Tag: featured

Nicole Salla claims anxiety is her superpower. Nicole’s childhood was filled with many changes which often had her feeling out of control and unsafe causing anxiety.  

In this interview, Nicole shares techniques she uses to harness her anxiety and adapt to her circumstances both professional and personally. Without giving everything away – one of our favorite techniques that Nicole uses is to articulate every fear or concern she has about an upcoming situation. Then she plays out various potential scenarios in her head so she is prepared for anything!  

No doubt we’ll see Nicole on a future TED Talk sharing her insights about anxiety and how to turn it into a superpower! 

Listen in as Nicole Salla, Chief Marketing Office at Kiddie Academy Educational Child Care, joins Rebecca Monet and Tracy Kawa on this episode of The Franchise Woman podcast: Where Passion & Purpose Collide.    

Meet Nicole Salla 

Nicole joined Kiddie Academy® in 2017 to lead the overall brand and marketing strategy for one of the nation’s fastest-growing franchisors. She is a strategic business and marketing executive that thrives on leading with a servant spirit, empathetic heart, and mentorship mentality.  

With over 25 years of marketing leadership in retail, consumer services, and senior living, her career has been primarily focused on inspiring people to make major life decisions, including entrusting the care of their children to a premier, national child care and pursuing their passion for entrepreneurship through franchising.  

She has a love for the art, science, and psychology of marketing, and brings a unique blend of strategic planning, brand development, operations, sales, creative, production, and analytical experience to her approach. She holds a MS in Business Management and Marketing and was named one of Entrepreneur’s Most Influential Women in Franchising in 2022. 

Learn more about Nicole Salla 

Learn more about Kiddie Academy 

It all started with an off the wall question and we learned the inside scoop on Jen Chaney, VP of Franchise Development at Right at Home. Who knew this innocent looking farm girl from Nebraska used to race a Corvette in open road races with her father? Jen Chaney was the navigator responsible for calculating speed and distance all while traversing corners, hills and straightaways in an effort to cross the finish line with an average speed of 120 mph for the course.  

In this episode of The Franchise Woman podcast: Where Passion & Purpose Collide she talks about how those navigations skills have translated in her personal and professional life. You are going to want to listen in for sure!   

Meet Jen Chaney 

With nearly 20 years of experience in sales and development, Jen is responsible for the company’s growth by awarding incredible franchise opportunities to interested and eligible candidates. Jen has direct oversight of all franchise sales and development as well as existing franchise growth to drive the organization’s overall success.

Jen serves as a strategic thought leader, analyzing various opportunities to grow the business for years to come. She oversees franchise legal documentation, lead generation and strategy, as well as a team of outstanding sales and development professionals.

As a caregiver to her own mother in the last stages of her life, Jen has a personal mission to help others become entrepreneurs in a business that is rewarding in so many ways. Jen lives in Omaha, Nebraska, with her husband, Brian, and children, Gavin and Reese. 

Learn more about Jen Chaney 

Learn more about Right at Home 

Recovering perfectionist, Ashley Mitchell joins Rebecca Monet and Tracy Kawa on this episode of The Franchise Woman podcast: Where Passion and Purpose Collide.  

Listen in as she talks about the importance of flexibility and how she focuses on relationships and results rather than doing things perfectly.  

Ashley also shares strategies for building a synergistic team including the ‘team walk and talk’. Simply put each member puts on a pair of tennis shoes calls into a central phone number on their cell phones then heads out the door for a walk together. Topics flow freely, sometimes having nothing to do with business. It’s a time to connect, laugh and brainstorm together.  

What a fabulous idea!  

Meet Ashley Mitchell 

Ashley Mitchell has spent her entire career in marketing and communication roles. She has held several positions in which she was responsible for creating and driving marketing strategy, overseeing the growth of business through all aspects of consumer marketing and communication, contributing to overall strategic planning as part of company leadership teams and executing high-profile events, including roles with The Walt Disney Company and child service-focused franchises.

Based on her experience, she understands the importance of protecting a highly revered brand while simultaneously translating the larger brand message to a regional and local level.

In her current role as SVP of Marketing at Streamline Brands, Ashley sits on the executive leadership team and oversees marketing strategy for all lines of the business (consumer, franchise development and mergers & acquisitions) for the industry’s largest franchisor and operator of swim schools, operating as SafeSplash, Saf-T-Swim, Swimtastic, SwimLabs and Miller Swim School.

Ashley has consistently been recognized as a leader in the franchise industry, most recently as a Top Franchise Influencer in 2022. 

Learn more about Ashley Mitchell 

Learn more about Streamline Brands 

Carly Wooley went from being a big fish in a small-town pond to super connector in the ever-growing franchise pond.  

She was raised in a small town in Alabama and graduated in a class of only 24 students. Then off to Auburn University with a population of 24,000 where she learned how to connect and build relationships quickly.  

Today Carly is the Senior Director of Advertising promoting the many initiatives at the International Franchise Association. Carly has a mindset of serving others. In this episode of The Franchise Woman podcast: Where Passion & Purpose Collide she shares her secrets for connecting and building relationships in a remote environment.  

Meet Carly Wooley  

Carly is the Senior Director of Advertising for the International Franchise Association, the world’s largest membership association for franchisors, franchisees, and suppliers.   

In her current role, Carly leads the advertising department where she is responsible for all advertising media and sponsored content opportunities available through the IFA, as well as helping member companies develop advertising strategies to reach their goals. Prior to joining the IFA in 2008, Carly was an account sales executive for an NBC affiliate television station. 

Carly received her Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from Auburn University.  She currently resides in the Auburn, Alabama area with her husband, Jeff, and their two sons.  Carly was listed by Entrepreneur magazine as a Top Influential Women in Franchising in 2022.   

Learn more about Carly Wooley  

Learn more about International Franchise Association 

Looking to position your business to sell?  

Business transition sherpa, Laurie Barkman of SmallDotBig, joins Rebecca Monet and Tracy Kawa this week on The Franchise Woman podcast: Where Passion & Purpose Collide. Laurie discusses several key elements when considering selling, merging or acquiring a business.  

Listen in as she talks about the “Owner’s Trap”, what impacts business value and ways to get ready mentally, logistically and financially to sell your business.   

Meet Laurie Barkman 

80% of business owners want to stop working in their business in the next 5-10 years, but most have not planned for that transition. Many need to improve the business first. 

Laurie Barkman is a “business transition sherpa.” With her firm, SmallDotBig, she advises owners on having more valuable, sellable businesses. And as a partner with Stony Hill Advisors, a mergers and acquisitions firm, she guides them through the complex process of letting it go.  

Laurie is the former CEO of a $100 million revenue company with an exit to a Fortune 50 company. With more than 25 years of C-Suite and award-winning marketing expertise, she provides actionable perspectives to drive sustainable value.  

Engaging audiences across the US, Laurie is an Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University, leads executive workshops with Vistage, and hosts a weekly podcast called Succession Stories. 

Laurie earned an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University and BISILR from Cornell University. She is a certified M&A Advisor and Certified Value Builder giving her the knowledge to expertly represent clients and coach them how to maximize the value of their business. 

Learn more about Laurie Barkman 

Learn more about SmallDotBig 

Dawn Abbamondi knows how to dig deep and get ‘the story’. On this episode of The Franchise Woman podcast: Where Passion and Purpose Collide she shares her secrets to trust, intimacy and uncovering the real story of a company or person. Her recipe allows even those without a natural tendency to small talk to have meaningful, insightful and fun conversations.  

Join Rebecca Monet and Tracy Kawa on this ‘get the scoop’ on anyone journey with Dawn!  

Meet Dawn Abbamondi  

Dawn joined the SMB team in the fall of 2011 and brings with her extensive retail and franchising experience in the coffee, food, convenience, gift and floral industries. Working with SMB’s franchisor clients, Dawn leads the areas of marketing, social media, public relations, web development and lead generation as well as contributing to organization and operations process development.   

In over 20 years in the franchising industry, she has managed several brand acquisitions for expansion into new markets, which involved brand integration and re-imaging. She has been a category buyer managing over $20 million in margin revenues and has led marketing initiatives including the creation of monthly promotions, POP design, media and advertising budgets for systems from 35 units to 1000 units. She acted as the corporate liaison for franchise advisory councils and managed operations for a Philadelphia based franchise system. Dawn has also been a franchisee, overseeing operations and marketing development for a retail unit.  

Dawn has a Bachelor’s Degree in Architectural Engineering from Drexel University and has continued graduate study in the areas of Marketing and Business Administration. She enjoys sharing her experience with companies who are learning how to franchise as well as those who want a fresh perspective of where they fit in the industry and how best to expand into new markets.  

Learn more about Dawn Abbamondi  

Learn more about SMB Franchise Advisors 

Kyla Dufresne, CEO and Founder of Foxy Box Wax Bars, is a straight shooter. Often opinionated and always transparent, Kyla fosters a systematic culture built on clear values and principles.  

She joins Rebecca Monet and Tracy Kawa this week on The Franchise Woman podcast: Where Passion & Purpose Collide. Listen in as she shares a bit about her Recipe for Success.   

Meet Kyla Dufresne  

Kyla is an adventurous, motorcycle-riding, ultra-capable, Step Mamma who is passionately building an exciting brand that has had a positive ripple effect on the lives of women around the world.  The Foxy Box brand is leaving a footprint of simple, engaging and self-empowering principles that allow women to live a life of choice. Kyla’s authentic, kind, yet non-BS approach allows women to celebrate their uniqueness and stand in their true power.  

In her early twenties, Kyla started a small t-shirt line and sold them at music festivals and markets. But her entrepreneurial radar went on high alert when she noticed the gap in the market for affordable and quick Brazilians.  As a visionary, Kyla could see that women would become loyal to an upbeat, fun and retro place that promised the best waxing experience ever. She started Foxy Box in 2012 when she found the need for a go-to place to be waxed in the Victoria area.  

Kyla left her career as a certified mental health worker to show the world a foxier way.  What started as a small wax bar in the back of a jewelry shop, with a sandwich board and prices on a chalkboard, has grown into a thriving business operating out of multiple locations across Vancouver Island and the Mainland.  Not only is Kyla a visionary and an inspiring leader, but her development of the Foxy Box Family has attracted over 70 engaged team members who come to work proud to provide total convenience, unmatched consistency and the best waxing experience ever.  Period.  

Kyla’s leadership, ambition and sense of humor have instilled a culture throughout the brand that inspires women to feel powerful and energized, from the front lines to the end-user.  

Learn more about Kyla Dufresne 

Learn more about Foxy Box Wax Bar 

“Marketing is enthusiasm transferred to the customer.”  

That’s a quote Abby Fogel lives by as VP, Marketing and Brand Relations at Unleashed Brands.

It really is true. Marketing can be boiled down to effectively transferring our passion and enthusiasm for a brand, an idea, a product or service. It’s casting the vision, getting others to capture that vision and helping them find their future and find their future faster through franchising.  

Listen in to Abby Fogel as she joins Rebecca Monet and Tracy Kawa on The Franchise Woman podcast: Where Passion & Purpose Collide.

Meet Abby Fogel 

Abby is currently the VP of Marketing & Brand Relations for Unleashed Brands, a youth enrichment franchise platform geared at furthering child and adolescent development in three core areas – Learning, Playing and Growing. The current portfolio includes Urban Air Adventure Park, Snapology, The Little Gym, Premier Martial Arts, Class 101 and XP League.

In her role, she leads marketing for franchise lead generation for all Unleashed Brands, effectively helping each brand exceed its franchise development targets. Additionally, Abby meets with brands in the youth enrichment industry to learn more about their story and business goals, walking them through the Unleashed Brands Mutual Evaluation Process. 

Abby has a marketing background with kid-centric brands and started working in the franchise industry in 2015. Abby serves on the International Franchise Association Women’s Franchise Committee and Women’s Franchise Network Taskforce. In 2021, Abby was recognized by 1851 Franchise as a “Young One To Watch” in franchising. Abby was also listed by Entrepreneur magazine in 2022 as a Top Influential Women in Franchising. 

Learn more about Abby Fogel 

Learn more about Unleashed Brands 

Nancy Friedman is in the house. The Telephone Doctor and customer service expert talks with Rebecca Monet and Tracy Kawa about the importance of kindness and humor in life and business.  

A friendly argument breaks out when Nancy and Rebecca disagree if a sense of humor can be learned. Listen in to this lively conversation, then weigh in: is Nancy right? Or is Rebecca (a behavioral scientist) right? And where is Tracy in all of this? What’s her opinion?  

Meet Nancy Friedman 

Nancy Friedman, born and raised in Chicago IL, is founder and chairman of Telephone Doctor Customer Service Training Company, in St Louis, Missouri, and a former franchisor… An emerging one at that…. who had five franchisees: four they let go very quickly and one they kept too long.  We will explore.  

She and her husband have had five startups all of which were successful …..except that one. 

What happened? What did they do wrong>?  We’ll find out on this podcast.  

However, out of their franchise experience, Nancy became a very popular and well-known speaker in the franchise family industry. 

Nancy has spoken several times at the IFA International conferences, is a three-time RoundTable Host, as well as has spoken at a few hundred franchisor and franchisee’s annual meetings over the years. 

Not to leave out corporate and government clients… Her commonsense message is something we all need. And sadly, many of us need to be reminded of a little too often. 

She and her husband, Dick, have recently stepped to the background making their son, David, president of Telephone Doctor and their daughter, Linda Steinberg, is now vice president of client services. A true ‘family owned’ business – which also owns and operates www.serviceskills.com, a popular unique, boutique on line eLearning platform with 19 series and over 150 modules.  

Nancy is the author of 10 books on communications, customer service and sales.  Their Zoom conferences are on an upswing as not everyone has gone back to on-site it seems.    

Learn more about Nancy Friedman 

Learn more about The Telephone Doctor 

Sharon Mettra became the first woman to own a Big O Tire franchise in Northern California. The year was 1999. Her children gave her a hard time because she didn’t even know how to change a tire; but fellow franchisees and the men she worked with did not give her grief. Instead, she found they were supportive and helpful in growing her business.   

In the past several years, Sharon Mettra, a franchise development professional, has helped several emerging franchise concepts grow and is currently working with Press Waffle Co.  

Listen in as Sharon Mettra joins Rebecca Monet and Tracy Kawa on this episode of The Franchise Woman podcast: Where Passion & Purpose Collide.  

Meet Sharon Mettra

Sharon started her career in franchising working at the local Jack in the Box at the age of 16. Then in 1999 Sharon became the first female franchisee to own a Big O Tire franchise in Northern California. Her kids gave her a hard time, because she didn’t even know how to change a tire!

After coming out of retirement, Sharon stepped into the Franchise Development role selling franchises for: Zoyo Neighborhood Yogurt, My Pie Pizza, Fuchsia Spa, L.A. Bikini, Nextaff, and Philly’s Best Cheesesteaks.

Today, Sharon does franchise development for Press Waffle Co.

Learn more about Sharon Mettra 

Learn more about Press Waffle Co.