welcome to the society pod a podcast for
entrepreneurs marketers and leaders
here’s your host Jessica
yarmy all right hey there everybody and
welcome to episode three of the society
pod I am just picking my first few
guests strategically and intentionally
you probably listen to Hensley’s episode
and maybe the one with khed and this
episode guest is next in line and no
different in terms of like the reasons
why she is in seat number three episode
number three so my guest today is
amazing she has spent her entire career
in health and wellness and beauty and
most importantly
franchising with Brands you know uh
curves Title Boxing Elements Massage
like all these nationally known brands
that she has spearheaded but the most
interesting part of her background is
she is BAS basically my career twinflame
except on the operation side because we
have spent the last years in
basically parallel path careers yet
never have worked together so my guest
today welcome to the show
Karissa hello thanks Jessica thanks for
that intro looking forward to
chatting well I just gave a very brief
intro of you but why don’t you share the
more official intro that you would give
about yourself
well thank you yes so I am the President
of the emerging Brands incubator for
Unleashed Brands so I currently get the
pleasure of working with two fantastic
brands in the youth enrichment space
class and XP League like you said
Jessica I’ve been in franchising like
for my entire career which is years
are we supposed to say the years that
we’ve been in this industry as women or
does it age us I don’t know
Jessica but I can actually say that that
my um kind of entrance into franchising
started when I was really young so when
I was three my parents purchased their
first franchise business it was a
rainbow carpet cleaning franchise and
they moved me and my younger sister from
our home in Central Texas to Pensacola
Florida so that my parents could operate
their their franchise business and my
dad always says that they had when they
pulled up they had $to their name
like that was it and on day one they had
to put down $as the deposit on their
rental house so truly whether or not my
family ate was because of my parents
franchise business so it has been kind
of jokingly like the family business
they obviously that that that Journey
for my parents wasn’t scary enough
because they’ve since owned five
different franchise businesses
throughout my life um but my uncle’s
been in franchising my cousin’s been in
franchising my mother’s worked for
franchising
so I feel like it’s just in my blood and
I feel incredibly blessed that I get to
do this every day well it shines and
shows in you because you’re so
well-versed in this space so you’re
three years old at what age did you did
it at all click for you like what that
your parents were small business owners
or that they were owners of a franchise
like when did that business knowledge
start coming into your brain yeah that’s
such a good question I was defitely into
my franchising career I think before
those two clicked when I went to college
I was you know like I’m my degree was in
international studies I wanted to work
for the state department I wanted to
work for the CIA it was not a
franchising
focused career um but I thought you know
I got out of college and my hometown is
where curbs was and at that time curbs
was a huge International franchise
organization they had franchise
locations uh I’m sorry franchise
locations in countries and I thought
oh well you know I’ll just work here
until I get into the CIA as as one does
right um so I I started working there
and that one that one I will say I had a
lot of friends who owned curb’s
franchises um but it was such a big
Global brand that I personally was a
little disconnected from like the the
small business owner who was operating
these businesses until the recession hit
in and so when the recession hit at
I was still with curbs and I was
actually living in Australia and I just
remember I was sitting down with a lot
of franchise owners who were having to
close their business they had invested
their K into this business they had
invested their kids college fund into
this business and that I think you know
this Jessica you have these moments in
your your career that just changed you
forever and in that moment I had I had
been in with the with curves for
probably four or five years at this
point but that was the moment it hit me
that what we do has an impact on
families around the world you know it’s
not just this big Global business it is
truly the the entrepreneurs all over the
world who kind of give us this
incredible business that we get to work
with and so that was one of those
solidifying moments where you’re like
the the heart for what I do uh really
kind of came through and I think
solidified a lot of why I do this and my
passion for this
industry so maybe the best question is
how many years have you worked where you
haven’t been working in franchising in
health and wellness and
Beauty I had like a really small stent
of three years where I worked for a
corporately owned location okay okay
diversifying we are we’re getting out of
we’re getting out of the niche look at
us doing something new and different
going corporate owned
Studios I love that and so my start in
franchising was and so I always
think I feel like I’ve had a full
lifetime in franchising and you really
started earlier than that so your
Evolution you’ve really seen the whole
Space evolve and change it has been one
of the things that I do think I’m great
for is like I’ve been through a lot of
uncertainty when it comes to kind of
like the economy and how does it impact
both the small business owner as well as
the franchisor so it’s like even kind of
when we’re in these times of uncertainty
right now and people are talking about
recessions and those kinds of things I
think when you’ve been in this career
long enough right like you’ve kind of
seen it all and I think it gives you a
sense of um this is going to be okay
right like it all is going to work out
and everything’s going to be okay
because you’ve weathered so many storms
in this industry um you know all
especially Jessica like you know working
in the fitness industry we’ve seen every
Trend that has come and gone and you you
don’t tie yourself too much to the one
specific Trend you tie yourself to the
transformation that you get to have in
people’s lives and whether that’s
through a step aerobics class or a spin
class or a pilot class it doesn’t matter
the vehicle you know the profound
transformation that it has in people’s
lives and I think that’s where our heart
is right is just in the transformation
not the
modality yeah it it’s funny that you say
like like your heart is in it I think
there’s so much heart in franchising and
then there’s also so much heart in
Fitness and so you combine those two
things and and that’s where a majority
of your career has been so as you look
at franchising like what do you what do
you love the most about it because I
know your heart is in it big like what
it what what like sets your soul on fire
about working in the franchising space
yeah I think it is exactly like being
able to see my parents in the franchises
that I get to work with I mean that is
what is my why and what wakes me up in
the morning that I’ve been with five or
six different brands throughout my
career that the commonality is all that
I get to help people like my parents you
know I get to help people who took a big
risk and who wanted to build something
for themselves and for their families
and they wanted to kind of build this
business that they could get their kids
involved in and that’s what is special
to me so it kind of goes back to it’s
not the vehicle or the modality it’s
what we get to do for entrepreneurs
that’s so
special yeah now as I’m entering this
entrepreneurial phase of my journey and
then ALS also sitting in franchising and
also sitting in all of these things it
it it’s so big for me is just like that
entrepreneurial drive but then but then
helping those who are trying to build
and I think that’s one of the the
amazing things that that come to life in
franchising as you look at the franchise
space What are the what are the
opportunities that you see so we see the
good side like what are the
opportunities that you see where
collectively like the franchising world
needs to be doing better
I think that there’s always an
opportunity outside of franchising
really I mean this is this is big but I
think there’s always an opportunity for
us to be able to put ourselves into the
shoes of the franchisees because what’s
interesting about franchising is we run
a similar business but we run a
different business than our franchisees
right like we have the responsibility to
run a franchise organization we don’t
actively meet with kids in do College
Planning right like my class
franchises do but we work together in
that and so there’s kind of this natural
conflict to that because we’re in the
same business but we we operate
different businesses um so I think
there’s always an opportunity for us to
continue to put ourselves into our
franchisees shoes and make sure that we
really understand what the day-to-day
stress in their life is where are the
opportunities for us to really address
some of the challenges or the struggles
that they have when operating their
business because at the end of the day
this is a relationship business I mean
everybody in franchising will say that
exact same thing is is that the
relationships that you build with your
franchisees matter and in building those
relationships trust matters respect
matters communication showing Integrity
showing up when you say you’re going to
show up and again that’s why I say this
is much bigger than franchising like we
could all use these value lessons and
how we show up for our partners our
spouses our kids whatever it is um but I
think there’s always that opportunity
for us to as the franchisor to stay
really connected to what do the daily
life of our franchisee look like where
are their pain points where you know how
can we create solutions that make their
you know make their daily business more
efficient I I I honestly I always hear
kind of my my parents voice you know as
franchisees I’ve heard them complain
about corporate a lot as you can imagine
Jessica so I always think through I kind
of have this filter of like when I’m
going to kick off some initiative or
roll out some project or put a project
plan together I can’t help but hear my
parents voice about like what’s really
valuable to them and and the fluff that
they need to get rid of and why they
didn’t communicate this ahead of time
and you know so I kind of always have
this filter of like listening to how my
parents as franchisees experien
interactions with the franchise or and
like you know it’s never a perfect
relationship and I’m never going to have
a perfect relationship with my
franchises but I can do my part to be
intentional about building the
relationship communicating well building
trust teach you know treating people
with respect those things are incredibly
important and always where our
opportunities lie yeah the dynamic
between franchise or and franchisee is
is just amazing I had one of my old
franchisees who I’m still connected with
to this day and we we get along great he
commented recently that publicly um I
never really liked you when you were CMO
but I love that you have like grown and
evolved over time and and it’s it’s just
hysterical because it’s like did you not
like me at the time because it because
of just the franchise or franchisee
Dynamic and there’s just that like give
and take or there’s that pressure
because I’m still the same person today
that I was then but it’s just uh I think
oftentimes you’re maybe coming at it
from two different two different goals
and I think what you’re saying is like
let’s be pursuing the same goal and
let’s like overc communicate how we’re
going to get to that goal together so
that there isn’t that divide is that a a
good summary of of where you’re coming
from absolutely and it is a common goal
but to your point you’re always you know
trying to achieve that goal from a
different perspective and so I think it
is just kind of valuing each other’s
diverse perspective you don’t have to be
approaching it the exact same way
there’s multiple ways you know to you
know like there’s multiple ways to get
towards the goal and there’s different
ways that it can be done and it’s just
having that kind of respect that the
franchisor is trying to accomplish
certain things and the franchisee is
trying to accomplish certain things and
um I I love that comment that I didn’t
really like you as the franchise because
it is unfortunately a natural US versus
them kind of mentality and it’s I
personally have been in roles where I’ve
been like a field coach you know a
franchise business consultant that kind
of field role and I know that it strikes
fear when I email you and say hey I’d
like to schedule a visit and come on
site you know I know that not everyone
is embracing me with open arms you know
and I I know that there can be a little
bit of hesitation when you’re inviting
corporate in um but again I think as
long as there’s just this understand in
that we’re people we’re working towards
the same goal we’re doing our best and
we treat each other with respect and we
really try to understand how the
franchisee feels when we send this email
or when we kick off this initiative and
how that impacts them and we speak to
that um you know we always have to be
speaking to where the like what is in
the franchisees best interest right
because people don’t my mother always
taught me this like what is it the
Franklin cvy principal it’s like people
don’t care how much you know until they
know how much you care and so I think we
we sometimes can come off as the
franchisor really just guns of Blazing
with our goals and here’s what we want
to accomplish and here’s our big
initiatives but we have to make sure
that that the franchisee knows how that
translates to them and the positive
impacts that come from them so we always
just have to be thinking through we’re
marching in the same way and I have a
responsibility to help you know kind of
help explain how this benefits you and
as a as as an honest kind of checkpoint
for us in this industry Jessica we
should be looking at our goals and
saying well if it doesn’t positively
impact the franchisee or we should we
even be doing this you know which I do
think sometimes I’ve been guilty of you
got an initiative you have to roll it
out and the franchisees benefit is is
almost kind of lost in the bigger
goal yeah I I refer to you was my my
career twinflame because like you’ve
been in big big Global franchise Brands
and then now you’re like incubator
startup mode baby Brands and I’ve kind
of been in the same same Evolution and
so dig into that thought like but
through the lens of like big Brands
versus small Brands like how do you see
um like big brands in that franchise or
dynamic versus small brands in that
franchise or dynamic do you see any
difference and like what what insights
can you share yes yes but wait I have to
ask you a question first do you have a
favorite like a bigger brand versus an
emerging brand oh um there’s benefits to
both um so my my most recent Big Brand
was Club Pilates and it was amazing to
be a part of fast growth where you’re
opening a month because you can learn
super fast you’re just getting so many
reps but then when you’re starting from
zero you’re starting from I can build
this in the way that I want to build it
and um I can pick early owners who are
really going to be the right partners
and impactful but but what I want to
open a month in in March yes so uh I
think there’s there’s there’s pros and
cons and and as a franchisor I feel like
your level of support is different
because
you’re you’re in different phases
and I don’t I think there’s um it’s a
different game that you start to play
when you’re in the let’s say even like
Studios and up your your role as a
franchisor is a little bit different
whereas like small Brands you are really
really in that partnership seat and I
think we always say like franchisees
your partners but at some point you lose
the the impact as a franchisee when
you’re in a location brand or you
were in curve so you said thousands of
locations across the globe so each
individual franchisee has less impact
whereas if you’re a franchisee and it’s
three locations like you are you are an
OG owner and so you carry like a real
real partnership and I think it’s um I
don’t know I think it’s an amazing like
difference and dynamic between those two
phases yeah I agree with you I think
they both have pros and cons I mean
personally I love to roll up my sleeves
and get involved in the daytoday work
right like the creating you know all the
fun things around you know uh writing
operations manuals and writing Playbook
and the actual like development of the
systems like lights my soul on fire like
you know like I love to sit in a room
with spark people and just really think
okay how could this work like how could
this look and I think that’s what’s
exciting about working with emerging
Brands is you know you may have a
footprint or a structure in place but
you still you’re small enough that you
can pivot and you can change some of
those kind of operational foundations to
continue to evolve the brand you know
it’s kind of like the difference between
driving like a speedboat versus driving
a cruise ship now the cruise ships are
really really nice they’re not as bumpy
and they’ve got a lot of extra perks but
you know you also come with that you
know things just take longer to get get
accomplished right because now you have
hundreds of locations or thousands of
locations and you can’t be as you know
kind of spontaneous or reactive to
what’s going on in the marketplace you
have to everything just takes longer and
there’s more decision makers involved
and um so it’s definitely you know
there’s Pro PR and cons to both because
I will say and I’m sure you can relate
to this Jessica it’s like there’s also
time in working with emerging Brands
where you you get that sense of like
loneliness like you just want to look to
your right look to your left and be like
does anybody is there anybody else out
there that has an idea right like you
feel in a way that a lot of the
decisions rest on your shoulders and I
think when you’re in a bigger brand you
at least you have like a community that
feels like that’s all that has your back
in in a lot of different ways and you
can leverage really smart marketing
people you can leverage really smart
franchise development people and it’s
not all on you and so I will say like I
feel like with unleash Brands right now
I’m in a a really fortunate spot because
I get to work with smaller footprint
brands that we can still kind of move
quicker but I have the support of all
the talented smart people people that
work across multiple departments and
multiple brands that you know I have
three other talented brand presidents
that even today I’m like emailing them
I’m like have you guys ever come across
this and as someone who’s worked alone
in an emerging brand oh my gosh that
feels so good you’re like I don’t have
to just make the decision yeah you can
drive that speedboat up to the cruise
ship pick up resources and then like get
going
exactly yeah so if you were coaching a
an entrepreneur who was looking to get
into a franchise organization and and
maybe looking at it still through the
lens of like a big franchise or a small
franchise or a Fitness franchise or a
restaurant franchise like how do you
advise entrepreneurs who are maybe
looking at getting into the franchising
space that’s a great question because I
think franchising is a unique space for
entrepreneurs because people who are
attracted to entrepreneurship you know
know they’re naturally a little bit more
um independent or they H they they’re
okay with taking risk they are okay with
putting it all on the line you know
they’re they’re willing to take the big
leaps it’s just kind of a little it’s in
their DNA right but as an entrepreneur
coming into a franchise system you also
have to operate within the systems and
structure and kind of you know brand
compliance of a larger Network because
what you do as an entrepreneur in your
one to two to three locations impacts
the entire brand so it is definitely an
entrepreneur who still wants to really
take on the responsibility of owning the
success in their business utilizing a
toolkit that is provided that shouldn’t
be modified in too many ways you know so
I think that sometimes entrepreneurs
come to franch fing because they see it
as a quick fix they see it as an easy
business they see it as something that
oh well the system’s already in place
all I have to do is you know get the
sign up open the doors and people will
come right I’m sure you’ve seen this
Jessica it’s like oh the brand will sell
itself you know I’ve got all the systems
in place I just have to put out these
great flyers or digital ads that the
marketing team has put together and and
everybody will show up but my my advice
to entrepreneurs when they’re coming in
and looking at at franchise systems is
also to to know that like the business
doesn’t work unless you do you know you
still have to be the one that that
grinds that goes out that has
uncomfortable conversations with
strangers at you know Chamber of
Commerce events and you know all of
those types of marketing events you
still have to put yourself out there you
still have the responsibility for
activating on the system I think with
franchising it’s kind of like you know
everybody gets the same Lego set and I’m
sure you’ve seen this Jess like it’s
like everybody gets the same Lego set
and there’s like you know there’s a
little template of like what you could
build with this Lego set right like
here’s the template and you will give
that same Lego set to two different
people and some people will build like
the most glorious Lego skyscraper that
you’ve ever seen in your entire life and
some people will build like a parking
lot you know you’re like okay you guys
have the same exact Lego set and some
people will build incredible businesses
and some people will struggle and so I
think at the end of the day the system
only works to the extent that the
entrepreneur in the business drives it
right like the toolkit is there but what
you build is up to you so you still you
have to be someone who likes the the
structure and likes to have some of
those great resources and the toolkit
available but who still has that passion
and that drive to take risks and to uh
carry it all on themselves and like
really get things across the Finish Line
I think one of the things that I see
that’s kind of really underestimated in
coming in as a franchise entrepreneur is
you got to be a fantastic leader you
know you a lot of I’m sure you see this
a lot of franchisees kind of come with
this kind of corporate background in in
in some ways right they’ve worked
professional corporate careers at some
point and um I think we take for granted
what it takes to build a team and build
a culture because yes you have you’re
part of a brand but each individual
little business has its own culture and
it has its own people Dynamic and you’re
responsible really for kind of
developing uh the next generation of
leaders and that’s pretty
incredible yeah I had a phone call
recently with with a club Pilates owner
and he was one of the better owners and
he came from a Wall Street background
and so you know had corporate background
but then came into a franchise system
and was successful in that franchise
system multi-unit like four or five
units and then exited and is kind of now
looking at new Concepts and he wanted to
know my thought of like what to look at
what size to look at I I said you could
go the whole the whole board is is able
to be played by you because you can go
into a big brand because you’ve been in
a Big Brand and you know how that goes
but you could also go take that Big
Brand experience and you can go small
brand and you could really be an
impactful OG kind of owner um who comes
in knowing that there’s pieces missing
but you know how those pieces should
look so you have enough ability to still
operate your business on a consistent
kind of kind of level so I think it’s a
fun phase right now where um where there
are a lot of big established systems but
then there are also a lot of these brand
new kind of Brands coming up and and
conglomerates coming coming up and so I
wanted to kind of talk to you about
Unleashed Brands as a whole and then we
can dive into your role a little bit
more specifically about what you’re
doing but talk to me about like
conglomerate life because because you
and I again we were like twin flames
like we both are kind of we’ve played in
that space But it is a little bit
different so Unleashed Brands like how
what has your experience been uh so far
with working in that conglomerate I
think it’s a really fun Dynamic and this
isn’t the first time you know you and I
have been through a couple different
kind of multi-brand um platforms and one
of the things that’s really great about
Unleashed Brands is is that they’re able
to serve kids at any age throughout
their Journey with the seven now seven
different brands that they own so we can
help kids all the way through The Little
Gym up to what we do at class which
is preparing them for their High School
journey and then all the other brands
kind of fit on this really great candy
you know Candy Land kind of map of how
we can serve all all of the kids at the
different ages throughout their growth
um so I think that’s something that’s
really unique and the the CEO Michael
Browning has this great vision about how
even for franchisees how incredibly
helpful that is because you can own
multiple Brands inside of the same you
know platform and so you could be you
know diversifying your own revenue and
diversifying your own portfolio by you
know helping kids when they start off
young in their Journey all the way up
through group class helping them get
into college um so it’s it’s definitely
um a it’s a fun environment to be around
all those different brands because
selfishly as someone who works inside of
the brands you get to ideate with a lot
of other really smart people and hear
about what the other brands are doing um
you know so if someone’s innovating with
one of our Brands snapology I can figure
out a way to make something like that
that model work for XP league for
example
um and so it’s really great because you
get to ideate and learn from each other
as well as you know as the as the
business owner I mean we have you know
what thousands and thousands and
thousands of kids inside of our system
that we can help filter through multiple
Brands throughout their kind of their
lifetime um so it’s beneficial for us
you know internally to leverage the
great resources and talent that exists
within the brand but also for the
franchisees to come in and be able to
you know diversify their own portfolio
based on what their interests are and
how they want to help serve kids in
their
Community yeah I think a a traditional
franchise model you know I’m here in
Dallas so let’s say you buy three
territories in Dallas you really are
either adjacent or you’re kind of
peppered you own mckin and then you also
own Frisco and you also own Plano or
something like that’s a little bit
peppered or spread out and I think
what’s interesting
about buying into or investing in a
conglomerate kind of franchise is you
could have Unleashed Brands mckin you
know and you can have three concepts in
a very um high density but also High
income area and then your marketing
efforts all can Echo each other because
you are not just following the consumer
as you said kind of through their age as
they age through your Brands but you
also just have such rich
data on everybody that is within all the
different brands that you that you have
so there’s there’s so many like
interesting economies of scale that
happen when you when you do start in a
in a conglomerate and I think those
benefits start earlier when you’re in a
conglomerate as opposed to th those
benefits start to kick in when you’re in
a large franchise also but it’s maybe
farther down the road when when your
locations are six miles apart as opposed
to you know all the way across
across the dma do you guys think about
it in that same way absolutely
absolutely and you know speaking of
economies of scale I mean with with the
the great brands that unleash brands has
I mean you could have them Under One
Roof and pay one rent you know and in
some cases many of your skilled you know
employees could help across multiple
Brands if you’ve hired an educator to
help with act or SAT test prep guess
what they probably also know some stem
and they help with snapology and so you
can leverage you know your resources
across multiple brands in the same
location not even your same territory
right but in your same literal building
um which I think is really great is you
know we have Urban airs that have XP
leagues and snap allies inside of them
because they already have the real
estate you might as well leverage again
kids coming and being exposed to your
brands at different ages with different
interest and you can really meet a much
Broad broader kind of client base with
what you were saying Jessica that was
your marketer hat like all of the
consumer Trends and data right that you
have that goes along to like how do you
speak to that customer through out like
you’re able to leverage all of that data
to make the best decisions that you can
about you and your business’s growth
yeah I I of course think about it
through a marketing lens and even like
what events are you going to and you can
basically show up as you know three
brands to one event but you’re really
one brand but you’re right like you
could think about it as as real estate
you can think about it as you know all
of the things really like you’re hiring
all of it really um Can can hit
economies of scale if you are running
this like conglomerate kind of model
yeah absolutely absolutely so it’s
advantageous also for us as the
franchise War because you already have
someone who’s who’s in a way inducted
into your culture right you know they go
to the same conference every single year
across multiple Brands they interact
with the same people across shared
services um you know so they they’re
people who already have bought into your
mission and your vision and now they can
help share that Mission Vision and our
core values through different brands and
our own
portfolio yeah and and I love that you
look at it through that lens of like
here’s our here’s our overall
conglomerate mission and vision and
values but then it’s also super
important to have each brand have its
own identity and its own culture and its
own Vibe of course it’s going to always
sit under the umbrella company or the
parent company but you have to have
space you know especially if you’re
going to be in a conglomerate that’s
that’s playing in similar spaces like
Unleashed Brands is in kids spaces like
I work with goaga which is in you know
Fitness and Wellness spaces or
extraordinary Brands which is in like
Fitness and Wellness spaces so if you’re
all in the same spaces you have to have
very clear guardrails around
like who is this brand as opposed to
this other brand that’s in our portfolio
and and make sure each one of them has
enough like room to breathe and room to
grow well and to like piggyback off of
that I’ve I’ve been in a a unique space
that I’m grateful for is that I came
into both of the brands that I work with
at unleash through Founders so the
founders exited the business and now
Unleashed is you know kind of running
those businesses and you talk about like
culture like that’s a great way of
trying to take what was established in
in one of the brands they’ve been around
for years you know so you talk about
a brand that already has an established
culture and was very much a reflection
of the founder and trying to find that
balance of you know how do you keep that
culture intact and maintain those
positive franchisee relationships when
all of a sudden now you’re a part of an
organization whose whose mission vision
and values may be similar but they are
inherently a little bit different um and
so how do you take one culture and you
know interject it into another culture
while keeping like what you were saying
Jessica like a balance of the good of
both um and so I feel very fortunate
because again I I’m someone who’s always
just trying to think of how do I put
myself in the franchisees shoes and
understand how does the change of a
Founder leaving a bigger organization
coming in and I always try to remind
myself like at the end of the day like
we’re people organizations are built on
people mission statements Visions values
they’re all executed on a daily basis by
people and and just keeping ourselves
aligned and really focused on the people
who are are a part of our brand and that
they feel heard and that you know um
there’s great relationships that are
built and they have all the tools that
they need to be
successful yeah it’s % true and and I
it’s a good transition cuz I wanted to
talk to you about like you with people
and like your leadership role in your
organizations but then also like your
coaching role outside of organizations
and so maybe like the first part of this
would be like as you’re onboarding
someone or maybe interviewing someone to
sit in a support role at either a
franchise organization or a franchise
within a conglomerate organization what
do you what are you looking for in
individuals who are who are applying to
jobs to work with you in
franchising yeah I I love that because I
just recently went through it and I will
tell you that um my I had a candidate
who said one thing that got her the job
and it was that she cared so much about
the students that she worked with that
she was she was really going to be sad
to step away from them and in that
moment I saw this you know new team
member or potential team member who
would come and sit on the headquarters
side share and express such similar
values to what I see our franchisees
Express in their daily business every
day so for me I think it’s one thing to
have the you know check all the criteria
boxes but at the end of the day in this
type of organization and in this type of
Industry how you can relate to people
and how you think about building
relationships and building trust and how
you treat people you know those things
are way more important than what degree
you got to me you know I think that I I
I personally as a leader want to build a
team who put franchises first and I I
personally am the type of leader that I
say if if you have two calls coming in
at the exact same time and one of them
is is a franchisee and one of them is me
your boss you better answer that
franchisees phone calls right like I’m
at the bottom of the pyramid do not
reschedule anything with a franchisee to
be on a meeting that I’ve requested you
know and so I want a team that also
reflects those
values yeah I I always talk to people
about like the the the soft skills of
franchising and on the marketing side
it’s a little bit like always be
presenting or always be pitching or
always have a you know like I have to be
able to sell in like what are what are
we doing and why but then on the you
know your side of things like I know you
spent a lot of time in training roles
and coaching roles and there’s a there’s
a mix of so many things that have to
come to life in that role and it’s like
LED with empathy maybe like a little bit
of support and psychology what are the
what are the soft skills that you always
kind of like pull from as you’ve been in
training roles in the franchising World
well one of the things that you know
people always ask you is like well what
makes that franchisee so successful
right why am I struggling when this
franchisee is doing so well and in every
franchise business you know you have
your top performers the people who just
kill it it doesn’t matter what challenge
comes their way I mean they just learn
how to Excel and then you have that
population at the bottom that’s always
making excuses and nothing ever seems to
work and they never have what they need
when they need it and it’s so
interesting because it’s almost a study
in like human behavior more than it is
business right because you have you log
in the same training internet as
everybody else and you have the same
videos and resources Etc so I was always
really fascinated by like okay well what
does make these people tick the top
performers what makes their businesses
so special because being in the field
and coaching and training I have a
responsibility to help what I can
translate what the high performers are
doing to everybody else in the system
right so I was really just watching High
performers and personally as a as just a
student a learner trying to learn about
high performance and what makes any
entrepreneur High performers While
others aren’t and at the end of the day
for me my assessment was it really is
just the mindset of the people at the
top because the franchise owner creates
a culture that then the managers
reinforce and replicate and that impacts
every single person who works inside of
that business no matter how large or
small the organization is I mean we guys
know like the leader sets the tone and
the mindset of the leader and the
mindset of the business owner is either
going to drive that business forward or
lead it to you know closure or whatever
the next step is and and so I was really
invested in kind of learning about these
leadership principles and these mindset
principles and i’ done I I had done for
years kind of very traditional
leadership training where I teach you
how to analyze a profit and loss
statement and I teach you how to you
know create an optimal schedule and I
teach you how to create an operational
Playbook but I realized my opportunity
was to teach leaders especially like the
manager levels you know or the the
assistant managers the ones who were
really working with all of the employees
inside of a business on given day is to
give them the mindset skills that it
needs to be successful so I remember it
was like right before covid we launched
a Leadership Academy at one of the
brands that I was working with at the
time and it was a three-day intensive
leadership training where we we spent
some time talking about your p&l and
your your action plans and you know kind
of where the marketing opportunities are
inside of your community but a lot of it
was these soft soft skills around
influence like how do you influence
people to you know get things done
through you like you cannot do
everything so how do you influence
others it was teaching them like mental
grit and perseverance and strategies to
help manage stress like as as I remember
what it was like to be a young managers
I’m sure you do too it’s like nobody
really equips us with how to manage the
type of stress that we come in contact
with while we’re also this same time
everybody on the team is looking at us
for like it’s like you look at the
flight attendant when there’s turbulence
right you’re like are we going to be
okay everybody’s looking at the manager
who also at that time in their career
probably haven’t been taught some of
these soft skills like you’re talking
about like how do I manage stress how do
I refocus my team how do I Inspire or
motivate people outside of you better
hit this number of sales or otherwise
you’re going to be fired right you know
so that was one of the things that I
then translated into kind of my side
business which is public speaking and
Consulting and coaching people
especially entrepreneurs in the
franchising space on how do you develop
the mindset to achieve greatness inside
of your business because it’s less about
the the tools like we said and more
about what you do with them and I think
when you really start to examine people
you realize there is something that is
stopping them from picking up the hammer
even though I’ve told them times grab
the hammer and do this with the hammer
right Jessica I mean how many times have
you sat down with the franchisee and
said all you have to do is these three
things and then you call them in a week
and they haven’t done any of them you
know and you’re like what what is that
block and so much of of of franchising
again is like we’re we’re a people
business and so people come with their
own stories and their own limitations
and their own previous
experiences that kind of shape the
action that they take on a daily basis
and at the end of the day all we have is
what we do every single day all we have
is our habits and those small things
that we repeat every single day is what
builds the business there is no magic
wand yeah right there is no incredible
marketing campaign that’s going to turn
a business around it is the small
actions that you take the small habits
that you set for yourself and so how do
we equip entrepreneurs with the habits
that they need to be great leaders be
great business owners and overcome their
own crap right their own stories and
their own
limitations I was just at Aspire
yesterday and I was listening to Jeff
Fenster talk about how he’s vertically
integrated across everal so you’re
familiar with with everol and they have
the franchising aspect of their business
but then they have the product sourcing
aspect of their business they Source
directly from Brazil and then they also
construct their own locations so they
have a level of um things that are
vertically integrated about their
business model that makes their business
model like less expensive to open but
then like less expensive to operate and
therefore more profitable and as you’re
talking I’m thinking and you can take
this idea to unleash Brands and you can
claim it as your own why wouldn’t we
have like you have how many brands in
Unleashed Brands like eight now seven
seven so like take your seven Brands and
we have seven Brands and then you have
Unleashed brands at the top but like put
a put a leadership and education layer
in between and have it be to those soft
skills that apply to every single brand
because I think you’re so right that
like we go into GM training like general
manager training and we’re like here’s
all the operational things that you need
to do to run a successful business and
we skip over the most important part of
you know how to be a leader we have
year olds in leadership roles and we’re
not giving them leadership training like
we just have an operations manual and
here’s how to you know track the payroll
for your team meanwhile they’ve never
run a team and I think about my own
experience and how my leadership even at
was still lacking and and we’re
asking them to do so much and not
training to those things but it is
something that is scalable across all of
the brands because it is skills that
like apply across everything in anything
so you can you can take that that’s
that’s free of charge for you and and
Michael at unleash friends thank you I
will take it and you know what I think
that one thing that we can never neglect
is I think again as franchisors we get
so focused on the franchisees business
and we go we need to create leadership
training for you and we need to train
your you as a franchise owner in your
GMS and I think sometimes also we got to
put a mirror up to ourselves and train
ourselves
absolutely just like it starts with the
franchise owner inside of the franchise
business it starts with us and our
leadership team on the franchisor level
that creates the culture um and sets the
expectations and builds the
relationships that I think it’s so easy
for both parties to point the finger at
each other right well you need to do
more of this no you need to do more of
this that I think anything that we put
out for the franchisees we need to be
willing to train ourselves on as well
yeah absolutely absolutely so it can be
all of of the above and and I just give
you tons of like kudos for all of the
work you do in that space not just
helping others but also just pushing
yourself and not being not being static
and just continuing to learn and to grow
and be the best that that you can be as
a as a franchise support resource and
just as as a as an amazing person so
um all the positive aside you know I’m
big on like comeback season and and I
think in a way like a lot of My
Brightest moments are fueled by a lot of
my darkest moments and I want you to
take us to like a point where you were
low and when was it where was it like
why was it and then what did you do to
get out of that point to get back to
like doing amazing things and feeling
amazing well uh every day is a
journey if you don’t feel amazing every
day that’s okay um I’m glad that you
asked that because it is so oftentimes
we just share the success stories and
the wins that we’ve had in our career
and that’s what we want to highlight uh
when someone asks us you know we just
want to talk about the good but as you
know Jessica like so much of who we are
gets shaped in those moments when things
don’t go well so I left a a company and
took on a role as a president it was the
first president role and it was for a
small emerging brand and I relocated
from Denver out to North Carolina so I
like moved my life for this role that
lasted a whopping six months and then I
was out of the role and the company kind
of they they they the company they
stopped franchising it and they they hit
some roadblocks and so then I had you
know I was sitting there and i’ had been
in this role for six months and I I
loved the role and that was what was
hard too is I loved my team and I loved
the concept and then I was sitting there
in North Carolina and you have these
moments where you’re like why did I do
this right like why did I you know did I
try to reach too big and was the was I
not ready for the role or um was it not
the right move right you regret every
single decision that you’ve made because
now you’re sitting unemployed in a state
I didn’t want to be in I’d only been
there for for six months and the worst
part was is like every time I would come
and go from the house I had to drive by
the old office you know right so it was
like a constant daily reminder what felt
like of my failure yeah and so I was um
I was luckily for me like and this is
how I I feel like we’re always so
supported is is that you know you’re
trying to find these jobs and you feel
like in the thousands of applications
that you submit you’re like no I’m never
going to find a job but people who have
been a part of your life like come out
of the woodwork to support you you know
I know that you’ve experienced this and
one of the blessings of of really the
last couple years was you know I had a
former boss from my time at extend bar
her name is Andrea Rogers and she was
one of those people that I feel like as
a leader has had one of the most
positive impacts on my life if you were
to interview me for a job and you’d be
like what was your fa favorite job and
why I would always refer back to that
job at extend bar um and working with
Andrea because I had so much respect for
her as a leader and in that team it was
like five women just like rolling up our
sleeves and getting things done and
trying to help people build this
business and I loved it and I hadn’t
really connected with Andrea for years
and she kind of just reached out out of
the blue and said hey I’ve got this
project and I needed some help and I I
just I you were the first person who
came to mind because I loved working
with you and I love how you could help
us with this project and so over the
course of the year I had more people
step up who I’d built relationships with
say hey I’m looking for a consultant who
could build out this curriculum hey I’m
we’re looking for a public speaker to
come and speak at our conference can you
do that and so I had all of these
opportunities that came from from the
relationships that I had built with
people and so I think it was you know
such a great reminder that again your
life doesn’t happen in these big swoops
or you know there there isn’t a magic
wand that that makes your career
prosperous and always prosperous and
there’s never just like one wand that
knocks you off your feet and you’re
permanently gone like it’s never like
that there’s the highs and the lows of
the journey and it is ultimately about
the relationships that you built with
people in your life and how you showed
up every single day and how you you know
you busted your butt you worked late you
got things done that really has an
impact on people to the point that you
know I started working for unleash
during the year and um my my partner
Nate and I were kind of reflecting at
the end of the year and we were saying
like Okay what are you grateful for this
year and you would think on the outside
looking in I’d be grateful that I got a
job and I love what I do and after you
know uh nine months of not being
employed full-time that I’d be like the
best thing was I got a job and it’s all
going to be okay but that was not the
thing I was grateful for I was more
grateful as I reflected on
that I had gone through what I had
gone through that I had the loss of the
job but that I was okay and that people
supported me and that what I learned
about myself during that time was like
I’m strong I’m tough like I could do
things and and I needed to almost be
reminded that I can do hard things and I
can get through things and just what
I’ve given out to people is ultimately
in my time of need what people gave back
to me um and so I think that’s it’s not
all about the times that you’ve been on
the pedestal that are the most you know
um like just reflective for you or that
you have those strongest takeaways it
really is just about the work that you
put in and how you manage the hard times
that ultimately build you up to
celebrate the good
times amen like that’s where the
learning is for sure and kudos to you
for for powering through it and and I
just want to highlight our timeline
because I think as you talk about being
able to call upon your network in your
low time you know to think that like
years ago you and I connected because I
was interviewing at extend bar and to
this day haven’t worked together at all
but you’ve just been such an amazing
part of my network and I feel like our
paths have been like crisscrossed
intertwined this whole time and to be
able to have a sounding board when
something was going on has just been so
invaluable and um I think people connect
always you know for like an immediate
what’s the immediate value ad that
Carissa is gonna add to my life and I
can just say like you and I have played
this long game and I love it for us I
love it for both of us I love it for me
especially but I love it for both of
us I agree and I think it’s like of all
the places around the world like we all
we we kind of always always end up in
each other’s bubble and I think there’s
a reason for that right it’s like we we
need this network of people that you
know again it’s not like an immediate we
could help each other out or we got a
win from each other the benefit of our
relationship has been the nights of
grabbing drinks and talking and sharing
about our insecurities and fears and
what we want to accomplish and what’s
holding us back and that relationship
that builds over time is what’s special
and honestly what what makes us show up
for for people in a better way is
because we have people who show up for
that way so I’m grateful for you for
being that person in my life yeah and
then and then you pay it forward it’s a
tough thing to to try to do anything big
so um I appreciate you holding me
accountable to starting the podcast
because that was the last thing we
talked about when we met up for drinks
two months ago and here you are showing
up for me today so I appreciate you so
much and congratulations on everything
that you’ve done so far I’m so excited
to see what you and Michael end up
building at Unleashed Brands we will put
all of your socials and website in the
show notes um so if anybody wants to
connect with you they can they can reach
out but thank you so much Carissa for
being on today’s episode of the society
pod thanks Jessica loved it love
spending time with you we hope you
enjoyed this episode of the society
pod