Franchise Today

Jason Feifer in the Editor in Chief at Entrepreneur Magazine.  Like most of us in the franchise world, Jason never anticipated that small businesses of any kind would become a cornerstone of his career, much less those in franchising.  As a journalist, he wrote for various newspapers and magazines, with no particular attachment to the content.  That all changed when he landed at Entrepreneur in 2015 and started meeting and writing about Entrepreneurs.  Inspired in part by Author, Speaker, Podcaster Malcolm Gladwell, these days Jason is doing more than just writing about Entrepreneurs.  He is speaking, coaching, consulting and himself, living the dream. 

This month Entrepreneur celebrates the release of it's 45th Annual Franchise 500.  Jason and I spend a fair amount of time discussing that, as well.

With more than 30 years in the franchise space that includes 20 years leading Fran Dev at Home Franchise Concepts, JT opened doors and created opportunities for thousands of those who aspire to own their own business. Helping people make their dreams of business ownership a reality with low-cost, home-based franchise opportunities in the home services industry is his passion. At HFC, their elite portfolio of brands;includes segment leaders Budget Blinds®, Tailored Living®, Kitchen Tune-Up, Bath Tune-Up, AdvantaClean, Two Maids & A Mop, and Concrete Craft®; offers aspiring business owners a uniquely comprehensive and professional support program that provides every opportunity for success. Through thoughtful analysis and inspiring leadership, his team at Home Franchise Concepts works with and empowers the next generation of men, women, couples, veterans, seniors, and others to control their own lives through successful business ownership.

He joined Home Franchise Concepts in 2003 as a Franchise Licensing Advisor and have worked his way to Chief Development Officer, where he's responsible for strategic planning, direction, and franchise growth of HFC’s 10 brands. While at HFC, he's championed the expansion of their footprint to include more than 2,400 franchise territories in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. 

JT was also actively involved in three acquisitions and two exit events during his time at HFC.  Overall, his award-winning team of professional Franchise Advisors and he have awarded over two thousand franchise territories to deserving candidates.

Stefan Figley is President of 1-800-PACKOUTS. Since 2013, 1-800-Packouts has been shaping the contents restoration industry. Their story begins with a desire to create a consistent and professional process across the nation in the personal property space.  Their greatest strength is their people, from the corporate team to their franchise owners. 1-800-Packouts employs some of the most experienced professional in contents restoration. They offer unparalleled professionalism, quality of work, and efficiency during all parts of the process.

Stefan Figley, their President is a Global Strategic Marketing and Operations Executive, a Growth Driver and Results Oriented Leader bringing strategic vision, focused on key metrics that drive increased EBITDA performance. Stefan leads organizational change, enhancing brand strength through innovative marketing solutions and products, stimulating dynamic marketing performance and multimillion-dollar revenue growth. He is a business leader, a team builder, and a motivational leader who   encourages his teams to realize the big picture impact of building market share growth for the organization. Stefan is a holistic thinker who delivers results. A tennis All-American and tour professional, he developed a keen ability early on, to handle high-pressure situations and manage for success.

This week we hear from Babz and Michael Barnett, a husband and wife franchisor team at the head of the table at Romp & Roll.  Romp n' Roll is a young childhood enrichment exercise, education, STEAM and STEM concept, with an AMAZING story and it's co-founders are here to tell it.  .  

It’s not every day that a US emerging franchisor in the early stages of growth and development domestically, winds up selling a complete country out to a Master, who actually collaboratively with the franchisor, awards hundreds of units in their country, especially, when the country is China, before the US franchisor, even hits a dozen units sold domestically.  It’s one of those stories that you just can’t make up, but it’s true and you are going to hear all right now, from Babz and Michael Barnett.

Ron Bender is an experienced Franchise Professional, dedicated to helping people improve their lives through franchise ownership with transparency and positivity in all aspects . He believes that enthusiastic networking, a strong social media presence, dynamic presentations and internal and external team building and mentoring help achieve top results, and he has a hard-won reputation for over delivering on expectations, in everything he does. 

Ron is very active in promoting franchising for veterans and members of diverse communities, and he loves to learn from and to mentor others in the Franchise Community. He does so today, as VP of Franchising at Threshold Brands, a highly curated collection of home services providers. Their mission is simple, to open the door to a better lifestyle. Whether you’re looking to repair, maintain or enhance your home or property, or, to own a business that helps people do just that. Their family of brands is environmentally conscious, franchisee and consumer-friendly and places a people and relationships first, in all of the above.”

With nearly 10 years of experience in franchising, Ashly Loza brings both breadth and depth of knowledge as an experienced franchise executive. She has worked alongside 50+ franchise brands in a broad spectrum of areas including franchise sales, developing and implementing marketing and lead gen strategies, and driving operational excellence and efficiencies. Her approach to business development and scalability starts by honoring the client brand’s growth phase and goals, while identifying challenges and capitalizing on strengths.  This enables the Blue Maven Team to craft an actionable plan and vision, that creates forward momentum and a competitive edge, for the sustainable growth of their clients.  She’s here right now, to tell us her story and it’s another one that will inspire.

This week you are going to have the pleasure of hearing from another very affable and capable franchise executive, as my guest today is Stacey Ryan, Chief Operating Officer at The School of Rock, one of my favorite franchised brands.  As their website describes them, "The School of Rock is a trailblazing global children’s franchise concept, that has over 2 decades, established locations in 15 countries across the globe.  

Now, with more than 338 locations globally, they are also the largest music school franchise in the United States, helping aspiring musicians master skills, unleash creativity and develop tools they need to thrive in life.  They do it all, with their patented, performance-based curriculum, improving people’s lives with the power of Rock n' Roll.

Stacey joined School of Rock as an Independent Consultant in 2015, and worked her way up the ropes to VP of Operations, and ultimately COO.  Stacey oversees the day-to-day administrative and operational functions of School of Rock worldwide. As you will hear, after graduating from Rutgers University, she was set on becoming an elementary school teacher, but that was before she got bitten, by the "bug for business," and all bets were off.  Her reputation is for redefining quality, raising standards, being people first, and driving results in everything she does.  She’s here this week, to tell us all about it.

This is a very special Edition of Franchise Today, in celebration of Veterans Day, coming up Saturday November 11th 2023, at 11AM.  Celebrations and parades will be kicking off across America in honor of all those who have served in our Nation ‘s Armed Forces.  To help us better understand the close ties and connections between veterans and franchising, we are joined today by my good friend and IFA VetFran Chairman, Ralph Yarusso.  

Ralph is the Chairman of IFA’s VetFran Committee.  His franchise career spans almost 40 years of experience, holding executive-level positions with multiple brands.  But all of that came after first spending many years as a very successful multi-unit franchisee, with as many as 15 locations under his ownership in multiple cities.  Ralph is a United States Air Force Veteran, a Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) and a Certified Franchise Consultant (CFC).

No matter the role, zee or zor, Ralph Yarusso is passionate about helping others succeed in franchising and has always been happy to lend a hand to mentor others. He currently serves as Chairman of the VetFran committee for the IFA and here he is to tell us all about it.

Paul Damico grew up on Long Island, in New York. He holds 3 degrees in culinary and restaurant management including a Doctorate of Business Administration in Restaurant, Food, and Beverage Management from Johnson and Wales University. Paul began the first 14 years of his career working for the Host Marriott organization, working on travel plazas and airport development, before getting into the more traditional side of the restaurant business many years later.  He has had a spectacular career leading up to his most recent assignment, but as he will explain, it hasn’t all been roses. But in his present role as President of Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, this 3X Undercover Boss is all fired up fired up and excited to take this emerging brand nationwide.

Tarji Carter has been in franchise development for many years.  Beginning with Carvel and Cinnabon at Focus Brands, and stops along the way at Dunkin Donuts, WIngstop and Bojangles.  Today, she is the President of Guest First Services, a boutique consultancy and the Founder and President of The Franchise Player, a revolutionary initiative that aims to expand the number of Black-owned franchises across the country, by providing education, resources, and opportunities to aspiring franchisees and small business owners.

She operates out of suburban Atlanta, developing and executing strategic franchise expansion plans and lead-generation tactics for her brand partners.  On her Guest First Services website she says, "If You Don’t Build Your Dreams, Someone Will Hire You to Build Theirs!"  Well, in Tarji's case, she's got the best of both worlds.  She has built her dream of owning her own business AND her clients hire her to help them build theirs.  Well, how's that for win/win?