Mary Kennedy Thompson

Mary Kennedy Thompson, President of Mr. Rooter Corporation

Mary Kennedy Thompson became president of Mr. Rooter Corporation in October 2006. This is the first time Mr. Rooter Plumbing has had a Mrs. Rooter in charge. Mary — a wife and mother of two — came to Mr. Rooter from national franchisor Cookies by Design, where she was president of the corporation.

Her career in the cookie industry began in 1994, when she opened a Cookies by Design® franchise in Austin, Texas. As a franchise owner, Mary earned awards for “Top Performer, “Outstanding Customer Service” and “Masters Award”. She was a franchisee for the cookie company for six years before the corporate office recruited her to its home office. Cookies by Design promoted Mary to president in 2004.

Under her leadership at Mr. Rooter, the plumbing and drain cleaning company has been included in the following prestigious rankings:

- AllBusiness AllStar Franchise Rankings

- Entrepreneur magazine’s Franchise 500 list

- Entrepreneur magazine’s Top 101 Home Based Franchises list

- Entrepreneur magazine’s Top Global Franchises list

- Franchise Business Review’s 2008 Franchise 50 Awards

- Franchise Times Top 200 list

- PHC News 2008 Top 100 Contractors

- Plumbing and Mechanical’s Pipe Trades Giant

- USA Today’s Top 50 Franchises for Minorities, as selected by the National Minority Franchising Initiative.

At the end of her first year as president of Mr. Rooter Corporation, U.S. Business Review selected Mary as one of its 2007 Editor’s Choice Executives of the Year.

In addition to her role with Mr. Rooter Plumbing, she is vice chairman of the International Franchise Association’s VetFran Committee. The VetFran program provides incentives and discounts for honorably discharged U.S. veterans to buy franchises. As a former officer in the Marine Corps, this is very important to Mary.

In her eight years as a Marine, Mary achieved the rank of captain while on active duty and major in the reserves. During her time in the Marine Corps, Mary was stationed around the world, including Camp Lejeune, N.C., Treasure Island, Calif., and Okinawa, Japan. 

When Mary isn’t in the office, you’ll find her outside. Mary enjoys running, and is usually training for her next marathon. Over the years, she’s run marathons in Paris, Japan and Alaska.

A graduate of the University of Texas, Mary is married to Will Thompson, who is also a UT alumnus. They have two grown children, Brian and Sarah.