Anne Gannon, author of Never Again: An Entrepreneurs Guide to Creating a Resilient Business during the COVID-19 Pandemic Recovery and Shotmaker: An Owner’s Guide to Creating a Winning Business, joins us on The Franchise Woman podcast: Where Passion & Purpose Collide.
How does one go from playing the professional golf circuit to running an accounting and bookkeeping firm?!
More importantly how and when did Anne Gannon discover golf was not her ‘true’ passion? Instead she has ‘grown’ to love helping her clients avoid the risks involved with running a franchise business through financial competency.
Listen in to this week’s episode here.
Meet Anne Gannon
Anne realized her true passion was finance in the midst of playing golf at the professional level. Her time on the pro circuit had a big impact on her approach to business, and she strives to give back to the golf and hospitality industries by building her accounting firm as a corporation instead of a service. If the Largo Group wins, the team wins!
Jason Davis, a John Maxwell Certified Trainer & Coach, knows a thing or two about Emotional Intelligence.
He joins us today on The Franchise Woman podcast: Where Passion & Purpose Collide to discuss two key EQ factors: Self-Control and Adaptability. An interesting conversation ensues as we look at these ‘skills’, their many benefits and what happens when we lack self-control and adaptability in business.
Why did we highlight ‘skills’? Because that’s what Dr. Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, calls them. Thus, since they are skills, we can get better at these things.
You’ll want to listen in if you have trouble managing impulsive feelings or find it difficult to think clearly and stay focused under pressure. Or if you find it difficult to handle multiple demands and change. Or if you feel uncomfortable with ambiguity and get tense when facing the unexpected in life or business.
Meet Jason Davis
Jason is a husband, author, speaker, teacher, encourager, and Stewardship Coach. By the leading of the Holy Spirit, he founded Jericho Force Enterprises in Fall 2017. Jericho Force helps kingdom business owners grow so they can reach their full potential in three primary areas: business growth, personal growth, and spiritual growth.
Jason has helped lead people out of over $310,000 of debt and set aside upwards of $100,000 in savings. His impact extends to the organizational level, having trained over 1200 individuals (and counting) on the concepts of leadership development and teamwork.
Jason is a John Maxwell Certified Trainer and Coach, a DISCflex Certified Coach, a graduate of Dave Ramsey’s Financial Coach Master Training, and a Kanban Management Professional.
Jason is also the host of The Jericho Force Podcast, where people learn how to integrate faith into the work that they do.
Marcos Moura knows very little about fishing. I doubt he knows the difference between a trout or salmon, and he certainly has no idea what bait or tackle to use to hook either. However, that does not prevent him from being a world class fisher of men!
Marcos Moura has successfully recruited more than 140 franchisees into the Amada Senior Care business. Not just anyone, but a very specific type of individual. One that is perfectly suited for a high trust, high credibility sales role required to be successful as an Amada Senior Care franchisee.
Mastering any craft, including catching the biggest fish, requires careful study of your subject. And study and test and study again is exactly what he did. Marcos has learned not just what pond, lake, or ocean to fish in but the bait and tackle necessary to catch the biggest fish with the greatest potential for success.
Listen in to hear his story and thoughts on high-impact franchise recruitment on this episode of The Franchise Woman Podcast: Where Passion & Purpose Collide.
Meet Marcos Moura
Marcos Moura is co-owner and Chief Development Officer of Amada Franchise Inc., a brand dedicated to enriching the lives of our rapidly aging population.
Marcos has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs find and start businesses that allow them to live life on their terms and do work that is meaningful to them, their families, and their communities.
He holds an MBA from the University of Southern California (USC) and works and lives in San Clemente, CA, with his wife and three boys.
Tim Arpin, the Vice President of Franchise Development for ServiceMaster Brands, joins us today on The Franchise Woman podcast: Where Passion & Purpose Collide.
Tim has worked with three multi-brand franchise concepts: Restaurants Brands International, Self-Esteem Brands and ServiceMaster and has some strong opinions about this approach in franchising.
Tim has a degree in economics from the University of Minnesota and talks about how we are no longer a free enterprise system but instead have moved to a monopolistic system.
A very interesting listen if you’re someone curious about the future of the economy, business, franchising and entrepreneurship and how franchisors can position themselves to be competitive.
Meet Tim Arpin
Mr. Arpin is currently the Vice President of Franchise Development for ServiceMaster Brands in Atlanta, GA. Prior to this role, he has lead development efforts for Restaurant Brands International, Scooter’s Coffee, and the Self Esteem Brands portfolio of brands. Tim has worked on brands both small and large and has expertise in building and executing franchise development strategies across multiple industries.
Robin Gagnon, co-founder of We Sell Restaurants franchise, and the chair of IFA’s Women’s Franchise Committee thinks it’s time to rethink leadership. In fact, this year’s theme for the WFC is: Leadership Evolution. Robin believes leadership requires agility and humility and is becoming increasingly more focused on engagement, collaboration and empowerment.
Just a few decades back, autocratic leadership was considered normal. Remote working was an abstract idea and managers took important decisions with little to no input from their employees. The focus was on getting tasks done, efficiently under any situation.
The rise of remote working options is shaping leadership and micromanagement is almost impossible in remote settings, thus trust in employees has become increasingly more important.
Listen in to her thoughts on this episode of The Franchise Woman Podcast: Where Passion & Purpose Collide.
Meet Robin Gagnon
Robin Gagnon is the Co-Founder of We Sell Restaurants and wesellrestaurants.com, the nation’s largest restaurant brokerage firm and the only national franchise specializing in restaurant sales. One of the most prolific restaurant brokers in the industry and a franchise resale specialist, she holds the Certified Business Intermediary (CBI) designation from the International Business Brokers Association or IBBA and is an MBA. She has also achieved the Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) designation from the International Franchise Association.
She has been recognized by Nation’s Restaurant News as one of the most influential suppliers and vendors in the country for 2022. Her articles appear in QSR Magazine, Forbes and other industry publications. She is a regular media resource for all matters related to the restaurant industry. She was ranked one of the top 50 most influential people in franchising in 2022 while Entrepreneur Magazine Named her to the list of “Most Influential Women in Franchising.”
She is the Chair of the Women’s Franchise Committee of the International Franchise Association and an Executive Member of the Women’s Franchise Network – Atlanta Chapter.
A writer and speaker that has addressed many groups nationwide. Her expert articles appear in QSR Magazine, Forbes, Modern Restaurant News and more. She is the author of Appetite for Acquisition, an award-winning book on buying restaurants.
Robin holds an undergraduate degree and an MBA from Appalachian State University where she graduated first in her class and was named “Outstanding MBA.” She is an emeritus member of the ASU Business Advisory Council. She has been named a National Industry Expert by Business Brokerage Press in Franchise Resales.
Robin is a licensed real estate salesperson in both Georgia and Florida. She has been named a National Industry Expert by Business Brokerage Press in Franchise Resales. Prior to launching We Sell Restaurants, Robin served as Vice President of Strategic Marketing for the Macy’s Division of Federated Department Stores. Prior to that, she was Director of Advertising and Director of Business Development for another Fortune 100 company. Robin oversees the development and training of Restaurant Brokers nationwide and has created the industry’s only Certified Restaurant Broker coursework and testing program.
Let’s talk about what happens at the intersection of passion and profit. And there is no one better to address this topic than Barbara Nuss, CPA and founder of Profit Soup, a financial learning and development company focused on franchising.
Barb is a passionate advocate of small business and franchise models. She believes financial information is NOT just for financial people. All business people achieve more when they are comfortable using KPIs and financial statements to support their business decisions.
Listen in to this episode of The Franchise Woman podcast, as Barb discusses the importance of a breakeven analysis and financial literacy. And how mastering both leads to franchisee’s experiencing greater profits, passion and purpose.
Meet Barbara Nuss
Barbara Nuss is founder of Profit Soup, a financial learning and development company. She combines the management and teaching skills of a seasoned business advisor with the technical knowledge of a CPA. She leverages her passion for collaboration and creativity to develop customized financial curriculum for franchise organizations, including state-of-the art, interactive online training. Her acclaimed Profit Soup Online, launched in 2016, is one of the leading financial training resources in the franchise industry.
Barb is a frequent conference speaker, delivering financial topics in a non-threatening, no-nonsense, naturally approachable style. She has developed benchmarks and KPI dashboards for numerous franchises, corporations, buying groups, and trade associations as part of her practical approach to developing financial learning experiences that are relevant and immediately actionable. By aligning training with sensible KPI and financial reporting, franchisors and franchisees gain traction with their new-found financial skills.
Barb is a passionate advocate of small business and franchise models. She believes financial information is NOT just for financial people. All business people achieve more when they are comfortable using KPIs and financial statements to support their business decisions.
Kim Gubera is one of the very few female CEOs in the global hydraulics industry, but she has successfully led PIRTEK USA to the third fastest-growing franchise based on unit percentage.
Kim has worked with two family-owned franchise companies. She was with U.S. Lawns for 16 years and PIRTEK USA now for over 6 years. In this interview she talks about the many perks and benefits of a family-owned franchise system including the ability to make quick decisions allowing a franchisor to be agile and competitive in the marketplace. Further benefits according to Kim is the commitment of family-owned franchises to high quality, high equity and strong relationship all which pay off in the dividends of the satisfaction and longevity of employees and franchisees and overall profitability.
Kim Gubera, President and CEO of PIRTEK USA, joins Rebecca Monet and Tracy Kawa on The Franchise Woman podcast: Where Passion and Purpose Collide. Listen to the complete episode here.
Meet Kim Gubera
It’s no secret that the last two years have been turbulent for businesses everywhere, and with inflation, supply chain issues and more uncertainty than ever, 2022 has been tricky. As businesses everywhere continue to face multiple roadblocks and an expected recession next year, let me connect you with Kim Gubera, CEO of PIRTEK USA, a national B2B onsite and retail hydraulic hose replacement franchise business and essential service proven to be resistant to pandemic closures, competition with Amazon and decreasing disposable income due to inflation to get her take on expected 2023 business performance and new industry trends/insights.
PIRTEK USA: Keeping other essential businesses running. This recession-proof business offers 24/7/365 on-site emergency replacements, hydraulic and industrial hose repair, keeps machinery working and project sites in operation. When the pandemic hit, PIRTEK USA’s services were quickly declared as essential. Tight budgets required manufacturing companies to refrain from big purchases, so they were forced to make part replacements. In response, PIRTEK increased their outreach to clients to offer their services and help keep businesses running. They upgraded their technology, increased support to franchisees, supplied on-site and curb-side-pickups, and even went as far as moving staff and customer interaction under tents outside their brick-and-mortar stores. Despite COVID, PIRTEK USA surpassed their goals for 2021 by opening 8 new franchises. They’ve also had strong growth in 2022 with multiple openings, new franchisee signings and resales.
Kim Gubera is one of the very few female CEOs in the global hydraulics industry, but she has successfully led PIRTEK USA to the third fastest-growing franchise based on unit percentage. Gubera’s leadership is linked to her personal perseverance. She grew up in a low-income, single-parent household. It took her 9 years to finish her education while taking care of her child. Starting in finance, she didn’t expect to find herself in a franchising role – yet now she harnesses her strength and work ethic as the CEO of a hydraulic hose franchise.
Lauren Kruse’s husband was a car enthusiast and fell in love with the Tint World Franchise. He opened the Kennesaw, GA location in July 2021 and unexpectedly passed away in September 2021, leaving Lauren with a big decision. Should she close the store she drove by every day or attempt to take on the role of a franchisee herself? At the time Lauren was a busy realtor and mother of 2 with another baby on the way.
She didn’t fully understand her husband’s passion for cars, nor did she comprehend the relationship many have with their cars and the demand for aftermarket car styling. Ultimately, it was her faith in God that got her through the trauma of losing her husband and make a huge career change from realtor to franchisee.
Listen in to Lauren’s heart-warming and inspiring story here on The Franchise Woman podcast: Where Passion and Purpose Collide.
Meet Lauren Kruse
Lauren Kruse is the Owner of a Tint World franchise in Kennesaw, Georgia as well as a licensed Realtor helping clients buy and sell residential real estate. Lauren has held a passion for the real estate world for six years, consistently achieving a Top Producer award in her marketplace. She loves building lasting relationships with her clients.
Over the last year, Lauren has taken on the automotive industry as a new owner of a Tint World franchise. Lauren’s beloved late husband, Michael, was a huge car enthusiast. His dream was to own a shop that specialized in fun and exciting after-market services to vehicles such as window tint, ceramic coating, car audio, and paint protection film. He found this through the Tint World franchise.
Together, they opened their shop in July of 2021. Three months later, Michael unexpectedly passed away. Lauren kept their business as a way to honor her husband’s legacy and keep his love for cars carrying on. She has quickly grown a deep appreciation and passion for the industry her husband so loved, and continues to learn the ins and outs of small business ownership.
Lauren is the mother of three young children. She loves spending time with her kids, taking runs, attending her local church and just finding joy in the day-to-day chaos of life.
Dr. Lauran Star talks diversity, equity and inclusion and how they differ. In brief:
Diversity are the things that make us unique and creates an affinity i.e.: hair color, age, gender, etc.
Equity is all about employees getting what they need to be successful at their role i.e.: a struggling manager being provided training to be a better manager.
Inclusion is creating a culture where everyone feels valued and heard.
We are 98% similar as a human race. Thus, Dr. Star says the only real diversity is diversity of thought and to encourage diversity of thought a company needs to focus on an inclusive culture. Bottom line, when you remove inclusion all you have left is diversity.
You must listen to this interview and the passion for which Dr. Lauran Star talks about the research and importance of Inclusion!
Meet Dr. Lauran Star
Dr. Lauran Star is known for transforming leadership and organizational culture, by pushing the edge of the status quo to achieve greater employee engagement, culture, inclusion, and diversity. Being the first Inclusion & Diversity Psychologist in the United States, Dr. Star’s focus is Evidence Based Inclusion, Diversity & Equality (ID&E).
As a Senior HR leader with 20+ years of success driving high performing organizational cultures and employees, Dr. Star is raising the ID&E bar while driving measurable change within organizations through data-driven strategies. Known for uncovering blind spots to achieve optimal performance and enhanced retention, she dives in where others tread lightly yet is insightful, warm, and approachable.
Her own affinities go beyond being a woman, as she is veteran of the United States Armed Forces, serving in Desert Storm, has a learning disability and was raised in a multicultural family. Prior to her corporate life she performed on and off Broadway.
Dr. Star holds a Ph.D. in Industrial Organizational Psychology specializing in Inclusion, Diversity & Equity. A bestselling author and well-known media expert, her thought leadership touches many. She is a distinguished researcher and practitioner in the field of inclusion, diversity & equality.
A South Carolina native and University of South Carolina graduate, Mary Anna started her career with a business consulting firm in Charleston, SC followed by several years as a medical sales representative for Matria Healthcare, Inc. A local, small business owner at heart, she spent over 25 years working as an independent business coach, primarily with privately-held business owners based in the Southeast.
Mary Anna has owned Mosquito Squad of the Lowcountry in Charleston, SC since 2011 and has been a Business Advisor with the parent company, Authority Brands, since 2021. In this position she serves 18-20 franchise owners in a support role to partner with each location in their success. Business Advisors act as a liaison between the corporate office and the owners to coach, set goals, develop action plans, encourage, strategize and problem-solve. In her time with Mosquito Squad, her location has been awarded Rookie of the Year Award, Top Sales Award and she has been a member of the Franchise Advisor Council.
As a devotee of the franchise model, she also owns a second franchise, Lowcountry Textile Recycling dba The Clothes Bin that she bought in 2018, where she also serves on their Franchise Advisor Council.
“I love serving others and giving back” says Mary Anna. “My work as a Mosquito Squad Business Advisor allows me to serve some amazing owners in a support role and my Clothes Bin business allows me to give back from a recycling effort as well as philanthropically as a fundraiser to dozens and dozens of schools and churches.”
Mary Anna has served as the President of The Charleston Breakfast Rotary Club, as the Philanthropy Chair for The Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce for 7 years, as a member of several boards including Oceanside Collegiate Academy, Life Resources, Wando Athletic Booster Club and various volunteer leadership positions at her church.
A lifelong Lowcountry resident, Mary Anna lives in Mount Pleasant with her husband, David, has two adult sons in college, loves yoga, is an avid pickleball player and has three dogs at home that are always ready for a walk!
