What happens when a franchisor prioritizes franchisee survival over growth—and comes out stronger on the other side?

In this episode of Franchise Today, Stan Friedman sits down with Neal Courtney, CEO of Cookie Cutters Haircuts for Kids and Snip-Its, to explore a franchising journey shaped by operational discipline, franchise ownership experience, and crisis leadership.

Neal shares how a casual recommendation from a neighbor led he and his wife Alexis into franchise ownership, and eventually into acquiring and leading the Cookie Cutters brand. Under Neal’s leadership, the system expanded from 25 locations to over 110, selling 370 franchise agreements with a 94% conversion rate between 2016 and 2019.

When COVID-19 hit, Neil halted development, and focused instead on weekly franchisee communication, negotiated rent relief, and helped owners secure PPP and EIDL funding. The result: stronger relationships and average unit volumes nearly 30% higher than pre-pandemic levels.

This conversation covers franchise growth strategy, unit level economics, crisis leadership, founder-led culture, and why franchisors must take responsibility for creating scalable models that actually work.

From a college painting business to a multi-brand franchise empire with more than 1,100 locations—this episode of Franchise Today dives deep into the entrepreneurial journey of Paul Flick, founder and CEO of Premium Service Brands and Extraordinary Brands.

Paul’s story began nearly 40 years ago with Student Painters in Canada, followed by a brief corporate stint at Coca-Cola. In 2005, he launched 360 Painting in Northern Virginia—and franchised it, a little less than 2 years later. What followed was rapid growth, a near-financial wipe out during the Great Recession, and a long-term vision that never wavered.

That vision? Serving single-family homeowners across multiple complementary services. Paul explains how “brand stacking”—where franchisees own several aligned brands in the same territory—dramatically improves unit level economics. One franchise partner grew from $1.5 million to nearly $6 million in revenue, by leveraging existing customer relationships, reducing acquisition costs, and increasing lifetime value of the customer.

This conversation explores how recession-resistant services like garage doors helped stabilize the portfolio during economic downturns, and how shared infrastructure—finance, marketing, training, and an in-house call center—allowed Premium Service Brands to scale efficiently while maintaining quality. Today, the organization adds 100–120 new franchise partners annually across under served markets in the U.S. and Canada.

Paul also addresses why the $600+ billion home services sector remains resilient: homeowners are staying put and investing in their homes rather than moving, driving predictable demand even in uncertain times.

Beyond business, Paul shares his deeply personal motivation behind Kids Lift, a community-impact initiative inspired by his daughter Anne. The program empowers franchisees to give back locally, reinforcing the belief that purpose and profitability can—and should—grow together.

This episode delivers a masterclass in resilience, strategic growth, and building franchise systems that scale without losing soul.

What happens when you ignore everything that industry tells you to do—and it works?

On this episode of Franchise Today, Stan Friedman sits down with Alex Filipuk, Founder and CEO of Ideal Siding, to unpack one of the most unconventional and successful franchise models in home services today.

Alex’s journey into franchising began unexpectedly—with a college assignment at age 23 and early work experience as a Subway Sandwich Artist. After building several businesses, including a lead generation company, he set out to create Ideal Siding around 2017–2018, as an owned and operated business. Following a conversation with Canadian franchise icon, Brian Scudamore, Alex pivoted to franchising, as his growth model of choice, against the advice of many.

Here’s the twist: Alex refuses to recruit contractors as franchisees. Instead, Ideal Siding targets coachable professionals from finance, tech, and academia—people who hire experienced crews rather than trying to do the work themselves.

The result? A franchise system that defied industry skepticism and now averages $950,000 in first-year revenue and $232,000 in owner discretionary profit across more than 90 operating units.

Launched during the COVID lock-downs, Ideal Siding grew through culture, discipline, and a relentless focus on franchisee profitability—not unit count.

This is a conversation about people, systems, and why the future of franchising belongs to those willing to break barriers to entry, thoughtfully.

Success in franchising takes more than financial expertise — it takes relationships. In this episode of Franchise Today, Stan Friedman sits down with Jessica Wescott, CEO of Stellar Service Brands, to explore her unexpected journey from private wealth management to leading some 200+ franchise locations across Stellar's home service brands.

Jessica entered franchising twelve years ago believing she could focus solely on analytics and avoid the relationship side of the business. That assumption didn’t last long. Starting at Mooyah Burgers, Fries & Shakes, she split her time between finance and franchise development before rising to VP. She later joined Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, helping grow the brand from 100 to 150 locations as COO.

In October 2024, Jessica was promoted to CEO of Stellar Service Brands, overseeing Restoration 1 and Bluefrog Plumbing, across approximately 350 territories. Her focus is clear: franchisee profitability, disciplined growth, and community-based relationships.

She dishes on it all, this week, on Franchise Today.

What if the best franchise systems aren’t planned—butdiscovered? In this episode of Franchise Today, Stan Friedmansits down with Shane Evans, CEO of Heights Wellness Retreats, to explore how an unplanned franchise journey turned into a 120+ unit wellness brand built on organic demand, adaptability, and resilience.

Shane opened the first Massage Heights location in 2004 withno intention of franchising. But customers quickly began asking for more locations—and investment opportunities. By 2006, franchising wasn’t a strategy; it was a response to demand.

Through the 2008 financial crisis and COVID-19, Shane andher team continuously evolved the model—reworking memberships, expanding services, and eventually rebranding into Heights Wellness Retreats.

Today, the brand blends massage and skincare with touchless wellness technologies, like cryotherapy, red light therapy, and sauna experiences. Shane explains how together, AI and wellness two of the fastest-growing sectors globally, have enabled her to utilize technology to enhance—notreplace—human service, and what modern franchisees must understand about capital, culture, and consumer experience.

This episode offers a masterclass in listening beforescaling—and building a franchise system that lasts.

Franchise Today did not begin as a polished podcast… farfrom it. — it began as a live radio show in the middleof the Great Recession of 2009.

In this special episode, Paul Segreto and Stan Friedmanlook back on the early days of Franchise Today, one of, if not the very first podcasts dedicated to franchising.

From guests broadcasting live from their cars during federalbuilding lockdowns, to last-minute cancellations that mysteriously seemed to occur around Wednesdays at noon Eastern, (our weekly "go-live" time, for new episodes to drop.

To say the show was built amid constant chaos, would be an understatement. Yet through technical failures, live-showpressure, and industry upheaval, Franchise Today evolved into the a trusted platform that it is today: covering franchising, finance, legal issues, and entrepreneurship.

Paul also shares how more than 40 years in franchising and2,600+ published articles have shaped his mission today through "Accelerate Success America" — helpingentrepreneurs understand the fundamentals franchising often fails to teach, including P&L management, business ownership realities, and franchisee wellbeing.

This conversation also explores why franchising mustprioritize education, community engagement, and continuous customer experience — and why kindness, empathy, and mental health matter more than ever on today’sfranchise landscape.

Paul Segreto, this week on Franchise Today.

What happens when two veteran franchisors look at the industry and realize that one of the biggest challenges of all at the unit level - is driving local traffic!

You get Sweet Influencers, a first-of-its-kind platform built by Angela Olea and Liberty Bernal, designed specifically to connect franchise systems with vetted nano and micro influencers, who move the needle at the local level.

Angela spent decades in senior care, scaling her brand Assisted Living Locators to 166 franchises before selling to private equity in 2024. Liberty entered franchising straight out of high school, later founding Liberty Fitness, manufacturing proprietary equipment, and attracting private equity at age 24. Together, they bring forty years of hands-on franchising experience—and a shared understanding of the traffic challenge facing every brand.

In this episode, they break down why influencer marketing is the modern equivalent of early digital marketing: underpriced, underutilized, and massively effective when done correctly. They explain why local creators outperform large influencers, how AI can streamline brand–creator matching, and why real-time campaign oversight matters for protecting franchise brands.

Sweet Influencers offers accessible pricing for single-unit operators and multi-unit groups alike, along with a soon-to-launch platform featuring AI-driven tools, brand protection safeguards, campaign approvals, and a free ROI calculator.

If you want to understand the future of franchise marketing—and how authentic, localized influence can transform unit-level economics—this episode is for you.

After years in recruiting, franchise development, and lead generation, Dan Claps sold his company to build something else, on his own. That decision became the foundation for VODA Cleaning & Restoration — but the company nearly collapsed after launch.

In this episode, Dan shares the gritty truth behind VODA'S early struggles: high monthly losses, a failing model, and the moment he realized that defending his ideas was sinking the business. Everything changed when he started listening — really listening — to franchise candidates and early operators. Their feedback reshaped the model and sparked explosive system-wide growth.

Today, VODA has 107 franchises across 260 territories in 32 states, backed by a dual-revenue model (carpet leaning + restoration,) a 24/7 national call center, and more than 9,000 five-star reviews. Dan explains how transparency, principle-centered leadership, weekly communication rhythms, and culture-first decision-making became VODA'S real competitive advantages.

This episode is a masterclass in humility, resilience,and building a franchise system that wins by putting franchisees first.