We talk a lot about Multi-Unit Owners and Legacy Brands in franchising. But the life blood for the future of franchising and small business ownership is the Emerging Brand.
Today on the most popular franchise podcast, we’re live at the SMB Franchise Summit hearing from new Emerging Franchisors about how they’re growing in 2026!
Thanks for joining us:
Marc Howland of Breadless
Dominique Sandu of D. Sierra Lash Co.
Fabienne Van Buchem and Aditya Jain of Beambar
Steve Moore of Epoxy Depot
Courtney Del Vecchio of Sweatfluence
Tamika Franklyn of Precision Franchise
Thanks to Citrin Cooperman, Northeast Color, Hughes, and Thunderly
Transcript
AI was not used in the creation of this podcast. This is the Social Geek Radio Network.
Hello, Geeks, and welcome to the Social Geek Podcast. I’m Jack Monson, your host and Marketing Consigliere. The lifeblood for the future of franchising and small business ownership is the emerging brand. Today, we’re live at the SMB Franchising Summit, hearing from newer emerging brands about how they’re growing in 2026.
All right, today’s show is brought to you by Northeast Color, Hughes, Citrin Cooperman, and before we get going, a quick note from Thunderly. Brands that will grow in 2026 are the brands with visionary thought leaders, whose messages are clear and concise. Let the best storytellers in franchising shine a spotlight on your CEO and executive leadership team. Learn more at thunderlymarketing.com.
Back at the SMB Summit for 2025, chatting now with Marc Howland. He’s with a company called Breadless. Marc, welcome to the podcast. Tell me about Breadless.
Yeah, Breadless. We’re a fast casual franchise, all about performance food.
Performance food. Tell me what performance food is. 100%.
Just to give you a little bit of background further, I didn’t intend to be in food. This very much found me. I was the guy who grew up on the east side of Cleveland. I was a project scholarship. I went to Brown University on a full ride. I was playing varsity football, running track. Ended up in coming out of the school in the area of the financial crisis and had no idea what I wanted to do. Went to an information session for a firm I never heard of, which ended up being Goldman Sachs. They didn’t think I was terrible, so they invited me to New York for an internship, was turning into full-time jobs. The next thing you know, I was raising money for sports stadiums, the 49ers Stadium, Barclays Center, and I was working 80 to 100 hours a week. From there, we went on to a private equity firm, and then to Harvard for business school. But throughout all this time, I was just a guy from the Midwest, now flung into this 80 to 100 hour work week, struggling to find food that didn’t leave me with my head on a desk at 2 or 3 in the afternoon. So we decided to do something about that. And so we reinvented the sandwich and used leafy super greens at the foundation. So Swiss chard, romaine, collard greens, packed with clean, sustained energy, plus Power Bull salad smoothies designed to energize. And we launched this in a fast, casual footprint, and we’re scaling it nationwide.
So we’re talking a lot of protein and not a lot of carbs, right?
High protein, low calorie, macronutrient dense is the definition of what Breadless is.
Excellent. Tell me about the opportunity. Is it how big are the units, how big are the locations, and where are you guys located these days?
Yeah. So we’re out of Detroit, Michigan right now. The footprint is 1,000 to 1,500 square feet. So we’re talking about lean format. We don’t have hoods, grills, or fryers. We have a high-tech convie oven with all of our recipes pre-programmed. So it’s food, but I’m not a chef. And as somebody who’s not a chef, I don’t want to go in there and mess it up in the kitchen. And so the footprint and the style and the layout makes it easy for you to click one button and click cook chicken and know it’s going to come out every single time and be delicious, perfect texture, not undercooked, not raw, not overcooked.
Yeah, I like that idea for the kitchen concept too, because you obviously don’t need like a huge kitchen, and which translates into being an expensive kitchen, right?
100 percent. Yeah, we’re all about lean, high performance. The food is lean, high performance, the concept is lean, high performance. And it’s designed for myself. Like ultimately, I eat breadless every single day. I eat it twice a day, eat a sandwich for lunch, eat a power bowl for dinner. My kid was eating collard greens like it was spaghetti because it was something she really enjoys. This is bold, flavorful food packed with all the macro ingredients that your body needs to fuel performance. With this, we’re talking about American flavors, Caribbean flavors, Mediterranean flavors. Like our number one selling item is our jerk chicken and mango sandwich. This is authentic Caribbean jerk chicken with mango salsa, sugar free barbecue, fresh sliced mangoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, all wrapped in a crisp Swiss chard leaf.
Got it. Where are you looking for franchisees these days? Any particular geography?
Yes, our number one focus right now, we have 50 plus, we have a weightless of 50 plus people that reach out to us from around the country. We’re focused on the best operators possible. So those who understand that this is food, yes, we’ve simplified the concept, but not scared of food, understand that they want to grow with us, so looking to have at least three locations. But we feel like it’s about the operator, more so than it is the specific location. So operator focused mind and intensive people who want to get involved with a game changing brand that is transforming outcomes in communities with food that’s bold in flavor, but high performance, Breadless is the brand for you.
And I don’t have to have years of restaurant experience. Am I right about that?
You can come in day one and know how to cook perfect chicken inside of Breadless, because all you got to do is press a button that says cook chicken. Now there is an art to the wrap of the Breadless Sandwich, but you learn that in a day as well.
That is my kind of cooking. You know, what I think I really like about this concept is, I talk to a lot of restaurant brands that kind of have this vibe that if you haven’t been in the restaurant industry for 25 years, you might not be a great operator. And I think they’re missing the boat a lot. There’s a lot of great business people out there who just don’t happen to come from the food space.
I mean, I’m case in point. I could not come from the food space at all, but here we are, growing. And I think to be the most innovative concept in the industry, and the rest of the industry, and actually to learn more. I mean, after business school, I got a job at Jimmy John’s for $10 an hour in Ann Arbor.
Jimmy John’s trained, love it.
So that I could get a real hands-on experience and understand what it was like, and then built a concept to be focused on that speed and efficiency and lack of outside knowledge.
That’s a very interesting idea to do that. I love that. So, Marc, tell me if someone is interested in this opportunity and they’d like to have a further conversation with you and your team, where can they find you?
franchise.eatbreadless.com. So, if you just Google Breadless, we are going to come up and their website is eatbreadless.com. You’ll see at the top of the page, franchise opportunities. Click on that. It’s going to take you to franchise.eatbreadless.com. But also, if you’re just a fun person that likes social media as well, follow us on social media at Breadless and we’re out there.
Cool. We will have links to all of those places in today’s show notes as well. Marc, thanks so much for dropping by the podcast zone and chatting with us today.
Absolutely. It’s been a pleasure.
One of the things I really love about chatting with a lot of people here at the SMB Summit is finding some really, really new concepts, some that haven’t even launched yet. And that’s what we’re talking about now with D. Sierra Lash Co. And it’s Dominique Sandu joining us right now. Dominique, welcome to the podcast.
Hi, thank you for having me.
Tell me about the concept.
So the concept is everything lashes. It’s something that I created because lashes are something that when you wake up in the morning, you look perfect, you look beautiful. It’s something that has made me feel confident. And I just want to pass that confidence along to everyone around me.
Awesome.
Yeah.
So how long have you been in business now?
I’ve been in business for eight, five years now. I’m sorry, five years, yeah.
And this concept is just about to launch.
You’re not actually launched it.
Right, so I currently have six locations. I started this business at 23 years old.
Wow.
And we’re scheduled to franchise in 2026, January. Yes.
Where are you looking to open your first franchises, like from a geography standpoint? Are they local around this area or another state?
That’s a really good question. So right now I’ve kind of taken over the New Jersey aspect. I’m very, very strong in Jersey, but I’ve crossed over to Florida, which was amazing. I’m in Miami right now. I would love to open up more in Florida. They love the concept. They love the brand. So we’ll see where it takes us, but I would love to expand in Florida.
Yeah. Got it.
Okay.
Tell me more about the concept. How big are the locations and the units and that sort of thing? Is it a big operation? Could it be done in a smaller space? What do you typically want to do?
Typically, it’s around 900 to 1200 square feet. I don’t need anything crazy. The layouts are all the same.
Yeah.
But not a huge space, so that’s good when it comes to the real estate. Right.
So many people are doing it.
It doesn’t require a huge amount of space, which is awesome.
Yeah.
Who would be a good operator for this? Do you have sort of a personality type or someone with a particular type of background that you would really like to talk to?
So, what I found is people that are involved in the business, when they have passion behind it, it soars. So, somebody that has a passion for making people feel good, not just I want to own a business or I want to do this and just let it sit there, that passion is what really drives, and I want to work with people that have the same drive as me.
Yeah.
Love that. Well, if you fit that description, have a conversation with Dominique, where can we send people if they’d like to learn more about your opportunity?
So, you can go to dcrfranchise.com.
Got it. Perfect. Check it out. We’ll have a link in today’s show notes as well. Enjoy the rest of the SMB Summit. Thank you so much for stopping by today.
Thank you so much.
Joining us now from Beambar, I love that name by the way, is a couple of people I just met here at the SMB Franchise Summit. Go ahead and introduce yourselves.
Hey, I’m Fabienne.
Hey, I’m Ady.
Thanks for joining us here in the Podcast Zone at the SMB Summit. Tell me about Beambar.
Yeah. So we started Beambar. We met at Columbia Business School.
Oh, wow.
Yeah. It’s just a couple of years ago. We identified a gap in the market that we realized teeth whitening is super expensive. You want to get your teeth whitened at a dentist, it will easily cost you 800 almost above $1,000, especially Manhattan. Adi’s wife is a dentist. She’s not with us here today, but she’s a third co-founder. She just mentioned teeth whitening is actually a process that’s pretty simple to do. You don’t need to have a dentist there. So we found a way to offer it for significantly cheaper. So we currently offer it for $179. So we opened our first pop-up location just in the summer after we graduated from Columbia Business School. We offered teeth whitening actually for $99 at the time. And it did super, super well. We had a line right outside. We self-funded it so we could only afford like less than a week’s rent in New York. It was expensive. That’s a way to do it.
But it did super well.
We got funding and here we are. We have two permanent studios opening and we’re opening a bunch more.
Very good. I love the fact that you guys met at Columbia Business School. I think that could be a first in Franchise. They came out of Columbia Business School and they had a concept so great that they just wanted to go right into it. So tell me about the concept itself. Is it a big space needed, a small space? What does that end up with?
So the space you need is really 500 to 750 square feet.
So not very big at all.
You don’t need any plumbing of any kind. It’s nice if you have a bathroom, but we actually use disposable everything. So you get your own little water bottle, Fiji water. Take a sip, spit it out. It’s way more hygienic. And the space you need is really just a white box space. Most of the furniture is movable. The fit out cost and everything is super low. We’re trying to get it under 150k as we go on to franchising.
That’s a nice number to be under too. And I love the fact that it’s a pretty small space because that takes away the whole challenge of real estate that most franchises have. It sounds like an idea that came out of Columbia Business School. What else can you tell us about the concept in your launching into franchising sometime early in 2026? Is that right?
Yeah. So I think the cool thing with Beambar is it’s a totally new concept. A lot of people think about team widening as something they might do like once or twice in their lifetime, maybe in a really big event. Because we’ve made the pricing so low and we’ve made it so accessible, you can just walk and make an appointment with people who come in every month. So we’re actually offering a monthly subscription now because people have a date, they have an interview or they just want to upkeep their maintenance. So we have people who come in every month now. And so we’ve kind of changed the way that people think about team widening more as something as like getting your hair done, getting a wax. So something that you can do a lot more regularly. And it’s been really awesome to see. We feel like in New York people have way better smiles because of Beambar. So we’re excited to see that across the country.
I love the idea of any sort of subscription model. When it comes to a franchise because franchisees are looking for a business that has sort of that guaranteed monthly revenue coming in. And something that you can forecast month after month after month. And even get to the point where they’re selling subscriptions before they open their doors in New York. So I love that subscription idea. If people would like to have a further conversation with you about the opportunity, where can we send them?
We would love for people to reach out to us either through our website which is www.thebeambar.com and of course you can also email us at info at thebeambar.com.
All right, very good. Thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today and good luck with the big launch into franchising in 2026.
Thank you so much for having us.
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Epoxy Depot.
Epoxy Depot, tell me about it. What do you guys do?
So, we supply Epoxy floor products, equipment, and training to contractors across the nation.
Got it. So, how long have you been franchising?
We started franchising last year, so just over a year, and we just completed our FPD paperwork then, so everything’s been going well.
I love the idea of a franchise that is supplying stuff, especially to the trades and to perhaps even other franchisees, right, of some other brands. It feels like that’s just a business that is never going to slow down. If you’re supplying people who are building and cleaning and all of those things.
Yeah, the building, the trades in general have been very busy. And it’s been busy with the stores. So, we supply contractors and train them and the contractors’ helpers, the new employees that are coming on and get them ready for doing floor coatings. Got it.
So, who makes a good franchisee for it?
Who would be a good franchisee? The ideal franchisee would be someone who is… They’re already familiar with the brand. We’re familiar with coatings in general. The reason for this is… It’s not that they have to be that way, but the reason for it is there’s a lot of technical questions that come in to floor coatings, and that’s something that is just easier for somebody that is from that industry already.
And maybe they’ve got a network of people in the trades and with contractors that maybe they work with.
Correct. Yeah. Yeah, they’re definitely going to have a lot more resources on that side. They’re going to understand the process for the contract for, and also what it takes for the contractor to be successful. Contractor success is, you know, a success for the store.
Yeah. Interesting idea to be able to own your own business in the trades, but not really be in the trades.
Yeah. I mean, some people, you know, as time has gone on, their body doesn’t allow them to do it anymore. Maybe they’re looking to scale. It’s harder to scale the trades, and having a store and having the resources that come with a network of other stores and, you know, lower price points and manufacturing, those things allow the stores to have better margins and, you know, to be more profitable.
Got it.
Cool.
Steve, is somebody would like to have a conversation with you about the opportunity? Where can they find you?
They can find us on our website on www.epoxydepotusa.com, and there’s a tab for franchise in there.
All right.
Very good. Steve Moore, thanks so much for dropping by the Podcast Zone today and sharing your story.
Thank you so much.
Back in the Podcast Zone with Courtney Del Vecchio of Sweatfluence, another great name. Tell me about the brand.
So we are Infrared Hot Yoga Studio. Basically, hot yoga has been around for a long time. The studio has turned up the residue, heat the room, which makes people sweat. But it’s not really the same as we do things. We have infrared heat panels hanging from the ceiling, which heats your body instead of the room. And then we add humidification in, which gets it steaming. So if you think of a sauna and a steam room all in one, we create that environment into yoga in it.
And I’m going to guess that’s a little bit more energy friendly than just heating up a big studio. I hear my dad’s voice in the back of my head saying, turn that thermostat down, stop touching the thermostat. So yeah, that’s a really interesting way to achieve the hot yoga concept. Tell me about your brand itself. Are you currently franchising?
So we’re in the very early process of franchising. We have our FDD and we are looking for our first franchising.
All right, very good. Where are you located or where would you like your franchisees to be located? In Philly area, New Jersey, New York, what are we looking at geography wise?
So we’re based out of Connecticut. We currently have two locations, one in Old Saybrook, which is like a little beach shoreline community, and then we have one in New Haven, right across the street from Yale. So we have kind of the shoreline vibe and then we have the college vibe. We’re looking kind of to go, my goal is to be in all 50 states down the line. Right now, Connecticut, New England area, East Coast, anywhere out there.
All right, very good.
How long have you been open?
Since 2017, so it was eight years in October.
Got it, got it. So eight years is a nice long length of time, so you can actually prove that this is a good concept, right? So we talked to so many people who started franchising three weeks after they opened their first business, and we want to say, okay, you might want to slow down on that a little bit. Let’s make sure you make some money before other people can make some money on it. So terrific. Courtney, if someone would like to have a conversation with you and your team about this opportunity, where can they find you?
They can visit our website. It’s buildyoursweatfluence.com. They can go to our yoga site, which is sweatfluence.com, or they can find me on Instagram, Courtney Eliza Yoga.
All right, very good. We’ll have links to all of those places in today’s show notes. Thanks so much for stopping by. Enjoy the rest of the SMB Summit.
Thank you.
Tamika Franklyn is joining me now in the Podcast Zone here at the SMB Franchise Summit. Tamika, welcome back to the Summit. Good to see you again.
Nice to see you too. Thank you for having me.
So you’re doing all kinds of different things. Tell me about your main focus these days.
So I am a consultant. I’m affiliated with FBA, Franchise Growth Association. My business is called Precision Franchise.
Precision Franchise.
Tell me more about that.
Who are you working with and what is the type of work you like doing?
So type of work I love doing is educating everyone, basically women especially, about franchises and particularly in finding that fit, understanding that we have transfer and skills, and how do we use that to really understand what industry, not necessarily what business, but what industry first makes the best fit for us, and then we’ll find a business that way.
I like that vibe because there are so many consultants out there. There’s a lot of great people that people can work with. But it feels like you’re kind of narrowing in on people who need particular help. Is there anybody that you really like working with, personality types or people from a certain job background or anything like that?
You know what? I would say that I love people who are just really, they have that entrepreneur spirit, and they just do not know where they’re standing. That’s the space I’m in.
I like that too. I think so often people get hung up on someone’s previous work experience, and it’s like, we can teach them that stuff. It’s really that attitude, that go get them attitude that we can’t really teach them. So when you find those people, they’re a joy to work with. Tell me about what you’re seeing in Franchising in the new year, in 2026. Are we going to be busier than ever? Are things leveling off? What do you think?
I mean, I think that people are definitely looking for those. I mean, you’re always going to get the, oh, I want a precession assistant, I want a precession assistant.
I think that you’re going to see a lot of service-based businesses.
People have to focus on service-based businesses.
Okay, cool. Well, I think we’re about to hear from Steve Beagelman, so we’ll wrap it up quick. If someone wants to chat with you, where can they find you?
They can find me at precisionfranchise.com, and I’m on all social media as Precision Franchise. My name is Tamika Franklyn. Thank you.
Thanks to all of today’s guests, and special thanks to Steve Beagelman, Dawn Abbamondi, and the team at SMB Franchise Advisors for hosting us this week. Thanks also to our sponsors, Northeast Color, Hughes, Citrin Cooperman, and Thunderly. And thanks to you for listening, telling a friend about us, and staying connected on the Social Geek Radio Network.