What's Next in Franchising

The joint employer standard has changed four times in the last decade. Franchise brands have been quietly restructuring their operations around every shift—pulling back franchisee support, shelving HR programs, and waiting for the other shoe to drop.

In this episode, Leighton Healey talks with Haider Murtaza, Senior Director of Federal Government Relations at the International Franchise Association, about what that uncertainty has cost franchising, what the American Franchise Act would change, and why the most powerful voice on this issue isn't a lobbyist; it's a franchise owner in a congressional district.

Franchise culture doesn't scale on its own. Someone has to guard it.

In this episode, Leighton Healey sits down with Tom Gissler of Rolling Suds to unpack what it actually takes to build a franchise system that holds together through rapid growth — why the real innovation is happening at the franchisee level, how technology is freeing leaders to focus on community instead of KPIs, and why the brands that last are the ones treating culture like soil worth tending.

If you're scaling a home or commercial services franchise, this episode will change how you think about what your real job is.

📺 Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/NzG0yoArfBw

What's Next in Franchising is a podcast for leaders scaling service franchises who want to grow without losing their quality, their culture, or their people.

Franchise sales are rising—and so is the legal liability hiding inside that growth. Leighton and Travis break down the FTC disclosure rules that motivated sales teams are quietly bending, why that compliance problem is almost never the root issue, and what the IFA convention in Las Vegas revealed about where franchisors are really feeling squeezed heading into 2026. Plus: why stable interest rates won't save a cautious consumer, and the AI strategy gap that had surprisingly little buzz on the show floor.

C.J. Bailey didn't plan to spend 14 years in the restoration industry. He started in carpet cleaning, got handed the PuroClean account, and never left—eventually becoming the person responsible for how one of North America's largest restoration franchise networks thinks about technology.

In this conversation, Leighton Healey and C.J. dig into what a real franchise AI strategy actually looks like: why PuroClean started with training before touching anything else, how their SPAR vendor program balances franchisee freedom with brand standards, and why C.J. believes cybersecurity is now as much a brand issue as an IT one.

If your system is trying to figure out how to respond to the AI moment without losing franchisee trust, this episode is worth your full attention.

Most franchisors pour everything into their annual conference and walk away three weeks later wondering why nothing changed. In this episode, Leighton Healey breaks down what actually separates a great franchise conference from an expensive one—drawing on decades of experience across dozens of franchise brands.

He covers the FBC prep practice most brands skip, how to use vendor relationships as a competitive intelligence tool, and why the Monday after your conference is where ROI goes to die.

Plus: we built a free worksheet based on the framework in this episode. Subscribe to What's Next in Franchising — Weekly Signals at whatsnextinfranchising.com to get it.

Franchise growth is accelerating in lockstep with rising pressure on operations.

In the first episode of What’s Next in Franchising, Leighton Healey and Travis Martin introduce the show and break down three developments shaping service franchising in 2026:

• FTC franchise disclosure updates and what greater transparency means for franchisors
• The latest Franchise 500 rankings and how visibility raises expectations across systems
• The shift away from DIY as consumers return to professional service providers

This episode sets the foundation for the conversations ahead, focusing on how franchise leaders can navigate growth without losing quality, culture, or their people.

📺 Watch the full episode on YouTube:
👉 https://youtu.be/xIqQ8AtGCkw?si=w57A-tYWC_if78Fa