Social Geek

Year 17 of the most popular franchise podcast rolls on!

This week…we’re live in chilly Fort Lauderdale at Franchise Expo South.

The iguanas are freezing, but the franchise opportunities are heating up. We’re talking to fran dev leaders and CEOs of several brands to find out how hot the landscape is for 2026.

On today’s show:

Justin Denham, Pool Duck

Scott SirLouis, FSC Franchise / Beef O’Brady’s / Brass Tap

Bob Crawford, Central Bark

Mike Ackley, Ascent Hospitality / Perkins / Huddle House

Christina Gambino, Jumptwist Ninja

Mark Sturman, My Lobby Mart

Lindsay Morgan, CM Law

Daniel Trigo, UniVista Insurance

Stephen Hitt, Industrious

Thanks to MFV Expositions, Thunderly, and AnswerConnect

Happy New Year, Geeks!

And welcome to Year 17 of Social Geek Podcast and our New Year’s Day Special.

We’ve got 26 Franchise Pros sharing their goals for ‘26:

Heather McLeod

Ricky Richardson

Susan Beth

Jania Bailey

John Hayes

Kris Stuart

Emily George

Paul Segreto

Lauren Fernandez

Brent Greenwood

Edith Wiseman

Jerry Akers

Robert Mitchell

Martha Tomas Flynn

Gabby Wong

Richie Huffman

Jennifer Durham

Marci Kleinsasser

Emma Dickison

Larisa Walega

And we’ll wrap up with the Franchise Rock Star Panel:

Ali Kraus

Danielle Wright

Derrick Ableman

Kristen Pechacek

Scott Greenberg

And your host, Jack Monson

Thanks to today’s sponsors Citrin Cooperman, AnswerConnect, and Thunderly.

Today on the most popular franchise podcast, we’re wrapping up 2025 with the Franchise Rock Stars.

What did we learn this year?

What worked?

What did NOT work? 

Today's Franchise Rock Star Panel: Derrick Ableman, Scott Greenberg, Kristen Pechacek, and Danielle Wright joining host Jack Monson. We’re missing Ali Kraus today --  see you in January!

Thanks to all of our sponsors for 2025: Citrin Cooperman, Northeast Color, WSI, Hughes, Vendasta, Franzy, Promotex, and Thunderly.

Special Guests: Danielle Wright, Derrick Ableman, Kristen Pechacek, and Scott Greenberg.

We talk a lot about Multi-Unit Owners and Legacy Brands in franchising. But the life blood for the future of franchising and small business ownership is the Emerging Brand.

Today on the most popular franchise podcast, we’re live at the SMB Franchise Summit hearing from new Emerging Franchisors about how they’re growing in 2026!

Thanks for joining us:

And thanks to Steve Beagelman, Dawn Abbamondi and the SMB Franchise Advisors crew for hosting us.

Thanks to Citrin Cooperman, Northeast Color,, Hughes, and Thunderly

The Franchise News Podcast with Jack Monson for November 26, 2025

Thanks to Thunderly and Hughes.

We're back live at Franchise Expo Austin!

In Part Two, host Jack Monson is chatting with more franchise development leaders and CEOs of some the top brands in franchising. We’ll find out about their goals and plans for 2026.

Joining today's show:

Scott McIntosh, Mr Gatti's Pizza

Marcus Fuller, Beef-A-Roo

Bruce Granger, NaturaLawn of America

Ty Brewster, FranReal

Randolph Clarito, 1 Heart Caregiver Services

Josh Kerns, Conquest Padel Club

Chris Wellbaum, Level Up Leak Detection

John Doty, Freshslice Pizza

Jack Stewart, SMB Franchise Advisors

Rodney Frank, Yonutz

And we wrap up the event with Martin Joksimovic, President of MFV Expositions, who gives us a preview of the franchise expos in 2026 in great cities like Fort Lauderdale, New York, Dallas, Cincinnati, and Phoenix. 

Thanks to the whole MFV Expositions sales & marketing team for a fantastic year: Linda Thompson, Justin Wood, Frank Fazio, Simone Smith, Rafael Arango.

Thanks to Citrin Cooperman, Northeast Color, Hughes, and Thunderly

Today we are live at Franchise Expo Austin!

Host Jack Monson is chatting with the franchise development leaders and CEOs of some the top brands in franchising. We’ll find out about their goals and plans for 2026!

Joining today's show:

Kyla Dufresne, Foxy Box

Jack Hall, Cicis Pizza

Blaine Young, NaturaLawn of America

Kevin Brickner, The Goddard School

Rhea Lana, Rhea Lana's Franchise Systems

Jenepher Toups, Zoomin Groomin

Clay Carson, Twisted Egg Shack

Red Boswell, IFPG

Thanks to Citrin Cooperman, Northeast Color, Hughes, and Thunderly

It doesn’t matter what you do with AI.

There…I said it. Come and get me, snake oil salesman.

What DOES matter is what your candidates and customers do with AI and how they’re finding you.

It’s the Marketing & Innovation Update for October on the most popular franchise podcast, Social Geek!

Patti Rother, Founder and CEO of Root + Rise, is here to help Fran Dev pros feed the Large Language Models with answers for their brands.

We’ll cover:

Shout outs to our all-star team members Jacqui Blair, Islam Tawfik, Willem van Daalen, Madison Leavy, Grace Gorman, and Jason Weaver.

Next, I’ll chat with Jeffrey Leach of Vendasta to dive into AI for local franchisee marketing.

Jeff shares the results from Vendasta’s new study of 20 franchise brands looking at their franchisees’ local AI marketing services. There are some amazing conversions via web chats, SMS conversations, and booking services.

Connect with Jeff to learn more about the survey results.

Thanks to Northeast Color, Hughes, and Thunderly ⚡

Special Guests: Jeff Leach and Patti Rother.

What do brands really need from their partners and vendors?

And how can suppliers best manage those relationships?

It’s Episode 1200 of Social Geek! The Franchise Rock Stars are back on the most popular podcast in franchising: Kristen Pechacek, Ali Kraus, Derrick Abelman, and Danielle Wright.

We’re diving deep into the three-legged stool of Franchisors, Franchisees, and Suppliers to discuss:

*Monthly check-ins versus monthly challenge

*Using your suppliers and partners to get stronger and better

*Saying NO and making it okay to say no

*Are relationships in franchising getting better? Are they getting harder?

*What are CEOs of brands really looking for now?

*What are the signs of a client quietly quitting?

Thanks also to today’s sponsors: Citrin Cooperman, Northeast Color, Hughes, and Thunderly.

Special Guests: Ali Kraus, Danielle Wright, Derrick Ableman, and Kristen Pechacek.

Where are your best new leads coming from? What’s your go-to source for the best candidates who will make the best franchisees?

Franchise Development Marketing is the focus on today’s show with some of my favorite franchise brand leaders recorded LIVE at Franchise Expo West in LA. You’ll hear from:

Robert Bhagwandat, Checkers & Rally’s

Megan Birkey, McDonald’s

Mark Treptow, Gong Cha

Jimmy Weeks, Internet Strategy Labs

Matt Sawicki, Black Sheep Coffee

Carlo Verdugo, Juice It Up!

Plus, Michael Seid of MSA discusses several hot Franchising topics for this fall and Kim Gusman of CEA / California Employers Association shares why California is still a great place to develop franchises!

Thanks to Northeast Color,, Hughes, Citrin Cooperman, and Thunderly.