Franchise Freaks

Hosted by Jack Monson

Business ManagementInterviews guests

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Latest episode

Jul 2026

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EN-US

About the show

Franchise Freaks began as a playful moniker within our agency's team, celebrating our mutual passion for Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners. We've successfully boosted numerous franchise brands that stumped other marketing agencies. Our "Franchise Freaks" community has expanded to include clients and industry pals, and we're thrilled to invite them to join us on this podcast to dish out top-notch marketing wisdom for franchise brands!

Listen to episodes

33 recent

July 14, 202614 min

The State of Franchise Development with Kristen Pechacek

Kristen Pechacek is the CEO of MassageLuXe and has grown the brand to new heights in recent times. She joins host Jack Monson for a chat about the status of franchise development at the International Franchise Expo in New York City. They dive into: Expansion plans for the MassageLuXe brand Current profiles of people who make a successful owners Franchisees who are diversifying The attractiveness of membership models for new franchisees The areas of Franchising that at best positioned for short-term and long-term growth Special Guest: Kristen Pechacek.

June 24, 202615 min

Episode 32: Reintroducing a Legacy Icon with Robert Bhagwandat

Robert Bhagwandat is the Senior Director of Franchise Development at Checkers & Rally’s. Podcast host Jack Monson caught up with Robert at this year’s International Franchise Expo in New York. In this episode, Robert shares: *Who makes a successful owner of a Checkers or a Rally’s? *Expansion plans, including multi-unit owners, individual owner operators, and those in between *Some interesting hot spots on the map for Checkers & Rally’s *Following leadership’s vision to reintroduce a legacy concept to the marketplace Special Guest: Robert Bhagwandat.

May 13, 202615 min

Making More People Happy with Brian Britton of Kilwins

Brian Britton is the CEO of Kilwins Chocolates Franchise. Brian joins the podcast to share updates on this tasty franchise brand including: • How and where the future growth is happening for the brand • Multi-unit opportunities • Support when opening stores followed by ongoing support • And a newer concept called Scoops and Sweets by Kilwins For more info on opportunities with Kilwins, please visit kilwinsfranchise.com Franchise Freaks is brought to you by franchise marketing agency Thunderly . Special Guest: Brian Britton.

April 6, 202615 min

Amplified Integrated Marketing with JJ Sorrenti

J.J. Sorrenti, CEO of Best Life Brands, and Monica Feid, Co-Founder and COO of Franchise Marketing Agency Thunderly, discuss the status of in-home care franchises. Jack Monson hosts them live at The International Franchise Association 2026 Convention. They dive into the IFA’s Economic Forecast and J.J.’s brands’ growth including: • The importance of culture, dignity, and comfort • Solving problems versus selling services • The aging of the population and how technology plays into growth • Why franchising is such a great fit for this sector To learn more about opportunities with Best Life Brands, please visit https://bestlifebrands.com Special Guests: JJ Sorrenti and Monica Feid.

April 4, 202610 min

Amplified Integrated Marketing with James Franks

James Franks of WellBiz Brands and Monica Feid, Co-Founder COO of Franchise Marketing Agency Thunderly, dive into portfolio diversification of many Multi-Unit Multi-Brand owners. Host Jack Monson joins them live at The International Franchise Association 2026 Convention to discuss: • The red-hot health & wellness vertical that is projected to grow 2.1% this year according to the IFA’s forecast • The membership-based offerings that are also of interest to multi-unit owners looking for recurring revenue • How multi-unit owners can best diversify their portfolio within a platform company For more information on WellBiz opportunities, please learn more at https://www.wellbizbrands.com/ Special Guests: James Franks and Monica Feid.

March 23, 202615 min

Episode 28: Amplified Integrated Marketing with Ricky Richardson

Ricky Richardson, CEO of Eggs Up Grill, and Monica Feid, CCO of Thunderly, discuss the state of restaurant franchises. Host Jack Monson joins them live at The International Franchise Association 2026 Convention just after the release of IFA’s Economic Forecast which predicts excellent growth for full-service restaurants. Eggs Up Grill is growing ahead of schedule so far this year, and the team discusses: • Retaining and growing great teams • Attracting Multi-Unit Multi-Brand Owners • Becoming the best-in-class Franchise system Special Guests: Monica Feid and Ricky Richardson.

March 16, 202611 min

Amplified Integrated Marketing with Craig Sherwood

This is the latest in our series of conversations recorded at The IFA 2026 Convention in Las Vegas with host Jack Monson and the top franchise thought leaders discussing how an Amplified Integrated Marketing plan is accelerating their franchise system's growth. Craig Sherwood, SVP of Development at The Joint Chiropractic, joins Thunderly's Monica Feid to share his system's growth plans in a landscape that includes: A health and wellness category that will grow over 2% this year according the IFA Lots of white space for clinics in the northeast and other areas An Innovative new mobile app to help both consumers and franchisees For more information on The Joint's opportunties, please visit https://thejointfranchise.com Special Guests: Craig Sherwood and Monica Feid.

March 5, 202617 min

Episode 26: Amplified Integrated Marketing with Mark Jameson

We begin a series of conversations about Amplified Integrated Marketing programs with Mark Jameson, Chief Development Officer at Propelled Brands and August Johnson, VP of Brand Management at Thunderly. Join us for a discussion on the latest franchise development new and growth strategies from one of Franchising's top thought leaders recorded live at The International Franchise Association's 2026 Convention. Special Guests: August Johnson and Mark Jameson.

February 2, 202615 min

AIM for a Higher Level of Design Work and Creativity

Amplified Integreated Marketing starts with cohesive, unified design work for you brand. On a new season of Franchise Freaks, CEO Scott White and Creative Director Dan Wiley of the premier Franchise marketing agency Thunderly share their tips for stepping up your brand's design work. They join host * Jack Monson * to discuss: Brand recognition being more critical that ever Using all of your brand assets to help tell your story Creating stories that connect emotionally with people And, what AI-Generated design work can't do For more on Amplified Integrated Marketing for Franchise brands, visit thunderlymarketing.com Special Guests: Dan Wiley and Scott White.

September 3, 202514 min

Building a Multi-Unit Franchise Development Legacy

Brent Greenwood is the Vice President of Franchise Development at Sport Clips Haircuts. He joins host Jack Monson for a conversation about fran dev trends for rest of this year and into next year. Brent shares his outlook on franchise growth for the whole industry, how the landscape looks for small business ownership, and how his brand is standing out in a competitive field. Connect with Brent at and his team at https://sportclipsfranchise.com/ Special Guest: Brent Greenwood.