Franchisees Aren’t “Them.” They’re Us.
In franchising, you hear it all the time:
“You have to support your franchisees and help them be successful.”
I think about that a lot.
I ask myself: Are we doing it right?
Because support can look very different depending on who you ask.
For us, it means showing up for people who’ve bet their time, money, and energy on this brand — and on me, personally.
Let’s be honest: we don’t get everything right. We’re growing fast, and sometimes solving problems in real time. But we stay committed, transparent, and engaged. Our goal is for every franchisee to feel like they belong here — just as they work to create that same feeling in their local communities.
Franchising is a mutual selection process. I don’t say yes to just anyone — and our franchisees didn’t either. I chose them because I saw something in them, and I feel lucky they chose us too.
Some franchisors talk about their “zees” like they’re a burden. That’s never made sense to me.
One of my early mentors said something I’ll never forget:
“They are we.” It’s not franchisees vs. HQ. We’re one team.
And I mean that. I genuinely like the people in our system. I have fun being their franchisor. I enjoy the calls, the strategy sessions, the Slack jokes, the late-night texts, the small wins and the big ones. I care about them — and their families. The relationships matter. A lot.
Here’s how we put that into action:
We ask for feedback often — and actually use it.
We share data across the network — revenue, model types, class volume — because informed people make better decisions.
We encourage franchisees to connect freely — no micromanaging, no insecurity, no gatekeeping. We want them talking to each other.
We add value to their staff — not by managing them, but by offering professional development, fun content, and even pathways to ownership.
I stay hands-on — whether it’s coaching, researching partnerships, jumping on a call to close a deal, or teaching when I visit a market.
I lead our marketing strategy — because 18 years of building brands in the music industry taught me how to grow one fan at a time. It’s my job to help make this brand a household name — one member at a time.
And because we know support has to scale so that our HQ can be profitable as well, we’ve built tools to help like peer-to-peer Slack channels, an AI bot for fast answers (and we're working on making her even more valuable day to day in their operations!)
These systems let us use our human time where it matters most: personal, impactful, real support.
We’re not perfect. But we’re in it with them, every step of the way.
Because they’re not just “the franchisees.”
They’re us.