Franchise Today

This week I feature my former Wing Zone partner, Matt Friedman.  For years when we would bring prospects and guests into town for Discovery Day, they would inevitably make the leap that by virtue of our last names being the same and me being Matt’s senior by a good 20 years, that we were father and son.  They would look at all that Matt and Adam had accomplished in building the Wing Zone business and suggest how proud I must be of my son.  Well, while I would always agree with them about the growth of the business, I would tell them too, how proud I am of my son, but his name is Michael, not Matt and doesn’t participate in the business.  It was always lots of fun that I could count on monthly.  Anyway, I tell you all that to say this week I am particularly proud of my son Michael, as he gets ready to join his bride Megan, to share their vows of marriage.  So, who better to present today than that other Friedman, Matt, as I celebrate this sacred event with my "real son."  Next week, I am back and joined by Jeremy Morgan, CEO of WellBiz Brands, franchisors of Amazing Lash, Dry Bar, Elements Massage, Fitness Together and Radiant Waxing.

The Band of Hands HR platform is transformational in the management of recruitment, administration and retention of front-line employee relationships. Band of Hands is not a staffing company, a PEO, a payroll company or a compliance admoinistrator.... Band of Hands is all of those things and MORE!  Their game-changing software platform puts the wind at your back, while most everyone deals with head winds.  They've got this down, even in California, so they can do it for you too, ANYWHERE!

This week I present another in my series, "The RIsing Stars of Franchising," as I speak with Ben Utecht, who enjoyed an exemplary career on the gridiron, as a starting tight end for the Bengals, and Colts.  This culminated with a Super Bowl Championship in 2007, playing with Peyton Manning, on Tony Dungy’s award winning Colts.  

Today Ben Utecht has brought his transferrable skills from the field and playbook, to the franchise game, as both a franchisor AND franchisee of Conquer Ninja Gyms. 

Ben has had success in many realms, including being awarded Tony Dungy's Uncommon Leader Award following in the footsteps of athletes like Peyton Manning. Ben Utecht, this week, on Franchise Today!

This week, I’ll be talking with John Ramsay, Vice President of Franchising for the iconic Noodles and Company.  John’s background spans over 28 years of experience in restaurant franchise development, with such icons as TGI Friday, Jack in the Box, Marco’s Pizza and Bruxie International.  John joined Noodles & Company in November of 2020, as vice president of franchise development. While many restaurant concepts in this Covid/Post COVID era have been hitting the brakes, Noodles and Company has actually doubled down, as the Colorado chain with John leading the franchise development charge, hits the gas, driving Noodles' restaurant growth initiatives.  John’s history includes positions in both franchise and restaurant development and he is extremely excited to have the opportunity to grow and further develop a proven concept like Noodles and Co.  As we will discuss, Noodles has innovated and adapted quickly to the off-premise experience and offers attractive unit-level economics for franchisees."

Noodles & Company offers the world’s favorite noodle dishes, salads and soups, all in one restaurant. Each dish is carefully hand-made to the guests’ specifications, using only the freshest ingredients. Noodles proudly uses REAL Food and REAL Cooking for REAL Flavors. Their dishes are inspired by the individuality, creativity and cultural heritage of cuisines from around the globe. From Penne Rosa to Japanese Pan Noodles, The Med Salad, and of course our famous Wisconsin Mac & Cheese, only the most authentic ingredients make the cut.  There's quite the story behind this award winning brand and here to tell it, is John Ramsay.

Goldfish Swim School offers swimming lessons to kids from the age of 4 months to 12 years. Founded by Jenny and Chris McCuiston in 2006, the swimming business started franchising in 2008, following a rise in demand for swimming lessons. Since then, the Goldfish Swim School franchise has expanded to more than 130 locations in both the United States and Canada.

Andrew McCuiston, President of Goldfish Swim School is my guest, this week on Franchise Today.

This week I present another inspiring tale of two young kids that went to high school together, remained friends through college and then began a junk business that took off, right from the start.  The story:  College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving is all about how Nick Friedman and his partner Omar Solimon, rode the wave of knowledge and information they took from reading Michael E. Gerber’s E-Myth Revisited.

During this interview, Nick will tell you that it was this book that transformed his point of view, from working in the business, to working on it and morphed it from the two of them doing everything from answering phones, driving the truck and collecting trash, to being an enterprise of 400+ franchised territories and growing.  Today, they are delivering nearly $300,000,000 in system-wide sales.   No doubt, one man's junk, is another man's treasure.  Nick Friedman is here, to tell us all about it.

This week I chat with Jane Grote Abell, a second generation franchise leader.  Herstory is not about how franchising found her, it’s how she was born into it the restaurant and franchise business along the way, had the golden opportunity to sell her company to the golden arches, that’s right McDonald’s and then double down about four years later and actually buy it back.  We’re talking Donato’s today, with Jane Grote Abell, an amazing advocate for women in business, and philanthropy.  Today, she is a founding family member and Chairwoman of the Board at Donato’s Pizza. 

Jim Grote founded Donatos as a sophomore in college. His philosophy was simple: 'To make the best pizza and to treat others the way he would like to be treated.' Jim built trust with his customers and a sense of goodwill in the neighborhood. And, with Jim’s very first restaurant connected to the Grote house, young daughter Jane, very much grew up in the family business.

Some dozen years ago, I remember having a conversation with Amit Pamecha, the founder of FranConnect, who back then, just happened to be my boss.  It was a conversation over dinner, about how back then, we didn’t seem to run into too many MBA’s in the franchising world.  Well, fast forward to today and I think its safe to say that trend has changed.  We hear from guests all the time here on Franchise Today, who have MBAs to their credit.  But, it’s not everyday that those MBAs  were earned at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, with an emphasis in Marketing, Operations & Entrepreneurship.  Well that all changes this week, as my guest, Wetzels Pretzels CEO Jennifer Schuler, checks that box for us and is here to tell us all about that, and more.

Some dozen years ago, I remember having a conversation with Amit Pamecha, the founder of FranConnect, who back then, just happened to be my boss.  It was a conversation over dinner, about how back then, we didn’t seem to run into too many MBA’s in the franchising world.  Well, fast forward to today and I think its safe to say that trend has changed.  We hear from guests all the time here on Franchise Today, who have MBAs to their credit.  But, it’s not everyday that those MBAs  were earned at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, with an emphasis in Marketing, Operations & Entrepreneurship.  Well that all changes this week, as my guest, Wetzels Pretzels CEO Jennifer Schuler, checks that box for us and is here to tell us all about that, and more.

Restaurant Operations, Marketing and Franchising veteran Paul Macaluso joined Another Broken Egg Cafes as President and CEO in 2019.  Paul is an enthusiastic, hands-on leader with experience in a variety of executive and senior positions. Spanning a career of 25+ years, he is widely known for driving results at respected brands throughout the restaurant industry.  He began his career as a Restaurant GM with Taco Bell and advanced to hold many operations and marketing roles for them for the next 10 years. 

He then went on to take a turn at brand strategy, menu development and product marketing positions for both the Burger King Corporation and Sonic Drive-ins, before joining joined FOCUS Brands filling a variety of senior marketing and brand strategy positions there, before being promoted to President of McAlister’s, where he led the brand to record setting EBITDA and new restaurant openings.

Prior to joining Another Broken Egg, Paul served as President and Chief Executive Officer of The Krystal Company, leading a brand revitalization effort including rebuilding aged restaurants, achieving positive same store-sales, improving unit level profitability and restarting the franchise sales pipeline.