There are brands that follow the market, and then there are brands that seem to arrive exactly when the market is ready for them. Konala (pronounced Koe-Nah-Luh) sits firmly in the second category. Named after founders Trace and Jammie Miller’s two rescue dogs, Kona and Nala, the brand carries a…

There is a concept in Olivia Fox Cabane’s book The Charisma Myth that stopped me cold when I first read it. Cabane describes what she calls “focus charisma,” the rare ability to make another person feel, in that precise moment, as though they are the only person in the room.…

Running a successful business and running a franchise system are two very different things. Many emerging franchisors discover that gap the hard way. They know their product, their operations, and their customers. What they often don’t have is a clear view into how their own team is functioning as a…

Daniel Boone has a goal that sounds almost like a punch line until you realize he means it. “I’ve always had a goal, for quite some time now, to live to be 120,” Boone said. That kind of long-view thinking is what eventually pulled him out of the furniture business…

Franchising a business is not a single event. It is a series of decisions, each one made at a different stage of growth, each one carrying its own set of risks. For brands navigating that journey without a roadmap, the margin for error compounds quickly. For those who work alongside…

Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux closed the holiday season with a nationwide giveback that was deliberately simple and intensely hands-on; cooks cooked; teammates delivered; neighbors received. Across the system, restaurants prepared and distributed more than 7,500 meals through local non-profits chosen by each location. Partners ranged from the Delaware Township Food Pantry…