About Dear Frannie: Franchise Growth, Leadership and Scaling Advice
Dear Frannie is the franchise advice column you didn't know you needed. Hosted by Katherine LeBlanc, Fractional CMO, and James Vitrano, Franchise Operator, each episode tackles one real question franchisors are quietly wrestling with - from franchisee adoption and growth friction to leadership blind spots and operational scale.
No panels. No keynote speak. No fluff. Just two people who've been inside franchise systems answering the questions brand leaders are afraid to ask out loud.
If you're a franchisor navigating the messy middle of scale - this show was made for you.
New episodes drop bi-weekly. Subscribe so you don't miss the next one.
Dear Frannie | What happens when your brand isn't hot anymore?
Every brand has a moment. Fewer know what to do when it starts to fade. On this episode of Dear Frannie, Katherine and James break down what actually happens when the category that made you hot starts to cool - the indicators to watch before the dip hits, why a hot streak breeds laziness, and how to reinvest in your brand's identity instead of chasing the next trend.
Before they get there, James gets candid about building his own restaurant brand from the ground up - including the marketing mistake he wishes he'd caught sooner.
Katherine LeBlanc and James Vitrano have spent a combined 40+ years in the trenches of franchising - across marketing, operations, legal, and franchise development - working with brands at every stage of growth. They've sat in the rooms where the hard calls get made, and they're not shy about sharing what they've seen work and what they've watched blow up.
Want to go deeper?
🌐 apollocmo.com
▶️ @KatherineLeBlanc_Franchise on YouTube
🔗 linkedin.com/in/katherineleblanc
📩 katherine@apollocmo.com (mailto:katherine@apollocmo.com)
23 Sept 2026
Dear Frannie | Am I a Joint Employer of My Franchisee's Staff?
You want every location to feel the same. Your lawyer wants you to stay out of your franchisee's HR file. Where's the line?
Franchise attorney Lee Plave of Plave Koch joins Katherine to break down the American Franchise Act (HR 5267) and the question underneath it: when does a franchisor cross from setting brand standards into being a joint employer of their franchisee's staff — and what happens when they do?
Lee came out of the Federal Trade Commission and has spent decades representing franchisors at every scale, from IHG, Hilton and 7-Eleven to brands that sold their first unit last month. In this conversation he lays out the rule that keeps franchisors on the right side of the line — standardize the output, not the input — and explains why the most cautious legal advice, "don't train them, don't talk to them," is both self-defeating and, in some businesses, genuinely unsafe.
In this episode:
What vicarious liability and joint employer status actually mean for a growing brand
What the American Franchise Act is trying to codify, and why it exists now
The output-versus-input rule, and how to apply it to your own brand standards
Why cheap franchise documents are the most expensive purchase you'll make
How to spot an agreement that came off a document mill or out of an AI
What to do instead of directing your franchisee's employees
Why one rogue franchisee damages the other ninety-nine, not just the brand
Katherine LeBlanc and James Vitrano have spent a combined 40+ years in the trenches of franchising — across marketing, operations, legal, and franchise development — working with brands at every stage of growth. They've sat in the rooms where the hard calls get made, and they're not shy about sharing what they've seen work and what they've watched blow up.
Katherine works with franchisors through Apollo CMO, stepping in as the strategic marketing resource brands need when growth gets ahead of the marketing function. If this one hit close to home, reach out.
Want to go deeper?
🌐 apollocmo.com
▶️ @KatherineLeBlanc_Franchise on YouTube
🔗 linkedin.com/in/katherineleblanc
📩 katherine@apollocmo.com (mailto:katherine@apollocmo.com)
9 Sept 2026
Dear Frannie | My Franchise Pipeline Is Full: How Do I Build Out Without Blowing the Budget?
You're staring at a full pipeline and want to be intentional about build-out — what should you actually be prepared for?
Katherine LeBlanc and James Vitrano sit down with Charlie Guzzetta, founding partner of Depot and former President & Chief Development Officer of BurgerFi (9 to 135 locations and public on the NASDAQ). Charlie now builds and designs kitchens for some of the hottest restaurant brands around, and he lays out how to scale without blowing your budget or your brand: why you should design a business instead of a restaurant, the three Ps of build-out (pre-planning, prototypes, post-mortem), how a "family of prototypes" keeps you flexible, and where restaurant tech is finally getting affordable for emerging brands.
A practical playbook for any franchisor heading into a growth phase.
About the hosts: Katherine LeBlanc and James Vitrano have a combined 40+ years in franchising — across marketing, operations, legal, and franchise development. Katherine is the founder of Apollo CMO, helping franchise brands grow.
Go deeper:
🌐 apollocmo.com | ▶️ @KatherineLeBlanc_Franchise on YouTube | 🔗 linkedin.com/in/katherineleblanc | 📩 katherine@apollocmo.com (mailto:katherine@apollocmo.com)
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