Franchise Interviews 4.0

Ace Rodrigues of Pickleball Kingdom Meets with Franchise Interviews

 My sister recently told me how she is addicted to Pickleball. She frequently sets her alarm clock at 11:55 PM EST to make reservations at midnight for a Pickleball court. Several months ago, I read a great article by Beth Ewen of Franchise Times on a franchise called Pickleball Kingdom. We are meeting with Ace Rodrigues, Founder & CEO of Pickleball Kingdom, an indoor pickleball facility with a membership model. Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in America, and Pickleball Kingdom is the leading brand of indoor pickleball facilities. In part two, we will play a clip from our popular Great Quotes in Franchising podcast.

Lash Lounge Meets with Franchise Interviews

The Lash Lounge, headquartered in Grapevine, Texas, currently operates six franchise and corporate locations throughout Texas. The company was founded in 2006 and is the first franchise concept of its kind, specializing in the art of semi-permanent eyelash extensions and permanent make-up. To add to the luxurious spa experience, each Lash Lounge location offers a variety of beauty products and trendy ladies' boutique items for customers to browse. At the same time, they receive services from licensed technicians at Lash Lounge. Founder Anna Phillips has developed a comprehensive training model to ensure that a visit to any Lash Lounge exceeds industry standards and customer satisfaction. The tried and true methods have been seamlessly replicated in each salon to make effortless glamour more convenient. We are meeting with Anna Phillips, Founder and President of The Lash Lounge. 

Snip-Its VP of Franchise Development Meets with Franchise Interviews

Back in 1993, Joanna Meiseles sought a hair salon that catered to her young children. But instead of a salon, she discovered a business opportunity. That's because at each hair salon she visited, she either found (1) stylists not wanting to deal with wiggling, squirming kids (2) suboptimal cleanliness standards, or (3) little or no originality in the design. Joanna knew there had to be a better way to crop kid's hair while keeping them entertained, so that kids would be captivated rather than tearful, and parents would be fascinated rather than fearful. We are meeting with Kim Ellis, the VP of Franchise Development of Snip-Its.  

Salons By JC on Franchise Interviews

Co-Founder Jack Griffey's wife was a hair stylist who rented a chair in a salon suite. He quickly saw the potential to launch a creative real estate development and leasing business in the franchise industry that provides high-end retail space for beauty and wellness practitioners. In December 1997, not knowing how to develop a salon suite business, Jack and his business partner Cecil Miller conducted two separate focus groups, each consisting of 10-12 beauty professionals (i.e. hair stylists, nail technicians, facialists, etc.), all of whom worked in conventional salons. The idea was to gage their interest in the business model. Despite a consensus among the participants that such a business was a fad, Jack and Cecil proceeded with their plan. Tapping into their personal funds and securing a SBA loan, Jack and Cecil opened the first Salons By JC in 1998. They started offering a franchise opportunity in 2008 and sold their first four franchises to family and friends. We are meeting with Jack Griffey, co-founder of Salons By JC. The San Antonio-based concept has quickly become one of the nation's fastest-growing franchises in the billion salon suite industry.

The Founder of the Seva franchise opportunity Vas Maniatis Meets with Franchise Interviews

We have a great show today.  We are meeting with Vas Maniatis, the founder of the Seva franchise opportunity.  Seva is a franchise model that specializes in the art of brow shaping, facial hair removal and waxing.   The Seva brand is known for offering eyebrow threading which is a flourishing concept that more people are seeming to utilize for its various advantage s. There are several unique aspects of this franchise concept. 
First, Seva grows within retail stores and has established an exclusive partnership with Walmart to begin with. There is also opportunity to grow in other retail stores.  By using a growth strategy of a store within a store, the Seva opportunity increases the opportunity for foot traffic.  In addition, Seva utilizes a technological strategy to ensure success for each Seva salon.
Seva has created a complete turnkey "Salon-in-a-Box" system which handles all phases of the design, construction, delivery, and coordination of build out of every new Seva salon.  Aspiring frantreprneurs do not need to know a thing about eyebrow threading, waxing or beauty to be successful with a Seva concept. 

Phenix Salon Suites Meets with Franchise Interviews

Phenix Salon Suites is the nation's leading salon suite concept that provides upscale and customizable suites for independent lifestyle professionals. Its business has been growing rapidly, and the brad recently surpassed 300 locations. Following this milestone, the brand revealed its expansion plan internationally with the opening of its first British location in Manchester earlier this month. Now, the brand has its eye on international and national expansion in a number of new markers.? This focus on growth comes after the brand saw a 344% increase in salon professional inquiries during the pandemic and recently partnered with rapper and entrepreneur LL COOL J. We are meeting with Philip Watson, VP of business development for Phenix Salon Suites. Every business has a story Gina Rivera was destined to pursue a career in the world of beauty. From her early roots of sweeping hair from the floors of her parent's salon, Gina attended beauty school and later moved to a booth renter salon where she quickly established a winning reputation. Find out what happened next on Franchise Interviews.

Inger Nicolaisen the founder of Nikita Hair on Franchise Interviews

We are meeting with Inger Nicolaisen the founder of Nikita Hair, an international hair salon chain with 150+ locations across Europe and recent franchise expansion to the United States. Inger is a prominent figure in Norway, most known from the Norwegian television series The Candidate in 2004, which was the Norwegian version of the American series, The Apprentice. Nikita Hair supports the foundation, A Hand to Children. This organization provides help and assistance to children. The involvement of this foundation is to give children a chance at a better life, and hope for the future. All projects within the scope of this foundation aim to provide support to those most in need by providing food and clothing. For every haircut, Nikita Hair will donate a portion of the proceeds to support this organization.

MY SALON Suite President Ken McAllister Meets with Franchise Interviews

We have a great show. We are meeting with Ken McAllister, the President of MY SALON Suite. Founded in 2010, MY SALON Suite is raising the bar in luxury for salon entrepreneurs and consumers across North America. MY SALON Suite attracts and inspires experienced professionals from all facets of the health and beauty industry to individually own and operate their own businesses in one of several private suites, each fully equipped with a styling center, state-of-the-art security system and other eco-salon suite amenities.

LunchboxWax COO Christo Demetriades on Franchise Interviews

We have a great show today. We are meeting with Christo Demetriades, the COO of LunchboxWax, a boutique speed-waxing concept that combines refined techniques and the highest quality products. What makes LunchboxWax unique is their waxologists are trained to know how to wax every body and make the LGBTQ+ community especially the transgender community feel comfortable walking in and getting waxed. This inclusivity is present in all fronts of the business and each employee is put through a course of ?culture classes? to ensure everyone is fully aware of the brand's mission. The brand has salons open and recently signed 2 multi-unit deals in brand new markets throughout the Midwest.

Image Studios 360 Founder Jason Olsen on Franchise Interviews

We have a great show today. We are meeting with Jason Olsen, founder of Image Studios 360. Image Studios 360 is an exclusive franchise that provides modern, high-end salon studios at affordable rates to salon professionals. Their core values of creativity, freedom and success are the driving force that empower us collectively and embodies all that we do as professionals in this industry. They strive to improve the communities we live in with the creation, support and growth of independent franchisees across the country.  Their concept is simple: they provide an incredible space an atmosphere through their franchise system; their people bring the passion, talent and clientèle to their space. Together, they create an intoxicating formula for success.