Welcome to the Inaugural Issue

Pillars of Franchising Magazine

Dear Pillars of Franchising Community:

I am beyond thrilled to be back with the Pillars of Franchising family in an expanded role as Chief Content Officer. As a permanent co-host a couple of years ago, I went off on an adventure to learn more about my craft and gained valuable experience in publishing, production, broadcasting, sales and much more! I can’t wait to bring that to the new and improved Pillars of Franchising, LLC.

As you may have heard, Pillars of Franchising has launched from a podcast into a full-service consulting firm. Our goal is to help you select and buy a franchise, grow it to profitability and make your dreams a reality. Our team that includes founder, Fred McMurray, and our successful Million Dollar Franchisees, helps you navigate the process and mentors you to reach your greatest potential. Our mentors include Kristin Selmeczy, Jerry Akers, David Kajganich and Ray Pillar.

We support you with our leadership team, but we also produce content to help you learn as you build your business. We broadcast interviews with the top folks in their industries, write articles about everything you need to know about franchising and business ownership and help you network with other like-minded people in the franchise space. Stay tuned, more is coming, and you don’t want to miss a thing!

In this issue, we are excited to have Leigh Anne Tuohy as our cover interview. She is the mother from the “Blind Side” movie who took in a child who needed a home (Michael Oher) and continues to advocate for foster kids who need a forever family. She and her husband, Sean Tuohy, have owned up to 140 franchise locations including Taco Bells, KFCs and Long John Silvers. She shares her love of and belief in giving back in her personal and professional lives.

We also feature Laura Spaulding of Spaulding Decon who gives away a franchise territory to a veteran each Veteran’s Day. As a veteran herself, she believes in bringing the opportunity of entrepreneurship to those who served our country.

Jerry Akers, one of our Million Dollar Mentors, has partnered his Great Clips locations with the ALS Association, Iowa Chapter to raise awareness and money for those suffering from ALS. Kristin Selmeczy and Ray Pillar are Molly Maid franchisees who support the Ms. Molly Foundation to raise awareness for domestic violence survivors.

We also have informative articles from Nancy Friedman, the Telephone Doctor, on customer service; Susan Scotts on franchise education; Michele Rempel on marketing; Harold Kestenbaum on legal issues; Kelly Krueger on funding; Michael Ianuzzie on tax/finance and our very own Million Dollar Mentor, David Kajganich on leadership.

Join us on our social media, subscribe on the website and join us every Thursday at 4:00 CT for the Pillars of Franchising live stream! We look forward to serving you, and remember…The Dream Starts Here!

Elizabeth Denham Editor-in-Chief