Franchise Today

Today the conversation around Diversity and inclusion continues.  There's nothing new about those words in Key Bank's lexicon.  As a matter of fact, diversity, equity and inclusion have long been  fundamental cornerstones of all things at Key Bank for years. 

Today, Key Bank Senior VP Eric Fiala joins us to discuss what's going on in our world  and the role that his team plays at at Key Bank, to share both fiscal and intellectual capital,to benefit those communities they serve, from Maine to Alaska, As Director of Corporate Communnity Initiatives, Eric also oversees Key Banks's commitment to franchising and their very generous contriibutions in support of the IFA Educational Foundation and Diversity Institute.  .

Michael Stone and I are best of friends, with many things in common… but then too,  there are many things about each of us, that the other can’t possibly experience directly... Like playing football for 7 years in the NFL.  I will never know what that experience feels like…  and that’s just the tip of the iceberg… Michael is African American, he is a single parent... and not just any single parent, but a single parent raising 4 boys..  between the ages of 8 and 17.  So, as much as we share in common, Michael and I do have some different perceptions of things too, it would be impossible for us not to…  Those differences notwithstanding, we have something else going for us too.  Something, that none of this current day anger can wrest away from either of us. 

Michael and I share mutual respect, trust and honor for the relationship that we’ve shared over time and we share a bond of common purpose.  My hope is that you will take our conversation today as an example, of what you too, can and should be doing with members of your own teams, with your franchisees, your suppliers and anyone else with whom you share lots in common, but can never really appreciate some of those differences in your lives, without hashing them out openly, honestly and with respect, for one another’s points of view.  It's Michael Stone back, today on Franchise Today.

As Host of Franchise Today, I'm accustomed to drawing out the stories, shared by my guests.  This week I actually share a story of my own.  It's about a personal and disappointing recent experience that I had as a customer, with a mega, global franchise brand, This experience was a train wreck in every possible way. As reputation management experts, Rallio's VP Ryan Hicks joins me as my subject matter expert today, as I describe the touch points and Ryan describes how THEY SHOULD HAVE gone, from the front line experience at the store, to follow up by the Operator and Management, the Agent from their Corporate Care Team and Executives, all of whom had every opportunity to do better, MUCH BETTER!  Lots of take home value will be shared here,  for start-ups, emerging brands and even senior brand executives. It' all coming up, this week on Franchise Today.

In the name of all those who have and continue to serve our nation and especially for the families, friends and loved ones of those who made the ultimate sacrifice, Franchise Today takes this week off in your honor.  We also thank Scott Gittrich, Founder and CEO of Topper's Pizza for all of his insightful tips and information, shared last week.  

I'm back next week with a conversation about the importance of trusting relationships at the store and corporate level ANY time, but especially when we encounter anheralded events and situations like this Pandemic has thrust upon us all.

Scott Gittrich is the founder and CEO of Toppers Pizza, a great midwestern pizza brand that is built to survive and thrive anytime, and yes, even in times like these.  Scott’s unwavering affection for pizza became a full-fledged love affair when he decided to drop out of college to focus on a career at Domino’s, after only two weeks on the job. Well, that gamble paid off as he worked his way up through the company’s system. Scott stayed focused on having a successful career in the restaurant industry and in 1991 decided to kick it up a notch, when he created his own pizza concept, Toppers Pizza, delivering unique, fresh food made from scratch, rivaling anything out there. Franchising at Toppers the year 2000 and then as now, Scott’s relentless pursuit of product excellence, customer delight and FUN has led to some amazing experiences for his teammates, franchises customers and virtually anyone in his orbit. 

And then, along came the COVID-19, Corona Virus, to test his mettle.  Scott Gittrich is here today to tell us all about it and to share his thoughts on life, leadership and of course, his passion for PIZZA!

Pete Baldine is the President of the Moran Family of Brands, an automotive aftermarket franchisor with multiple brands.  They are: Mr. Transmission, Milex Complete Auto care, Alta Mere Automotive Outfitters and SmartView Window Solutions. Pete joined the Moran Team in 1999 as their Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer, bringing with him many years of automotive aftermarket, service industry and franchising experience.

From 1993 to 1999 Pete served as Regional Vice President of Safelite Autoglass, where he was responsible for 120 company owned centers, producing over $100 million in annual sales. From 1989 to 1993, Pete was Vice President/General Manager of VVP America, where he oversaw the Binswanger Glass Division, specializing in auto glass and residential and commercial construction markets. From 1980 to 1989, Pete held several positions with Jiffy Lube International through their rapid growth years including VP of the Western Region, which consisted of 550 franchised centers and $180 million in retail sales.  So, with this depth of experience who better than Pete to lead the charge and drive Moran’s Family of Brands through Corona.

Cordell Riley is a Certified Franchise Executive and servant leader, with more than 20 years of experience on both the franchisor and supplier side of franchising.  Cordell’s core competencies lie both in training and operations, as is demonstrated by his many years, directing training for Driven Brands, before founding Tortal in Y2K.  Tortal is the premier e-learning and training platform for franchising.      

Cordell is a past member of the IFA Education Foundation where  he served on the Board of Trustees, and is currently as a member of the IFA Supplier Board.

Today, Cordell is a here to talk about a compelling program that he has created, to help franchisors assist their franchisees, as they work through some of the issues caused by  the COVID 19 Corona Virus Crisis, in terms of their personal health, welfare, psyches and emotions, as well as those of their teams and teammates.

Shelly Sun is the CEO and founder of BrightStar Group Holdings, the umbrella company for multiple brands offering care services globally in various settings including in-home, assisted living and memory care communities as well as in commercial settings like hospitals through medical staffing services. Serving thousands of families in the USA, through its network of nearly 350 locations, BrightStar Care® delivers a full menu of in-home care, as well as premium healthcare staffing for corporate clients, such as nursing homes and physicians.

In 2005, BrightStar Care launched its franchising efforts, becoming the first and only franchising company in the country to specialize in both medical and non-medical home care and health care staffing.  Shelly also served as Chair of the IFA Board of Directors (2017-2018), is a Certified Franchise Executive and was selected by the IFA as the 2009 Entrepreneur of the Year. BrightStar Care® has appeared for multiple years on Forbes magazine’s Top 10 franchise opportunities under $150,000 and also for 7 consecutive years on Inc. 5000.  Shelly and BrightStar Care® were featured on CBS-TV’s Undercover Boss, she is the author of Grow Smart, Risk Less and discusses her journey as an emerging franchisor through amazing growth, lessons learned and game-changing ideas.

Matt Haller has been the man behind the man at IFA for nearly 10 years at the IFA.  First, for Steve Caldiera and more recently, for Robert Cresanti.  Matt leads the Government Relations, Public Affairs and Advocacy Team that monitors and protects the brand of franchising at the Federal and State legislative levels.  Today, Matt joins us to share updates on the impact of the Government's actions and in some case, inactions, on IFA members and on certain market sectors within franchising.

To put some perspective on how much things have changed in the last couple of months, I asked my panelists from the IFA session that I moderated just a couple of months ago, to put what they shared then, (regarding big data and marketing) into perspective, since the advent of Corona. 

My wonder, was whether what they’d prescribed then, would be been different, had this virus hit before convention, or if their digital marketing advice, would have remained the same. 

Today, those questions are answered by: Christian Pillat, co-CEO of Transitiv, Jason Anderson, President of United Franchise Group’s, Venture X and Chris Lybeer, Chief Strategist for Revel Point of Sale Systems.