Franchise Today
Welcome to Franchise Today as it celebrates its 16th Season in 2025. Join host Stan Friedman, President of FRM Solutions every Wednesday at 12 PM ET / 11 AM CT as he serves up discussions with weekly guests, who will talk about best practices for scaling their franchise businesses for sustainable growth, through sensible franchising. Franchising remains an unintentional profession. Most people don't go to school to study about how to become involved in franchising. Rather, some life event causes it to find us. Each episode of the podcast begins with a look back at how franchising found that week's guest. This is followed by a walk through the milestones of their journey and career, up to and including the present day. My guests could be franchisors, franchisees or suppliers, who provide insights into high-level support services or top-quality products to better enable the franchise community. Each podcast will wrap with a look ahead to upcoming industry events, upcoming guests or important dates on the horizon.
Episodes
Nick Lopez left Colorado as a wide-eyed first-generation college student, to work on a BS in Business Marketing at Michigan State. His plan was to "walk on" to the wrestling team, which would ultimately pay for the cost of tuition and living.
The reality was that a scholarship was a couple of years away, so Nick made the tough decision to hang up his wrestling boots for an entrepreneurial endeavor, in order to support the ...
What separates a successful franchise exit from a costly one?
In this week’s episode of Franchise Today, Stan Friedman sits down with Patrick Galeher, Founder, CEO and Managing Partner of Boxwood Partners, one of the leading M&A advisory firms focused on franchising and multi-unit brands.
Patrick has lived every side of the franchise world — franchisor, franchisee and supplier — giving him a 360-degree perspective few deal-ma...
What happens when two brothers nearly lose everything—only to discover they were accidentally building a franchise model the entire time?
In this Encore episode, host Stan Friedman sits down with Ryan Parsons, CEO of Evive Brands and co-founder of The Brothers That Just Do Gutters. What started as a small family-owned gutter business nearly went bankrupt during the 2007–2008 recession, after diversifying into general construction. B...
What happens when a journalism graduate with no franchiseexperience gets assigned a PR client that changes her entire professional destiny? That’s exactly what happened to Monica Feid, co-founder and COO of Thunderly Marketing, Advertising and PR. What started as a random PRassignment to the Dwyer Group in 1996 became the beginning of a decades-long career shaping some of franchising’s most recognized brands.
In this episode, Monica...
"This week, Shelly Sun Berkowitz, founder ofBrightStarCare, joins host Stan Friedman for a deeply personal and inspiring conversation about the intersection of franchising, family, and female entrepreneurship. Shelly’s journey was born out of her personal need to find care for her grandmother. Shelly’s decision to expand BrightStar through franchising came later though, and began with a spark — watching her mother-in-law inves...
What happens when a hurricane changes your entire life philosophy? For Jeff Dudan, a late-night drive home from Hurricane Katrina relief became the turning point that transformed him from a traveling restoration contractor into a franchise empire builder.
Starting with a college painting business and pivoting into restoration after Hurricane Andrew, Jeff launched Advanta Clean in 1994. By 2005, he realized franchising could give him...
After five years as Chief Development Officer at Another Broken Egg, Jeff Sturgis is making another bold pivot—returning to independent consulting.
In this conversation with host Stan Friedman, Jeff reflects on three decades in franchising, from his unexpected entry after leaving professional sports to senior leadership roles at Coldwell Banker, U.S. Franchise Systems, Focus Brands, Fantastic Sam’s, McAllister’s Deli, Fazoli’s, and ...
From exile at 17 to CEO of a billion-dollar franchise platform. Shirin Bezhadi’s story is one of resilience, reinvention, and remarkable leadership. Hear how she scaled Budget Blinds/Home Franchise Concepts, survived a brain tumor, and turned adversity into her greatest advantage.📌 Key Takeaways
Exile and hardship can fuel resilience and leadership ambition.
Fractional CFO work can shape company growth and PE exits.
Health crises...
Carlos Hesano is the brand President of Authority Brands DRYmedic Restoration Services, a company that steps in… when life takes unexpected turns. Whether it’s water, fire, storm, or mold damage, DRYmedic is there 24/7 to helpfamilies and businesses recover, rebuild, and reclaim their lives. And, they’re not just about restoring properties — they’re about restoring peace of mind. In this episode, you’ll hear how their approach to ...
This week we welcome Mike Bahun, founder and CEO of Fundraising University. His journey into fundraising and franchising began as a high school coach, igniting his passion for enhancing resources for schools in need. Mike shares his vision to revolutionize fundraising through a service-based model that prioritizes the needs of students, teachers, and coaches. Discover how he shifted traditional fundraising approaches towards effect...
In this episode of Franchise Today, host Stan Friedmanwelcomes Bob Gappa, founder of Management 2000 and one of franchising’s most respected voices. Bob’s journey began in the middle of a recession with an unconventional move — offering free consulting — which soon grew into adecades-long career guiding some of the world’s most successful franchise brands.
From navigating economic downturns to anticipating industry shifts, Bob s...
In this powerful episode of Franchise Today, host Stan Friedman welcomes Stéphane Breault, a very highly respected leadership coach and award-winning figure in Canada’s franchise community. What began as a spark during an MBA lecture in 1983 has since evolved into a decades-longmission: helping franchise leaders build better businesses by becoming better leaders.
Stephane takes us through his personal and professionalevolution—from ...
This week, we hear from Chris and Andrew McCuiston, two of the dynamic leaders behind Goldfish Swim School, as they share their remarkable journey from a single swim school in Birmingham, Michigan, to a thriving franchise with nearly 200 locations across North America. What began as a spontaneous entrepreneurial leap, evolved into a national brand rooted in safety, trust, and memorable customer experiences.
The McCuiston brothers r...
In this episode of Franchise Today, host Stan Friedmanwelcomes Bobby Lloyd, CEO of Magnolia Bakery, and Jason Mattes, VP of Domestic Franchise Development & Sales. Together, they unpack the remarkable transformation of a charming NYC bakery—immortalized by pop culture—into abeloved global franchise brand.
Hear how Magnolia’s fame exploded from media appearances rather than traditional marketing, and discover the strategic thinki...
In this insightful episode of Franchise Today, Tony Zaccario, President & CEO of Stretch Zone, shares his extraordinary rise from 22-year-old General Manager to the leader of a 400-location wellness brand. Tony opens up about his unplanned entrance into franchising, the early lessons from licensing missteps, and the critical pivot to training and supporting franchisees for sustainable growth and success.
Tony emphasizes the powe...
Barb Moran planned to be an artist, but life had other ideas. She faced other challenges including being fired from her family’s business by her father and suffering a traumatic brain injury, but she turned these setbacks into stepping stones.
Today, Barb is the CEO of the Moran Family of Brands, parent company to six automotive-related franchise brands: Mr. Transmission, Milex Complete Auto Care, Turbo Tint, AltaMere, Multistate T...
What do you get when you mix structural engineering, with immigrant grit, a viral video, and a love for Hawaiian poke? What you get is the recipe for one of the most exciting fast-casual franchise stories of the past decade.
This week on Franchise Today, Stan Friedman welcomes Peter Yang, co-founder and managing partner of Pokeworks—a premium poke concept that exploded out of a 750-square-foot shop in Midtown Manhattan and quickly b...
Clarissa Windham-Bradstock, CFE, CEO, CPO on transforming healthcare access and building a franchise model for the future
With a unique background that spans healthcare, franchising, and public policy, Clarissa Windham-Bradstock brings a bold, mission-driven leadership style to the helm of one of the nation’s most innovative direct-to-consumer lab testing brands. Under her guidance, Any Lab Test Now has not only expanded its nation...
Josh Wall is an accomplished brand leader with a stellarrecord of driving shareholder value through strategic acquisitions, innovative market development strategies, and dynamic team growth. His passion is fostering high-performance cultures and delivering exceptional results. He is adept at steering organizations toward sustained success and market leadership.
Josh has been growing successful franchise brands for20+ years. Sixtee...
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