulting and technology services (Web and IT). With a name inspired by her own initials, the company provides marketing plans, business services, information technology and graphic design. Roberts started the business 17 years ago and has 15 employees, including younger sister Sandra, who is a senior manager.
In September, The Pennsylvania Minority Business Enterprise Development Center (PAMBEC) selected MFR Consultants Inc. as its Company of the Year. PAMBEC is a contractor with the United States Commerce Department and a program of the Enterprise Center, a nonprofit that recruits, trains and nurtures entrepreneurs and helps create start-up companies in urban communities. According to Director Jacqueline Hill, PAMBEC works with established businesses across the state to accelerate growth, which then generates jobs and tax revenue for the region. Each year, PAMBEC nominates companies that have excelled in these areas and a winner is chosen, Hill said.
"[MFR Consultants] displayed the positive traits of growth in the area of job creation and tax revenue for the region and longevity," Hill said. "Those are all good things as to why they were selected as a company. Also, strong leadership in Ms. Roberts."
The business owner received a trophy at the Oct. 6 awards luncheon at the Sheraton, 17th and Arch streets. "It really is a wonderful feeling. Having your own business, people think it’s all glitz and glamour," she said. "They don’t know how many times you go to bed praying you make payroll, praying you get the contracts."
Roberts feels heading a company is "10 times harder" as a woman. When she walks into a room full of men to make a pitch, she said she’s often asked when Mr. Roberts is coming. "You still see it today, but it’s gotten better," she said of sexism in work environments.
Recognition from PAMBEC has given her that extra push to persevere when the going gets tough.
"Getting that award just said, ‘You’re doing something right,’" she said. "I am more than honored, I am humbled by it. There are so many companies doing great things and they chose me."
MFR Consultants Inc. started in 1989 as a healthcare consulting firm, with hospitals and managed care facilities accounting for almost all of its clients. Roberts expanded after a few non-healthcare companies approached her. "The beauty of owning your own company is you can make changes. I just decided there was something else I wanted to do," she said.
Nine years before launching her business, Roberts received a diploma in nursing from Philadelphia General Hospital, formerly at 34th Street and Civic Center Drive.
In ’83, she earned a degree in abnormal psychology and sociology from St. Joseph’s University before heading west to get a master’s in public health administration at University of California Berkeley.
After working for a few healthcare companies in northern California, Roberts returned to Philadelphia, settling at Third and Pemberton streets — not far from where she currently resides on the 900 block of South Front Street.
"I loved Queen Village," she said, "so I lived there when I came back from California. It’s a great community. I have wonderful neighbors, it’s walking distance to everything."
Giving back to her beloved neighborhood, Roberts is a member of the Queen Village Neighbors Association and part of the Shot Tower Playground Revitalization Project.
The city accounts for most of Roberts’ public sector clients, including The Mayor’s Office of Information Services, the Philadelphia Housing Authority, the Philadelphia Fire Department and the Philadelphia Community Development Corp. In the private realm, the Atwater Kent Museum, Sunoco Welcome America! and Year of the Child have kept Roberts and her staff occupied.
MFR Consultants most recently planned "Voyage of Discovery," an event at Philadelphia International Airport introducing US Airways’ new nonstop flights from Philadelphia to Barcelona, Spain, and Venice, Italy. The Catalan- and Venetian-themed event included cultural entertainment.
"We have great clients. I’ve been really blessed," Roberts said.
Eventually, the business owner hopes to expand nationwide. She already opened a branch this summer in McLean, Va., and, a couple of weeks ago, went after her first technology contract in Woodland, Calif.
Soon after establishing a presence in the D.C. area, Roberts was awarded what she calls a small contract from the U.S. Department of Justice to provide Web and IT services.
"I really do want [MFR Consultants] to be one of the great, premiere, innovative firms within the region — if not the country," she said.
