A Look Back at 2022: A Year of Upward Mobility in Franchising

Since March 2020, there have been countless media stories about the Great Resignation, where frustrated workers have been quitting jobs in droves. You would never know it’s an issue in franchising. The industry saw countless new jobs, hires, and promotions in 2022. And we know it firsthand because we have reported about it on FranchiseWire with our HireWire series.

In the International Franchise Association‘s 2022 Franchising Economic Outlook, there was a reported 775,000 franchise establishments that support nearly 8.2 million direct jobs. Franchising creates jobs every day — not just locally — but also at the corporate level.

No matter your position in the franchise industry — founder, consultant, marketing, field operations, or sales — there are endless opportunities for upward mobility. Franchise industry professionals are hired or promoted seemingly every day.

Here is a compilation of notable franchise industry jobs, new hires and promotions from 2022. This lengthy list proves that upward mobility is alive and well in franchising.

December 2022: Franchise Industry Jobs, New Hires and Promotions

  • Ashley Love was announced as the first-ever CFO for Clean Juice, a leading juice bar franchise.
  • The United Franchise Group (UFG) promoted Cory Hibbard to president of Graze Craze and Andrew Titus to president of Fully Promoted.
  • Patrick Cunningham was appointed vice president of development for Little Caesars.
  • Donatos Pizza announced several new promotions. Tony Capuano was named vice president of franchise operations; Cheryl Bergsman was announced as the pizza brand’s first-ever vice president of field training and ops excellence; and Brian Thompson was tapped as vice president of company operations.
  • Sarah Hamp became CMO for FullSpeed Automotive.

November 2022: Franchise Industry Jobs, New Hires and Promotions

  • Mathnasium, a math tutoring franchise, named Kevin Shen CDO.
  • Celebree School named David Floyd vice president of franchise development.
  • Smalls Sliders, a Louisiana-based burger concept, appointed Maria Rivera as CEO.
  • Item 9 Labs Corp., a cannabis dispensary franchisor and operator, named Mike Weinberger CEO.
  • David Tarr was appointed vice president of franchise development for Best Life Brands.
  • Jessica Will was tapped as vice president of operations for The Dog Stop.
  • Christine Piecyk was promoted to director of operations of the International Franchise Professionals Group (IFPG).
  • Melissa Smith became the chief human resources officer for Ascent Hospitality Management.
  • Adam Klaers was appointed executive vice president of Roy Rogers Restaurants.
  • Elias Reyna was named chief people and diversity officer for Papa Johns.
  • BRIX Holdings tapped Sherif Mityas as CEO. Dawn Petite was also appointed president for Friendly’s Restaurant Group.
  • Central Bark named Tim Weiderhoft vice president of franchise development.

October 2022: Franchise Industry Jobs, New Hires and Promotions

September 2022: Franchise Industry Jobs, New Hires and Promotions

  • SweatHouz tapped Dr. Rachelle Reed as chief health and science officer.
  • Matt Otskey was named executive vice president of operations of IFPG.
  • Franchise Supplier Network appointed Dean Hatzitheodosiou as chief sales officer.
  • Rob Lancit was tapped as vice president of franchise development for Stratus Building Solutions.
  • BrandONE announced Heather McPherson as vice president of franchise development.
  • Krista Olsen was appointed director of operations for Moms on the Run.
  • Gerardo Flores was named CDO of Marco’s Pizza.
  • Donatos Pizza tapped Jodie Conrad as CMO.
  • Batteries Plus announced a trio of promotions. Joe Malmuth was promoted to chief franchising officer; Vic Daher was elevated to vice president of franchise development; and Brandon Mangual was named managing director of franchise development.
  • A.Y. Strauss added Stephanie Blumstein as partner of its franchise group.
  • Patrick Sommer was appointed vice president of franchise development for REP’M Group.
  • Ron Bender became senior director of franchise development for Threshold Brands, a corporate franchisor of home services brands.
  • McDonald’s appointed Jon Banner as vice president and global chief impact officer.

August 2022: Franchise Industry Jobs, New Hires and Promotions

July 2022: Franchise Industry Jobs, New Hires and Promotions

June 2022: Franchise Industry Jobs, New Hires and Promotions

May 2022: Franchise Industry Jobs, New Hires and Promotions

April 2022: Franchise Industry Jobs, New Hires and Promotions

March 2022: Franchise Industry Jobs, New Hires and Promotions

February 2022: Franchise Industry Jobs, New Hires and Promotions

January 2022: Franchise Industry Jobs, New Hires and Promotions

  • Michael White was named president of Venture X.
  • Jeff Dudan became chairman and CEO of Homefront Brands.
  • Mark Behrens was named director of franchise development for Outdoor Lighting Perspectives.
  • Jason Anderson was tapped as president of Coworks.
  • Sherry Rose was appointed CEO of Stellar Service Brands.
  • Brady Lee was named president of Graze Craze.
  • Scott Krupa was promoted to vice president of franchise development for Propelled Brands.
  • PIRTEK USA tapped Mike McCarthy as COO.
  • The DRIPBaR appointed Ben Crosbie as CEO.

Should You Go to School for Franchising?

While there has been a lot of upward mobility in franchising, surprisingly many executives in franchising fell into the industry without a formal degree. A conundrum these days is whether to go to school for franchising or take the plunge and work right away. Schools like Palm Beach Atlantic University’s Titus Center for Franchising and the University of Louisville understand the importance of including franchising in business curricula to give entrepreneurial young people key insight into the benefits of the booming industry.

When recruiting franchisees, most franchisors don’t require a degree in franchising — or any degree at all. Franchise business owners can succeed by following the proven system. With support and training from a franchisor, franchisees usually need little to no experience to do well. Franchising levels the playing field and gives entrepreneurs from all backgrounds the opportunity to achieve financial freedom.