Franchise FastLane Rear View Mirror: What Happened in March

Q2 has officially arrived but before we jump fully in, Franchise FastLane has plenty of updates to share from March! From industry buzz about new brands, celebrating women, awards and honors for our brands, and a memorable FranNet conference, March was filled with news and noteworthy accomplishments! Catch up on all the happenings in our latest edition of Franchise FastLane’s Rear View Mirror – what happened in March. 

Franchise FastLane Celebrates Women’s History Month 

We’ve spent the last few weeks celebrating National Women’s History Month (and International Women’s Day on March 8), and there was plenty of participation among Franchise FastLane and our brand partners. Research shows us that females are still vastly underrepresented in the CEO space, occupying less than 10% of these positions in the companies that make up the S&P 500. Slowly but surely, that’s beginning to change, however there’s still plenty of work to be done. Here at Franchise FastLane, we’re proud of the fact that our organization includes a higher percentage of female employees than any other franchise sales organization (FSO) in the industry.  

On the franchisor side, four of our brands are headed by women, including Amanda Gingold, Co-Founder of DonutNV, Sarah Nuse, CEO, and Megan Reilly, COO of Tippi Toes, Courtney Yeager, Founder and CEO of The Tox, and Ellen Rohr, President of Zoom Drain.  

The female leadership team at Franchise FastLane are routinely featured in various franchise-related trade publications, sharing their knowledge, insight, and perspective. Our CEO was recently profiled in Franchise Journal Magazine and provided the following quote about the value of internal leadership: 

“At Franchise FastLane, we’re blessed and fortunate to have tremendous leadership in our organization, both female and male. It’s their contributions that have helped us grow, expand, and prosper in ways we couldn’t have imagined. When you inspire greatness in others – whether male or female – you're doing your part to ensure that the collective achievement of the organization never ends.” – Carey Gille 

Awards and Honors 

Many of our brands secured recognition this past month in two different award categories. Both Five Star Bath Solutions (No. 6) and Koala Insulation (No. 74) made the cut in Franchise Direct’s Top 100 Franchises list. To earn this distinction, franchisors are judged on multiple criteria – including how long they’ve been in operation, sales revenue, number of locations, and unit growth percentage. In addition to these honorable mentions, the following FastLane franchisors also locked up spots on Entrepreneur’s Fastest Growing Franchises list, including DonutNV (No. 22), Koala Insulation (No. 39), Soccer Stars (No. 60), EverLine Coatings and Services (No. 70), Brothers Gutters (No. 71), Five Star Bath Solutions (No. 96) and The Exercise Coach (No. 97). To earn a spot among the fastest growing concepts, franchisors were judged on the net total of new units added in North America from July 2022 to July 2023. 

Consultant News 

Our team also attended FranNet’s Spring Conference, held in Jacksonville, Florida. The theme was entitled, “Navigating the Future of Franchising,” and IFA President Matthew Haller was the keynote speaker. Our team heard about several new and exciting franchise opportunities, as well as learning more about the value of PR, Zor training, and funding updates presented by both FranFund and Benetrends. FranNet always puts on a good show and this event was no different. We’re fortunate to have the opportunity to work with the entire team of consultants at FranNet – one of our most valuable franchise development partners. 

Promotions and New FastLaners 

We have some exciting news to share, as our very own Cyndi Kammerer, who heads up our MasterMind program for our Sales Support team and onboards and trains new employees, has been promoted to Senior Director, Operational Support & Site Leader. Our CEO, Carey Gille, shares a few words on Cyndi:  

“Since joining FastLane, Cyndi has played an instrumental role in the growth and development of both our team members and our franchisor partners. From onboarding and training new FastLaners to spearheading our MasterMind program to leading our sales support team, Cyndi makes an impact on everyone around her. She is a positive light, and we are so excited to see how she will continue to inspire life change here in the FastLane. Congratulations to you, Cyndi!” 

We’re also pleased to welcome Tanya Morrison, who will serve as our first in-house General Counsel, a position that includes the management and oversight of our internal compliance department.  

Cabinet IQ Generating Industry Buzz… 

Last month, we made the announcement that Cabinet IQ joined the Franchise FastLane and after this announcement was made, several media outlets featured this update, including the following publications: 

• Franchise Journal Magazine – Cabinet IQ Joins Franchise FastLane (pages 178-179) 
• FranchiseWire – Franchise FastLane to Aid Growth of Cabinet IQ 

• MarketWatch – Franchise FastLane Adds Cabinet IQ to Portfolio of Brands 
• IT News Online – Franchise FastLane Adds Cabinet IQ to Portfolio of Brands 

For more information, watch this brief video that explains the turnkey marketing and sales process at Cabinet IQ.  

BrandNews Update 

• Shrunk 3D – recently partnered with Collegiate Licensing Group, which now gives the brand direct access to the retail market of college athletics’ NIL program, valued at $4.6 billion, and Varsity Spirit, a partnership that gives franchisees access to over 400 events NATIONWIDE! 

• Bloomin’ Blinds – in a touching, first-person testimonial, read why this Bloomin’ Blinds franchisee feels like he’s had the “Luck of the Irish” lately when it comes to corporate support and keeping his customers happy. 

• Cabinet IQ – here’s a brand name that keeps coming up! After launching in late February, Cabinet IQ has already held its second confirmation day – an incredible achievement for such a young franchisor! 

That’s all the news that’s fit to print this month. But we’ll have plenty more good news to share on the horizon, as we plan to launch three new brands in April. Be sure to stay tuned! 

Are You Ready to Take Your Brand to the Next Level? 

Franchise FastLane is the No. 1 Franchise Sales Organization (FSO) in the country and our mission is to responsibly drive extraordinary growth for the chosen few. If you are interested in learning more about the possibility of joining the FastLane or CarPool, please click here to submit an application. To keep up with all the latest happenings, make sure you follow us on LinkedIn, like us on Facebook, and check out our collection of photos on Instagram.