July 19, 2025 • 34 mins
What does it take to build a painting franchise from 8 to 70+ locations in just two years? 🚀 In this in-depth interview, Giuseppe Grammatico talks with JD Mason, CEO of Paint EZ, about his journey from growing up in the paint industry to building a thriving franchise empire. We cover:
- The "Superpowers" of franchising (and the power of collective thought).
- Paint EZ's hands-on approach to franchisee support and "Launch Week."
- Leveraging technology and AI for efficiency and customer satisfaction.
- The inspiring story behind their give-back initiative, Rooms for Hope.
- Actionable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs stuck in "analysis paralysis."
Learn about Paint EZ's model, their mission, and JD's invaluable insights for anyone considering franchise ownership.
Choose the right path at https://ggthefranchiseguide.com
Learn more about Rooms for Hope: https://www.roomsforhope.com/
Learn more about Paint EZ: https://paintez.com/
DISCLAIMER: The information on this podcast is for general information purposes only. Franchising involves risk and careful consideration should be given before making any decisions.
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The Franchise Freedom: Discover Your New Path to Freedom Through Franchise Ownership, Book by Giuseppe Grammatico https://ggthefranchiseguide.com/book or purchase directly on Amazon.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jay Mason (00:00):
you know, I kind of joke it's the family business,
(00:02):
but I was fortunate enough to.
Start working with SherwinWilliams when I was 16 years of
age and spent my first 13 yearsin the industry in more of a
paint store setting environmentin various roles from store
manager to outside cells.
And for me, that was a reallygood foundational place to learn
(00:23):
the paint industry.
really every successfulentrepreneur I've either
listened to on a podcast or reada book or met in person.
They just started and then theystuck with it until they became
successful.
Bet on yourself.
Go all in.
And go after whatever your goalsand dreams are because it will
be rewarding in the end.
(00:46):
Welcome to the Franchise FreedomPodcast, where you can escape
the corporate trap throughfranchise ownership.
Here's your host, Giuseppe gr,the franchise guide.
Giuseppe Grammatico (00:59):
welcome to the Franchise Freedom Podcast.
I'm your host, Josepi Grammatic,your franchise guide, the show
where we help corporateexecutives.
Experience time and financialfreedom via franchising.
Very excited today.
No more solo episodes.
We're gonna mix it up.
You've asked for guests.
So we have my good good friendJD Mason from Pay EZ jd, welcome
to the show.
Jay Mason (01:19):
Thank you GI pleasure to be here with you today.
Giuseppe Grammatico (01:22):
Look, looking forward to it.
And I appreciate you.
We got, we had some at least onmy end, some technical
difficulties using a newplatform.
So, it's never a perfect world.
It doesn't matter how many howmany franchise franchise
podcasts you do.
So.
It's I'm looking forward to thisone.
You know, we've been workingtogether recently talking quite
a bit via email.
This is our first kind offace-to-face.
And wanted to invite you aboutthe to the show, learn about
(01:44):
paint easy, learn about thepainting industry.
But before we dive in, if youcan share with the guests a
little bit of background on whoJD is, and then we'll we'll go
into why you started Pain Easy.
Jay Mason (01:55):
Yeah, thank you for the question, and again, it's a
pleasure to be here with youtoday.
As far as like kind of apersonal background, I'm married
three kids.
My, my oldest is 21.
And then I've got a, a.
Go down to 15 years of age aswell.
So, kind of the busy time oflife kids keep us busy with a
lot going on.
But, really pleased to have kidsthat are high functioning and
(02:18):
doing well in society as well.
As far as kind of professionalbackground I, I say I, I'm in
the family business.
I grew up around the paintingindustry.
My, my dad spent 46 yearsworking with Sherwin Williams
and I was able to be aroundpainting contractors a lot as a
young kid.
And I remember many, likeovernight.
(02:41):
Trips with my dad to commercialjob sites and being like 10 to
12 years old with a hard hatwalking a, you know, commercial
building and meeting paintingcontractors and those kind of
things.
And so, you know, I kind of jokeit's the family business, but I
was fortunate enough to.
Start working with SherwinWilliams when I was 16 years of
(03:01):
age and spent my first 13 yearsin the industry in more of a
paint store setting environmentin various roles from store
manager to outside cells.
And for me, that was a reallygood foundational place to learn
the paint industry.
And really enjoyed my timethere, but was looking for
(03:23):
really an opportunity to make aname for myself outside of what
my dad had built and thereputation he had there within
the paint industry.
And so I was fortunate enough tobe recruited by another painting
franchise where I spent twoyears there working and
mentoring.
New franchise owners.
And so that was really kind ofmy start within the paint
(03:46):
industry and also kind of how itleads us into paint easy.
But you know, background paintindustry and then golf out
outside of work, golf would bemy hobby that I love to do as
much as possible.
Just don't get very much time todo it anymore.
Giuseppe Grammatico (04:06):
Yeah, you gotta make time with the family.
It's difficult, but that's whyyou gotta get the kids in and
everyone else involved.
Right.
So you make it a, you make afamily outing.
No, that's awesome.
So it sounds like you've been inthat, in the pain industry for a
while.
You know, what motivated you, Iguess, you know, a couple
things.
What motivated you to start paineasy and tell us about the
model.
You know, what is pain Easy.
Jay Mason (04:26):
Yeah.
The motivation has changedhonestly over time.
Initially when I left the otherpainting franchise, it was kind
of a unique position.
They were.
In massive growth mode in orderto exit to a larger PE type
investor who bought theorganization.
And so I experienced workingwith a lot of new franchise
(04:50):
owners, which I loved.
What I didn't love was.
You know, it was more like thefranchise owners were a number
and just try to get in as manynumbers as possible so that they
could get their exit as large aspossible.
And I just saw a majordisconnect between corporate
team and and you know, thefranchise owners I was working
(05:11):
with.
And so when I left and startedPZ, it was really with a focus
of.
You know, having attention todetail with the franchise
owners.
Let's make sure we're, you know,that they understand we have
their backs the whole way thatwe're trying to build alongside
them and help them.
(05:31):
And it was, you know, we wentthrough a slow growth period to
start.
The first eight years we hadeight locations and it was
because we were really focusedon.
Like attention to thosefranchise owners and helping
them be successful.
And I mentioned we've kind of.
Transitioned a little bit more.
We've grown to over 70 locationsin the last, you know, two
(05:55):
years.
And so it's still with theemphasis of, you know, the
franchisee first that we'regoing to train them.
We feel like we train thembetter than any other
organization out there, and thatwe have the support layers to
really support them long term.
But I've really recognized thatthere's a couple superpowers to
(06:16):
franchising that's really like,where the mindset has evolved
over time.
I I think the first superpowerof franchising that I've learned
about was all the differentowners coming from different
walks of life, differentbackgrounds, different
potentially even countries lifeexperiences, industries.
(06:38):
And when you pool collectivethought together and really are
working together towardslong-term goals, there's some
really unique perspective thatcomes from it if you're willing
to allow it.
And so we're really continuingto evolve as a company based
upon the thought process and thebackgrounds of those owners that
(07:00):
we work with.
And so that's been a uniquething.
To be a part of.
And then really the other thingthat I'm fine that I've.
Not that I didn't love ourowners to start with, but just
really how much of a blessing itis to have amazing partners that
you link arms with and startgrowing a business.
And that's really kinda shiftedthe mindset over time as well.
(07:22):
Just how amazing franchising canbe when you get the right people
in place and partner with thosepeople.
Versus counting them as anumber.
And so that, that's really wherethe evolution, I feel like's
taken place with us as acompany.
Giuseppe Grammatico (07:37):
Yeah, and you've, I've seen, I didn't
realize the size, I didn'trealize it was 70 up to 70.
So that's quite impressive.
And yeah, I mean, you know, inhaving conversations.
Every single day with peopletaking a look at franchises, you
know, they're, a lot of them.
I wouldn't say all, but I wouldsay a large percentage of the
people I'm talking with havenever owned the business before.
They're a corporate executive.
(07:58):
They're maybe gonna,experiencing a layoff, ready to
leave their job, just wantsomething else.
And, you know, money isimportant, but overall, they're
like, you know, what's theculture look like?
What's the the support?
Jay Mason (08:10):
Right.
Giuseppe Grammatico (08:11):
gonna get trained at a home office?
And then just kinda.
You know, the franchisor says,have at it and kind of figure it
out.
And now you've forgotteneverything you've learned at the
home office.
So, you know, I think what'svery unique is such a hands-on
approach, really spending thetime with the new franchisees
going out, doing a sales call ifI'm not mistaken, right.
Jay Mason (08:30):
Right.
Giuseppe Grammatico (08:31):
up some vendor relationships.
I think you know, that trainingin action is what really stands
out and support culture, which.
You know, culture, you're gonnaget talking to the to the
franchisees in validation.
You're going hear that over andover, and I hear that.
So I'm not on the calls, but Iget the feedback from some of
the families that that we workwith, which is which is super
(08:51):
impressive.
You know, what else about thesupport really differentiate
your differentiates pain?
Easy.
Because at the end of the day,there are mult there, there are,
you know, multiple paintingcompanies, right.
Jay Mason (09:02):
Right.
Giuseppe Grammatico (09:02):
Some are doing residential, some are
doing commercial, some are doingboth.
You know what reallydifferentiates that?
Because, you know, some peoplewill come back and say, well,
painting, well, there's a lot ofpainting companies in the area,
so what are, you know, some ofthe other, you know, kind of key
differentiators that that makepainting easy different.
Jay Mason (09:20):
Yeah, from the support level, I think some of
the things that make usdifferent is really the team.
I'm blessed to have an amazingteam around me.
Our COO Jason, he comes from atech background.
He has degrees in mechanicalengineering.
He also just got his doctoratein business administration with
a emphasis on leadership.
And so he brings a uniqueperspective to the team from a
(09:43):
tech background and also from aleadership background.
Mike, our corporate trainingmanager, he he played college
and professional basketball andthen was a college basketball
coach, and then transitionedinto 10 years of corporate
training.
And so he brings an amazingmindset of development, of
(10:04):
training and working with theowners and helping them see you
know, with hitting min mini,like minor goals.
Building into more macro goals.
How they can really build thebusiness long term.
And then we have our, anothertrainer that he's been in
franchising his whole life.
His parents are franchisors.
(10:25):
He worked on their corporateteam.
He also worked as a franchiseein their system.
And then he went to work withanother franchise in the home
services space for three plusyears.
And so he brings a uniqueperspective of franchising to
the table as well.
And then from my personalbackground, having more of a
(10:46):
paint.
Technical background we kind oftrain from unique perspectives
or, you know, we take ourstrengths of where we train the
best and then, you know, allowthe others to kind of step in
where they're the best as well.
I, you, you mentioned kind of inthe field to, that's one of our.
We've been doing that since dayone.
(11:07):
When I worked with the otherfranchise organization, they
would just come to our corporateoffice and then it felt like a
little bit of sending them outto sink or swim at that point.
Giuseppe Grammatico (11:16):
right.
Jay Mason (11:17):
for me, there was like a, it just felt like a
disconnected handoff.
You know, you were at ouroffices, but you've never really
seen it in the field.
Good luck.
And so from day one when, sincewe've been franchising at Payee
Z we've always went out to theirmarket for what we call launch
week.
And we're actually going onsales calls with'em.
(11:39):
We're helping them recruit thelabor to do the work.
We're getting the introductionsmade on a local level with'em.
And for me, that's, that justhelps get the business started
on a lot.
You know, firmer foundation andalso helps the franchise owner
to feel like, Hey, I can getsuccess right out of the gate
(12:01):
and let me just continue thatafter they leave.
And so that's how we get'emstarted.
But then it's even after that,there's daily conversations for
60 days after that point aswell.
It's making sure, you know,they're gonna have questions,
they're gonna have concerns thatare gonna happen, and so still
helping them realize like, Hey,you're not on your own, even
though we're not there.
Giuseppe Grammatico (12:22):
Yeah, I, that is you know, from a former
franchisee.
I think that is super helpfulwith my first franchise
franchisor.
We went out, remember on ourfirst sales call, and I closed
that deal.
It was a very small deal betweenthe trip and the driving back
and forth.
There wasn't much profit builtin, but it really, you know, it
really you know, you startedgaining some confidence, like,
Jay Mason (12:42):
Right.
Giuseppe Grammatico (12:42):
I'm starting to understand the lingo
that there's a sales processthat you really need to follow.
Mistakes were made, but that'sfine.
You wanna make those mistakes onthe smaller accounts.
You know, just kind of figuringeverything out.
The pricing and everything elseinvolved.
But I think that's a missingpiece.
It's almost like, I compare itto I've never gone, but people
have gone to like a Tony Robbinscon conference and they're
(13:04):
really pumped up over theweekend.
They come home and it's like.
Okay where do I start with thisinformation?
It's almost like you need that,you need Tony to come in
Jay Mason (13:11):
Right.
Giuseppe Grammatico (13:11):
you know, help you and kind of implement
everything.
And I think that's a big part ofit.
It's like we, we show you theway, we show you the training,
the best practices, thetechnology.
Now let's do it together.
Let's get some sales, let's getsome vendors, let's get some,
maybe some employees.
And I think that's I thinkthat's the missing piece.
And I'm not saying not, youknow, some franchisors do it and
others.
You know, there may be limitedtraining in the field, but I
(13:34):
think that's the keydifferentiator.
I think that's the missing piecein really setting some someone
up for success because thatfirst year is crucial.
That first
Jay Mason (13:41):
Yeah.
Giuseppe Grammatico (13:41):
that, that I call it the builder year,
where I, you know, I ran mybusiness full-time and I
reinvested every, all theprofits back into the business.
My wife was working at the time,so we were able to do that.
But I wanted to build theperfect team, learn the lingo,
the technology, the systems, theCRM.
And sometimes that perfect team,you know, sometimes that initial
hire maybe doesn't work out, andthat's okay.
(14:03):
It happens.
You're dealing with people andyou know that person eventually
you find the right person tolead.
I mentioned, you know,technology, so, you know, how
does pay easy leveragetechnology to pr improve you
know, customer satisfaction,efficiencies for the
franchisees.
Jay Mason (14:21):
Yeah, so we're a big believer.
One of our core values isinnovation.
And another core value issolution seeking.
So looking at problems and howcan we solve them, and one,
utilizing technology to do that.
And so we're using different AItechnologies for client, you
know, acquisition or evennurturing of clients through.
(14:42):
A sales process.
We, our CRM also helps with thatprocess as well.
But yeah, we're using technologyfrom start to finish throughout
the process on the clientjourney.
And we believe long term that wehave to continue to even keep
reinvesting into the technologyaspect.
If I'm to look.
(15:03):
From, you know, being 25 yearsnow in the paint industry,
looking at maybe how has theindustry evolved or where's it
going, and those kind of things.
As far as the application ofpaint, you know, the selling of
paint jobs and overall thosehave stayed pretty much the same
in 25 years.
(15:24):
The paint products in generalare pretty much the same there.
There's little differences hereand there as well, but in
general, it's stayed the same.
What's changing though?
The buying behavior ofclientele, the way you market to
a client and just the use oftechnology in our everyday
lives.
And so we feel that we have tocontinue to keep evolving from a
(15:47):
technology standpoint to leadfrom the front versus following
from the back.
And so, we'll continue to addnew technology over time as it
makes sense as well.
Giuseppe Grammatico (15:58):
Love that now that, that makes a lot of
sense.
And just, this is more outtacuriosity.
This is just a question thatjust popped in my mind.
So if.
Hypothetically if someone has,you know, a painting business,
maybe they have their currentpainting business, in reality,
they can really convert youknow, reach out to, to pay z,
maybe convert that business andtake Advan advantage of, I would
(16:21):
assume all the, not, I assumeyou would take advantage of the
technology, but I would assumemaybe the better pricing, the
economies of
Jay Mason (16:27):
Right.
Giuseppe Grammatico (16:28):
dealing with the national franchise.
So is that.
Have you seen that?
Or is that a possibility forsomeone that maybe owns a mom
and pop painting business?
Jay Mason (16:36):
Yeah, it's definitely a possibility.
We haven't had that come acrossthe, you know, as a, as an
opportunity at this point.
But we would definitely be opento it with the right you know,
potential owner that way.
But yeah, there, there would beopportunities to systemize and
involve more processes utilizingtechnology, having a marketing
team behind those individuals aswell that they probably don't
(16:58):
have right now with their ownbusiness.
And then the economies of scalewith pricing.
That's one of the areas I feellike we do really well.
Having worked for the paintcompanies before allows us to
really know what we cannegotiate, maybe where we can't
as much and really be able toput our owners in a great place.
That way too.
Giuseppe Grammatico (17:18):
Awesome.
Yeah, I just popped in my head.
Yeah.
I was just, you know, at
Jay Mason (17:21):
yeah.
Giuseppe Grammatico (17:21):
I'm like, wow, it's, I know, you know,
local painting companies andthey always complain about, you
know, you know, being behind onquotes and then there's no real
follow up aside from, you know,maybe a text message to do the
job.
It's with a couple breakdown,but there's no follow up system.
Email,
Jay Mason (17:37):
Yeah.
Giuseppe Grammatico (17:37):
the invoice.
Sometimes it's written on apiece of paper.
So yeah, it's you know, I saidthere's massive benefit there
and you don't have to figure allthat out, figuring out the CRM
and how to price and all thatbecause.
You know, that's the otherthing, pri there, there's
changes in pricing and,
Jay Mason (17:52):
Right.
Giuseppe Grammatico (17:53):
You want a system that can take into
consideration.
For example we work with aflooring franchise, and I think
of all their SKUs, two SKUs werewould be potentially affected by
the tariffs.
And it was reflectedimmediately.
So the
Jay Mason (18:07):
Yeah.
Giuseppe Grammatico (18:08):
a franchisee, excuse me, wasn't
blindsided, giving the wrongquote and then obviously
potentially taking a loss on thejob.
So.
That is crucial as well.
And just being up to date withwith all current pricing.
You know, 70 franchisees, youknow many of them, obviously
there's, they're newerfranchisees and then you have
some of the originals.
You know, can you share, youknow, a success story, someone
(18:28):
that you know, kind of startedout and where they are today?
Jay Mason (18:33):
Yeah, no, thank you for this question.
I, you know, as I mentioned, thepeople are what really makes the
franchise go.
And it's the amazing owners orpartners that we have that
really makes us, and I can thinkof two that really hit home, but
we have other success stories,but there's two that both grew
(18:55):
up.
In homes where they didn't have,you know, their families rented
or one was even a single motherhousehold where she worked three
jobs and didn't grow up.
You know, very humble beginningsand to be able.
To build the business to wherenow they've purchased a very
(19:15):
nice home, they're providingvery well for their families and
have continued to grow thebusiness.
That's just been reallyrewarding.
You know, it was at.
Just over a year ago at our conannual convention where one of
the owners was able to announceto the team of other partners
that they were able to buy theirfirst home and they were the
(19:36):
first homeowner in their family.
And it was very emotional to tobe a part of that and just to
see that the business haschanged their personal director
trajectory of life, but it'salso impacting other family
members and their other distantfamily members as well.
So.
Giuseppe Grammatico (19:53):
And how long were, have they been a
franchise?
Owner of Pay Easy.
Jay Mason (19:57):
Yeah.
One of them's been five yearsand the other one's been seven
years.
Giuseppe Grammatico (20:02):
Oh, wow.
So,
Jay Mason (20:03):
Yeah.
Giuseppe Grammatico (20:04):
life changing.
And that's really not a lot oftime if you think about it,
right?
So, that's huge that you canhave that kind of impact.
Very hard to do with you know,keeping your W2 job.
I know I, I tried did not workand that's why I switched over
to entrepreneurship.
It's it could be rewarding.
I always tell people it's a lotof work.
A franchise gives you kind ofthat, that what I call an unfair
(20:25):
advantage, but man it truly islife changing and.
I think, you know, going intoit, you really need, I always
recommend whatever that why is,there's no right or wrong, but
that why is gonna get youthrough the, that rollercoaster
of the ups and downs because youknow, a lot of stuff going on,
sometimes you're busy, sometimesmaybe things slow down.
So you wanna, you know, kind ofgo back to why you got into
(20:45):
this, right?
Because it's definitely not,it's definitely even with the
franchise will give you that,that unfair advantage.
But there's still a lot of work.
It's, the franchise will notbring in money on its own.
You ha They're giving you theblueprint and you need to follow
it.
Anything you wanna add to that?
Because that's something that Ithink a lot of
Jay Mason (20:59):
Yeah.
Giuseppe Grammatico (21:00):
thing like, I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna
buy the franchise and it kind ofruns on its own.
Jay Mason (21:04):
Yeah, I we like to tell people the franchise and
with our franchise it's not theeasy button, but it's the easier
button.
And so you do have thatblueprint.
You have a team that's willingto stand behind you and work
alongside you to help you build.
You still have to put forwardthe effort.
You have to follow the systemsand processes you have to be
(21:26):
willing to commit to efforts ifyou just think it's gonna be on
autopilot and start printingcash for you.
Unfortunately, we're not.
If there is that opportunity,I'm gonna sign up for it
personally as well.
But I, that's the biggest thingI've learned in business
ownership is that it's gonna bethe hardest thing you've done,
but it's also gonna be the mostrewarding thing that you do as
(21:47):
well.
Giuseppe Grammatico (21:48):
Awesome.
Yeah I agree.
We're definitely on the samepage there.
So, another question that comesup when someone is looking at a
franchise is that, you know,they want the franchise itself.
To give back to the community.
You really kind of make adifference in people's lives.
And, you know, sometimes it'snot the product or service
necessarily that, you know, that
Jay Mason (22:10):
Yeah.
Giuseppe Grammatico (22:11):
lives.
But it's what the franchisordoes.
Can you talk to us about, youknow, what the franchisees do to
kind of give back and help thecommunity?
Jay Mason (22:19):
Yeah.
That's also one of our corevalues is community.
And it's been something that,you know, we feel an obligation
as a company, not only fromcorporate but as franchisees, to
really support and give back tothe communities that bless us so
much with.
Building our businesses as well.
And four years ago we instituteda collective effort as a group
(22:43):
called Rooms for Hope and RoomsFor Hope was built upon.
I, so I'm fortunate.
I was a cancer survivor sevenyears ago.
I went through and for me it wasa very, a minimal thing.
And so as I was going througheach, every three to six months,
going through cancer screeningsand testing I would go to these
(23:04):
cancer centers and just seeingpeople their lives so challenged
by, you know, cancer or otherillnesses that they were facing
that I wanted to find a way thatwe could.
You know, give back to thecommunity as a collective body
of o owners and from corporate.
And so we created Rooms for Hopefour years ago, and what we do
(23:25):
is a portion of proceeds ofprojects that we do go back to
us painting rooms free of chargefor people dealing with cancer
to create that room for hope orpeace as they're going through
that cancer battle or maybethrough the recovery process
that they're dealing with.
And it's truly been one of themost humbling things that I've
ever been able to be a part of.
(23:47):
It's also one of the mostrewarding things.
If I could do nothing but Roomsfor Hope projects, I would, and
we're, we've been blessed fromcorporate.
We try to do at least one permonth,
Giuseppe Grammatico (23:59):
Hold.
Jay Mason (23:59):
from a corporate level.
Our owners they do'em.
It could be monthly, it could bequarterly or annually, depending
on where they're at in thebusiness and whatnot as well.
But.
You know, we've been blessed todo we recently did a couple
pediatric cancer individuals andwe're able to do, you know, like
a Lightning McQueen cars roomand then also a Star Wars themed
(24:23):
room, and just to see the smileson their face and something to,
you know, give them a place ofrefuge as they're going through
those challenges, you know, thatit's truly, like I said, been
humbling, but also so rewardingto be a part of doing that as
well.
Giuseppe Grammatico (24:39):
Wow.
I was not aware of that.
And I appreciate you sharingwhat what where can people find
or what's the website for Roomsfor Hope?
Jay Mason (24:47):
Yeah, rooms for hope.com, and it's also
connected through pain easy.comas well
Giuseppe Grammatico (24:52):
perfect.
And we'll we'll link that in theshow notes as well.
Jay Mason (24:55):
Thank you.
Giuseppe Grammatico (24:57):
take taking kind of a step back, you know,
just in general, you know, thereare a lot of people listening,
so we pulled the listeners overthe, just over, you know, going
on five and a half years ofhaving the podcast.
And we poll, we ask questions,what topics?
Who do you want on the show?
What do you wanna hear about?
And we hear all great things.
(25:18):
We've had topics suggestions andall that.
And the biggest thing is we haddid not have him on the show,
but we listened to anotherpodcast, had the IFA President
talk about, you know, mostpeople in their lives it's a big
percentage have thought aboutowning a business.
So they.
The number they gave, and thisis a hard one to figure out, but
they came up with the numberwith 75% of people out there.
(25:41):
You know, they, or they gave,and this is a hard one to figure
out, but they came up with thenumber, with quarters of that
group.
So another 75% of that existinggroup said as far as their
reason goes, and this is thenumber one reason they didn't,
they did not know where tostart.
I find that.
Extremely interesting because weare in the information age chat,
(26:03):
GPT, Gemini, the internet mygosh, millions and millions of
podcasts and TED Talks and allthat kind of stuff.
And people are almost crippledby the amount of knowledge, the
amount of information I alwayssay.
You know, knowledge is not poweranymore.
Jay Mason (26:19):
Right,
Giuseppe Grammatico (26:20):
useless if not applied in a way, right?
It's like, well, I got the bestworkout, but because if you're
not actually,
Jay Mason (26:25):
true.
Giuseppe Grammatico (26:25):
doing that workout, so, you know, what
advice would you give tosomeone?
That is kind of, you know,they're, they want the change.
They wanna explore franchiseownership, but they're almost
paralyzed as to where to getstarted.
You, so what, so just in generalterms, what advice would you
give to that person?
Jay Mason (26:42):
Yeah, I, so the biggest challenge that I see
from those who are leavingcorporate America and joining,
whether it's a franchise or justany business you know, venture
at all, it's a mindset shift.
And so that's the number one.
Advice I always give to somebodyis start listening to podcasts
or reading books, and thenapplying, as you were
(27:05):
mentioning, applying principlesfrom those because the mindset
changes so drastically whenwe're in corporate America.
Depending on our role, it'sdaily, or it's a weekly focus.
Maybe it's a quarterly focus ifwe're in sales, you know, where
we're trying to hit those bonuslevels or whatnot.
But with business ownership, wemight be starting to look at a
(27:27):
10 or 15 year plan or vision,and then we're scaling it back
to what are our annual orquarterly goals that we need to
hit those.
But it's such a broader rangespectrum.
And as, as you were mentioned,when you started your business
the first year, you weren'ttaking any money from it.
You're reinvesting back into thebusiness to continue to build
that vision or future that youare looking for with your
(27:49):
business.
And it's such a mindset shiftfrom I'm collecting a check
every two weeks.
I'm looking at my goals for theday or the week, or maybe the
quarter.
And not that those don't existfrom business ownership, it's
just a different frame of mindand having to kinda reapply some
of those principles that we'redoing, you know, in corporate
(28:12):
and reapply'em or refocus'emfrom business ownership
perspective.
But I, I think that mindset'sthe first thing.
If you get yourself in theproper mindset to be a business
owner, then now I can starttaking the actions.
To actually make those thingscome to play.
I think the other thing, justthe action part of it, you know,
(28:33):
there are so many options.
I mean, in franchising, I thinkI've heard it's 4,500 or more
different franchiseopportunities than not to put
into.
You know, not to look past theopportunity of just starting
something on your own as well.
There, there's manyopportunities that we could all
jump into, but at the end of theday, it takes action and we can
(28:56):
evaluate until we don't doanything or we can take action.
And really every successfulentrepreneur I've either
listened to on a podcast or reada book or met in person.
They just started and then theystuck with it until they became
successful.
That's really business ownershipis really those who are willing
(29:17):
to stick with it, the long run,continue making improvements
along the way and learning fromfailures or, you know, poor
decisions and whatnot.
But it's those who stuck with itfor the long game.
That's really what it's about.
Giuseppe Grammatico (29:29):
Yeah.
That that, that is great advice.
And to your point, right?
You, a action.
It's all about action.
It's building.
It's building momentum.
I did a show way back when wetalked about goal planning.
And goal planning is great, butgoal planning in many cases
wasn't working for me becausethere were no action steps.
Lose 20 pounds.
Great.
All right.
I got a whole year to figure outwhat the heck to do.
(29:50):
So it's almost building habits.
And those habits could bespending 15 minutes every
morning before work.
Maybe before even you brush yourteeth, you wake up and you do a
little research.
You know, the mind, the mindsetshift is huge.
You know, you know, walking inthe people, I hate my job.
I'm looking for a franchise.
Gotta cover my 200 k salary.
You know, can that be done thefirst month?
(30:11):
And it's just like, hold on asecond.
You know, what are we trying todo here?
So it's really taking a stepback and not everyone is built
or made for business ownershipset.
You know, I hate to say that,but it's true.
And that's what you get from me.
And it sounds like from you aswell,
Jay Mason (30:26):
Yeah
Giuseppe Grammatico (30:26):
you have to be direct.
But why set someone up forfailure?
I mean, you know, hey, you know,these are some changes that if
they are made, maybe it'ssomething we revisit, but
business ownership isn'tbecause, you know, I don't like
my current situation.
So the grass is always, is gonnabe greener.
That's
Jay Mason (30:41):
no.
Giuseppe Grammatico (30:41):
not the case.
That mindset shift is big.
You know, create those habits.
You know, learn, educate to yourpoint.
I you nailed it.
I think that's some great adviceand you don't have to figure it
all out in one shot.
You know, you'll get therelittle by little.
And I think the franchise, myopinion, gives you the unfair
advantage because it's
Jay Mason (30:59):
Yeah.
Giuseppe Grammatico (31:00):
for you and you got the support.
I have a question.
I'm stuck here.
What do I need to do?
You know, what's the, you know,where should my cogs be at?
Close ratio on leads, like allthat.
You have a team.
You mentioned nationalconference, national convention.
That is in my opinion, amastermind.
It has nothing
Jay Mason (31:17):
Yes.
Giuseppe Grammatico (31:18):
the paint or paint z.
This is a networking event.
This is everyone's bringing backbackgrounds from you had a
painting background, I had aWall Street background.
Everyone's bringing all thesedifferent and great experiences
to the table.
That alone, in my opinion, ispriceless because now you have
this mastermind, now you havethis network.
Of individuals that you canbuild off of, share experiences,
(31:40):
ideas, maybe hook up with yourlocal neighbors for at pay and
go together, get, go together ona marketing plan, share
Jay Mason (31:49):
Right.
Giuseppe Grammatico (31:49):
large commercial job.
There's so many advantages thatI think people overlook and that
alone I mean, you can't pay forthat.
I mean, that is just, to me it'spriceless.
And then one of the majoradvantages that.
Franchising brings to the table,paintings he brings to the
table.
And just wanted to kind of bringthat story home.
Like, that's huge there.
There's so much benefit I can'teven express, you know, what I
(32:10):
got out of it and what I hearothers getting out of it.
as we wrap up the show, and Ireally appreciate all the all
the insights.
Any other kinda last piece ofadvice you'd like to share with
the listeners before we wrap upthe show?
Jay Mason (32:26):
Yeah I think it goes back to, you know, if you're at
a place where you're valevaluating an opportunity.
Take that action, take the nextsteps.
You know, as you werementioning, the grass isn't
necessarily greener, but I findif you've been, you know, had a
background in a competitivenature, maybe it was sports,
maybe it was academics maybe itwas music, that you were a
(32:48):
competitive person.
You've, and you've beencompetitive now in your
corporate life.
Put those things to play.
Bet on yourself.
Go all in.
And go after whatever your goalsand dreams are because it will
be rewarding in the end.
And, you know, I think that'sthe awesome part about
franchising.
As you mentioned, it's kind ofthe shortcut or the easier
(33:10):
button versus other options.
And so, just go after it.
Make those goals come to goalsand dreams come to fruition
through your hard work andefforts.
Giuseppe Grammatico (33:20):
I love this jd.
You heard it from jd.
So guys listen to this showtwice.
I would love your input if youhave any questions for myself.
For jd, just leave them in thecomments, you know, where to
contact us.
I can pass those on to jd.
Jd, this was awesome.
I really appreciate theinsights.
I really appreciate your time.
And hopefully we'll see you nextmonth at conference.
(33:41):
But thanks again for for comingin on the show.
Jay Mason (33:43):
Thanks for having me.
Appreciate it.
Giuseppe Grammatico (33:45):
Take care.
Jay Mason (33:47):
You too.
Thanks.
Thanks for tuning in if you wantto learn how to make the
transition from corporate toowning your franchise.
Join Giuseppe on the nextepisode.
You can also follow on allsocial media platforms and
achieve financial and timefreedom today.
you know, I kind of joke it's the family business,
(00:02):
but I was fortunate enough to.
Start working with SherwinWilliams when I was 16 years of
age and spent my first 13 yearsin the industry in more of a
paint store setting environmentin various roles from store
manager to outside cells.
And for me, that was a reallygood foundational place to learn
(00:23):
the paint industry.
really every successfulentrepreneur I've either
listened to on a podcast or reada book or met in person.
They just started and then theystuck with it until they became
successful.
Bet on yourself.
Go all in.
And go after whatever your goalsand dreams are because it will
be rewarding in the end.
(00:46):
Welcome to the Franchise FreedomPodcast, where you can escape
the corporate trap throughfranchise ownership.
Here's your host, Giuseppe gr,the franchise guide.
Giuseppe Grammatico (00:59):
welcome to the Franchise Freedom Podcast.
I'm your host, Josepi Grammatic,your franchise guide, the show
where we help corporateexecutives.
Experience time and financialfreedom via franchising.
Very excited today.
No more solo episodes.
We're gonna mix it up.
You've asked for guests.
So we have my good good friendJD Mason from Pay EZ jd, welcome
to the show.
Jay Mason (01:19):
Thank you GI pleasure to be here with you today.
Giuseppe Grammatico (01:22):
Look, looking forward to it.
And I appreciate you.
We got, we had some at least onmy end, some technical
difficulties using a newplatform.
So, it's never a perfect world.
It doesn't matter how many howmany franchise franchise
podcasts you do.
So.
It's I'm looking forward to thisone.
You know, we've been workingtogether recently talking quite
a bit via email.
This is our first kind offace-to-face.
And wanted to invite you aboutthe to the show, learn about
(01:44):
paint easy, learn about thepainting industry.
But before we dive in, if youcan share with the guests a
little bit of background on whoJD is, and then we'll we'll go
into why you started Pain Easy.
Jay Mason (01:55):
Yeah, thank you for the question, and again, it's a
pleasure to be here with youtoday.
As far as like kind of apersonal background, I'm married
three kids.
My, my oldest is 21.
And then I've got a, a.
Go down to 15 years of age aswell.
So, kind of the busy time oflife kids keep us busy with a
lot going on.
But, really pleased to have kidsthat are high functioning and
(02:18):
doing well in society as well.
As far as kind of professionalbackground I, I say I, I'm in
the family business.
I grew up around the paintingindustry.
My, my dad spent 46 yearsworking with Sherwin Williams
and I was able to be aroundpainting contractors a lot as a
young kid.
And I remember many, likeovernight.
(02:41):
Trips with my dad to commercialjob sites and being like 10 to
12 years old with a hard hatwalking a, you know, commercial
building and meeting paintingcontractors and those kind of
things.
And so, you know, I kind of jokeit's the family business, but I
was fortunate enough to.
Start working with SherwinWilliams when I was 16 years of
(03:01):
age and spent my first 13 yearsin the industry in more of a
paint store setting environmentin various roles from store
manager to outside cells.
And for me, that was a reallygood foundational place to learn
the paint industry.
And really enjoyed my timethere, but was looking for
(03:23):
really an opportunity to make aname for myself outside of what
my dad had built and thereputation he had there within
the paint industry.
And so I was fortunate enough tobe recruited by another painting
franchise where I spent twoyears there working and
mentoring.
New franchise owners.
And so that was really kind ofmy start within the paint
(03:46):
industry and also kind of how itleads us into paint easy.
But you know, background paintindustry and then golf out
outside of work, golf would bemy hobby that I love to do as
much as possible.
Just don't get very much time todo it anymore.
Giuseppe Grammatico (04:06):
Yeah, you gotta make time with the family.
It's difficult, but that's whyyou gotta get the kids in and
everyone else involved.
Right.
So you make it a, you make afamily outing.
No, that's awesome.
So it sounds like you've been inthat, in the pain industry for a
while.
You know, what motivated you, Iguess, you know, a couple
things.
What motivated you to start paineasy and tell us about the
model.
You know, what is pain Easy.
Jay Mason (04:26):
Yeah.
The motivation has changedhonestly over time.
Initially when I left the otherpainting franchise, it was kind
of a unique position.
They were.
In massive growth mode in orderto exit to a larger PE type
investor who bought theorganization.
And so I experienced workingwith a lot of new franchise
(04:50):
owners, which I loved.
What I didn't love was.
You know, it was more like thefranchise owners were a number
and just try to get in as manynumbers as possible so that they
could get their exit as large aspossible.
And I just saw a majordisconnect between corporate
team and and you know, thefranchise owners I was working
(05:11):
with.
And so when I left and startedPZ, it was really with a focus
of.
You know, having attention todetail with the franchise
owners.
Let's make sure we're, you know,that they understand we have
their backs the whole way thatwe're trying to build alongside
them and help them.
(05:31):
And it was, you know, we wentthrough a slow growth period to
start.
The first eight years we hadeight locations and it was
because we were really focusedon.
Like attention to thosefranchise owners and helping
them be successful.
And I mentioned we've kind of.
Transitioned a little bit more.
We've grown to over 70 locationsin the last, you know, two
(05:55):
years.
And so it's still with theemphasis of, you know, the
franchisee first that we'regoing to train them.
We feel like we train thembetter than any other
organization out there, and thatwe have the support layers to
really support them long term.
But I've really recognized thatthere's a couple superpowers to
(06:16):
franchising that's really like,where the mindset has evolved
over time.
I I think the first superpowerof franchising that I've learned
about was all the differentowners coming from different
walks of life, differentbackgrounds, different
potentially even countries lifeexperiences, industries.
(06:38):
And when you pool collectivethought together and really are
working together towardslong-term goals, there's some
really unique perspective thatcomes from it if you're willing
to allow it.
And so we're really continuingto evolve as a company based
upon the thought process and thebackgrounds of those owners that
(07:00):
we work with.
And so that's been a uniquething.
To be a part of.
And then really the other thingthat I'm fine that I've.
Not that I didn't love ourowners to start with, but just
really how much of a blessing itis to have amazing partners that
you link arms with and startgrowing a business.
And that's really kinda shiftedthe mindset over time as well.
(07:22):
Just how amazing franchising canbe when you get the right people
in place and partner with thosepeople.
Versus counting them as anumber.
And so that, that's really wherethe evolution, I feel like's
taken place with us as acompany.
Giuseppe Grammatico (07:37):
Yeah, and you've, I've seen, I didn't
realize the size, I didn'trealize it was 70 up to 70.
So that's quite impressive.
And yeah, I mean, you know, inhaving conversations.
Every single day with peopletaking a look at franchises, you
know, they're, a lot of them.
I wouldn't say all, but I wouldsay a large percentage of the
people I'm talking with havenever owned the business before.
They're a corporate executive.
(07:58):
They're maybe gonna,experiencing a layoff, ready to
leave their job, just wantsomething else.
And, you know, money isimportant, but overall, they're
like, you know, what's theculture look like?
What's the the support?
Jay Mason (08:10):
Right.
Giuseppe Grammatico (08:11):
gonna get trained at a home office?
And then just kinda.
You know, the franchisor says,have at it and kind of figure it
out.
And now you've forgotteneverything you've learned at the
home office.
So, you know, I think what'svery unique is such a hands-on
approach, really spending thetime with the new franchisees
going out, doing a sales call ifI'm not mistaken, right.
Jay Mason (08:30):
Right.
Giuseppe Grammatico (08:31):
up some vendor relationships.
I think you know, that trainingin action is what really stands
out and support culture, which.
You know, culture, you're gonnaget talking to the to the
franchisees in validation.
You're going hear that over andover, and I hear that.
So I'm not on the calls, but Iget the feedback from some of
the families that that we workwith, which is which is super
(08:51):
impressive.
You know, what else about thesupport really differentiate
your differentiates pain?
Easy.
Because at the end of the day,there are mult there, there are,
you know, multiple paintingcompanies, right.
Jay Mason (09:02):
Right.
Giuseppe Grammatico (09:02):
Some are doing residential, some are
doing commercial, some are doingboth.
You know what reallydifferentiates that?
Because, you know, some peoplewill come back and say, well,
painting, well, there's a lot ofpainting companies in the area,
so what are, you know, some ofthe other, you know, kind of key
differentiators that that makepainting easy different.
Jay Mason (09:20):
Yeah, from the support level, I think some of
the things that make usdifferent is really the team.
I'm blessed to have an amazingteam around me.
Our COO Jason, he comes from atech background.
He has degrees in mechanicalengineering.
He also just got his doctoratein business administration with
a emphasis on leadership.
And so he brings a uniqueperspective to the team from a
(09:43):
tech background and also from aleadership background.
Mike, our corporate trainingmanager, he he played college
and professional basketball andthen was a college basketball
coach, and then transitionedinto 10 years of corporate
training.
And so he brings an amazingmindset of development, of
(10:04):
training and working with theowners and helping them see you
know, with hitting min mini,like minor goals.
Building into more macro goals.
How they can really build thebusiness long term.
And then we have our, anothertrainer that he's been in
franchising his whole life.
His parents are franchisors.
(10:25):
He worked on their corporateteam.
He also worked as a franchiseein their system.
And then he went to work withanother franchise in the home
services space for three plusyears.
And so he brings a uniqueperspective of franchising to
the table as well.
And then from my personalbackground, having more of a
(10:46):
paint.
Technical background we kind oftrain from unique perspectives
or, you know, we take ourstrengths of where we train the
best and then, you know, allowthe others to kind of step in
where they're the best as well.
I, you, you mentioned kind of inthe field to, that's one of our.
We've been doing that since dayone.
(11:07):
When I worked with the otherfranchise organization, they
would just come to our corporateoffice and then it felt like a
little bit of sending them outto sink or swim at that point.
Giuseppe Grammatico (11:16):
right.
Jay Mason (11:17):
for me, there was like a, it just felt like a
disconnected handoff.
You know, you were at ouroffices, but you've never really
seen it in the field.
Good luck.
And so from day one when, sincewe've been franchising at Payee
Z we've always went out to theirmarket for what we call launch
week.
And we're actually going onsales calls with'em.
(11:39):
We're helping them recruit thelabor to do the work.
We're getting the introductionsmade on a local level with'em.
And for me, that's, that justhelps get the business started
on a lot.
You know, firmer foundation andalso helps the franchise owner
to feel like, Hey, I can getsuccess right out of the gate
(12:01):
and let me just continue thatafter they leave.
And so that's how we get'emstarted.
But then it's even after that,there's daily conversations for
60 days after that point aswell.
It's making sure, you know,they're gonna have questions,
they're gonna have concerns thatare gonna happen, and so still
helping them realize like, Hey,you're not on your own, even
though we're not there.
Giuseppe Grammatico (12:22):
Yeah, I, that is you know, from a former
franchisee.
I think that is super helpfulwith my first franchise
franchisor.
We went out, remember on ourfirst sales call, and I closed
that deal.
It was a very small deal betweenthe trip and the driving back
and forth.
There wasn't much profit builtin, but it really, you know, it
really you know, you startedgaining some confidence, like,
Jay Mason (12:42):
Right.
Giuseppe Grammatico (12:42):
I'm starting to understand the lingo
that there's a sales processthat you really need to follow.
Mistakes were made, but that'sfine.
You wanna make those mistakes onthe smaller accounts.
You know, just kind of figuringeverything out.
The pricing and everything elseinvolved.
But I think that's a missingpiece.
It's almost like, I compare itto I've never gone, but people
have gone to like a Tony Robbinscon conference and they're
(13:04):
really pumped up over theweekend.
They come home and it's like.
Okay where do I start with thisinformation?
It's almost like you need that,you need Tony to come in
Jay Mason (13:11):
Right.
Giuseppe Grammatico (13:11):
you know, help you and kind of implement
everything.
And I think that's a big part ofit.
It's like we, we show you theway, we show you the training,
the best practices, thetechnology.
Now let's do it together.
Let's get some sales, let's getsome vendors, let's get some,
maybe some employees.
And I think that's I thinkthat's the missing piece.
And I'm not saying not, youknow, some franchisors do it and
others.
You know, there may be limitedtraining in the field, but I
(13:34):
think that's the keydifferentiator.
I think that's the missing piecein really setting some someone
up for success because thatfirst year is crucial.
That first
Jay Mason (13:41):
Yeah.
Giuseppe Grammatico (13:41):
that, that I call it the builder year,
where I, you know, I ran mybusiness full-time and I
reinvested every, all theprofits back into the business.
My wife was working at the time,so we were able to do that.
But I wanted to build theperfect team, learn the lingo,
the technology, the systems, theCRM.
And sometimes that perfect team,you know, sometimes that initial
hire maybe doesn't work out, andthat's okay.
(14:03):
It happens.
You're dealing with people andyou know that person eventually
you find the right person tolead.
I mentioned, you know,technology, so, you know, how
does pay easy leveragetechnology to pr improve you
know, customer satisfaction,efficiencies for the
franchisees.
Jay Mason (14:21):
Yeah, so we're a big believer.
One of our core values isinnovation.
And another core value issolution seeking.
So looking at problems and howcan we solve them, and one,
utilizing technology to do that.
And so we're using different AItechnologies for client, you
know, acquisition or evennurturing of clients through.
(14:42):
A sales process.
We, our CRM also helps with thatprocess as well.
But yeah, we're using technologyfrom start to finish throughout
the process on the clientjourney.
And we believe long term that wehave to continue to even keep
reinvesting into the technologyaspect.
If I'm to look.
(15:03):
From, you know, being 25 yearsnow in the paint industry,
looking at maybe how has theindustry evolved or where's it
going, and those kind of things.
As far as the application ofpaint, you know, the selling of
paint jobs and overall thosehave stayed pretty much the same
in 25 years.
(15:24):
The paint products in generalare pretty much the same there.
There's little differences hereand there as well, but in
general, it's stayed the same.
What's changing though?
The buying behavior ofclientele, the way you market to
a client and just the use oftechnology in our everyday
lives.
And so we feel that we have tocontinue to keep evolving from a
(15:47):
technology standpoint to leadfrom the front versus following
from the back.
And so, we'll continue to addnew technology over time as it
makes sense as well.
Giuseppe Grammatico (15:58):
Love that now that, that makes a lot of
sense.
And just, this is more outtacuriosity.
This is just a question thatjust popped in my mind.
So if.
Hypothetically if someone has,you know, a painting business,
maybe they have their currentpainting business, in reality,
they can really convert youknow, reach out to, to pay z,
maybe convert that business andtake Advan advantage of, I would
(16:21):
assume all the, not, I assumeyou would take advantage of the
technology, but I would assumemaybe the better pricing, the
economies of
Jay Mason (16:27):
Right.
Giuseppe Grammatico (16:28):
dealing with the national franchise.
So is that.
Have you seen that?
Or is that a possibility forsomeone that maybe owns a mom
and pop painting business?
Jay Mason (16:36):
Yeah, it's definitely a possibility.
We haven't had that come acrossthe, you know, as a, as an
opportunity at this point.
But we would definitely be opento it with the right you know,
potential owner that way.
But yeah, there, there would beopportunities to systemize and
involve more processes utilizingtechnology, having a marketing
team behind those individuals aswell that they probably don't
(16:58):
have right now with their ownbusiness.
And then the economies of scalewith pricing.
That's one of the areas I feellike we do really well.
Having worked for the paintcompanies before allows us to
really know what we cannegotiate, maybe where we can't
as much and really be able toput our owners in a great place.
That way too.
Giuseppe Grammatico (17:18):
Awesome.
Yeah, I just popped in my head.
Yeah.
I was just, you know, at
Jay Mason (17:21):
yeah.
Giuseppe Grammatico (17:21):
I'm like, wow, it's, I know, you know,
local painting companies andthey always complain about, you
know, you know, being behind onquotes and then there's no real
follow up aside from, you know,maybe a text message to do the
job.
It's with a couple breakdown,but there's no follow up system.
Email,
Jay Mason (17:37):
Yeah.
Giuseppe Grammatico (17:37):
the invoice.
Sometimes it's written on apiece of paper.
So yeah, it's you know, I saidthere's massive benefit there
and you don't have to figure allthat out, figuring out the CRM
and how to price and all thatbecause.
You know, that's the otherthing, pri there, there's
changes in pricing and,
Jay Mason (17:52):
Right.
Giuseppe Grammatico (17:53):
You want a system that can take into
consideration.
For example we work with aflooring franchise, and I think
of all their SKUs, two SKUs werewould be potentially affected by
the tariffs.
And it was reflectedimmediately.
So the
Jay Mason (18:07):
Yeah.
Giuseppe Grammatico (18:08):
a franchisee, excuse me, wasn't
blindsided, giving the wrongquote and then obviously
potentially taking a loss on thejob.
So.
That is crucial as well.
And just being up to date withwith all current pricing.
You know, 70 franchisees, youknow many of them, obviously
there's, they're newerfranchisees and then you have
some of the originals.
You know, can you share, youknow, a success story, someone
(18:28):
that you know, kind of startedout and where they are today?
Jay Mason (18:33):
Yeah, no, thank you for this question.
I, you know, as I mentioned, thepeople are what really makes the
franchise go.
And it's the amazing owners orpartners that we have that
really makes us, and I can thinkof two that really hit home, but
we have other success stories,but there's two that both grew
(18:55):
up.
In homes where they didn't have,you know, their families rented
or one was even a single motherhousehold where she worked three
jobs and didn't grow up.
You know, very humble beginningsand to be able.
To build the business to wherenow they've purchased a very
(19:15):
nice home, they're providingvery well for their families and
have continued to grow thebusiness.
That's just been reallyrewarding.
You know, it was at.
Just over a year ago at our conannual convention where one of
the owners was able to announceto the team of other partners
that they were able to buy theirfirst home and they were the
(19:36):
first homeowner in their family.
And it was very emotional to tobe a part of that and just to
see that the business haschanged their personal director
trajectory of life, but it'salso impacting other family
members and their other distantfamily members as well.
So.
Giuseppe Grammatico (19:53):
And how long were, have they been a
franchise?
Owner of Pay Easy.
Jay Mason (19:57):
Yeah.
One of them's been five yearsand the other one's been seven
years.
Giuseppe Grammatico (20:02):
Oh, wow.
So,
Jay Mason (20:03):
Yeah.
Giuseppe Grammatico (20:04):
life changing.
And that's really not a lot oftime if you think about it,
right?
So, that's huge that you canhave that kind of impact.
Very hard to do with you know,keeping your W2 job.
I know I, I tried did not workand that's why I switched over
to entrepreneurship.
It's it could be rewarding.
I always tell people it's a lotof work.
A franchise gives you kind ofthat, that what I call an unfair
(20:25):
advantage, but man it truly islife changing and.
I think, you know, going intoit, you really need, I always
recommend whatever that why is,there's no right or wrong, but
that why is gonna get youthrough the, that rollercoaster
of the ups and downs because youknow, a lot of stuff going on,
sometimes you're busy, sometimesmaybe things slow down.
So you wanna, you know, kind ofgo back to why you got into
(20:45):
this, right?
Because it's definitely not,it's definitely even with the
franchise will give you that,that unfair advantage.
But there's still a lot of work.
It's, the franchise will notbring in money on its own.
You ha They're giving you theblueprint and you need to follow
it.
Anything you wanna add to that?
Because that's something that Ithink a lot of
Jay Mason (20:59):
Yeah.
Giuseppe Grammatico (21:00):
thing like, I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna
buy the franchise and it kind ofruns on its own.
Jay Mason (21:04):
Yeah, I we like to tell people the franchise and
with our franchise it's not theeasy button, but it's the easier
button.
And so you do have thatblueprint.
You have a team that's willingto stand behind you and work
alongside you to help you build.
You still have to put forwardthe effort.
You have to follow the systemsand processes you have to be
(21:26):
willing to commit to efforts ifyou just think it's gonna be on
autopilot and start printingcash for you.
Unfortunately, we're not.
If there is that opportunity,I'm gonna sign up for it
personally as well.
But I, that's the biggest thingI've learned in business
ownership is that it's gonna bethe hardest thing you've done,
but it's also gonna be the mostrewarding thing that you do as
(21:47):
well.
Giuseppe Grammatico (21:48):
Awesome.
Yeah I agree.
We're definitely on the samepage there.
So, another question that comesup when someone is looking at a
franchise is that, you know,they want the franchise itself.
To give back to the community.
You really kind of make adifference in people's lives.
And, you know, sometimes it'snot the product or service
necessarily that, you know, that
Jay Mason (22:10):
Yeah.
Giuseppe Grammatico (22:11):
lives.
But it's what the franchisordoes.
Can you talk to us about, youknow, what the franchisees do to
kind of give back and help thecommunity?
Jay Mason (22:19):
Yeah.
That's also one of our corevalues is community.
And it's been something that,you know, we feel an obligation
as a company, not only fromcorporate but as franchisees, to
really support and give back tothe communities that bless us so
much with.
Building our businesses as well.
And four years ago we instituteda collective effort as a group
(22:43):
called Rooms for Hope and RoomsFor Hope was built upon.
I, so I'm fortunate.
I was a cancer survivor sevenyears ago.
I went through and for me it wasa very, a minimal thing.
And so as I was going througheach, every three to six months,
going through cancer screeningsand testing I would go to these
(23:04):
cancer centers and just seeingpeople their lives so challenged
by, you know, cancer or otherillnesses that they were facing
that I wanted to find a way thatwe could.
You know, give back to thecommunity as a collective body
of o owners and from corporate.
And so we created Rooms for Hopefour years ago, and what we do
(23:25):
is a portion of proceeds ofprojects that we do go back to
us painting rooms free of chargefor people dealing with cancer
to create that room for hope orpeace as they're going through
that cancer battle or maybethrough the recovery process
that they're dealing with.
And it's truly been one of themost humbling things that I've
ever been able to be a part of.
(23:47):
It's also one of the mostrewarding things.
If I could do nothing but Roomsfor Hope projects, I would, and
we're, we've been blessed fromcorporate.
We try to do at least one permonth,
Giuseppe Grammatico (23:59):
Hold.
Jay Mason (23:59):
from a corporate level.
Our owners they do'em.
It could be monthly, it could bequarterly or annually, depending
on where they're at in thebusiness and whatnot as well.
But.
You know, we've been blessed todo we recently did a couple
pediatric cancer individuals andwe're able to do, you know, like
a Lightning McQueen cars roomand then also a Star Wars themed
(24:23):
room, and just to see the smileson their face and something to,
you know, give them a place ofrefuge as they're going through
those challenges, you know, thatit's truly, like I said, been
humbling, but also so rewardingto be a part of doing that as
well.
Giuseppe Grammatico (24:39):
Wow.
I was not aware of that.
And I appreciate you sharingwhat what where can people find
or what's the website for Roomsfor Hope?
Jay Mason (24:47):
Yeah, rooms for hope.com, and it's also
connected through pain easy.comas well
Giuseppe Grammatico (24:52):
perfect.
And we'll we'll link that in theshow notes as well.
Jay Mason (24:55):
Thank you.
Giuseppe Grammatico (24:57):
take taking kind of a step back, you know,
just in general, you know, thereare a lot of people listening,
so we pulled the listeners overthe, just over, you know, going
on five and a half years ofhaving the podcast.
And we poll, we ask questions,what topics?
Who do you want on the show?
What do you wanna hear about?
And we hear all great things.
(25:18):
We've had topics suggestions andall that.
And the biggest thing is we haddid not have him on the show,
but we listened to anotherpodcast, had the IFA President
talk about, you know, mostpeople in their lives it's a big
percentage have thought aboutowning a business.
So they.
The number they gave, and thisis a hard one to figure out, but
they came up with the numberwith 75% of people out there.
(25:41):
You know, they, or they gave,and this is a hard one to figure
out, but they came up with thenumber, with quarters of that
group.
So another 75% of that existinggroup said as far as their
reason goes, and this is thenumber one reason they didn't,
they did not know where tostart.
I find that.
Extremely interesting because weare in the information age chat,
(26:03):
GPT, Gemini, the internet mygosh, millions and millions of
podcasts and TED Talks and allthat kind of stuff.
And people are almost crippledby the amount of knowledge, the
amount of information I alwayssay.
You know, knowledge is not poweranymore.
Jay Mason (26:19):
Right,
Giuseppe Grammatico (26:20):
useless if not applied in a way, right?
It's like, well, I got the bestworkout, but because if you're
not actually,
Jay Mason (26:25):
true.
Giuseppe Grammatico (26:25):
doing that workout, so, you know, what
advice would you give tosomeone?
That is kind of, you know,they're, they want the change.
They wanna explore franchiseownership, but they're almost
paralyzed as to where to getstarted.
You, so what, so just in generalterms, what advice would you
give to that person?
Jay Mason (26:42):
Yeah, I, so the biggest challenge that I see
from those who are leavingcorporate America and joining,
whether it's a franchise or justany business you know, venture
at all, it's a mindset shift.
And so that's the number one.
Advice I always give to somebodyis start listening to podcasts
or reading books, and thenapplying, as you were
(27:05):
mentioning, applying principlesfrom those because the mindset
changes so drastically whenwe're in corporate America.
Depending on our role, it'sdaily, or it's a weekly focus.
Maybe it's a quarterly focus ifwe're in sales, you know, where
we're trying to hit those bonuslevels or whatnot.
But with business ownership, wemight be starting to look at a
(27:27):
10 or 15 year plan or vision,and then we're scaling it back
to what are our annual orquarterly goals that we need to
hit those.
But it's such a broader rangespectrum.
And as, as you were mentioned,when you started your business
the first year, you weren'ttaking any money from it.
You're reinvesting back into thebusiness to continue to build
that vision or future that youare looking for with your
(27:49):
business.
And it's such a mindset shiftfrom I'm collecting a check
every two weeks.
I'm looking at my goals for theday or the week, or maybe the
quarter.
And not that those don't existfrom business ownership, it's
just a different frame of mindand having to kinda reapply some
of those principles that we'redoing, you know, in corporate
(28:12):
and reapply'em or refocus'emfrom business ownership
perspective.
But I, I think that mindset'sthe first thing.
If you get yourself in theproper mindset to be a business
owner, then now I can starttaking the actions.
To actually make those thingscome to play.
I think the other thing, justthe action part of it, you know,
(28:33):
there are so many options.
I mean, in franchising, I thinkI've heard it's 4,500 or more
different franchiseopportunities than not to put
into.
You know, not to look past theopportunity of just starting
something on your own as well.
There, there's manyopportunities that we could all
jump into, but at the end of theday, it takes action and we can
(28:56):
evaluate until we don't doanything or we can take action.
And really every successfulentrepreneur I've either
listened to on a podcast or reada book or met in person.
They just started and then theystuck with it until they became
successful.
That's really business ownershipis really those who are willing
(29:17):
to stick with it, the long run,continue making improvements
along the way and learning fromfailures or, you know, poor
decisions and whatnot.
But it's those who stuck with itfor the long game.
That's really what it's about.
Giuseppe Grammatico (29:29):
Yeah.
That that, that is great advice.
And to your point, right?
You, a action.
It's all about action.
It's building.
It's building momentum.
I did a show way back when wetalked about goal planning.
And goal planning is great, butgoal planning in many cases
wasn't working for me becausethere were no action steps.
Lose 20 pounds.
Great.
All right.
I got a whole year to figure outwhat the heck to do.
(29:50):
So it's almost building habits.
And those habits could bespending 15 minutes every
morning before work.
Maybe before even you brush yourteeth, you wake up and you do a
little research.
You know, the mind, the mindsetshift is huge.
You know, you know, walking inthe people, I hate my job.
I'm looking for a franchise.
Gotta cover my 200 k salary.
You know, can that be done thefirst month?
(30:11):
And it's just like, hold on asecond.
You know, what are we trying todo here?
So it's really taking a stepback and not everyone is built
or made for business ownershipset.
You know, I hate to say that,but it's true.
And that's what you get from me.
And it sounds like from you aswell,
Jay Mason (30:26):
Yeah
Giuseppe Grammatico (30:26):
you have to be direct.
But why set someone up forfailure?
I mean, you know, hey, you know,these are some changes that if
they are made, maybe it'ssomething we revisit, but
business ownership isn'tbecause, you know, I don't like
my current situation.
So the grass is always, is gonnabe greener.
That's
Jay Mason (30:41):
no.
Giuseppe Grammatico (30:41):
not the case.
That mindset shift is big.
You know, create those habits.
You know, learn, educate to yourpoint.
I you nailed it.
I think that's some great adviceand you don't have to figure it
all out in one shot.
You know, you'll get therelittle by little.
And I think the franchise, myopinion, gives you the unfair
advantage because it's
Jay Mason (30:59):
Yeah.
Giuseppe Grammatico (31:00):
for you and you got the support.
I have a question.
I'm stuck here.
What do I need to do?
You know, what's the, you know,where should my cogs be at?
Close ratio on leads, like allthat.
You have a team.
You mentioned nationalconference, national convention.
That is in my opinion, amastermind.
It has nothing
Jay Mason (31:17):
Yes.
Giuseppe Grammatico (31:18):
the paint or paint z.
This is a networking event.
This is everyone's bringing backbackgrounds from you had a
painting background, I had aWall Street background.
Everyone's bringing all thesedifferent and great experiences
to the table.
That alone, in my opinion, ispriceless because now you have
this mastermind, now you havethis network.
Of individuals that you canbuild off of, share experiences,
(31:40):
ideas, maybe hook up with yourlocal neighbors for at pay and
go together, get, go together ona marketing plan, share
Jay Mason (31:49):
Right.
Giuseppe Grammatico (31:49):
large commercial job.
There's so many advantages thatI think people overlook and that
alone I mean, you can't pay forthat.
I mean, that is just, to me it'spriceless.
And then one of the majoradvantages that.
Franchising brings to the table,paintings he brings to the
table.
And just wanted to kind of bringthat story home.
Like, that's huge there.
There's so much benefit I can'teven express, you know, what I
(32:10):
got out of it and what I hearothers getting out of it.
as we wrap up the show, and Ireally appreciate all the all
the insights.
Any other kinda last piece ofadvice you'd like to share with
the listeners before we wrap upthe show?
Jay Mason (32:26):
Yeah I think it goes back to, you know, if you're at
a place where you're valevaluating an opportunity.
Take that action, take the nextsteps.
You know, as you werementioning, the grass isn't
necessarily greener, but I findif you've been, you know, had a
background in a competitivenature, maybe it was sports,
maybe it was academics maybe itwas music, that you were a
(32:48):
competitive person.
You've, and you've beencompetitive now in your
corporate life.
Put those things to play.
Bet on yourself.
Go all in.
And go after whatever your goalsand dreams are because it will
be rewarding in the end.
And, you know, I think that'sthe awesome part about
franchising.
As you mentioned, it's kind ofthe shortcut or the easier
(33:10):
button versus other options.
And so, just go after it.
Make those goals come to goalsand dreams come to fruition
through your hard work andefforts.
Giuseppe Grammatico (33:20):
I love this jd.
You heard it from jd.
So guys listen to this showtwice.
I would love your input if youhave any questions for myself.
For jd, just leave them in thecomments, you know, where to
contact us.
I can pass those on to jd.
Jd, this was awesome.
I really appreciate theinsights.
I really appreciate your time.
And hopefully we'll see you nextmonth at conference.
(33:41):
But thanks again for for comingin on the show.
Jay Mason (33:43):
Thanks for having me.
Appreciate it.
Giuseppe Grammatico (33:45):
Take care.
Jay Mason (33:47):
You too.
Thanks.
Thanks for tuning in if you wantto learn how to make the
transition from corporate toowning your franchise.
Join Giuseppe on the nextepisode.
You can also follow on allsocial media platforms and
achieve financial and timefreedom today.
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