Franchise Freaks Podcast

Episode 208: Multi-Unit Franchising Trends with Ricky Richardson

Welcome to The Franchise Freaks Podcast, presented by Thunderly. This podcast is for – and by – people who are freaky for franchising.

Today we’re chatting with Ricky Richardson, CEO of Eggs Up Grill, live from Vegas at The Multi-Unit Franchising Conference.

Ricky shares his thoughts on

  • The explosion in Multi-Unit Franchise ownership especially in restaurants
  • Why Multi-Unit operations are more far efficient and what makes a successful owner
  • The appeal of the daytime daypart for owners
  • Improvements in US supply chain efficiencies and the lower cost of America’s favorite food: eggs!

 

Episode 207: The State of Platforms in Franchising

JJ Sorrenti, CEO of Best Life Brands, joins the podcast to discuss the rise of platform companies and Multi-Unit, Multi-Brand Owners.

JJ shares his vision on the sectors that are seeing the most growth in the near future, the forecast for Franchising for the next 5 years, and other elements that will have an impact on franchising including the economy to government regulations.

Thanks to the International Franchisee Association for hosting us at IFA 2025!

Episode 206: The Path of Education and Franchise Growth

Anne Huntington Sharma, President of Huntington Learning Centers discusses the positive outlook for franchising growth and for small business owners.

Anne shares her thoughts on:

  • What will make the biggest impact on franchising this year
  • The future of education enterprises and how technology and AI will make a difference
  • What most people don’t yet understand about franchising

Episode 205: Growth Plans for Franchise Brands with Mark Jameson

Mark Jameson, Chief Development Officer of Propelled Brands joins the podcast love from The IFA Convention!

Mark the discusses the strategies between the growth of the various brands that are part of the Propelled platform – including some upcoming rebranding for some of Mark’s brands coming up at this year’s MUFC!

We also discuss:

  • The difference between Consumer-focused franchise brands and B2B brands
  • Growth plans for all franchises and forecast on the economy in 2025 and 2026
  • And, what’s something about franchising that Mark wishes everyone understood?

Episode 203: Franchise Development Trends with Neighborly

It’s The Franchise Freaks Podcast with your host Jack Monson and today’s guests, Brad Stevenson, Brian Woods, and Brian Weiters of Neighborly.

We’re chatting live at IFA 2025 about the future of Franchise Development and small business ownership.

Episode 202: Introducing ... Thunderly! Part 2

It’s The Franchise Freaks podcast with Jack Monson.

This is Part 2 of our conversation with Scott White and Monica Feid, Co-founders of Thunderly, recorded live at IFE 2025.

Also joining us today: the next generation of leaders from the agency, team supervisors Ellie Robertson and Jason Weaver.

Ellie and Jason share their ideas on:

  • How Marketing, PR, and Communication integration works
  • How to balance brand awareness and lead generation
  • The future of Franchising Marketing

Episode 201: Introducing … Thunderly!

Welcome to Season Two of Franchise Freaks, the podcast from the franchise marketing agency now called Thunderly!

Host Jack Monson is live at The International Franchise Association 2025 Convention with the co-founders of Thunderly (formerly known as BizCom and Brand J), Scott White and Monica Feid.

Scott and Monica share:

  • Their vision on where Franchising is going.
  • Why relaunch a brand or agency in 2025?
  • Why “Thunderly”?

Episode 111: Creativity for Franchises

Why do we see many marketing messages that are generic and don’t make emotional connections?

Scott White of BizCom Associates and Dan Wiley of Brand J share ideas on finding the best stories from Franchisees and Franchisors. These stories are the best way to share a brand’s or leader’s passion and change lives!

Episode 110: Media Relations and Storytelling for Franchises

BizCom Associate’s Loren Thum and Sylvia Shtraym discuss Media Pitching for growing a Franchise brand.
They’re sharing:

  • Advice on enhancing brand awareness & credibility, specifically in the franchise space
  • Best practices for pitching CEOs and brand leaders as well telling stories of local small business owners
  • Some examples of some recent compelling and fun stories

Episode 109: Influencer Marketing for Franchises

BizCom Associates’ Lauren Moore and Emily Seabaugh share strategies and tactics for using Influencer Marketing.
We’ll discuss:

  • How influencers can bring visibility and credibility to a brand
  • Micro versus Macro Influencers
  • What’s next in this space – has it peaked or is there more growth coming?

Episode 108: Crisis Communications for Franchises

Monica Feid and August Johnson of BizCom share stories and their expertise on Crisis Communications with host Jack Monson. We’ll explore:

  • Why is a franchise brand’s crisis potentially more explosive than other brands’?
  • How does a communications team jump into action when news is about to break?
  • What should all brands have in place to plan for a potential crisis?
  • And why “no comment” is a poor response in any situation!

Episode 107: Thought Leadership for Franchising

Joining the podcast today from the BizCom X Brand J team: Monica Feid, Lauren Moore, and Andrea de Leon with host Jack Monson.

They’re sharing best practices and tips from their work with the most prominent franchise executives in Thought Leadership and Personal Branding.

What are the types of thought leadership content that are most compelling? Where are the best places and channels to share and engage?

And … why do today’s leaders need some extra expert help in crafting their messages and implementing a communications campaign?

Episode 106: Websites for Fran Dev

Today: Fran Dev Website Tips and Best Practices with Jason Weaver, Angela Moore, Sophia Giordano-Scott, Andrea de Leon!

Our team of Franchise Freaks from Brand J have an authentic conversation about what’s working – and what’s not – in creating an informative yet friendly & engaging Fran Dev website.

We’re review functional items like forms, CTAs, FDDs, and more. And … do we really like territory maps anymore?

Plus: How often should the storytelling content like videos and articles be refreshed? How often should the website be completely redone? How has ADA compliance affected fran dev websites recently?

Episode 105: Paid Lead Generation for Fran Dev

Thunderly Lead Generation experts Alex Gilleland, Alyssa Alvarez, and Jason Weaver answer a series of questions about Social Media advertising for Franchise Development including:

  • Is Facebook advertising dead? How is it working for franchise development leads?
  • What types and formats are working best to get engagement? And what’s different with Meta this year from last year?
  • How can franchisors approach the special category issues on Meta? How can they mix specific targeting with AI’s copy-driven targeting?
  • And, are franchise brands gravitating more to LinkedIn for fran dev?

Episode 104: Video Storytelling for Fran Dev

Dan Wiley, Director of Video at Thunderly is today’s featured Franchise Freak!

Dan is the most highly sought-after filmmaker in the franchise space and has produced hundreds of brands’ franchise development films and videos.

Today he’s discussing the most popular types of videos for franchise development such as The Brand Story and Day in the Life Videos. Dan also shares his MUST HAVE signature shots that will improve your brand’s videos.