Franchise Today

Franchise Today is back and stronger than ever as it marches towards its 6th year on the air. After a period of organizational change and subsequent transition back to Franchise Foundry, Franchise Today founder, Paul Segreto is back as show host and his first guest is Mary Kennedy Thompson, President of Mr. Rooter Plumbing and Executive Vice President of The Dwyer Group.

About Our Guest

Mary Kennedy Thompson became president of Mr. Rooter Corporation in October 2006. Mary came to Mr. Rooter from national franchisor Cookies by Design, where she was president of the franchisor corporation. She came into the franchising industry as a franchisee first when in 1994, when she opened a Cookies by Design® franchise in Austin, Texas. In the next three years she opened two additional locations. As a multi-unit franchise owner, Mary led the company in market penetration and sales, earning awards for “Top Performer, “Outstanding Customer Service” and “Masters Award”.

In 2003 she earned her certified Franchise Executive certification from the International Franchise Association. Promoted to President of the company in 2004, Mary’s initiatives resulted in alliances with universal Studios, a new web site that provided an immediate increase in sales, and renewed franchisee/franchisor relations.

At the end of her first year as president of Mr. Rooter Corporation, U.S. Business Review selected Mary as one of its 2007 Editor’s Choice Executives of the Year. Today Mr. Rooter is the fastest growing plumbing franchise with more than 336 locations worldwide.

In 2014 Mary was promoted to Executive Vice President of the Dwyer Group while also retaining her current role as President of Mr. Rooter. As Executive Vice President she provides support to the CEO in the daily activities and operations of the company and its subsidiary brands.

This rebroadcast is from The Franchise Model Series from earlier this year. Host, Paul Segreto welcomed as his guest, Mark Liston, President of Glass Doctor. Paul and Mark discussed operations support and franchisee relations best practices with emphasis on the franchise relationship itself.

About Our Guest

Mark Liston is President of Glass Doctor, a brand of the Dwyer Group. In franchising since 1981, Mark is very involved in the International Franchise Association (IFA). He is the immediate past Chairman of the Board of Governors for the Institute of Certified Franchise Executives having earned his CFE in 2005. Mark is also on the IFA's Educational Foundation Board of Trustees. Previously, he was a member of the VetFran Committee and IFA's Public Relations Committee.

This week on Franchise Today is a replay from the Franchise Finance series that aired in early 2013. Host, Paul Segreto welcomed as his returning guest to the show, Ron Feldman, CEO and Co-founder at Franchise America Finance. Paul and Ron focused on several options, traditional and new for today's franchisees to explore and secure financing in continued tight, but slowly loosening credit markets. The discussion also included the various challenges that small business owners are facing that ultimately may adversely affect their bottom line and their future ability to expand operations.

About Our Guest

Ronald Feldman is a co-founder of Franchise America Finance™, a boutique franchise investment and lending source. Prior to his affiliation with Siegel Financial Group & Franchise American Finance, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Response USA, a publicly traded Alarm Systems Company. Mr. Feldman was instrumental in both the public offering and ultimate sale of the Alarm Division. Mr. Feldman and his wife were one of the early Goddard School Franchisees and successfully owned, operated and sold their Goddard School in 2007. He has been a keynote speaker at scores of franchise related events, appeared on television programs as the "Champion of Small Business", and has been published numerous times in trade magazines. He is also an instructor on financing and access to capital to the International Franchise Association (IFA). Ronald has the distinction of being a Certified Franchise Executive ("CFE").

This week on Franchise Today is a rebroadcast of the recent show with special guest, Mitch Schlimer, serial and social entrepreneur, host of the popular radio show, "Let's Talk Business", founder of Let's Talk Business Network, and founder of Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame. Franchise Today host, Paul Segreto and Mitch discussed the exciting things going on at the EpiCenter, the home of the Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame where this year's nominees include Oprah Winfrey, David McKinnon, Bernie Marcus, Steve Jobs, Earvin Magic Johnson and more. Mitch says, "We all need to get behind the EpiCenter (home of the Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame) and its mission, and that is to dramatically improve the success rates of businesses, as it is totally unacceptable that for decades the failure rate of start-up businesses in this country is still nearly 70%."

This week on Franchise Today, host, Paul Segreto is broadcasting LIVE from Franchise Update Leadership & Development Conference at the Intercontinental Hotel in Atlanta.

With assistance from "roving reporter", Cheryl Ryan from Franchise Update Media Group, Paul interviews various franchise executives attending the conference, exploring their thoughts on what they're learning and hoping to take away from this year's event. As well, we learn what these executives have to say about the outlook for franchising as the new year approaches.

This week on Franchise Today, host Paul Segreto is joined by Mitch Schlimer, serial and social entrepreneur, host of the popular radio show, "Let's Talk Business", founder of Let's Talk Business Network, and founder of Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame.

Paul and Mitch discuss the exciting things going on at the EpiCenter, the home of the Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame where this year's nominees include Oprah Winfrey, David McKinnon, Bernie Marcus, Steve Jobs, Earvin Magic Johnson and more. 

Mitch says, "We all need to get behind the EpiCenter (home of the Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame) and its mission, and that is to dramatically improve the success rates of businesses, as it is totally unacceptable that for decades the failure rate of start-up businesses in this country is still nearly 70%."

Franchise Sales & Development is one of the cornerstones of the franchise business model and it was a key topic during the Franchise Model Series this past June on Franchise Today. Host, Paul Segreto was joined by Robert Stidham, President of Franchise Dynamics, the world's leading full-service ‘franchise sales outsourcing' (FSO) firm. Paul and Robert dove into franchise sales and development best practices and discussed lead generation, the sales process and much more.

About Our Guest

Robert Stidham is president of Franchise Dynamics, the world's leading full-service ‘franchise sales outsourcing' (FSO) firm. Based in suburban Chicago, Franchise Dynamics currently represents a number of emerging to large-sized franchisors in a wide variety of categories throughout the United States and worldwide. Mr. Stidham is an accomplished franchise sales and business development executive with a proven track record of increasing franchise units, revenue and profitability while gaining market share and expanding brand awareness for both new franchise concepts and established brands. He has held a variety of positions in the franchise industry in franchise development, operations, consulting and as an international franchise company president. Mr. Stidham is active in the International Franchise Association (IFA), serving as a member of the International Committee and Research Committee, having previously served as a member of the IFA Membership Committee.

Riding the wave of a very productive week at the IFA Public Affairs Conference in Washington DC, host Paul Segreto is joined by former IFA Chairperson and long-time CEO of The Dwyer Group, Dina Dwyer-Owens. On this week's show Dina shares her experience and perspective on IFA efforts on Capitol Hill. Paul and Dina will touch on some of the particular issues addressed at the just completed conference, especially jobs creation, and more specifically jobs creations for veterans.

About Franchise Today

Franchise Today is hosted by Paul Segreto, President and CEO at Franchise Foundry. Paul's unique perspective and extensive industry experience provides the foundation for relevant discussions about franchising and franchise best practices. Weekly guests include some of the brightest minds in the franchise world, with specific expertise and experience within various areas of franchising.

This week on Franchise Today, host Paul Segreto is joined by a 4-headed star-studded panel of experts from the International Franchise Association to discuss the upcoming IFA Public Affairs Conference in Washington DC September 16-18. IFA experts include Matt Haller, Jay Perron, Dean Heyl and Erica Farage. Each talks about state and federal issues and the various ways franchisors, franchisees and suppliers can get inolved politically through the IFA.

About the IFA 

The International Franchise Association is a membership organization of franchisors, franchisees, and suppliers that protects, enhances, and promotes franchising.

Starting off the new season on Franchise Today focus is on the upcoming Franchise Update Leadership & Development Conference. Joining host, Paul Segreto from the Conference Board of Directors is Tom Wood, Conference Chair and President & CEO of Floor Coverings International, Shelly Sun, CEO & Co-founder of Bright Star Care and Greg Vojnovic, Chief Development Officer of Popeyes. Paul and guests discuss their experience and perspective from attending previous Leadership & Development Conferences and what this year's attendees can expect to takeaway from the event.

About the Conference

The Leadership & Development Conference is an exclusive annual event for CEOs, Presidents and Franchise Sales & Development Executives. The event is produced by Franchise Update Media Group and Franchise Update Magazine. The event is in Buckhead, GA, October 9-11 at the Intercontinental Buckhead.