PROFILE
FRESHII
A FRESH APPROACH TO LEADERSHIP Freshii opened its first 100 restaurants faster than Subway, Starbucks and McDonald’s. The key to its success is not just the vision of CEO Matthew Corrin, but also the innovative people policies of its VP of people culture, Ashley Dalziel, as Iain Hopkins discovers FANS OF the popular television series Undercover Boss may recall Freshii CEO Matthew Corrin’s appearance on the show six years ago, when he became the youngest-ever CEO on the program. Although the show is notoriously confronting for business leaders – they get a sneak peek at what it’s like to work ‘undercover’ in their own organisation – Corrin says it was a “fun experience”. Importantly, it reminded him of how familyoriented Freshii’s stores are. “The franchise partners treat employees like family, and there’s no better feeling than that,” he says. While franchise operations have their own unique challenges, Corrin says he wouldn’t have it any other way: “With a franchise model, with the exception of being the founder of your own business, there is no greater entrepreneurial venture – you’re effectively running your own business and living the Canadian or American dream.” This entrepreneurial spirit is embedded in Freshii’s culture. Corrin cites one of the company’s hourly workers, Jason, who started working at Freshii when Corrin
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himself was managing one of the stores. “I let Jason buy into that store,” Corrin says. “He bought a 10% stake in the store, and just over two years ago he took a 100% stake in that store. Then he purchased a second location, and now he’s about to buy his third.
massive success? It’s beneficial to backtrack to Corrin’s original mission for the company: to encourage people to live healthier lives by making healthy eating as convenient and affordable as possible. “Ten years ago when I founded the
“We’ve created a place where people can achieve their personal goals, their philanthropic goals, their financial and philosophical goals. When you find a place where you can do all that, it may be forever” That’s a brilliant story of living the American dream, but equally it makes me so proud that he’s now paying it forward by letting his employees buy stakes in the stores that he runs so they can all become entrepreneurs.”
Tapping the power of millennials How else can one account for Freshii’s
business, what I found was that people would take the path of least resistance – they’d eat a burger or pizza,” Corrin says. “I believe the more convenient and affordable we make it, the more we’ve eliminated the excuses for why people won’t eat healthy food.” The company’s employees live and breathe this mission to this day – and Corrin insists it
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