March 21, 2023 • 40 mins
In this episode, Buzz Franchise Brands is a fast-growing multi-brand franchising company that builds companies that get people talking. With a primary focus on providing quality home services, the Buzz Franchise Brands family is made up of three brands: Pool Scouts, residential pool cleaning and maintenance provider, Home Clean Heroes, a residential cleaning brand and most recently, British Swim School, a swim instruction franchise that provides swim lessons and water survival skills to kids of all ages.
Our vision is to become a leading multi-brand franchising company providing key services to people, homes and businesses. We keep people at the core of our business because it is through leading, empowering and servicing people that we make a difference in our communities.
Each day our mission is to enable people to realize their dreams. Whether that dream is tied to a financial goal or independence of business ownership, we keep this mission top of mind every day.
Franchise Friday, where you can watch or listen as we explore franchising, entrepreneurship, and small business ownership, speaking with the franchise industry thought leaders and subject matter experts that shape the Future Of Franchising. #FranchiseFriday – For more about our podcast, visit our website: https://futureoffranchising.com/ Produced by Franchise Source Brands International and The Entrepreneur’s Source.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Unknown (00:14):
Hey everyone, welcome back to franchise Friday the
podcast with the entrepreneursource. My name is Melissa Pang.
I am the member relationshipstrategist here. And I have the
honor of having Rita Iglesiashere with me today from brands
Hey girl, welcome. I am doing sogood. I'm better now that I have
(00:40):
the chance to speak with you.
And I'm just so excited thatwe're going to talk about buzz
and Beyond Today, and you and Icould chat for hours. So when we
condense it down into intosomething good, but I'm excited
as to what we talked abouttoday. And I'll let you do a
little intro. But I wanted tojust say for all the people out
there readers, the person thatyou want to know, okay, people,
(01:02):
her personality lights up aroom, she's not afraid to say
what's on her mind. So if youneed some truth, you go to read
up while we read more books thanthe entire population of the US
put together. And she choosesher candidates and her team and
friends like gold. So what morecould you want? And I love that
you're part of the community.
(01:26):
But let your welcome and butlet's start with little
introduction. So how'd you getinto franchising and about the
buzz franchise brands sure loveabout it, what you want to
share. SoI actually started off my career
in hospitality in thehospitality industry working for
a South African hotel company.
And I loved it, I loved I got totravel all the time, I would go
(01:49):
to South Africa, multiple times.
And it was really an enjoyableindustry to be part of. But like
many things, many good thingscoming to an end, you know, you
have to find something else tosegue into. And when the
hospitality industry was takinga hit, especially in that
2009 2010 era, I wasn't going tokeep working in hospitality, you
(02:11):
know, I wasn't gonna keep goingdown that. So when, when I was
let go from the organizationthat I was with, I sought out
the help of a recruiter who saidto me, Listen, you've got great
sales experience, greatmarketing experience, you've
done the tradeshow circuit. I'mlooking for something like that,
but it's a franchise company.
(02:34):
You don't know anything aboutfranchising, but they're willing
to teach anybody, you know,they, they cannot teach somebody
to have a personality or knowhow to approach you know,
potential candidates, but they,you know, they, they can teach
you, you know, franchiseregulations and everything that
goes into it. So I said, Yeah,sure, Sign me up. So I started,
(02:57):
I started with happy and healthyproducts. And I was under the
leadership of a really strongteam. And quite frankly, you
know, the CEO and President ofcompany, she was the owner of
this organization. So obviously,everything that was done, she
took it really to heart, youknow, and really focused on the
franchisees and the system, andmaking sure I was properly
(03:20):
educated in it. Through that Iof course not only learned about
franchising, but I also learnedabout the importance of the
relationships with members likecoaches. That was my
introduction into the world ofyou know, coaching and
candidates and working incollaboration with the
entrepreneur source. And, andreally, I just, it opened up a
(03:44):
whole new world to me, you know,when I was growing up, my mom
and dad were entrepreneurs atheart. But always everything
that they set up, did not workout, you know, they were like,
Oh, we're gonna own a secondhandshop. No, we're gonna own an
antique store, not the thing.
We're gonna start catering. Youknow, like every I, you know,
bless their hearts, they had allthe desire in the world, but
(04:08):
they just didn't have the properstructure. They didn't know how
to go about it. So there wasalways something that came
through and ruined it for themat one point, you know, they
were their vintage shop wasrobbed. And they didn't have the
proper insurance in place. Theydidn't have what they needed for
it. And that's that it's a wrap.
(04:28):
And so, all of those differentways of you know, wanting to
become an entrepreneur, theyultimately just decided, you
know, what, it is what it is,you know, the workforce until we
retire and unfortunately,because of a lot of the
decisions that they made. Myfather retired in his 70s My
mother retired in her 70s Youknow, and I just, it's sad to
(04:53):
think about her see, when I thenlook at oh my goodness, what
this world of franchising lookslike. It will isn't just about
the McDonald's or the DunkinDonuts, there's so much more to
it, it actually breaks my hearta little bit, because I think,
gosh, if my parents had onlyknown, you know, if they had
only known about theseopportunities, they probably
could have established afranchise, maybe even two or
(05:15):
three, and would have been setthere, their desire, that
heartwarming feeling of I wantto be an entrepreneur, I want to
own my own schedule my life, youknow, take control that could
have come true, if they justknown about it, or just on the
resources were there. And oncemy eyes were open to it, there
was just no going back.
(05:39):
I, so many pieces of that storyresonate, because not only what
we do in franchising, I thinkwhen you're in the space, you
know, franchising, and you'relike, of course, it's great, of
course, it's awesome. On yourside, you're talking to so many
candidates, so you get toactually introduce it, even more
so to so many people. But evenjust thinking, how many people
(06:02):
don't realize it's out there,but they're like your parents,
and they have thisentrepreneurial like, itch, but
you just think I'm never gonnaopen a McDonald's, I don't have
a million plus dollars lyingaround, not knowing, listen,
that little shop down the roadis actually a franchise, and you
don't even know it. And so moreand more education about it is
(06:24):
phenomenal. So and I didn'tactually realize that that like
that little background story. Sothank you for sharing. I love
it. Well, and today in orange, alittle bit about like Buzz and
all of those things. Butnormally, I chat with people
about their franchisedevelopment experience, and
(06:46):
what's really important whenyou're working with candidates
and those types of things. Butit actually was International
Women's Day yesterday. And Imean, we're all about
celebrating women every singleday. Okay, that's what we do
here. And we're both veryfortunate that we work at
companies, I think that reallyallow for that. But today, I'd
(07:09):
love to really talk with youabout your experience as a woman
in franchising in business, andwhat that journey has looked
like for you, from when youstarted to where you are now.
And you can go really anywherewith it. But maybe let's start
(07:30):
with you coming into theindustry as a woman starting at
a woman owned company, and whatthat was like what that taught
you and then have there beenbarriers, or things that have
come up along the waythat absolutely so work through,
you know, I'm a loud and proudLatina, you know, my I'm a first
(07:52):
generation Dominican American.
So, you know, my parentsimmigrated to this country in
the 60s. You know, so when Ilook at my family, I'm actually
the first in my generation or myyou know, line on the tree or
branch on the tree to be incorporate America in in terms of
(08:13):
the females in my family, youknow, they've gone on to do
great things, you know, nursing,owning small businesses, but
stepping into the realm ofcorporate America. That was that
was me for the first time, andI'm the baby. So there, buddy,
really setting the path for methere, you know, and nobody,
(08:35):
unfortunately to, you know, tofollow in the footsteps, again,
in my generation in line. So Iwas having to figure it out for
myself and quite frankly, therewere times where I was
uncomfortable. You know, wetalked about imposter syndrome,
I have that more often, youknow, than I care to even admit
to because I was either the onlywoman in the room, the only
(08:58):
person that looked like me inthe room. You know, my hair is
naturally curly. I was very selfconscious about those things.
And I found myself starting tochange who I was or how I would
behave. Because I didn't want tostand out. I didn't want to be
noticeable in a negative way. Iwas always afraid, oh, if I'm
(09:20):
too loud, you know, it's goingto be a thing. I'm going to be
told to bring it down. If I looka certain way I might be told I
look unprofessional. You know,you're always given this image
of what what a woman should looklike. I've never been one for
the six inch heels. I'm a shortybut I stand loud and proud with
that. You know, but I've neverbeen one for that look. And when
(09:42):
you look on TV, that's what yousee. Right? The pencil skirt and
the blouses and the high heelsand that's a woman in corporate
America or the blazer suit, youknow, and all those things that
I was like that is just not me,and I don't want to do it. And
so I I just always had a littlebit of discomfort and try to
(10:04):
figure out like, Well, who am I?
And how do I fit into all ofthis. And really, sales is where
that started to become more of athing that allowed me to be
myself. Because in sales, Irealized soon into it, I am not
going to get anywhere by justpitching people all the time,
(10:24):
you know, I am way morecomfortable. And I realized that
I thrive when I actually build arelationship with the people
that I'm in. So when I steppedinto franchise development, I
hated associating it. In termsof sales, I really didn't ever,
like franchise sales being thepart, you know, the title or the
(10:46):
role, I always liked it lookinglike franchise development,
because quite frankly, if youlook at the process of somebody
coming into it, they aren't theydevelop themselves and a
knowledge and, you know, for thebusiness as they're going along,
you know, they're, they'reopening up who they could see
themselves as in this business,you know, they're looking at, at
(11:10):
their opportunities in adevelopment, you know, setting
not in any other way. So for me,it was like, Well, if I start
to, if I relate, if I tell themmy story, if I talk about my
desire, you know, to to havemore control of my schedule, and
really how this type of roleallows me that it allows me that
opportunity to have more controlof myself, my success is based
(11:33):
on how hard I work, you know,just like a franchisee you know,
what I do or what I accomplish,it's, it's a result of what I'm
putting into it. And so, kind ofcorrelating the two always felt
like it was just going to makethat more comfortable, and
started making me think less ofwhat I looked like, and how I'm
(11:58):
being perceived by other people.
And instead, I started to sit alittle straighter, and think I
deserve my place at this table.
Because of what I accomplished,or what I do, how well I, you
know, do end up, you know,satisfying my position and role,
how well I do relate to thosepeople and befriend them I'm,
(12:21):
I'm a I'm a habitual, renter, ofanybody and everybody that I
work with. If, yeah, I can tellthat if I develop a
relationship, you get to knoweach other. You know, I always
joke around and I say, whenyou're going through the
franchise development process,we date, you know, I'm the
person that you're dating andgetting to know, then I
(12:43):
bamboozle you at the altar, whenyou get handed over to
operations and marketing andeverybody. I'm like, Well, this
is technically the bride, sorry.
What I love that, you know, Ilove that process, I love that
that whole, you know, the energythat I get to put into it. So
(13:04):
when I developed, you know, thatsecurity of what I am and what
my role is in the process, Istarted to think less about
who's in the C suites? And dothey look like me? Is it all
men? Are they all, you know, adifferent color, a different
nationality? What does itmatter? You know, I started to
(13:25):
think less about, ooh, you know,who I am in the room and who I
said and more about what I'mbringing to the table. And in
that security, you know, in thatI started to feel less
comfortable about, you know,less uncomfortable, I should say
about what I also hadinsecurities, you know, towards
which were, if I wear my haircurrently, or if I do highlights
(13:48):
if I color if I just that, youknow, if I ever do anything
towards my ethnicity? How manypiercings do I have? If I have
tattoos, which I do, you know,all these things started to
become less important to me interms of should, should I care
about your opinion of it andmore, more of just, that's just
(14:09):
part of who I am. And it's,leave it or take it, that is
what it is, you know, and so itjust started to become less of
an important item. And then ontop of that, I started to you
know, see more and more in theindustry, women coming up in
every aspect. You know, I lookat you and I were clearly, you
(14:32):
know, strong women. And we are,you know, ethnic, we're POCs you
know, so I look at this, and Ithink look at how lovely This
is. You know, did I think Iwould have been doing this 10
years ago? Absolutely not.
Absolutely not. But I see it nowand I love it. And I look at for
example, as I look at the amountof coaches that you have, how
many strong females are in thoseroles, you know, and the
(14:55):
organization itself, lendingitself To my career, I have
worked for some phenomenalwomen. And I've developed some
great mentors as well along theway. And that has helped seeing
other people that look like meor understand where I'm coming
(15:15):
from, that can only strengthenyou. And I think that that also
lends itself when I'm speakingto women that are interested in
getting into franchising, too.
Because there's a lot of greattalented women who have a desire
to be an entrepreneur, but havethat fear of will who is on the
(15:38):
other side of this, who's who'sjudging me? Who's looking at,
you know, what I will bring tothe table? What Are there any
other franchisees, like me,there's so much that goes into
that, and that's what I'm, I'mloving that I'm getting to see
more and more of that in theindustry itself. But also, just
in the organizations that I'vehad an opportunity to represent,
(16:01):
especially, you know, now morethan ever, you know, being with
with bus franchise brands, allof the brands we represent have
excellent females in franchiseeroles, as well as within our
organization. I know youmentioned that yesterday was
International Women's Day, wehad like a big email group just
(16:22):
going around of all the womenjust saying so proud to work
with you so proud to know you.
And it was such a beautifulthing, it was so inspiring,
because that's the energy thatyou want to see. And I will say,
this isn't a you know, just arah rah, for the ladies, it's
equally important to havesupportive men around you, and,
and men that they don't care whoyou are, what you are, where you
(16:48):
came from. They're just we'reequals, and we're here, we're
here together, that is just asimportant as anything else. And
I am so proud of a lot of themen in the industry and again,
within my organization inparticular, that are just
respectful and they give creditwhere credit's due. And that is
really what what helps more thananything else to
(17:15):
a man and thank you for puttingit in there at the end to about,
there's like so much that I wantto talk about, but about a shout
out to the men as well who are apart of this in supporting and
helping these women to get intoroles, whether it's on the
corporate side, or whether it'sas franchisees building up their
(17:39):
businesses on all differentfronts, because I know I've had
mentors, both men and women whoI have really supported me in
and helped me grow and figureout what it is I want to do and
develop that personality, andfeel comfortable. And I would
say to anyone out there, and Iwill drag this at women, but in
(18:01):
general, if you feel like you'rein a place where you can't be
yourself, and whatever. However,you you know, identify as you
know, a person of color, well,it doesn't matter, you know,
just if you can't be yourselfand your personality. And
obviously there's level ofprofessionalism they have to
(18:23):
display but then you may want tolook at am I in the right place,
because you'll know you're inthe right place when you have
people who support you and youdon't feel like it's more about
I'm so excited about what I canbring to the table and bring to
this team, as opposed to I Ifeel like maybe they don't look
(18:43):
at me the same way or that I'mnot valued the same. So those
are just two things I would say.
And then back to oh my gosh,just so many good things. Love
it. We are very fortunate, likeI 10 years ago, no never would
have what I have thought thatI'd be sitting here having a
(19:03):
conversation with you about thisin an industry that is actually
does allow for a lot ofdiversity and is becoming more
and more diverse as time goeson. Like we were just at the IFA
convention. And there'sdifferent committees for
diversity and these differentthings. And franchising, as an
industry allows it doesn'tdiscriminate. People with any
(19:31):
kind of background or from anykind of walk of life can be
given the opportunity to kind ofchange their lives through
franchising, again, whetheryou're on the sales side or the
operation side or the franchiseeside. It offers that which is
amazing and why I love it here.
(19:51):
And because we get to connectwith like you and all these
other great great women in theindustry, who really build each
other up up. So I love all ofthose things when it comes to
So, the imposter syndrome,that's very interesting because
I 10 out of 10 suffer from that,maybe, maybe less now, hopefully
(20:17):
less now than before, but itstill comes up where you're just
like, I don't know, if I deservethis, or that I need to work
harder in order to stay in theseat that I'm in right now. Or
to prove myself whatever it is,does that still come up for you?
And how do you get a climboccasionally still have it?
Absolutely. You know, again,I'm, I'm thankful for having
(20:39):
gentleman or, you know, reallygreat, you know, companions and
colleagues. But for example, I,you know, I'm the lone lady, you
know, in our franchisedevelopment department now. And
while I've never experienced forone second, being, you know, put
out and I think a lot of thathas to do with, I just don't let
(21:02):
that happen either. But I'venever I mean, I've never
experienced it I've ever had,but it could be easy to fall
into, like a it's, you know,it's the good old boys club. And
I'm, and you know, it thathasn't come up. That doesn't
happen to me, it hasn't happenedto me now. But I've suffered it
for a long time, where I was inorganizations where it was a lot
(21:26):
of men in leadership, I didn'treally see any women. And I
would walk into the room andagain, here I am, you know, all
all loud and whatever what'sgoing on, guys, you know, and,
and I'm a jovial person. I'm ajokester, you know, I never
crossed the boundaries ofprofessionalism. But my I, I'm
like, basically, the best way toput it is I'm like a peacock.
(21:50):
You gotta let me fly. You know,the movie quote, like, I'm
absolutely right. Yeah.
There's a big personality.
I would walk into a corporatemeeting or corporate room, and I
would absolutely just kind ofget into my see, and just like,
oh, man, and it would just, itwould make me feel very
(22:13):
uncomfortable. And I hated it.
Because I was like, you know,why am I why am I letting that
happen to myself? Why am I doingthat? You know, to give you the
greatest example of how I knowI've overcome this, too. I
mentioned earlier, you know,like the hair this that I had a
cousin a while ago who said tome like, Why do you always try
it in your hair? Why don't youever let it go currently? And I
said, Well, it's just easier,you know, it's easier to manage
(22:36):
it to maintain. But in the backof my head, I knew it's because
it makes me feel moreprofessional. It makes me feel
like I'm more put together andmore in control. And that was
something for me to get over notnobody told me. Oh, you should,
you know, it was it was a thingI was putting on myself. Because
again, what I was seeing what Iwas looking at in the industry.
(22:58):
And I started to get reallyparanoid about that. And then I
started saying, well, it's it'sa matter of preference. Why
should I let anybody else'sopinion? Well, we had our
conference, our national ourcompany convention in November,
in Cancun humidity Central,okay. I think day one, I walked
in there, and I was like, hairstraight, what's going on? And
(23:21):
like, by that night, I lookedlike a chia pet. I was out of
control. And I said, you know,what am I doing? Why am I even
trying to keep up this thing?
And I just the next morning, youknow, like, I was just your
curly, let her fly the rest ofthe convention, I was going, and
I got so many compliments andpeople don't know, your hair.
(23:42):
Was that curly? And they were soyou're so kind and so
complimentary. And you know,that helps. But really, I think
it was also just me being like,oh, you know, what it is what it
is guys was is that we're goingin, and my person just, it's
like, it's this or it's not agood look, you know what I mean?
And I and so it was I only did Iwent with it to myself
(24:03):
afterwards, I watched the videoclip of you know, the recap of
the conference. And I saw myselfin a couple of the clips with my
hair, okra. And I thought, allright, that's nice. You know,
there, there I go. And that wasthat it was I didn't focus on
the silly and it sounds. So youknow, it sounds superficial,
really, when you think about it,but it's amazing how your
(24:25):
confidence can be raised orbrought down by something as
simple as, oh, is anybodylooking at me thinking? She's
wild? You know, she's like,well, there goes the wild,
unprofessional, uneducated orwhatever the case may be. You
know, I went to school I didn't,I don't have an MBA, I don't
have anything that you know,would elevate the status. I
(24:48):
actually initially went toschool for forensic psychology.
That's a story for another day,and kind of eventually decided
I'm gonna get into marketinginstead. And here I am in
franchise development, you know,the way of the world or how it
goes. And again, those arethings that you would say, oh my
gosh, you know, somebody with 20years experience left, and I
(25:09):
look at it now. And I think,well, my nearly 13 Shouldn't be
diminished by anybody else'sexperience. You know, if I'm
shorter than everyone else, ifI'm, you know, any any more
louder if am i Anything else,this is who I am. And it you
know, we just need to accept it.
As I'm nearing 40 I just, I'malso much more comfortable with
(25:31):
who I am. So therefore, I thinkit makes me care less, I started
to look at it as in my life, inmy personal life, I'm happy, I'm
healthy, I'm successful. Youknow, with the goals that I've
set for myself. I know who I am.
I know that what peoplesometimes think they see is not
(25:53):
what I am, you know, as youmentioned earlier, I love to
read I'm I consider that almosta self education over you know,
anything else. I people may notbelieve it. But yeah, I love
instrumental in classical music.
It's what I actually find moresoothing or relaxing than
anything else, you know, mySpotify actually put that out
there quite, quite grandly atthe end of the year. It's, you
(26:16):
know, and so I think, look, youwouldn't know that unless you
got to know me. And so I startedviewing that my perception or my
imposter syndrome, and I startedputting that into the people
that I'm talking to, andrealizing like some of their
discomfort I've had, I've hadcandidates flat out ask me,
Well, how many people of colordo you have in your franchise?
How many are women? How manythat they are just asking these
(26:38):
questions outright. Now beforeit used to be a little, you
know, a little more of a taboosubject, you know, by now, I'm
being asked directly. And I'm soproud that I get to turn around
and say, Oh, we have this many,what you know, of this
nationality, this color, thisbackground, this gender,
(26:59):
whatever the case may be, youknow, we've got it. And I think
all of that has also helped whoI am in this industry and how I
see myself because I'm no longera minority in it. I'm actually
pretty, pretty much in themelting pot of what's going on.
And that that in and of itselfhas taken away some of that
(27:21):
impostor syndrome that I, I didsuffer 13 years ago, but I just
don't feel it anymore.
Right. I love that. Because I'mlike, and I think too, it does,
like you said mindset, andpeople could listen to this and
say, that seems like such asilly thing like hair or the way
that I dress or if I'm wearingheels or not. But and again,
(27:46):
this isn't just per pertinent towomen, I think you have men who
come in as well and suffer fromimposter syndrome, or this
feeling like I have to fit intoa mold. And if I don't, what are
people thinking of me, and atthe end of the day, it's not
like you don't want to victimizeyourself or whatever you will
(28:06):
grow time also helps anyone andI think to this industry, like
this industry has helped shapedwho I am today. 100% And once
you get comfortable withyourself as well, a lot of that
does go away, but I think it isgood to know like, first of all
your the team that surroundsyou, and can say you are so good
(28:29):
at XYZ and we love this aboutyou. So we do need a little you
know, positive affirmation hereand there. But also, internally
knowing I bring a lot to thetable and it's not exactly what
Jess is bringing to the tableisn't exactly what you know,
Brian's bringing to the table,but I'm here for a reason I love
(28:50):
what I do. And I know that I'mgood at it, you know, and then
also you being able to relate tocandidates even just like in
what you do, so you're not afranchisee, but those different
like lifestyle aspects and yourgoals and how you know, you talk
(29:13):
to people and your skills andthings like that there's this
great parallel to the franchiseeside as well. So I love that you
make those shapes and it'simportant to be able to decide
it's connect properly man orwoman, whatever the background,
you know, you that you'rethey're basically their liaison,
(29:35):
you know, into whatever theorganization is, and especially
with what I represent now, youknow, we have they're great
service brands. And so whenyou're looking at service
brands, you have to also takeinto account you're looking at
people that are going to investin them who are more than
likely, you know, looking to ownand operate or have a semi
(29:58):
absentee model They can thenelevate, you know, and grow in
whatever way. Who are theiremployees going to be, you know,
who are they going to beoverseeing or working with?
What's their community going tolook like, when you have to take
into account all of those bitsand pieces that make up, you
know, the, their journey or whatthey need to be viewing when
(30:21):
they're looking at thefranchise? I think that's just
as important, as you know,showing them, you know, an item
19? Or what kind of marketingsupport you're gonna get, or
anything else? It's right,what's that life going to be
like? And therefore, who willyou be in this franchise, and
again, back to women, you know,in franchising across all of our
(30:45):
brands, with home clean heroes,with British swim school with
Girl Scouts, every single one ofour brands, has very successful
women at the helm of each ofthose franchises, not only as a
franchisee, but also within theactual brand, you know,
(31:07):
corporate support side, youknow, we have excellent and
very, you know, talentedmarketing directors across all
of our brands, you know, our CMOis a, a lovely female to, to
work and be guided under, youknow, and all of our directors
(31:27):
of marketing across all of thebrands, you know, are as well.
And even, you know, some of thebusiness coaches, trainers, with
British swim school, ouraquatics team, you know,
they're, they're led by just aheck of a personality, as well,
you know, and so, those, whenyou see those kinds of things,
you're strengthened by it as awoman, and especially as a
(31:51):
franchisee, because, hey, I havesomeone I can relate to someone,
I can talk to someone I can beguided by, that gets me, you
know, and it's not supposed tobe that way. But it is. These
are human beings, you know,they're running a business, but
they're still human beings, youknow, and they're, there are
people that Yeah, exactly. Andso those are, those things are
(32:13):
just as important as anythingelse I have, I have something I
can show them. As a result of,you know, a franchisees efforts
I have somebody they can relateto in one way or another. But
then, on the corporate side,they have excellent support as
well.
And we are so much in alignmenton that as well. Because at the
(32:35):
entrepreneur soars. It's, it'svery similar. We have such
strong women on our, likeleadership team, and part of the
just home office team. And thenalso, and I love that we are now
bringing in many more women,franchisees, and again, they
(32:58):
have the background of, youknow, people of color veterans,
all different walks of life. Andit's, it's phenomenal. So I love
that we are part of that. Andwhat would you say to I mean,
there's so many good takeawaysfrom this, but two women who are
(33:19):
maybe just getting intofranchising or starting their
journey in franchising orbusiness in general. What What
would you,I would say, don't underestimate
yourself and your abilities. Youknow, if you were a stay at home
mom, for many years, and now youguys have decided to start a
business and you want to go outand do this. Don't worry about
(33:40):
the corporate or businessexperience you've had, because
let me tell you, you are the CEOof your home. And so talk about
somebody having experience atbeing able to manage multiple
things at once, you are probablygoing to be a fantastic leader
and motivator for your you know,for the team that you're
(34:01):
overseeing. So you shouldn'tthink about oh, well, if I don't
have any experience with this, Idon't know. That's what a
franchise is for. It's to helpguide you and provide you the
system and the structure thatyou need. We are going to
support you in that well wecan't teach you is how to be a
great motivator, how to besomebody that's organized how to
be somebody that is capable ofmanaging more than one thing at
(34:23):
a time. Because that's what afranchise is to you know, you
have people that you'remanaging, there's a product that
you're managing, there's aservice that you're overseeing.
There's so much that goes intoit. So you shouldn't
underestimate yourself if thatwas your history. And and you
know, vice versa. I worked incorporate America all my life. I
don't know anything about how tomaintain a pool service. Well,
(34:45):
that's all right. We didn't needyou to that's You don't need to
know that. Yeah, we're gonnasupport you guys. We're gonna
guide you you know, some ofthese businesses Yeah, they
might not look like the sexieston the in the world you know,
but when you want a businessthat is a strong organization
and support system for you, whenyou want something that is going
(35:08):
to produce recurring revenue,this is not a one time basis.
But this is something that hasan opportunity for longevity,
whether it is a swim lesson,whether it is a residential
cleaning service, or whetherit's pool, you know, services
being done for you, all of thosethings, they're recurring
revenue. And that's what youreally want to make sure that
(35:29):
you're getting into when you'relooking for a business. Because
once you learn and get over yourown, I don't know anything about
that, once you're you'reeducated in it, you're trained,
and you know how to run thosesystems. When lesson, just take
it away, let it let it do itsthing it's going to eventually.
So you need to need to get overthe fear that you have, of what
(35:50):
you can do or what yourknowledge of what you're getting
into is, that's that's notnecessary, don't need to be a
marketing guru. That's what wehave marketing support for, you
know that there's so many piecesand elements that go into it. So
that's what I would say tosomebody that's looking to get
into a business become afranchisee you can sometimes be
your own worst enemy in theprocess. So, you know, don't,
(36:14):
don't look at this as just whatyou know, or what you're
bringing to the table, butrather what you're going to
receive and what you couldaccomplish in the long run. And
then for anyone that wants tojust get into franchising in
general, whether it's in thedevelopment side, you know, as a
coach or anything of thatnature, I would just say,
(36:35):
Listen, this is about connectingpeople with what could be the
perfect opportunity, you have tothink about what is making them
unhappy, that is opening them upto this conversation with you.
There's something at, you know,basically in the background
that's making them say, I don'tlike that, I want to see what my
(36:56):
other opportunities could be.
associate yourself to that, youknow, to what that could be an
empathize with anybody thatyou're working with, you have to
remember, you have the knowledgethey don't, you know what, what
the outcome could be, theydon't, and in most cases, it's
their money, not yours, youknow, so you have to be
(37:18):
empathetic, absolutely, you haveto be, what their journey is and
what they're going through. Andreally understand that as best
as you can, that they don't needyou to be their best friend, but
they need you to be the personthat's going to give it to them
straight. And don't be afraid toto break up with somebody if
(37:39):
necessary. I rather you know,take away somebody's dream, and
then you know, hurt them in thelong run. And that's that those
are the kinds of pieces that youreally have to understand when
you're looking at the franchisedevelopment side. It can be
really fun, it can be reallyexciting, it is exhilarating.
When you finally get somebody tothat point, you know, and
(38:00):
they're like, I want to do this,let's go. It's exciting. Again,
I'm not the one at the altar,but I got them there, you know,
we got them there. It's really,it's exciting. And it's, you
know, it's something that thatyou need to take joy in and
especially celebrate with them.
And again, in my case, I don'tjust say like, alright, well,
(38:24):
high five, and good luck, and Ihope everything goes well for
you. Like, I like to stay intouch. I like to know how
they're doing I like to know howthings are going. And I still
consider some franchisees that Ihave brought on board to many of
the organizations that I've beenwith a good friend, and you
know, somebody that I know of,and, you know, even send gifts
to or get Christmas cards fromand it's, that's, that's a it's
(38:49):
a beautiful thing, you know, tobe able to participate in that
and see that and be part ofsomeone's journey. So that's why
I think for insurancedevelopment is is something that
I'm excited to be part of anddefinitely excited to be able to
do for many years to come. Andthat's how it's done
(39:13):
ladies and gentlemenlove it and like I have nothing
else to add to all those thingsother than there's a reason that
you are in the place that youare right now. It was such a
great cup because you attractthat with just the way that you
approach things. How youapproach people, it's people
(39:35):
think franchising, likeespecially you said franchise
sales that just feels like wrongto you. Because people go into
it thinking yeah, there's somuch there's so much money here
I can make a lot of money doingfranchise sales and selling
these businesses and it's that'snot it at all. It's that
franchise. You know, we talkabout development but franchise
(39:56):
like you're helping and people,you're educating people and we
get to do that. So it's acompletely different approach.
And it makes such a bigdifference when the way that
those things that you justtalked about that's how you're
approaching your conversationswith the with your candidate
Hey everyone, welcome back to franchise Friday the
podcast with the entrepreneursource. My name is Melissa Pang.
I am the member relationshipstrategist here. And I have the
honor of having Rita Iglesiashere with me today from brands
Hey girl, welcome. I am doing sogood. I'm better now that I have
(00:40):
the chance to speak with you.
And I'm just so excited thatwe're going to talk about buzz
and Beyond Today, and you and Icould chat for hours. So when we
condense it down into intosomething good, but I'm excited
as to what we talked abouttoday. And I'll let you do a
little intro. But I wanted tojust say for all the people out
there readers, the person thatyou want to know, okay, people,
(01:02):
her personality lights up aroom, she's not afraid to say
what's on her mind. So if youneed some truth, you go to read
up while we read more books thanthe entire population of the US
put together. And she choosesher candidates and her team and
friends like gold. So what morecould you want? And I love that
you're part of the community.
(01:26):
But let your welcome and butlet's start with little
introduction. So how'd you getinto franchising and about the
buzz franchise brands sure loveabout it, what you want to
share. SoI actually started off my career
in hospitality in thehospitality industry working for
a South African hotel company.
And I loved it, I loved I got totravel all the time, I would go
(01:49):
to South Africa, multiple times.
And it was really an enjoyableindustry to be part of. But like
many things, many good thingscoming to an end, you know, you
have to find something else tosegue into. And when the
hospitality industry was takinga hit, especially in that
2009 2010 era, I wasn't going tokeep working in hospitality, you
(02:11):
know, I wasn't gonna keep goingdown that. So when, when I was
let go from the organizationthat I was with, I sought out
the help of a recruiter who saidto me, Listen, you've got great
sales experience, greatmarketing experience, you've
done the tradeshow circuit. I'mlooking for something like that,
but it's a franchise company.
(02:34):
You don't know anything aboutfranchising, but they're willing
to teach anybody, you know,they, they cannot teach somebody
to have a personality or knowhow to approach you know,
potential candidates, but they,you know, they, they can teach
you, you know, franchiseregulations and everything that
goes into it. So I said, Yeah,sure, Sign me up. So I started,
(02:57):
I started with happy and healthyproducts. And I was under the
leadership of a really strongteam. And quite frankly, you
know, the CEO and President ofcompany, she was the owner of
this organization. So obviously,everything that was done, she
took it really to heart, youknow, and really focused on the
franchisees and the system, andmaking sure I was properly
(03:20):
educated in it. Through that Iof course not only learned about
franchising, but I also learnedabout the importance of the
relationships with members likecoaches. That was my
introduction into the world ofyou know, coaching and
candidates and working incollaboration with the
entrepreneur source. And, andreally, I just, it opened up a
(03:44):
whole new world to me, you know,when I was growing up, my mom
and dad were entrepreneurs atheart. But always everything
that they set up, did not workout, you know, they were like,
Oh, we're gonna own a secondhandshop. No, we're gonna own an
antique store, not the thing.
We're gonna start catering. Youknow, like every I, you know,
bless their hearts, they had allthe desire in the world, but
(04:08):
they just didn't have the properstructure. They didn't know how
to go about it. So there wasalways something that came
through and ruined it for themat one point, you know, they
were their vintage shop wasrobbed. And they didn't have the
proper insurance in place. Theydidn't have what they needed for
it. And that's that it's a wrap.
(04:28):
And so, all of those differentways of you know, wanting to
become an entrepreneur, theyultimately just decided, you
know, what, it is what it is,you know, the workforce until we
retire and unfortunately,because of a lot of the
decisions that they made. Myfather retired in his 70s My
mother retired in her 70s Youknow, and I just, it's sad to
(04:53):
think about her see, when I thenlook at oh my goodness, what
this world of franchising lookslike. It will isn't just about
the McDonald's or the DunkinDonuts, there's so much more to
it, it actually breaks my hearta little bit, because I think,
gosh, if my parents had onlyknown, you know, if they had
only known about theseopportunities, they probably
could have established afranchise, maybe even two or
(05:15):
three, and would have been setthere, their desire, that
heartwarming feeling of I wantto be an entrepreneur, I want to
own my own schedule my life, youknow, take control that could
have come true, if they justknown about it, or just on the
resources were there. And oncemy eyes were open to it, there
was just no going back.
(05:39):
I, so many pieces of that storyresonate, because not only what
we do in franchising, I thinkwhen you're in the space, you
know, franchising, and you'relike, of course, it's great, of
course, it's awesome. On yourside, you're talking to so many
candidates, so you get toactually introduce it, even more
so to so many people. But evenjust thinking, how many people
(06:02):
don't realize it's out there,but they're like your parents,
and they have thisentrepreneurial like, itch, but
you just think I'm never gonnaopen a McDonald's, I don't have
a million plus dollars lyingaround, not knowing, listen,
that little shop down the roadis actually a franchise, and you
don't even know it. And so moreand more education about it is
(06:24):
phenomenal. So and I didn'tactually realize that that like
that little background story. Sothank you for sharing. I love
it. Well, and today in orange, alittle bit about like Buzz and
all of those things. Butnormally, I chat with people
about their franchisedevelopment experience, and
(06:46):
what's really important whenyou're working with candidates
and those types of things. Butit actually was International
Women's Day yesterday. And Imean, we're all about
celebrating women every singleday. Okay, that's what we do
here. And we're both veryfortunate that we work at
companies, I think that reallyallow for that. But today, I'd
(07:09):
love to really talk with youabout your experience as a woman
in franchising in business, andwhat that journey has looked
like for you, from when youstarted to where you are now.
And you can go really anywherewith it. But maybe let's start
(07:30):
with you coming into theindustry as a woman starting at
a woman owned company, and whatthat was like what that taught
you and then have there beenbarriers, or things that have
come up along the waythat absolutely so work through,
you know, I'm a loud and proudLatina, you know, my I'm a first
(07:52):
generation Dominican American.
So, you know, my parentsimmigrated to this country in
the 60s. You know, so when Ilook at my family, I'm actually
the first in my generation or myyou know, line on the tree or
branch on the tree to be incorporate America in in terms of
(08:13):
the females in my family, youknow, they've gone on to do
great things, you know, nursing,owning small businesses, but
stepping into the realm ofcorporate America. That was that
was me for the first time, andI'm the baby. So there, buddy,
really setting the path for methere, you know, and nobody,
(08:35):
unfortunately to, you know, tofollow in the footsteps, again,
in my generation in line. So Iwas having to figure it out for
myself and quite frankly, therewere times where I was
uncomfortable. You know, wetalked about imposter syndrome,
I have that more often, youknow, than I care to even admit
to because I was either the onlywoman in the room, the only
(08:58):
person that looked like me inthe room. You know, my hair is
naturally curly. I was very selfconscious about those things.
And I found myself starting tochange who I was or how I would
behave. Because I didn't want tostand out. I didn't want to be
noticeable in a negative way. Iwas always afraid, oh, if I'm
(09:20):
too loud, you know, it's goingto be a thing. I'm going to be
told to bring it down. If I looka certain way I might be told I
look unprofessional. You know,you're always given this image
of what what a woman should looklike. I've never been one for
the six inch heels. I'm a shortybut I stand loud and proud with
that. You know, but I've neverbeen one for that look. And when
(09:42):
you look on TV, that's what yousee. Right? The pencil skirt and
the blouses and the high heelsand that's a woman in corporate
America or the blazer suit, youknow, and all those things that
I was like that is just not me,and I don't want to do it. And
so I I just always had a littlebit of discomfort and try to
(10:04):
figure out like, Well, who am I?
And how do I fit into all ofthis. And really, sales is where
that started to become more of athing that allowed me to be
myself. Because in sales, Irealized soon into it, I am not
going to get anywhere by justpitching people all the time,
(10:24):
you know, I am way morecomfortable. And I realized that
I thrive when I actually build arelationship with the people
that I'm in. So when I steppedinto franchise development, I
hated associating it. In termsof sales, I really didn't ever,
like franchise sales being thepart, you know, the title or the
(10:46):
role, I always liked it lookinglike franchise development,
because quite frankly, if youlook at the process of somebody
coming into it, they aren't theydevelop themselves and a
knowledge and, you know, for thebusiness as they're going along,
you know, they're, they'reopening up who they could see
themselves as in this business,you know, they're looking at, at
(11:10):
their opportunities in adevelopment, you know, setting
not in any other way. So for me,it was like, Well, if I start
to, if I relate, if I tell themmy story, if I talk about my
desire, you know, to to havemore control of my schedule, and
really how this type of roleallows me that it allows me that
opportunity to have more controlof myself, my success is based
(11:33):
on how hard I work, you know,just like a franchisee you know,
what I do or what I accomplish,it's, it's a result of what I'm
putting into it. And so, kind ofcorrelating the two always felt
like it was just going to makethat more comfortable, and
started making me think less ofwhat I looked like, and how I'm
(11:58):
being perceived by other people.
And instead, I started to sit alittle straighter, and think I
deserve my place at this table.
Because of what I accomplished,or what I do, how well I, you
know, do end up, you know,satisfying my position and role,
how well I do relate to thosepeople and befriend them I'm,
(12:21):
I'm a I'm a habitual, renter, ofanybody and everybody that I
work with. If, yeah, I can tellthat if I develop a
relationship, you get to knoweach other. You know, I always
joke around and I say, whenyou're going through the
franchise development process,we date, you know, I'm the
person that you're dating andgetting to know, then I
(12:43):
bamboozle you at the altar, whenyou get handed over to
operations and marketing andeverybody. I'm like, Well, this
is technically the bride, sorry.
What I love that, you know, Ilove that process, I love that
that whole, you know, the energythat I get to put into it. So
(13:04):
when I developed, you know, thatsecurity of what I am and what
my role is in the process, Istarted to think less about
who's in the C suites? And dothey look like me? Is it all
men? Are they all, you know, adifferent color, a different
nationality? What does itmatter? You know, I started to
(13:25):
think less about, ooh, you know,who I am in the room and who I
said and more about what I'mbringing to the table. And in
that security, you know, in thatI started to feel less
comfortable about, you know,less uncomfortable, I should say
about what I also hadinsecurities, you know, towards
which were, if I wear my haircurrently, or if I do highlights
(13:48):
if I color if I just that, youknow, if I ever do anything
towards my ethnicity? How manypiercings do I have? If I have
tattoos, which I do, you know,all these things started to
become less important to me interms of should, should I care
about your opinion of it andmore, more of just, that's just
(14:09):
part of who I am. And it's,leave it or take it, that is
what it is, you know, and so itjust started to become less of
an important item. And then ontop of that, I started to you
know, see more and more in theindustry, women coming up in
every aspect. You know, I lookat you and I were clearly, you
(14:32):
know, strong women. And we are,you know, ethnic, we're POCs you
know, so I look at this, and Ithink look at how lovely This
is. You know, did I think Iwould have been doing this 10
years ago? Absolutely not.
Absolutely not. But I see it nowand I love it. And I look at for
example, as I look at the amountof coaches that you have, how
many strong females are in thoseroles, you know, and the
(14:55):
organization itself, lendingitself To my career, I have
worked for some phenomenalwomen. And I've developed some
great mentors as well along theway. And that has helped seeing
other people that look like meor understand where I'm coming
(15:15):
from, that can only strengthenyou. And I think that that also
lends itself when I'm speakingto women that are interested in
getting into franchising, too.
Because there's a lot of greattalented women who have a desire
to be an entrepreneur, but havethat fear of will who is on the
(15:38):
other side of this, who's who'sjudging me? Who's looking at,
you know, what I will bring tothe table? What Are there any
other franchisees, like me,there's so much that goes into
that, and that's what I'm, I'mloving that I'm getting to see
more and more of that in theindustry itself. But also, just
in the organizations that I'vehad an opportunity to represent,
(16:01):
especially, you know, now morethan ever, you know, being with
with bus franchise brands, allof the brands we represent have
excellent females in franchiseeroles, as well as within our
organization. I know youmentioned that yesterday was
International Women's Day, wehad like a big email group just
(16:22):
going around of all the womenjust saying so proud to work
with you so proud to know you.
And it was such a beautifulthing, it was so inspiring,
because that's the energy thatyou want to see. And I will say,
this isn't a you know, just arah rah, for the ladies, it's
equally important to havesupportive men around you, and,
and men that they don't care whoyou are, what you are, where you
(16:48):
came from. They're just we'reequals, and we're here, we're
here together, that is just asimportant as anything else. And
I am so proud of a lot of themen in the industry and again,
within my organization inparticular, that are just
respectful and they give creditwhere credit's due. And that is
really what what helps more thananything else to
(17:15):
a man and thank you for puttingit in there at the end to about,
there's like so much that I wantto talk about, but about a shout
out to the men as well who are apart of this in supporting and
helping these women to get intoroles, whether it's on the
corporate side, or whether it'sas franchisees building up their
(17:39):
businesses on all differentfronts, because I know I've had
mentors, both men and women whoI have really supported me in
and helped me grow and figureout what it is I want to do and
develop that personality, andfeel comfortable. And I would
say to anyone out there, and Iwill drag this at women, but in
(18:01):
general, if you feel like you'rein a place where you can't be
yourself, and whatever. However,you you know, identify as you
know, a person of color, well,it doesn't matter, you know,
just if you can't be yourselfand your personality. And
obviously there's level ofprofessionalism they have to
(18:23):
display but then you may want tolook at am I in the right place,
because you'll know you're inthe right place when you have
people who support you and youdon't feel like it's more about
I'm so excited about what I canbring to the table and bring to
this team, as opposed to I Ifeel like maybe they don't look
(18:43):
at me the same way or that I'mnot valued the same. So those
are just two things I would say.
And then back to oh my gosh,just so many good things. Love
it. We are very fortunate, likeI 10 years ago, no never would
have what I have thought thatI'd be sitting here having a
(19:03):
conversation with you about thisin an industry that is actually
does allow for a lot ofdiversity and is becoming more
and more diverse as time goeson. Like we were just at the IFA
convention. And there'sdifferent committees for
diversity and these differentthings. And franchising, as an
industry allows it doesn'tdiscriminate. People with any
(19:31):
kind of background or from anykind of walk of life can be
given the opportunity to kind ofchange their lives through
franchising, again, whetheryou're on the sales side or the
operation side or the franchiseeside. It offers that which is
amazing and why I love it here.
(19:51):
And because we get to connectwith like you and all these
other great great women in theindustry, who really build each
other up up. So I love all ofthose things when it comes to
So, the imposter syndrome,that's very interesting because
I 10 out of 10 suffer from that,maybe, maybe less now, hopefully
(20:17):
less now than before, but itstill comes up where you're just
like, I don't know, if I deservethis, or that I need to work
harder in order to stay in theseat that I'm in right now. Or
to prove myself whatever it is,does that still come up for you?
And how do you get a climboccasionally still have it?
Absolutely. You know, again,I'm, I'm thankful for having
(20:39):
gentleman or, you know, reallygreat, you know, companions and
colleagues. But for example, I,you know, I'm the lone lady, you
know, in our franchisedevelopment department now. And
while I've never experienced forone second, being, you know, put
out and I think a lot of thathas to do with, I just don't let
(21:02):
that happen either. But I'venever I mean, I've never
experienced it I've ever had,but it could be easy to fall
into, like a it's, you know,it's the good old boys club. And
I'm, and you know, it thathasn't come up. That doesn't
happen to me, it hasn't happenedto me now. But I've suffered it
for a long time, where I was inorganizations where it was a lot
(21:26):
of men in leadership, I didn'treally see any women. And I
would walk into the room andagain, here I am, you know, all
all loud and whatever what'sgoing on, guys, you know, and,
and I'm a jovial person. I'm ajokester, you know, I never
crossed the boundaries ofprofessionalism. But my I, I'm
like, basically, the best way toput it is I'm like a peacock.
(21:50):
You gotta let me fly. You know,the movie quote, like, I'm
absolutely right. Yeah.
There's a big personality.
I would walk into a corporatemeeting or corporate room, and I
would absolutely just kind ofget into my see, and just like,
oh, man, and it would just, itwould make me feel very
(22:13):
uncomfortable. And I hated it.
Because I was like, you know,why am I why am I letting that
happen to myself? Why am I doingthat? You know, to give you the
greatest example of how I knowI've overcome this, too. I
mentioned earlier, you know,like the hair this that I had a
cousin a while ago who said tome like, Why do you always try
it in your hair? Why don't youever let it go currently? And I
said, Well, it's just easier,you know, it's easier to manage
(22:36):
it to maintain. But in the backof my head, I knew it's because
it makes me feel moreprofessional. It makes me feel
like I'm more put together andmore in control. And that was
something for me to get over notnobody told me. Oh, you should,
you know, it was it was a thingI was putting on myself. Because
again, what I was seeing what Iwas looking at in the industry.
(22:58):
And I started to get reallyparanoid about that. And then I
started saying, well, it's it'sa matter of preference. Why
should I let anybody else'sopinion? Well, we had our
conference, our national ourcompany convention in November,
in Cancun humidity Central,okay. I think day one, I walked
in there, and I was like, hairstraight, what's going on? And
(23:21):
like, by that night, I lookedlike a chia pet. I was out of
control. And I said, you know,what am I doing? Why am I even
trying to keep up this thing?
And I just the next morning, youknow, like, I was just your
curly, let her fly the rest ofthe convention, I was going, and
I got so many compliments andpeople don't know, your hair.
(23:42):
Was that curly? And they were soyou're so kind and so
complimentary. And you know,that helps. But really, I think
it was also just me being like,oh, you know, what it is what it
is guys was is that we're goingin, and my person just, it's
like, it's this or it's not agood look, you know what I mean?
And I and so it was I only did Iwent with it to myself
(24:03):
afterwards, I watched the videoclip of you know, the recap of
the conference. And I saw myselfin a couple of the clips with my
hair, okra. And I thought, allright, that's nice. You know,
there, there I go. And that wasthat it was I didn't focus on
the silly and it sounds. So youknow, it sounds superficial,
really, when you think about it,but it's amazing how your
(24:25):
confidence can be raised orbrought down by something as
simple as, oh, is anybodylooking at me thinking? She's
wild? You know, she's like,well, there goes the wild,
unprofessional, uneducated orwhatever the case may be. You
know, I went to school I didn't,I don't have an MBA, I don't
have anything that you know,would elevate the status. I
(24:48):
actually initially went toschool for forensic psychology.
That's a story for another day,and kind of eventually decided
I'm gonna get into marketinginstead. And here I am in
franchise development, you know,the way of the world or how it
goes. And again, those arethings that you would say, oh my
gosh, you know, somebody with 20years experience left, and I
(25:09):
look at it now. And I think,well, my nearly 13 Shouldn't be
diminished by anybody else'sexperience. You know, if I'm
shorter than everyone else, ifI'm, you know, any any more
louder if am i Anything else,this is who I am. And it you
know, we just need to accept it.
As I'm nearing 40 I just, I'malso much more comfortable with
(25:31):
who I am. So therefore, I thinkit makes me care less, I started
to look at it as in my life, inmy personal life, I'm happy, I'm
healthy, I'm successful. Youknow, with the goals that I've
set for myself. I know who I am.
I know that what peoplesometimes think they see is not
(25:53):
what I am, you know, as youmentioned earlier, I love to
read I'm I consider that almosta self education over you know,
anything else. I people may notbelieve it. But yeah, I love
instrumental in classical music.
It's what I actually find moresoothing or relaxing than
anything else, you know, mySpotify actually put that out
there quite, quite grandly atthe end of the year. It's, you
(26:16):
know, and so I think, look, youwouldn't know that unless you
got to know me. And so I startedviewing that my perception or my
imposter syndrome, and I startedputting that into the people
that I'm talking to, andrealizing like some of their
discomfort I've had, I've hadcandidates flat out ask me,
Well, how many people of colordo you have in your franchise?
How many are women? How manythat they are just asking these
(26:38):
questions outright. Now beforeit used to be a little, you
know, a little more of a taboosubject, you know, by now, I'm
being asked directly. And I'm soproud that I get to turn around
and say, Oh, we have this many,what you know, of this
nationality, this color, thisbackground, this gender,
(26:59):
whatever the case may be, youknow, we've got it. And I think
all of that has also helped whoI am in this industry and how I
see myself because I'm no longera minority in it. I'm actually
pretty, pretty much in themelting pot of what's going on.
And that that in and of itselfhas taken away some of that
(27:21):
impostor syndrome that I, I didsuffer 13 years ago, but I just
don't feel it anymore.
Right. I love that. Because I'mlike, and I think too, it does,
like you said mindset, andpeople could listen to this and
say, that seems like such asilly thing like hair or the way
that I dress or if I'm wearingheels or not. But and again,
(27:46):
this isn't just per pertinent towomen, I think you have men who
come in as well and suffer fromimposter syndrome, or this
feeling like I have to fit intoa mold. And if I don't, what are
people thinking of me, and atthe end of the day, it's not
like you don't want to victimizeyourself or whatever you will
(28:06):
grow time also helps anyone andI think to this industry, like
this industry has helped shapedwho I am today. 100% And once
you get comfortable withyourself as well, a lot of that
does go away, but I think it isgood to know like, first of all
your the team that surroundsyou, and can say you are so good
(28:29):
at XYZ and we love this aboutyou. So we do need a little you
know, positive affirmation hereand there. But also, internally
knowing I bring a lot to thetable and it's not exactly what
Jess is bringing to the tableisn't exactly what you know,
Brian's bringing to the table,but I'm here for a reason I love
(28:50):
what I do. And I know that I'mgood at it, you know, and then
also you being able to relate tocandidates even just like in
what you do, so you're not afranchisee, but those different
like lifestyle aspects and yourgoals and how you know, you talk
(29:13):
to people and your skills andthings like that there's this
great parallel to the franchiseeside as well. So I love that you
make those shapes and it'simportant to be able to decide
it's connect properly man orwoman, whatever the background,
you know, you that you'rethey're basically their liaison,
(29:35):
you know, into whatever theorganization is, and especially
with what I represent now, youknow, we have they're great
service brands. And so whenyou're looking at service
brands, you have to also takeinto account you're looking at
people that are going to investin them who are more than
likely, you know, looking to ownand operate or have a semi
(29:58):
absentee model They can thenelevate, you know, and grow in
whatever way. Who are theiremployees going to be, you know,
who are they going to beoverseeing or working with?
What's their community going tolook like, when you have to take
into account all of those bitsand pieces that make up, you
know, the, their journey or whatthey need to be viewing when
(30:21):
they're looking at thefranchise? I think that's just
as important, as you know,showing them, you know, an item
19? Or what kind of marketingsupport you're gonna get, or
anything else? It's right,what's that life going to be
like? And therefore, who willyou be in this franchise, and
again, back to women, you know,in franchising across all of our
(30:45):
brands, with home clean heroes,with British swim school with
Girl Scouts, every single one ofour brands, has very successful
women at the helm of each ofthose franchises, not only as a
franchisee, but also within theactual brand, you know,
(31:07):
corporate support side, youknow, we have excellent and
very, you know, talentedmarketing directors across all
of our brands, you know, our CMOis a, a lovely female to, to
work and be guided under, youknow, and all of our directors
(31:27):
of marketing across all of thebrands, you know, are as well.
And even, you know, some of thebusiness coaches, trainers, with
British swim school, ouraquatics team, you know,
they're, they're led by just aheck of a personality, as well,
you know, and so, those, whenyou see those kinds of things,
you're strengthened by it as awoman, and especially as a
(31:51):
franchisee, because, hey, I havesomeone I can relate to someone,
I can talk to someone I can beguided by, that gets me, you
know, and it's not supposed tobe that way. But it is. These
are human beings, you know,they're running a business, but
they're still human beings, youknow, and they're, there are
people that Yeah, exactly. Andso those are, those things are
(32:13):
just as important as anythingelse I have, I have something I
can show them. As a result of,you know, a franchisees efforts
I have somebody they can relateto in one way or another. But
then, on the corporate side,they have excellent support as
well.
And we are so much in alignmenton that as well. Because at the
(32:35):
entrepreneur soars. It's, it'svery similar. We have such
strong women on our, likeleadership team, and part of the
just home office team. And thenalso, and I love that we are now
bringing in many more women,franchisees, and again, they
(32:58):
have the background of, youknow, people of color veterans,
all different walks of life. Andit's, it's phenomenal. So I love
that we are part of that. Andwhat would you say to I mean,
there's so many good takeawaysfrom this, but two women who are
(33:19):
maybe just getting intofranchising or starting their
journey in franchising orbusiness in general. What What
would you,I would say, don't underestimate
yourself and your abilities. Youknow, if you were a stay at home
mom, for many years, and now youguys have decided to start a
business and you want to go outand do this. Don't worry about
(33:40):
the corporate or businessexperience you've had, because
let me tell you, you are the CEOof your home. And so talk about
somebody having experience atbeing able to manage multiple
things at once, you are probablygoing to be a fantastic leader
and motivator for your you know,for the team that you're
(34:01):
overseeing. So you shouldn'tthink about oh, well, if I don't
have any experience with this, Idon't know. That's what a
franchise is for. It's to helpguide you and provide you the
system and the structure thatyou need. We are going to
support you in that well wecan't teach you is how to be a
great motivator, how to besomebody that's organized how to
be somebody that is capable ofmanaging more than one thing at
(34:23):
a time. Because that's what afranchise is to you know, you
have people that you'remanaging, there's a product that
you're managing, there's aservice that you're overseeing.
There's so much that goes intoit. So you shouldn't
underestimate yourself if thatwas your history. And and you
know, vice versa. I worked incorporate America all my life. I
don't know anything about how tomaintain a pool service. Well,
(34:45):
that's all right. We didn't needyou to that's You don't need to
know that. Yeah, we're gonnasupport you guys. We're gonna
guide you you know, some ofthese businesses Yeah, they
might not look like the sexieston the in the world you know,
but when you want a businessthat is a strong organization
and support system for you, whenyou want something that is going
(35:08):
to produce recurring revenue,this is not a one time basis.
But this is something that hasan opportunity for longevity,
whether it is a swim lesson,whether it is a residential
cleaning service, or whetherit's pool, you know, services
being done for you, all of thosethings, they're recurring
revenue. And that's what youreally want to make sure that
(35:29):
you're getting into when you'relooking for a business. Because
once you learn and get over yourown, I don't know anything about
that, once you're you'reeducated in it, you're trained,
and you know how to run thosesystems. When lesson, just take
it away, let it let it do itsthing it's going to eventually.
So you need to need to get overthe fear that you have, of what
(35:50):
you can do or what yourknowledge of what you're getting
into is, that's that's notnecessary, don't need to be a
marketing guru. That's what wehave marketing support for, you
know that there's so many piecesand elements that go into it. So
that's what I would say tosomebody that's looking to get
into a business become afranchisee you can sometimes be
your own worst enemy in theprocess. So, you know, don't,
(36:14):
don't look at this as just whatyou know, or what you're
bringing to the table, butrather what you're going to
receive and what you couldaccomplish in the long run. And
then for anyone that wants tojust get into franchising in
general, whether it's in thedevelopment side, you know, as a
coach or anything of thatnature, I would just say,
(36:35):
Listen, this is about connectingpeople with what could be the
perfect opportunity, you have tothink about what is making them
unhappy, that is opening them upto this conversation with you.
There's something at, you know,basically in the background
that's making them say, I don'tlike that, I want to see what my
(36:56):
other opportunities could be.
associate yourself to that, youknow, to what that could be an
empathize with anybody thatyou're working with, you have to
remember, you have the knowledgethey don't, you know what, what
the outcome could be, theydon't, and in most cases, it's
their money, not yours, youknow, so you have to be
(37:18):
empathetic, absolutely, you haveto be, what their journey is and
what they're going through. Andreally understand that as best
as you can, that they don't needyou to be their best friend, but
they need you to be the personthat's going to give it to them
straight. And don't be afraid toto break up with somebody if
(37:39):
necessary. I rather you know,take away somebody's dream, and
then you know, hurt them in thelong run. And that's that those
are the kinds of pieces that youreally have to understand when
you're looking at the franchisedevelopment side. It can be
really fun, it can be reallyexciting, it is exhilarating.
When you finally get somebody tothat point, you know, and
(38:00):
they're like, I want to do this,let's go. It's exciting. Again,
I'm not the one at the altar,but I got them there, you know,
we got them there. It's really,it's exciting. And it's, you
know, it's something that thatyou need to take joy in and
especially celebrate with them.
And again, in my case, I don'tjust say like, alright, well,
(38:24):
high five, and good luck, and Ihope everything goes well for
you. Like, I like to stay intouch. I like to know how
they're doing I like to know howthings are going. And I still
consider some franchisees that Ihave brought on board to many of
the organizations that I've beenwith a good friend, and you
know, somebody that I know of,and, you know, even send gifts
to or get Christmas cards fromand it's, that's, that's a it's
(38:49):
a beautiful thing, you know, tobe able to participate in that
and see that and be part ofsomeone's journey. So that's why
I think for insurancedevelopment is is something that
I'm excited to be part of anddefinitely excited to be able to
do for many years to come. Andthat's how it's done
(39:13):
ladies and gentlemenlove it and like I have nothing
else to add to all those thingsother than there's a reason that
you are in the place that youare right now. It was such a
great cup because you attractthat with just the way that you
approach things. How youapproach people, it's people
(39:35):
think franchising, likeespecially you said franchise
sales that just feels like wrongto you. Because people go into
it thinking yeah, there's somuch there's so much money here
I can make a lot of money doingfranchise sales and selling
these businesses and it's that'snot it at all. It's that
franchise. You know, we talkabout development but franchise
(39:56):
like you're helping and people,you're educating people and we
get to do that. So it's acompletely different approach.
And it makes such a bigdifference when the way that
those things that you justtalked about that's how you're
approaching your conversationswith the with your candidate
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