On today’s episode of the Smart Franchising Podcast, we sit down with Kathryn Chayka, the powerhouse who built massive success in franchise turnarounds, taking 12 struggling Wendy’s locations and making a multi-million dollar success story.
Fresh out of college, Kathryn took over a territory of underperforming Wendy’s stores in Quebec and added over $1M in new revenue per location. She’s proving that smart strategy, strong leadership, and local marketing can drive explosive franchise growth.
Kathryn shares the secrets behind her success, including:
- How she transformed struggling stores into high-revenue locations
- The power of empowering leadership and supportive teams
- Her community-first marketing strategies that boost both sales & loyalty
- Post-COVID operational shifts that improved efficiency and profitability
- Why learning from top-performing franchisees is key to long-term success
“Delivering value doesn’t mean sacrificing quality. Customers want great deals on quality products—when they feel they’re getting value, sales follow.”
Whether you're a franchisee, franchisor, or an entrepreneur looking to scale, this episode is packed with game-changing insights from someone who’s built massive success in franchise turnarounds.
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.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.