Best of the Best in Franchising

In this episode, TJ Azores, who currently owns four franchise territories with 1Heart Caregiver Services shares his story about how he got an E2 visa with 1Heart after completing an MBA and PhD on a student visa. TJ shares his story, what attracted him to the senior care industry, what he likes most about being a franchisee with 1Heart, and his vision for the future in helping seniors to age at home.

In this episode, I talk with Benjamin Gregg, who owns a 1-800-PACKOUTS franchise in Southeastern Tennessee (specifically the Knoxville and Chattanooga area). Benjamin shares his story of how he became an entrepreneur and decided to get into franchising and choose to be a part of the cleaning and restoration industry with 1-800-PACKOUTS and Five Star Franchising. He shares lessons he has learned, a big mistake around sales that he wish he would have avoided, and what he is most excited about as he works with his clients and continues to scale his business.

In this episode, I talk with Kamran Ghasri, who is the first franchisee of 1Heart Caregiver Services located in Beverly Hills, California. He joined 1Heart in early 2015. Kamra shares his story about how he got into the non-medical senior care business with 1Heart Caregiver Services and shares lessons he has learned, how he has grown his business, what he does to retain great talent, and why he loves being a part of the 1Heart franchise family.

In this episode, I talk with Jon Ostenson, who is the CEO of FranBridge Consulting, on his remarkable career as one of the top 1% of franchise consultants in the United States. He is a frequent contributor on the topic of "non-food franchising" for outlets such as Inc., Forbes, The Franchise Journal and Franchise Connect. Jon is a multi-brand franchisee and is grateful to have strong operators leading his ventures. As a result, he is able to commit over 90% of his time to serving as CEO of FranBridge Consulting where he helps others achieve their own dreams of freedom and wealth generation through business ownership.

Prior to FranBridge, Jon served as the President of ShelfGenie, a national franchise system with 200 locations. Before moving to ShelfGenie, Jon invested fifteen years in the corporate world, including a long tenure as Vice President of Sales for Carter's Inc., responsible for over $350 million in annual sales. Jon began his career as a consultant with Accenture, often working internationally on behalf of his clients. Jon is on the Board of Directors for the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) and has BBA and MBA degrees from the University of Georgia. Jon lives in Atlanta where he and his wife have three children and are very active in the community.

Jon talks about the process he takes people through to find out which franchise is the right one for them to start, how his book Non-Food Franchising educates people on his process and actually helps his clients find the right business sooner. He also shares the hot new opportunities that he sees that franchise candidates should consider, the big five of the best franchise brands, red flags that candidates should be aware of, and stories and lessons from his extensive career as one of the best of the best in franchising.

In this episode, I talk with Pat Abernathey, who owns and operates three Caring Senior Service franchises in Colorado. We talk about his story, how he started working at Caring Senior Service's corporate office, how he started his own locations, and lessons he has learned along the way of building a multi-unit franchise operation.

In this episode, I talk with Caty Witt, who is a multi-unit PostNet franchise owner in Arizona and California. Caty shares her story, how she got started and how she started scaling into multiple stores. She also shares lessons she has learned from scaling her business, working with others to review and enhance performance, and what she's most excited about as she continues to scale her business.

In this episode, I talk with Jason Wong, who with his wife Wati started a Studio Pilates International franchise in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. Wati comes from the corporate world as a management consultant in banking and Jason spent the last two decades building and operating businesses in the hospitality and wellness industries across New York.

They decided to open their studio after Wati discovered Studio Pilates during the pandemic and became deeply committed to the method. Pilates helped her feel stronger, more balanced, and energized—physically and mentally—which resonated with both of them as they were entering a new chapter in their lives.

In this enlightening conversation, Jason shares how they've built a very successful operation, how they offer referral credits to clients who refer their friends and leadership lessons that have allowed them to create an exceptional client experience at one of the fastest growing franchise brands in the country.

In this episode, I talk with Steve Buors about how he and his partner got into franchising and started providing digital marketing services with Reshift Media to franchisors and franchisees. Steve shares lessons he has learned in his business about marketing and promotion, the impact AI is already having on marketing for franchising today, and what he and his team are most excited about in the future of digital media.

In this episode, I talk with Cathy Trlica and Lara Harris, a mother / daughter team that own a Caring Senior Service Franchise in New Braunfels, Texas. They share their story, how they chose the Caring Senior Service franchise, how they have scaled and grown their business, secrets to leadership, retention, and getting great referrals from clients, and what they're most excited about in the year ahead for their business.

In this episode, I talk with Rich Schepler who started his AlphaGraphics franchise in December of 2015 and TJ Chillot, who is his Client Relationship Manager. Rich shares his story about how he went from working for a big commercial printer in Rochester, New York to moving to Charlotte, North Carolina and acquiring an AlphaGraphics franchise. He shares why he made the decision to start a franchise, his philosophy on leadership and coaching to support his employees, how they get referrals, the key elements to casting vision for a team, and why he wants to be easy to do business with in every aspect of his operation.