July 28, 2025 • 24 mins
How are you integrating multi-culture into your franchise network? Is it on your radar? Our guest today is Toni Harris Taylor, who saw a need in multi-cultural in franchising and decided to do something about it. Toni was a previous guest on episode 114.
You can listen to Toni's previous episode here: https://bigskyfranchiseteam.com/networking-to-grow-your-franchise-toni-harris-taylor-network-in-action-drastic-results/
TODAY'S WIN-WIN:
Franchising is possible for everyone.
LINKS FROM THE EPISODE:
- Schedule your free franchise consultation with Big Sky Franchise Team: https://bigskyfranchiseteam.com/.
- You can visit our guest's website at:
- Attend our Franchise Sales Training Workshop:
- https://bigskyfranchiseteam.com/franchisesalestraining/
- Connect with our guest on social:
- LinkedIn, FB, IG - @toniharristaylor
ABOUT OUR GUEST:
Toni Harris Taylor is a dynamic speaker, marketing and sales coach, 13x author, and a powerhouse in the franchising industry. She is a marketing and sales coach that helps entrepreneurs to Show Up! Be Up! Follow Up to Blow Up! Toni is also the Founder of Drastic Franchise Matchmakers, where she helps individuals take bold, strategic steps to find and invest in the perfect franchise. With her deep knowledge of the franchise industry and an unmatched ability to build relationships. As the Founder and Executive Director of Multicultural Franchise Connectors (MFC), Toni is dedicated to educating and empowering women and people of color to explore franchising as a pathway to business ownership, scaling their business and supplying services to the world of franchising. Whether she’s coaching entrepreneurs, speaking on major stages, or helping individuals take the leap into franchising, Toni’s mission remains the same: to inspire, educate, and connect people to opportunities that change lives.
ABOUT BIG SKY FRANCHISE TEAM:
This episode is powered by Big Sky Franchise Team. If you are ready to talk about franchising your business you can schedule your free, no-obligation, franchise consultation online at: https://bigskyfranchiseteam.com/.
The information provided in this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered financial, legal, or professional advice. Always consult with a qualified professional before making any business decisions. The views and opinions expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the host, Big Sky Franchise Team, or our affiliates. Additionally, this podcast may feature sponsors or advertisers, but any mention of products or services does not constitute an endorsement. Please do your own research before making any purchasing or business decisions.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tom DuFore (00:01):
Welcome to the Multiply your Success podcast
where each week, we helpgrowth-minded entrepreneurs and
franchise leaders take the nextstep in their expansion journey.
I'm your host, tom Dufour, ceoof Big Sky Franchise Team, and
as we open today, I'm wonderingabout how you integrate
multicultural into yourfranchise system.
Maybe we should ask is thateven something that's on your
(00:23):
radar?
Well, our guest today is TonyHarris-Taylor, who saw a need in
multicultural franchising anddecided to do something about it
.
Now, tony, as you may recall,was a guest on our podcast in
the past, episode number 114.
I'll make sure we link that inthe show notes to take a look at
.
But Tony is a dynamic speaker.
(00:45):
You're going to see that rightin our interview here.
She's a dynamic speaker,marketing and sales coach, a
13-time author and a powerhousein the franchise industry.
She's a marketing and salescoach that helps entrepreneurs
to show up, be up, follow up andblow up.
She's also the founder ofDrastic Franchise Matchmakers,
where she helps individuals takebold strategic steps to find
(01:08):
and invest in the perfectfranchise, with her deep
knowledge of the franchiseindustry and an unmatched
ability to build relationships.
As the founder and executivedirector of Multicultural
Franchise Connectors, tony isdedicated to educating and
empowering women and people ofcolor to explore franchising as
a pathway to business ownership,scaling their business and
(01:28):
supplying services to the worldof franchising.
You're going to love thisinterview, so let's go ahead and
jump right into it.
Tony Harris-Taylor (01:37):
Tony Harris-Taylor, the networking
queen.
I have lots of titles and we'lltalk about those throughout our
conversation, but the companywe're talking about today is
Twofold Multicultural FranchiseConnectors, a 501c3 set up to
help more women and people ofcolor enter franchising, and
(01:59):
drastic franchise matchmakers soI can bring more women and
people of color into franchising.
Tom DuFore (02:07):
You are in a very, very select group of folks that
have been on our show twice.
I think you are maybe one oftwo, I think, that have actually
been on the show more than once, my goodness.
Tony Harris-Taylor (02:19):
Well, I'm honored that you saw enough in
what I have to say to bring meon twice, only two people.
Tom DuFore (02:28):
I love all things that you're involved with.
You've got great energy to bearound, so I always love having
a new reason to have you on theshow, so it's just great to have
you here.
Tony Harris-Taylor (02:37):
Thank you for that.
I work hard at you know well,it's not hard because I have
great energy, because I lovewhat I do.
Tom DuFore (02:46):
Let's talk about multicultural franchise
connectors.
Let's talk about what drove youto create it, what it is, so
that someone who's listening inmaybe it sparks an idea with
that.
Tony Harris-Taylor (02:59):
Yeah, Multicultural Franchise
Connectors was born in my headand in my heart in June 2024.
I showed up in your town,Atlanta, for the Customer
Experience Conference which ishappening shortly, and there
were 400 people there.
(03:19):
Let me say this again InAtlanta.
Ask me how many Black peoplewere there.
Ask me.
Tom DuFore (03:27):
Well, how many.
Tony Harris-Taylor (03:28):
Two and a half.
Two and a half, which is aliteral number, me, another girl
from Houston and the half wasfrom Toronto.
So nobody from Atlanta, peopleof color.
And I'm looking around the roomsaying Houston, which is where
(03:49):
I live, we have a problem.
So there was a pre-event, womenin Franchising had a pre-event
and there was a panel of CEOwomen and one of them said I'm
so proud of where women havecome in the last 30 years.
I could count on one hand thenumber of women in the room.
(04:09):
She said and now you know wereally fill up the rooms.
And I raised my little hand, itwas an Ask Me Anything panel
and there were about 50 peoplein that room and I said excuse
me, look around this room.
We're in Atlanta, I'm the onlyperson of color in this room.
(04:32):
Can you tell me what do I needto do to make this room look
more like America?
She said well, if you don'thave a seat at the table, you
need to create your own table.
Thank you, lady.
That was the permission Ineeded to take what was already
(04:55):
in my head and in my heart andfast forward it.
From that day forward, I startedtelling everybody that was in
franchising.
That day forward, I startedtelling everybody that was in
franchising we had a problem andI'm here.
If anybody can bridge the gap,it's me, and that's how the idea
was born.
Now I'm a woman of action, tom.
(05:15):
There are many people who havea spurt of brilliance and sit on
it and they don't ever takeaction.
From June of last year, january, we filed for our 501c3.
I have a full board, verydiverse.
We are moving forward and we'rehosting our first event
(05:35):
bridging the gap between theworld of entrepreneurs,
specifically multiculturalentrepreneurs, to franchising.
Tom DuFore (05:43):
That's amazing.
Thank you for sharing thedetail and the story there.
That really drove you and itsounds like you had something
like that on your heart or onyour mind and that was the
catalyst that just kind ofpushed it forward.
That said time to come to life.
Tony Harris-Taylor (05:58):
That's exactly right.
And you know in my primarybusiness you know in my primary
business, which is drasticresults, marketing and sales
coaching my mantra is show up,be up, follow up to blow up.
And that happened because Ishowed up at that conference.
That was in Atlanta.
(06:20):
I live in Houston.
That means I got on a plane, Ipaid the registration fee, I
showed up in the room and that'swhere my inspiration came from.
Tom DuFore (06:30):
It is amazing going to some of these events and
conferences and things wheregetting you out of your regular
day to day and getting in andjust being around other people
and hearing, and oftentimes toyour point.
You know it's sometimes it'snot even what the people are
talking about, but you get anidea from an idea, kind of a
thing that just oh boy, here itis.
Tony Harris-Taylor (06:52):
And that happens to me all the time.
So I'm just grateful I was inthe room, I'm grateful I had the
courage to ask the question andI'm grateful that I have people
who want to support the mission.
And people keep coming into mylife.
I met someone at the New YorkExpo.
He's like I want to.
He sold his businesses.
(07:14):
He said I want to invest inunderserved communities.
He said I never even thoughtabout franchising.
But he came.
He said I was led to come tothe Expo and I met you.
Tom DuFore (07:22):
He said I was led to come to the expo and I met you,
wow, fantastic.
Well, speaking of some outcomes, is there a goal, a target
outcome?
What are you looking to do withthis business and this
nonprofit you've launched?
Thank you, it's huge.
Tony Harris-Taylor (07:37):
My ultimate goal is, when I leave this
planet, I want people saying Igot drastic, whatever that means
for them, because I met TonyHarris, Taylor.
Now, the mission of the MFC isto introduce multicultural
communities to four paths intoentrepreneurship or into
(08:00):
franchising.
Path number one you're alreadyan entrepreneur with a
successful business.
Did you know you couldfranchise that?
No, we don't know, because wehadn't met Tom yet, right?
So no, we don't know.
It is not common language inour communities.
(08:21):
And when I say multicultural,that's what I mean.
I don't mean just Black.
I know I represent, but it'sHispanics, it's Asians, it's
Indians.
For the most part, if it's nota restaurant, we haven't thought
about franchising our model.
So that's number one.
Path number two is buy afranchise as another stream of
(08:45):
income.
All entrepreneurs want multiplestreams of income, so I'm
encouraging them to buy afranchise that is a companion to
what they're already doing.
So I own Drastic Results,Marketing and Sales Coaching.
I teach entrepreneurs how tonetwork.
(09:05):
I bought the franchise Networkin Action to give them a place
to network.
See how they went hand in handand they each feed each other.
So again, telling entrepreneursyou can have.
Your next business can be afranchise.
Number three supply yourservices to franchises.
(09:26):
So nobody's in our communitysaying you know you should niche
yourself in franchising.
They're buying what you'reselling and the nuance there is
you sell it once to thefranchisor and, by extension,
you get the franchisees.
It's working smarter, notharder.
(09:48):
And then path number four okay,you're not an entrepreneur, but
did you know you could work fora franchise brand?
You could work for a franchisee, or you can work for the
franchisor, but did you know?
No, because franchising's notin our spaces, given the message
(10:08):
.
And so I'm on a mission fromhigh school students to retirees
to let them know franchising isan option.
Tom DuFore (10:20):
One of the things that someone who's going to
listen into this is going tohear what you're saying and say
I think it sounds like a greatidea, tony, and I love what
you're doing.
How can I get involved or whatcan I do?
Or our audience tends to be abrand that is either thinking
about maybe franchising, sothey're a small to midsize
business leader, or it may be afranchisor already that's
(10:43):
working.
So let's talk through how youand your organization are
working with franchisors in thatcapacity.
One and then two, what a smallto midsize business might be
able to do to participate andsupport this initiative.
Tony Harris-Taylor (10:58):
So, franchisors, I have a
sponsorship package for thenonprofit, so let's start there.
If you want visibility in theso package for the nonprofit, so
let's start there If you wantvisibility in the.
So here's the thing.
I hear a lot of franchisessaying that they want diversity,
but they're not showing upwhere we are.
So if you don't know how to getto us, I'm here to help.
(11:19):
My board is here to help.
So show up, contact me, get onmy show when I have my
conference in November.
Be there and be ready toconnect.
If you are an entrepreneur orwant to be entrepreneur, you
(11:42):
certainly can find me online.
You can reach me atdrasticfranchisecom and we can
hop on a call 30-minute calljust to find out where you are,
what you want to do, where youwant to go, who can I connect
you with, and it just mightchange your life.
Tom DuFore (12:04):
What's the best way for someone to reach out to you
and get in touch, learn more,see what you're up to.
Tony Harris (12:09):
Drasticfranchisecom , you can download my ebook Take
Control of your Future withFranchising.
My contact information is there, but you can also find me on
LinkedIn.
I hang out there, tony, with anI harristaylorcom, or go to my
website, tonyharristaylorcom.
Tom DuFore (12:26):
One of the things you had mentioned there as well
was drastic franchisematchmakers, so tell us about
that.
What are you doing there?
Tony Harris-Taylor (12:34):
Yeah, so I'm a franchise consultant because
I knew people would say if I'mshouting this message from the
rooftops, people would come tome and say, well, yeah, tony,
what brand should I buy?
Well, I decided to become afranchise consultant, where I
have over 700 brands in ourportfolio to be able to
(12:57):
matchmake people with the rightbrand for them.
I also am connecting them topeople like you.
When they come and say, yes, Iwant to franchise my business,
I'm saying you need to meet Tom,so I've already introduced you
to a few people and so I'm notdoing that piece of it.
(13:18):
But I am helping you to buyyour right fit brand and then,
if you want to supply yourservices, I can coach you into
that, because it is relationship.
Franchising is veryrelationship driven and my
mantra of show up you must showup where these people are and
(13:40):
they need to see youconsistently, which is an
investment of money and time.
But I'm here to help you to dothat through my coaching program
.
Tom DuFore (13:50):
Well, thank you.
And especially fororganizations, it seems the
money is one piece.
It's a lot easier to write acheck than it is to give the
time.
The time is the piece for thatconsistency, to start seeing the
same faces and the same peopleand build a trust just through
that consistency right.
Tony Harris-Taylor (14:10):
Absolutely, and that's why I've been to 15
franchise events, and they'renot cheap either.
I mean I have to get on a plane, but it's been so worth it.
I wouldn't be talking to youtoday had I not.
Showing up will change yourlife, and so inconsistency in
(14:31):
everything is key.
Tom DuFore (14:34):
For your drastic franchise matchmakers.
What's the website?
What's the contact info forthat?
How can they get in touch withyou?
Tony Harris-Taylor (14:40):
You can just go to drasticfranchisecom and
everything is there.
You can just go todrasticfranchisecom and
everything is thereDrasticfranchise, I've made it.
Or tonyharristaylorcom, andthen there are buttons to take
you to each thing.
Tom DuFore (14:51):
Well, this is a great time in the show, tony, we
make a transition.
We ask every guest the samefour questions before they go,
and the first we ask is have youhad a miss or two on your
journey and something youlearned from it?
Of course, I've had a miss.
Tony Harris-Taylor (15:05):
We've all had misses.
I drove Uber for a couplemonths.
That was at a time that wasbefore franchising came into my
life, in fact that's.
You know, I had drove Uber fora couple of months and I didn't
like it, of course, and I waslike Lord, please send me
something or else I'm going tohave to get a job, and that's
(15:29):
when the franchising came intomy life.
My miss in that was I didn'tknow.
I wasn't clear on my purpose.
I wasn't clear on my why, clearon my why.
(15:52):
And once I got clear on my why,all of a sudden NIA shows up,
the networking queen shows up.
I pivoted my coaching businessto be networking focused and
it's changed my life, changed mylife.
And what I learned from that isyou have to have a strong why
that will motivate you to keepgoing when it gets hard, and it
(16:13):
will get hard.
Tom DuFore (16:15):
So true, Very, very well said.
I love that.
Well, let's talk about a make,a win or a highlight you'd like
to share.
Yeah.
Tony Harris-Taylor (16:24):
I think the win, the highlight, is being in
the room where the multiculturalfranchise connectors came to
life.
So many things are branchingoff of that.
I guess the better bigger winis buying the franchise in the
first place, which I neverthought I was ever going.
I never thought franchising waspossible for me.
I didn't know there werehome-based low-cost franchises
(16:46):
out there, and so I guess thebigger win is when I showed up
to an event five hours from myhouse.
There were 12 women at thatevent.
One of them was a network andaction franchisee and had I not
showed up to them?
That was when I was drivingUber in a state of confusion,
(17:09):
but I showed up anyway and itchanged my life Wow.
Tom DuFore (17:15):
Well, let's talk about a multiplier.
The name of the show isMultiply your Success.
Have you used a multiplier ortwo you'd like to share to grow
yourself personally,professionally or any businesses
you've run Networking?
Tony Harris-Taylor (17:27):
The best way to multiply yourself is
establish a network and in mytalk this is not religious.
But if Jesus needed a networkto get his work done, what makes
us think we don't?
I mean, that's the best examplethere is.
(17:50):
He had 12 core networkingpeople with him and look at
where we are today.
Networking multiplies yoursuccess period.
Tom DuFore (18:02):
Well said Well.
The final question we ask everyguest is what does success mean
to you?
Tony Harris-Taylor (18:09):
Oh, that's a great, great, great question.
I have a successful life it'snot a perfect life Trust and
believe that.
But what success means to me isI'll give you a great example
there's a big African-Americanconference in Atlanta in August.
Success to me means I heardabout it through networking,
(18:34):
heard about it, went to thecalendar, I'm available, bought
that plane ticket, booked thehotel, bought the registration.
That's success.
The money is there, the time isthe time, freedom, I don't have
to ask permission, it was all.
And so I am living what, thebusiness that I dreamed of.
(18:58):
I'm living it.
And so that's success to mebeing able to say I want to do
it, got the money to do it, gotthe time to do it, click done.
Tom DuFore (19:09):
I love that you're there and just being an example
of doing it, showing up, livingyour mantra.
The mantra is always there andyou're doing it.
So it's inspiring to not onlyhear it, showing up living your
mantra.
The mantra is always there andyou're doing it.
So it's inspiring to not onlyhear it, it's motivating to hear
it, it's inspiring to see youdo it and say, oh, I get what
Tony's talking about now.
(19:30):
Okay, even for me it gets easyto stay in your comfort zone.
It's easy to not show up atthose various events.
See, like you said, it could bea local chamber of commerce
type event or some localnetworking group or an industry
conference, like you mentioned,some franchise shows or
investment conferences.
Whatever your interest is,there's something for you out
(19:52):
there.
Tony Harris-Taylor (19:53):
Absolutely.
But you got to go get it.
They not going to knock on yourdoor.
Tom DuFore (19:58):
No.
Tony Harris-Taylor (19:58):
You got to go get it, so go get it.
What is it?
But one of the reasons mycoaching clients love me is
because they see me walking thetalk.
They're like, if she can do itand she already knows how to do
it, then I can do it.
And so I live what I teach.
(20:20):
And I'm not one of thesecoaches to tell you to go shoot
the shot.
I'm shooting a shot next to youand we're all winning together.
Tom DuFore (20:28):
Fantastic.
Well, as we bring this to aclose, tony, is there anything
you were hoping to share or getacross before we go?
Yeah, Fr.
Tony Harris-Taylor (20:36):
Franchising is possible for everyone.
Franchising is possible foreveryone.
You got to work.
You got to work.
Let me tell you, starting abusiness from scratch is the
hardest thing you'll evervolunteer to do.
So why not look at a systemthat's already ready and just
(21:00):
jumpstart your journey?
When I bought my NIA franchise,my coach told me you should
start a networking group.
I said no, no, no.
These are the reasons why not,and I enumerated five reasons
why I did not want to start anetworking group from scratch.
The next week, networkingaction came into my life.
(21:20):
You just need a system.
We need a system.
You plug and play and work thesystem.
It ain't going to work on itsown.
You got to work it, but onceyou work it, it will grow.
Tom DuFore (21:35):
Tony, thank you so much for a fantastic interview
and let's go ahead and jump intotoday's three key takeaways.
So takeaway number one was theinspiration that Tony had to
create the multiculturalfranchise connectors, and that
was born out of a need that shesaw and as she described herself
(21:55):
as a woman of action, and soshe jumped right in and she
mentioned, I think, in the showthere that if you're a
franchisor looking to exploresome additional opportunities,
find new franchisees from amulticultural approach.
She has some opportunitiesavailable.
Takeaway number two is herreally what I consider her
catchphrase or slogan, which isto show up, be up, follow up, to
(22:18):
blow up, and she actually wrotea book titled that.
I just love that phrase.
It's simple, it's easy toremember but it's hard to
execute.
And if you do those, if youshow up, if you be up, if you
follow up, it leads to blowingup, and I love that.
It just rhymes and is easy toremember.
There, it's just a great littlenugget there.
Love that.
(22:39):
It just rhymes and is easy toremember.
There, it's just a great littlenugget there.
Takeaway number three is whenshe talked about her miss and
she said she ended up drivingUber at one point and that in
turn led her to find a veryclear purpose or a very clear
why and ask the Lord to send hersomething.
And she was able to get cleardirection on what she wanted and
(23:03):
that clarity around having astrong why that motivated her,
especially when things got hard,has kept that drive pushing
forward.
I think that's just a greatlesson and takeaway for all of
us as a reminder If we don'thave that strong why, it's hard
sometimes to keep pushingforward.
And now it's time for today'swin-win.
(23:25):
So today's win-win comes fromthe very end of the episode.
Tony said that franchising ispossible for everyone and I
thought that was great.
Franchising is possible foreveryone and I thought that was
great.
Franchising is possible foreveryone.
And she talked about her owninterest in buying a franchise.
(23:47):
When someone said she shouldstart her own networking
business and she thought youknow, I really don't want to
start something from scratch,I'd rather take an existing
system and help that expand.
I just thought that was a greatfresh take on things.
That franchising is possible foreveryone, and I think she's
right in that If you've got aninterest in running and owning
(24:08):
your own business and you don'twant to invest the time and
resources in launching andfiguring it out on your own.
Franchising can be a greatsolution and there are
franchises for all types ofinvestment ranges.
That's the episode today.
Folks, Please make sure yousubscribe to the podcast and
give us a review and remember ifyou or anyone you know might be
(24:29):
ready to franchise theirbusiness or take their franchise
company to the next level.
Please connect with us atbigskyfranchiseteamcom.
Thanks for tuning in and welook forward to having you back
next week.
Welcome to the Multiply your Success podcast
where each week, we helpgrowth-minded entrepreneurs and
franchise leaders take the nextstep in their expansion journey.
I'm your host, tom Dufour, ceoof Big Sky Franchise Team, and
as we open today, I'm wonderingabout how you integrate
multicultural into yourfranchise system.
Maybe we should ask is thateven something that's on your
(00:23):
radar?
Well, our guest today is TonyHarris-Taylor, who saw a need in
multicultural franchising anddecided to do something about it
.
Now, tony, as you may recall,was a guest on our podcast in
the past, episode number 114.
I'll make sure we link that inthe show notes to take a look at
.
But Tony is a dynamic speaker.
(00:45):
You're going to see that rightin our interview here.
She's a dynamic speaker,marketing and sales coach, a
13-time author and a powerhousein the franchise industry.
She's a marketing and salescoach that helps entrepreneurs
to show up, be up, follow up andblow up.
She's also the founder ofDrastic Franchise Matchmakers,
where she helps individuals takebold strategic steps to find
(01:08):
and invest in the perfectfranchise, with her deep
knowledge of the franchiseindustry and an unmatched
ability to build relationships.
As the founder and executivedirector of Multicultural
Franchise Connectors, tony isdedicated to educating and
empowering women and people ofcolor to explore franchising as
a pathway to business ownership,scaling their business and
(01:28):
supplying services to the worldof franchising.
You're going to love thisinterview, so let's go ahead and
jump right into it.
Tony Harris-Taylor (01:37):
Tony Harris-Taylor, the networking
queen.
I have lots of titles and we'lltalk about those throughout our
conversation, but the companywe're talking about today is
Twofold Multicultural FranchiseConnectors, a 501c3 set up to
help more women and people ofcolor enter franchising, and
(01:59):
drastic franchise matchmakers soI can bring more women and
people of color into franchising.
Tom DuFore (02:07):
You are in a very, very select group of folks that
have been on our show twice.
I think you are maybe one oftwo, I think, that have actually
been on the show more than once, my goodness.
Tony Harris-Taylor (02:19):
Well, I'm honored that you saw enough in
what I have to say to bring meon twice, only two people.
Tom DuFore (02:28):
I love all things that you're involved with.
You've got great energy to bearound, so I always love having
a new reason to have you on theshow, so it's just great to have
you here.
Tony Harris-Taylor (02:37):
Thank you for that.
I work hard at you know well,it's not hard because I have
great energy, because I lovewhat I do.
Tom DuFore (02:46):
Let's talk about multicultural franchise
connectors.
Let's talk about what drove youto create it, what it is, so
that someone who's listening inmaybe it sparks an idea with
that.
Tony Harris-Taylor (02:59):
Yeah, Multicultural Franchise
Connectors was born in my headand in my heart in June 2024.
I showed up in your town,Atlanta, for the Customer
Experience Conference which ishappening shortly, and there
were 400 people there.
(03:19):
Let me say this again InAtlanta.
Ask me how many Black peoplewere there.
Ask me.
Tom DuFore (03:27):
Well, how many.
Tony Harris-Taylor (03:28):
Two and a half.
Two and a half, which is aliteral number, me, another girl
from Houston and the half wasfrom Toronto.
So nobody from Atlanta, peopleof color.
And I'm looking around the roomsaying Houston, which is where
(03:49):
I live, we have a problem.
So there was a pre-event, womenin Franchising had a pre-event
and there was a panel of CEOwomen and one of them said I'm
so proud of where women havecome in the last 30 years.
I could count on one hand thenumber of women in the room.
(04:09):
She said and now you know wereally fill up the rooms.
And I raised my little hand, itwas an Ask Me Anything panel
and there were about 50 peoplein that room and I said excuse
me, look around this room.
We're in Atlanta, I'm the onlyperson of color in this room.
(04:32):
Can you tell me what do I needto do to make this room look
more like America?
She said well, if you don'thave a seat at the table, you
need to create your own table.
Thank you, lady.
That was the permission Ineeded to take what was already
(04:55):
in my head and in my heart andfast forward it.
From that day forward, I startedtelling everybody that was in
franchising.
That day forward, I startedtelling everybody that was in
franchising we had a problem andI'm here.
If anybody can bridge the gap,it's me, and that's how the idea
was born.
Now I'm a woman of action, tom.
(05:15):
There are many people who havea spurt of brilliance and sit on
it and they don't ever takeaction.
From June of last year, january, we filed for our 501c3.
I have a full board, verydiverse.
We are moving forward and we'rehosting our first event
(05:35):
bridging the gap between theworld of entrepreneurs,
specifically multiculturalentrepreneurs, to franchising.
Tom DuFore (05:43):
That's amazing.
Thank you for sharing thedetail and the story there.
That really drove you and itsounds like you had something
like that on your heart or onyour mind and that was the
catalyst that just kind ofpushed it forward.
That said time to come to life.
Tony Harris-Taylor (05:58):
That's exactly right.
And you know in my primarybusiness you know in my primary
business, which is drasticresults, marketing and sales
coaching my mantra is show up,be up, follow up to blow up.
And that happened because Ishowed up at that conference.
That was in Atlanta.
(06:20):
I live in Houston.
That means I got on a plane, Ipaid the registration fee, I
showed up in the room and that'swhere my inspiration came from.
Tom DuFore (06:30):
It is amazing going to some of these events and
conferences and things wheregetting you out of your regular
day to day and getting in andjust being around other people
and hearing, and oftentimes toyour point.
You know it's sometimes it'snot even what the people are
talking about, but you get anidea from an idea, kind of a
thing that just oh boy, here itis.
Tony Harris-Taylor (06:52):
And that happens to me all the time.
So I'm just grateful I was inthe room, I'm grateful I had the
courage to ask the question andI'm grateful that I have people
who want to support the mission.
And people keep coming into mylife.
I met someone at the New YorkExpo.
He's like I want to.
He sold his businesses.
(07:14):
He said I want to invest inunderserved communities.
He said I never even thoughtabout franchising.
But he came.
He said I was led to come tothe Expo and I met you.
Tom DuFore (07:22):
He said I was led to come to the expo and I met you,
wow, fantastic.
Well, speaking of some outcomes, is there a goal, a target
outcome?
What are you looking to do withthis business and this
nonprofit you've launched?
Thank you, it's huge.
Tony Harris-Taylor (07:37):
My ultimate goal is, when I leave this
planet, I want people saying Igot drastic, whatever that means
for them, because I met TonyHarris, Taylor.
Now, the mission of the MFC isto introduce multicultural
communities to four paths intoentrepreneurship or into
(08:00):
franchising.
Path number one you're alreadyan entrepreneur with a
successful business.
Did you know you couldfranchise that?
No, we don't know, because wehadn't met Tom yet, right?
So no, we don't know.
It is not common language inour communities.
(08:21):
And when I say multicultural,that's what I mean.
I don't mean just Black.
I know I represent, but it'sHispanics, it's Asians, it's
Indians.
For the most part, if it's nota restaurant, we haven't thought
about franchising our model.
So that's number one.
Path number two is buy afranchise as another stream of
(08:45):
income.
All entrepreneurs want multiplestreams of income, so I'm
encouraging them to buy afranchise that is a companion to
what they're already doing.
So I own Drastic Results,Marketing and Sales Coaching.
I teach entrepreneurs how tonetwork.
(09:05):
I bought the franchise Networkin Action to give them a place
to network.
See how they went hand in handand they each feed each other.
So again, telling entrepreneursyou can have.
Your next business can be afranchise.
Number three supply yourservices to franchises.
(09:26):
So nobody's in our communitysaying you know you should niche
yourself in franchising.
They're buying what you'reselling and the nuance there is
you sell it once to thefranchisor and, by extension,
you get the franchisees.
It's working smarter, notharder.
(09:48):
And then path number four okay,you're not an entrepreneur, but
did you know you could work fora franchise brand?
You could work for a franchisee, or you can work for the
franchisor, but did you know?
No, because franchising's notin our spaces, given the message
(10:08):
.
And so I'm on a mission fromhigh school students to retirees
to let them know franchising isan option.
Tom DuFore (10:20):
One of the things that someone who's going to
listen into this is going tohear what you're saying and say
I think it sounds like a greatidea, tony, and I love what
you're doing.
How can I get involved or whatcan I do?
Or our audience tends to be abrand that is either thinking
about maybe franchising, sothey're a small to midsize
business leader, or it may be afranchisor already that's
(10:43):
working.
So let's talk through how youand your organization are
working with franchisors in thatcapacity.
One and then two, what a smallto midsize business might be
able to do to participate andsupport this initiative.
Tony Harris-Taylor (10:58):
So, franchisors, I have a
sponsorship package for thenonprofit, so let's start there.
If you want visibility in theso package for the nonprofit, so
let's start there If you wantvisibility in the.
So here's the thing.
I hear a lot of franchisessaying that they want diversity,
but they're not showing upwhere we are.
So if you don't know how to getto us, I'm here to help.
(11:19):
My board is here to help.
So show up, contact me, get onmy show when I have my
conference in November.
Be there and be ready toconnect.
If you are an entrepreneur orwant to be entrepreneur, you
(11:42):
certainly can find me online.
You can reach me atdrasticfranchisecom and we can
hop on a call 30-minute calljust to find out where you are,
what you want to do, where youwant to go, who can I connect
you with, and it just mightchange your life.
Tom DuFore (12:04):
What's the best way for someone to reach out to you
and get in touch, learn more,see what you're up to.
Tony Harris (12:09):
Drasticfranchisecom , you can download my ebook Take
Control of your Future withFranchising.
My contact information is there, but you can also find me on
LinkedIn.
I hang out there, tony, with anI harristaylorcom, or go to my
website, tonyharristaylorcom.
Tom DuFore (12:26):
One of the things you had mentioned there as well
was drastic franchisematchmakers, so tell us about
that.
What are you doing there?
Tony Harris-Taylor (12:34):
Yeah, so I'm a franchise consultant because
I knew people would say if I'mshouting this message from the
rooftops, people would come tome and say, well, yeah, tony,
what brand should I buy?
Well, I decided to become afranchise consultant, where I
have over 700 brands in ourportfolio to be able to
(12:57):
matchmake people with the rightbrand for them.
I also am connecting them topeople like you.
When they come and say, yes, Iwant to franchise my business,
I'm saying you need to meet Tom,so I've already introduced you
to a few people and so I'm notdoing that piece of it.
(13:18):
But I am helping you to buyyour right fit brand and then,
if you want to supply yourservices, I can coach you into
that, because it is relationship.
Franchising is veryrelationship driven and my
mantra of show up you must showup where these people are and
(13:40):
they need to see youconsistently, which is an
investment of money and time.
But I'm here to help you to dothat through my coaching program
.
Tom DuFore (13:50):
Well, thank you.
And especially fororganizations, it seems the
money is one piece.
It's a lot easier to write acheck than it is to give the
time.
The time is the piece for thatconsistency, to start seeing the
same faces and the same peopleand build a trust just through
that consistency right.
Tony Harris-Taylor (14:10):
Absolutely, and that's why I've been to 15
franchise events, and they'renot cheap either.
I mean I have to get on a plane, but it's been so worth it.
I wouldn't be talking to youtoday had I not.
Showing up will change yourlife, and so inconsistency in
(14:31):
everything is key.
Tom DuFore (14:34):
For your drastic franchise matchmakers.
What's the website?
What's the contact info forthat?
How can they get in touch withyou?
Tony Harris-Taylor (14:40):
You can just go to drasticfranchisecom and
everything is there.
You can just go todrasticfranchisecom and
everything is thereDrasticfranchise, I've made it.
Or tonyharristaylorcom, andthen there are buttons to take
you to each thing.
Tom DuFore (14:51):
Well, this is a great time in the show, tony, we
make a transition.
We ask every guest the samefour questions before they go,
and the first we ask is have youhad a miss or two on your
journey and something youlearned from it?
Of course, I've had a miss.
Tony Harris-Taylor (15:05):
We've all had misses.
I drove Uber for a couplemonths.
That was at a time that wasbefore franchising came into my
life, in fact that's.
You know, I had drove Uber fora couple of months and I didn't
like it, of course, and I waslike Lord, please send me
something or else I'm going tohave to get a job, and that's
(15:29):
when the franchising came intomy life.
My miss in that was I didn'tknow.
I wasn't clear on my purpose.
I wasn't clear on my why, clearon my why.
(15:52):
And once I got clear on my why,all of a sudden NIA shows up,
the networking queen shows up.
I pivoted my coaching businessto be networking focused and
it's changed my life, changed mylife.
And what I learned from that isyou have to have a strong why
that will motivate you to keepgoing when it gets hard, and it
(16:13):
will get hard.
Tom DuFore (16:15):
So true, Very, very well said.
I love that.
Well, let's talk about a make,a win or a highlight you'd like
to share.
Yeah.
Tony Harris-Taylor (16:24):
I think the win, the highlight, is being in
the room where the multiculturalfranchise connectors came to
life.
So many things are branchingoff of that.
I guess the better bigger winis buying the franchise in the
first place, which I neverthought I was ever going.
I never thought franchising waspossible for me.
I didn't know there werehome-based low-cost franchises
(16:46):
out there, and so I guess thebigger win is when I showed up
to an event five hours from myhouse.
There were 12 women at thatevent.
One of them was a network andaction franchisee and had I not
showed up to them?
That was when I was drivingUber in a state of confusion,
(17:09):
but I showed up anyway and itchanged my life Wow.
Tom DuFore (17:15):
Well, let's talk about a multiplier.
The name of the show isMultiply your Success.
Have you used a multiplier ortwo you'd like to share to grow
yourself personally,professionally or any businesses
you've run Networking?
Tony Harris-Taylor (17:27):
The best way to multiply yourself is
establish a network and in mytalk this is not religious.
But if Jesus needed a networkto get his work done, what makes
us think we don't?
I mean, that's the best examplethere is.
(17:50):
He had 12 core networkingpeople with him and look at
where we are today.
Networking multiplies yoursuccess period.
Tom DuFore (18:02):
Well said Well.
The final question we ask everyguest is what does success mean
to you?
Tony Harris-Taylor (18:09):
Oh, that's a great, great, great question.
I have a successful life it'snot a perfect life Trust and
believe that.
But what success means to me isI'll give you a great example
there's a big African-Americanconference in Atlanta in August.
Success to me means I heardabout it through networking,
(18:34):
heard about it, went to thecalendar, I'm available, bought
that plane ticket, booked thehotel, bought the registration.
That's success.
The money is there, the time isthe time, freedom, I don't have
to ask permission, it was all.
And so I am living what, thebusiness that I dreamed of.
(18:58):
I'm living it.
And so that's success to mebeing able to say I want to do
it, got the money to do it, gotthe time to do it, click done.
Tom DuFore (19:09):
I love that you're there and just being an example
of doing it, showing up, livingyour mantra.
The mantra is always there andyou're doing it.
So it's inspiring to not onlyhear it, showing up living your
mantra.
The mantra is always there andyou're doing it.
So it's inspiring to not onlyhear it, it's motivating to hear
it, it's inspiring to see youdo it and say, oh, I get what
Tony's talking about now.
(19:30):
Okay, even for me it gets easyto stay in your comfort zone.
It's easy to not show up atthose various events.
See, like you said, it could bea local chamber of commerce
type event or some localnetworking group or an industry
conference, like you mentioned,some franchise shows or
investment conferences.
Whatever your interest is,there's something for you out
(19:52):
there.
Tony Harris-Taylor (19:53):
Absolutely.
But you got to go get it.
They not going to knock on yourdoor.
Tom DuFore (19:58):
No.
Tony Harris-Taylor (19:58):
You got to go get it, so go get it.
What is it?
But one of the reasons mycoaching clients love me is
because they see me walking thetalk.
They're like, if she can do itand she already knows how to do
it, then I can do it.
And so I live what I teach.
(20:20):
And I'm not one of thesecoaches to tell you to go shoot
the shot.
I'm shooting a shot next to youand we're all winning together.
Tom DuFore (20:28):
Fantastic.
Well, as we bring this to aclose, tony, is there anything
you were hoping to share or getacross before we go?
Yeah, Fr.
Tony Harris-Taylor (20:36):
Franchising is possible for everyone.
Franchising is possible foreveryone.
You got to work.
You got to work.
Let me tell you, starting abusiness from scratch is the
hardest thing you'll evervolunteer to do.
So why not look at a systemthat's already ready and just
(21:00):
jumpstart your journey?
When I bought my NIA franchise,my coach told me you should
start a networking group.
I said no, no, no.
These are the reasons why not,and I enumerated five reasons
why I did not want to start anetworking group from scratch.
The next week, networkingaction came into my life.
(21:20):
You just need a system.
We need a system.
You plug and play and work thesystem.
It ain't going to work on itsown.
You got to work it, but onceyou work it, it will grow.
Tom DuFore (21:35):
Tony, thank you so much for a fantastic interview
and let's go ahead and jump intotoday's three key takeaways.
So takeaway number one was theinspiration that Tony had to
create the multiculturalfranchise connectors, and that
was born out of a need that shesaw and as she described herself
(21:55):
as a woman of action, and soshe jumped right in and she
mentioned, I think, in the showthere that if you're a
franchisor looking to exploresome additional opportunities,
find new franchisees from amulticultural approach.
She has some opportunitiesavailable.
Takeaway number two is herreally what I consider her
catchphrase or slogan, which isto show up, be up, follow up, to
(22:18):
blow up, and she actually wrotea book titled that.
I just love that phrase.
It's simple, it's easy toremember but it's hard to
execute.
And if you do those, if youshow up, if you be up, if you
follow up, it leads to blowingup, and I love that.
It just rhymes and is easy toremember.
There, it's just a great littlenugget there.
Love that.
(22:39):
It just rhymes and is easy toremember.
There, it's just a great littlenugget there.
Takeaway number three is whenshe talked about her miss and
she said she ended up drivingUber at one point and that in
turn led her to find a veryclear purpose or a very clear
why and ask the Lord to send hersomething.
And she was able to get cleardirection on what she wanted and
(23:03):
that clarity around having astrong why that motivated her,
especially when things got hard,has kept that drive pushing
forward.
I think that's just a greatlesson and takeaway for all of
us as a reminder If we don'thave that strong why, it's hard
sometimes to keep pushingforward.
And now it's time for today'swin-win.
(23:25):
So today's win-win comes fromthe very end of the episode.
Tony said that franchising ispossible for everyone and I
thought that was great.
Franchising is possible foreveryone and I thought that was
great.
Franchising is possible foreveryone.
And she talked about her owninterest in buying a franchise.
(23:47):
When someone said she shouldstart her own networking
business and she thought youknow, I really don't want to
start something from scratch,I'd rather take an existing
system and help that expand.
I just thought that was a greatfresh take on things.
That franchising is possible foreveryone, and I think she's
right in that If you've got aninterest in running and owning
(24:08):
your own business and you don'twant to invest the time and
resources in launching andfiguring it out on your own.
Franchising can be a greatsolution and there are
franchises for all types ofinvestment ranges.
That's the episode today.
Folks, Please make sure yousubscribe to the podcast and
give us a review and remember ifyou or anyone you know might be
(24:29):
ready to franchise theirbusiness or take their franchise
company to the next level.
Please connect with us atbigskyfranchiseteamcom.
Thanks for tuning in and welook forward to having you back
next week.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.