The Franchise Spotlight is on Ericka Garza, Director of Franchise Recruitment at Pizza Hut.

Ericka shares trends that she sees in franchise development including a cultural transformation with increasing diversity and inclusion initiatives.  

We also have a franchise economy update from Tom Epstein at FPN, and an invitation to join Ted Rubin and I for a live video discussion on LinkedIn next week. Register here now!

Thanks to Social Joey, Franchise Payments Network, POLN8, Northeast Color.

Shout-outs today to Home Clean Heroes and Photofy! 

The Franchise News Podcast for Wednesday, September 9, 2020.

In the news this week:​

ServiceMaster, Roark Capital

Tropical Smoothie Café, Levin Leichtman, Charles Watson

International Franchise Association, MOD

Comfort Keepers, Carl McManus

Chipotle, Chris Brandt

Zaxby's, Vanessa Fox

Bojangles, Monica Sauls

H&R Block, Ian Hardman

Regis Corporation, Felipe Athayde

Panera Bread, Debbie Roberts

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Sami Siddiqui

Juice It Up!, Susan Taylor

Qdoba, Peter Ortiz

Thanks to Benetrends and Social Joey

Rob Biesenbach is a world-class keynote speaker and author who wants to put an end to Death by PowerPoint.

His latest book is Unleash the Power of Storytelling – Win Hearts, Change Minds, and Get Results!

With so many people having virtual meetings and presentations, Rob shares great advice on looking and sounding like a world-class presenter and keeping your content fresh and interesting in a world of #ZoomFatigue.

Thanks to Social Joey, AnswerConnect, and OneUpWeb.

“Play chess while your competitors play checkers in revenue management!”

Today’s Franchise Spotlight is on Dan Gertsacov, Chief Commercial Officer at Focus Brands!  Dan discusses how their brands are evolving due to the pandemic and how the investments in digital capabilities have made impact. Dan also shares best practices in demand generation for multiple brands with multiple audiences. And check out the #MixItUp program at Giftcardmix.com. 

Shout-outs today to Maid Right and Pool Scouts!

Thanks to Franchise Payments Network, POLN8, Northeast Color, and Social Joey.

The Franchise News Podcast for Wednesday, September 2, 2020.

In the news this week:​

ADP Franchise Report

Capriotti's, Ashley Morris

Safe From Spread, Ryan Hicks

Assisted Living Locators, Angela Olea

Saladworks, Mark Mears

Jersey Mike's Subs, Rich Hope

Auntie's Anne's, Heather Neary

Duck Donuts, Russ DiGilio

Amazing Lash Studio, Heather Elrod

H&R Block, Julius Lai, Les Whiting

Hand & Stone Massage, John Teza

KFC, John Mays

Potbelly, Adam Noyes

Paul Davis Restoration, Courtney Makris

FOCUS Brands, Dan Gertsacov

Thanks to Benetrends and Social Joey

Jania Bailey, CFE, is the CEO of FranNet, the most respected voice in the franchise consultant industry in North America. Bailey has more than 30 years of experience in the banking and franchise industries. Bailey works closely with the International Franchise Association (IFA). For 6 years, Bailey has served on the IFA Executive Board of Directors and currently serves as Chair of the IFA Membership Committee.  In 2019, Bailey was the recipient of the IFA Bonnie Levine Award for her contributions to the growth of the business; contributions to her community through board positions, volunteer work and activities that promote the professional advancement of women; and her contributions as a mentor to women in franchising. Interviewed by Michelle Rowan, CFE, President of Franchise Business Review and WFC Committee Chair.

Shelly Sun is the CEO and Founder of BrightStar Group Holdings, Inc., the parent company of BrightStar Care® and BrightStar Senior Living & Memory Care.  BrightStar Care® is a premium healthcare staffing company providing the full continuum of care, from homecare to supplemental staffing for corporate clients such as nursing homes and physicians.  Shelly served as the 2017-2018 Chairwoman of the International Franchise Association (IFA), a top 25 association. Shelly worked closely with IFA’s government relations and public policy, media relations and educational programs to protect, enhance and promote franchising and nearly 733,000 franchise establishments that support nearly 7.6 million direct jobs, $674.3 billion of economic output for the U.S. economy and 2.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  

Shelly was named IFA 2009 Entrepreneur of the Year and is a Certified Franchise Executive. Shelly Sun and BrightStar were featured on CBS’ Undercover Boss. Shelly also published her first book, Grow Smart, Risk Less, where she discusses her journey as an emerging franchisor through amazing growth, lessons learned and game-changing ideas and has a Harvard Business School case study written about BrightStar’s growth story under Sun’s leadership.  Prior to founding BrightStar, Shelly was a Certified Public Accountant and held executive positions with United Airlines, CNA Insurance and BlueCross BlueShield. Shelly was interviewed by Emma Dickison, CFE, CEO and President of Home Helpers Home Care.

It’s Franchise Friday and we’re talking to Heather McLeod, Chief Marketing Officer at Authority Brands.

Heather sees Online Reputation as the new “Lift” medium: if you have strong reviews online, then all other marketing will perform better and consumers will be more likely to convert. Heather shares many great tips on using reviews to gain an advantage over your competitors on Google and other places.

Bonus! Today we have an update on the current Franchise Economy from Tom Epstein at FPN. And we’ll spotlight some Health and Safety best practices from Northeast Color including stories from Footprints Floors and 360° Painting!

Thanks to Social Joey, Franchise Payments Network, POLN8, and Northeast Color.

The Franchise News Podcast for Wednesday, August 26, 2020.

In the news this week:​

Small Business Roundtable, Rhett Buttle, John Standford

International Franchise Association, Robert Cresanti

Franchise Update Media

Capriotti's

Jersey Mike's Subs

Goldfish Swim School

Primrose School

Epcon Franchising

Jamba

Snap Fitness

Woofie's

Edible, Cheikh Mboup

Quaker Steak & Lube, Bruce Lane

Clean Juice, Amanda Hall

Sport Clips, Martin Lee

The Vitamin Shoppe, Laura Coffey

Michael Diamond, The Michaels Companies

Pizza Hut, Charlie Short

Pieology, Adrienne Berkes

Lift Brands, Ty Menzies

Beth Dailey

Authority Brands, Heather McLeod

Thanks to Benetrends and Social Joey

The IFA Women’s Franchise Committe presents:

Her Success: Stories of Female Franchise Leaders

Amy Cheng concentrates her practice in domestic and international commercial transactions, general corporate, and franchise, licensing and distribution law. Representative clients include leaders in the restaurant, retail, fitness and home services industries. With her broad range of experience, Amy essentially acts as general counsel to her clients, collaboratively maturing their businesses from infancy to prominence within their various industries. Amy’s unique combination of corporate and franchise experience provides clients with comprehensive legal services to expand their franchise portfolio. Her experience includes representing private equity in acquiring and selling franchise companies of all sizes and in a myriad of industries. Amy won the Crystal Compass award in 2016. She was interviewed by fellow Crystal Compass award honoree Emma Dickison, CFE, CEO and President of Home Helpers Home Care.