Franchise Today

Today I welcome John Erlandson to Franchise Today. John is the Co-Founder, President, Board Member and an Investor, in Youth Athletes United, a recently created portfolio company, building a family of brands, all centered upon child enrichment, through youth sports. While the company itself, is fairly new, it was established out of the pairing of youth sports and activities brands Amazing Athletes and Soccer Stars.  Under its umbrella today and across all 5 of its core brands, Youth Athletes United boasts some 15 - 20 years of success and a total of 200+ locations.  Add to that, the nearly a quarter million children instructed by their programs, nationwide each year. 

Youth Athletes United has earned trust in each community they touch. The brand’s overarching mission is to help the world understand that everyone is an athlete and ultimately impact the lives of over one million children. The high-energy and passionate John Erlandson, Co-Founder and President of Youth Athletes United, this week on Franchise Today

This week I feature May's Rising Star in Franchising, Angela Healy, CEO at AvenueWest Corporate Housing and AvenueWest Franchising.    As some of you may know, I began my franchise career in residential real estate franchising, converting large, local brokerages , to brands such as ERA and PRUDENTIAL.  In those days, it was my job to convince high powered, independent real estate brokers that their world was changing and that while they could certainly dig in and ignore those changes, they would do better, to jump in with brands like ours, and protect themselves from the losses they would otherwise suffer, at the hands of RE/MAX, if they chose to remain independent.

Well, since those days, the industry has morphed by umpteen orders of magnitude and the game continues to change.  Now comes Angela Healy, with a game-changing twist of her own.  With more than 25 years of industry experience, Angela Healy is the co-owner of AvenueWest, a Denver-based, managed Corporate Housing concept and of AvenueWest Global Franchise, LLC. Along with her husband Tim they have already awarded 15 franchises in major cities across the country, with a unique strategy for growth that ensures that Avenue West’s core philosophy of investor-centric decision making is reflected throughout the company and its culture. AvenueWest has already grown from being a small, local, real estate investment brokerage, to a national, award-winning franchise organization, losing not one single office, through two years of Pandemic.  Angela Healy our Rising Star for May, this week on Franchise Today.

Today’s conversation is with Greg Cook.  Many of you know Greg fro his 10 years at the IFA, running all things marketing. Well, today he has parlayed all of that experience and more, as he heads up Silvercrest Technology and Marketing, as President and CEO.  Among our topics of conversation today, are just how much the lines have fuzzed between the disciplines of marketing and technology and what the recipe calls for in today's post COVID world of franchise marketing.  

Silvercrest was founded in 2011 to fill a growing need for franchisees to access marketing and media efficiently.  The agency is dedicated to delivering brand solutions for franchised and multi-unit organizations utilizing a combination of proprietary technology, customer data, marketing needs, and media buying, harnessed in one sophisticated yet simple platform.  Greg Cook joins us today to discuss his recipe for successful franchise and multi-unit level marketing.

Pete First has been with BrightStar care for nearly 4 years, beginning his journey there, as Vice President of Franchise Development for BrightStar Care.  During his tenure, Pete has grown that brand’s nationwide presence to 365 locations and has expanded the brand into new territories and markets.

Today, as Chief Development Officer of BrightStar Holdings Group, Pete is responsible for recruiting new franchise owners to all three of their brands: BrightStar Care, BrightStar Senior Living®, and BrightStar® Care Homes™.

This week we are joined by WOWorks CEO Kelly Roddy, to discuss his instance of one of the hottest, trends in franchising, rollups. Roll-ups are formed when a company is created, usually backed by private equity, to group multiple, compatible brands under a single umbrella, such that they may all leverage back-end economies of scale.  It's simply smart business.for so many reasons. Kelly is a veteran of FOCUS Brands, an early pioneer in roll-ups, where he served as President of Shlotzky’s, .  

WOWorks was formed in 2020 to help guests pursue their passions and live their best lives by serving healthy, nutritious, and flavorful food, delivered with first-rate hospitality. WOWorks’ portfolio consists of: Saladworks, the nation’s leading fast-casual salad brand; Frutta Bowls, a unique restaurant franchise serving a variety of superfood bowls, fresh fruit smoothies, oatmeal bowls, and more; Garbanzo Mediterranean Fresh, a popular Mediterranean restaurant concept; and most recently, The Simple Greek, which offers a fresh and healthy take on ancient Greek recipes, in a fast-casual setting.

WOWorks mission is to drive explosive growth across all of its brands through a variety of channels, both traditional and non-traditional, including ghost kitchens, food trucks, grocery retail, and more. WOWorks is owned by CentreLane Partners and led by CEO Kelly Roddy, who joins us here today.

Matthew Gourgeot, a true advocate and champion for small business in America.  Today, he heads Corporate and Business Development at Thryv, where he is responsible for leading their franchise division and developing the company’s strategic corporate partnerships.  Traded on the NASDAQ, THRYV is the provider of software that supports more than 40,000 loc al businesses and nearly 500,000 users, across the continent.  What they have created is a fully integrated, end-to-end B2C customer experience platform, empowering small businesses to reach more customers, stay better organized, get paid faster and generate more online reviews.  Utilizing Thryv's platform, small businesses can manage their customers anytime, anywhere and from any device.

Acceler8Success Group was formed mid-2020, building upon Acceler8Success principles and methods, all proven successful, since 2014. Between them, Founder and CEO Paul Segreto and Erik Premont, President, possess nearly six decades of practical, hands-on experience in the fields of: 

- Entrepreneur & Leadership Coaching

- Business Accelerator Consulting

- Small Business & Franchise Consulting

- Restaurant & Hospitality Consulting

- International Business Development Consulting

- Fractional C-level Management

- Commercial Development Management

- Business & Product Brokerage

- Financial Modeling & Analysis

- Commercial Real Estate Advisory

- Design & Construction Advisory

- Board Advisory

Widely recognized as industry leaders & experts, Acceler8Success Group's leadership have extensive experience as entrepreneurs in small business & restaurants, as senior-level executives within nationally recognized brands, and as franchisees within successful franchise systems. 

Paul Segreto and Erik Premont, right here, this week on Franchise Today!

I'm back next week to kick-off a great line-up of guests for this Spring Season.  C-ya then.-Stan

Best Life Brands is a family of companies focused on the well being of clients at any stage of life and includes - ComForCare, At Your Side, premier franchised providers of in-home caregiving and private-duty nursing services, CarePatrol, the nation’s largest franchised senior placement organization, Boost Home Health Care and Blue Moon Estate Sales, the leading estate sales franchise in the U.S. 

As CEO, JJ Sorrenti oversees the strategic growth of Best Life Brands. A franchising and retailing expert, J.J.has led multiple companies to award-winning results over the past 25 years. Formerly president of Safeguard Business Systems, a division of Deluxe Corporation, his experience also included serving as CEO and board member of Hollywood Tans, CEO of Huntington Learning Centers, and Senior Vice President and General Manager at General Nutrition Centers. JJ is also involved with the International Franchise Association (IFA) and sits on the board of trustees for the IFA Education Foundation.

This week I talk with Scott Gittrich, founder and CEO of TOPPERS Pizza.  Scott Gittrich delivered his first pizza in 1984 while attending the University of Illinois. He dropped out of college after only two weeks into that job to pursue a full-time pizza career. Ever since then, he’s been a “pizza guy” through and through. He loved everything about the business, from the rush of the kitchen and ingredient selection, all the way through to the satisfaction he delivered to his customers.

After years of working for Domino’s working his way up from delivery driver to director of operations for a group of franchisees, Scott’s vision was to be more bold and creative, so he opened the first Toppers in 1991 with a mission to set the standard for high-quality pizza.

Today Toppers has grown to over 70 locations nationwide by consistently giving customers exactly what they want. Our brand’s focus on innovative menu options, bold recipes and world-class technology allowed us to seize the opportunity in a previously untapped corner of the pizza market.

Now, Toppers Pizza is one of the top QSR pizza concepts nationwide. With franchisees achieving a $1,110,000+ average unit volume across the entire system, Toppers Pizza is primed for major growth, and is looking for like-minded franchisees to join their family!  Scott Gittrich joins me this week on Franchise Today to tell us all about it.