Franchise growth isn’t sustainable if your franchisees don’t trust the people leading it.

As a franchise grows, maintaining that trust becomes more complicated. Leaders have to navigate difficult feedback, changing expectations and sometimes major transitions without losing the confidence of the franchise owners they’re asking to grow alongside them.

In this episode, Kim Gubera shares how listening to franchisees, following through on promises and consistently communicating have helped strengthen trust across the PIRTEK system. She also takes us behind the scenes of leading franchisees through a major ownership transition, why strong culture matters for sustainable growth and what she believes really makes a successful franchise owner.

Kim brings more than 20 years of franchising experience to her role as President and CEO of PIRTEK USA. She joined PIRTEK in 2016 and stepped into the CEO role in 2019. Under her leadership, PIRTEK has grown its unit count by more than 92% in the past five years while building a culture centered on mutual trust and respect.

Connect with Kim:

PIRTEK USA: https://www.pirtekusa.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kim-gubera-12850513/

Resources:

A CEO Only Does Three Things by Trey Taylor

Episode Highlights:

• Kim’s path from accounting and finance to franchise CEO
• The role mentorship played in her franchise career
• Leading a technical franchise without being the technical expert
• What really makes a successful franchise owner
• Using franchisee feedback to strengthen culture
• Building mutual trust and respect with franchisees
• Why following through on promises matters
• Maintaining franchisee confidence through an ownership transition
• Why culture is essential for sustainable franchise growth
• Women succeeding in a traditionally male-dominated industry

Connect with Tracy

Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracy-panase/

JBF LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/jbfsale

JBF Franchise System - https://jbfsalefranchise.com/

Email: podcast@jbfsale.com

Connect with Shannon

Personal LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonwilburn/

JBF LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/jbfsale

Website - https://shineexecutivecoaching.com/

Email - shannon@shineexecutivecoaching.com

Growth doesn't automatically make a franchise stronger. What you build behind that growth does.

After more than two decades in franchising, Meg Roberts has seen what it takes to grow brands at every stage. Today, as CEO of Head to Toe Brands, she leads a multi-brand beauty platform with more than 200 locations.

In this episode, Meg shares why strong franchisee relationships, the right support systems, and a team you can trust become even more important as a brand grows. She also gets candid about the realities emerging franchisors often underestimate, from the time and capital required to scale to the increasing demands placed on leadership.

Meg also takes us behind the scenes of multi-brand growth and explains why adding brands only works when franchisees can see and feel the value. Sustainable franchise growth isn't just about adding more locations. It's about building an organization that can support them.

Connect with Meg:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megroberts73/

Email: meg.roberts@httbrands.com

Head to Toes: https://httbrands.com/

Resources:

Know Your Value by Mika Brzezinski

How Radical Transparency Turned a Franchise Around w/ Dustin Hansen - https://www.buzzsprout.com/2369319/episodes/16165725-how-radical-transparency-turned-a-franchise-around-w-dustin-hansen

Episode Highlights:

• Building a franchise that gets stronger as it grows
• Why people and relationships drive franchise success
• Creating the right balance between franchisee input and leadership
• When and how to establish a franchise advisory council
• The realities emerging franchisors often underestimate
• Building a team that can support franchise growth
• Scaling from a single brand to a multi-brand platform
• Delivering real value as a franchise organization grows
• Leading with confidence through growth and change

Connect with Tracy

Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracy-panase/

JBF LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/jbfsale

JBF Franchise System - https://jbfsalefranchise.com/

Email: podcast@jbfsale.com

Connect with Shannon

Personal LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonwilburn/

JBF LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/jbfsale

Website - https://shineexecutivecoaching.com/

Email - shannon@shineexecutivecoaching.com

Growing a franchise quickly is one thing. Leading it through that growth is another.

Doug Flaig knows what rapid franchise growth looks like. As CEO of Stratus Clean, he has helped lead the brand through record-breaking expansion, growing to more than 5,000 unit franchisees and earning recognition as Entrepreneur’s fastest-growing franchise for four consecutive years. But as Doug shares in this episode, scaling a franchise successfully takes much more than selling more units.

Doug joins Tracy and Shannon to talk about the franchise leadership behind that growth, from choosing the right franchisees and building scalable systems to strengthening communication and supporting franchisee success. He also shares why great franchise leaders need to lead through influence rather than authority, how Stratus knows when it’s time to tap the brakes on growth, and the lessons more than 30 years in franchising have taught him about building a strong franchise system.

Connect with Doug:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dougflaig/

Website: https://www.stratusclean.com/

Resource:

Leadership and Self-Deception - The Arbinger Institute

Episode Highlights:

• Leading through rapid franchise growth
• Why influence matters in franchise leadership
• The Stratus Clean three-tier franchise model
• Choosing the right franchisees for your system
• Sales training and technology at scale
• Building systems that support franchise growth
• Communication and transparency with franchisees
• Knowing when to slow down growth
• Peer-to-peer learning and franchisee mentorship
• The importance of mentorship in franchising

Connect with Tracy

Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracy-panase/

JBF LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/jbfsale

JBF Franchise System - https://jbfsalefranchise.com/

Email: podcast@jbfsale.com

Connect with Shannon

Personal LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonwilburn/

JBF LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/jbfsale

Website - https://shineexecutivecoaching.com/

Email - shannon@shineexecutivecoaching.com