Franchise Freedom
Franchise Freedom is for corporate executives who are tired of the rat race, the politics, and the lack of control inside the corporate monster and are ready to break free. Your host, Giuseppe Grammatico is a successful corporate refugee who has worked on every side of franchising, from owning franchises, to working with franchisors, to helping others use franchising to escape the corporate grind. Get more great insights on franchising and entrepreneurship for people looking at career transition at https://ggthefranchiseguide.com
Franchise Freedom
From Wall Street Burnout to Franchise Freedom | Taste Buds Kitchen Story
A franchise business advisor reveals the path to freedom. In this full episode, Giuseppe Grammatico interviews Taste Buds Kitchen founder Jessi Walter Brelsford. Learn how she left Wall Street, built a unique culinary franchise, and the secrets to finding a business that aligns passion, process, and profit.
*DISCLAIMER: The information on this podcast is for general information purposes only. Franchising involves risk and careful consideration should be given before making any decisions.
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The Franchise Freedom: Discover Your New Path to Freedom Through Franchise Ownership, Book by Giuseppe Grammatico https://ggthefranchiseguide.com/book or purchase directly on Amazon.
And I would steal vegetables from my mom's garden and sell them to our neighbors for a quarter. I was on the street corner doing lemonade stands, Right. So kitchen kids business has always been my thing. I could do something I'm passionate about that I love that is fulfilling, and I think I can make money doing it. You know me. It's not yet a franchise, not even yet a business. I have to figure this out. I mean, my advice I give to all of our franchisees is to be gritty. Be scrappy,
Giuseppe Grammatico:Love it. No.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:it's gonna take to make this work, right? The model's here, but it has to be run and I, think grittiness and scrappiness. Is just that tenacity and the hard work to carry it through and to do what it is you set out to do.
Welcome to the Franchise Freedom Podcast, where you can escape the corporate trap through franchise ownership. Here's your host, Giuseppe gr, the franchise guide.
Giuseppe Grammatico:Welcome to the Franchise Freedom Podcast. I'm your host, Giuseppe Grammatic, who your franchise guide, the show where we help corporate executives experience time and financial freedom. Thanks for joining us today. Really exciting, uh, excited for our show today. But before we get into the show, wanted to thank you for joining and let us know, uh, if you have any questions. A few of the viewers were asking for more guests. More founders of, of franchise companies, and we have a very exciting show for you today. Today we have Jessi Brelsford, uh, from Taste Bud's Kitchen. So Jessi, welcome to the show.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Thanks Giuseppe. I'm glad to be here And, yeah, happy to, happy to talk to you today. Thanks for having me.
Giuseppe Grammatico:and and I got the last name. I said, it's a tongue twister, so, so.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:got it.
Giuseppe Grammatico:That's, that's the hardest part for me. It, it's, it's all, it's all downhill from here. No, it's, uh, I was, I was stressing.'cause I know my name is, is, uh, could be difficult to, to pronounce. So, uh, yeah, no, I, I appreciate it. We, we've had a lot of, um, you know, we poll, uh, ask a lot of questions to our viewers and we always ask, you know, Hey, what, what do you wanna learn more about? Uh, whether it be brands, do you wanna learn more about accounting? We've had accountants on and franchise attorneys and things like that. So, uh, wanted to, uh, I've been meaning to, to schedule this for a while. So, uh, but before we dive into taste buds, if you can give the audience a little bit of background, who Jess is, um, where you started, if we, we have some similar backgrounds as well.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Okay. Yeah, I'm happy to. Um, so Jessi Bralsford, you nailed the name, um, founder and CEO of Taste Buds Kitchen. Um, it will be 18 years old in September, so I've been doing this for a long time, but kind of rewind. Um, I'm from Maryland. I'll go to the very beginning. I'm one of 23 first cousins. I was always the pied Piper of the group. I was always, um, a hustler, always, I guess, business. And I would steal vegetables from my mom's garden and sell them to our neighbors for a quarter. I was on the street corner doing lemonade stands, Right. So kitchen kids business has always been my thing. I grew up, went to Harvard, a major in economics. I was a division one swimmer. I love competition. Um, and that kind of led me to our common background, which was Wall Street. I moved to Wall Street. 2003, um, moved to New York City, 2003. I had never been there only one time before, so New York newbie and got a job at Bear Stearns and decided to take it. So I liked it. I liked what I did. I did it for seven years and kind of a year before I left is when the idea for Taste Buds Kitchen was born. I was sitting at my desk one day. I was missing my 23 first cousins. At the time. I had three great grandparents alive. I was with people who were between the ages of. 20 and 50 wearing a suit every day, you know, doing fairly interesting work, but not as much creativity and kind of ingenuity as I was looking for. So I just started to teach kids to bake as a hobby, calling it cupcake kids. Never thought it would be a business, never thought it would be a franchise. Um, I posted it on this free website to advertise classes. It sold out. I led a very cute cookie decorating class, and the next thing I did was a cupcake decorating class. And that's really where the idea started. Uh, again, still in my mind, this was just a passion project, a hobby I'm doing on the weekends and pretty much one weekend to month I was working, you know, 12 plus hour days, in Wall Street at the time. Didn't have a lot of extra time. So fast forward to Wall Street, crumbling, recession starting. I'm kind of in the heart of it at Fair Stearns. And my idea is, okay, I could do this. I am going to make this a business again. Didn't know about franchising, hadn't even entered my thought. But I went from passion project to I can make this my business. So I did leave, I raised my hand to be laid off when JP Morgan was buying Bear Stears, uh, gave me severance, gave me, um, insurance for a few months. And so that was the plunge I needed to start Taste Bud's Kitchen. So I knew at that point it wasn't just gonna be kids, it was gonna be all ages two to 99. Wasn't just gonna be sweets, it would be all kinds of food. So for those who don't know Taste Buds Kitchen, we are culinary entertainment. So it's a 2000 square foot beautiful kitchen event space where you walk in and you'll cook with us. You book in advance. So you'll either register for a public class, you'll come do handmade pasta, sushi, and dumplings, or for kids. We're doing summer camps, we're doing birthday parties after school classes. Caregiver me weekend classes. And on the adult side of things, corporate events, adult classes, birthday parties, adult events are generally all BYOB. So bring your own beer or wine. So really fun concept. You don't set, we don't sell food, we don't cater food, but you come in. We have fun cooking. So taking us back now to 2008, left Wall Street started at full-time. Um, we didn't rent a space. I used to use restaurants, so we had an Upper East Side location, upper West Side, Tribeca, Brooklyn would work with restaurants who weren't open for lunch. I would rent the space to put on these classes and events then kind of one of my team members actually suggested, Hey, we need a space. We're carrying this KitchenAid Sand Mixers on the subway. This is not sustainable, which I agree. So I'm dot with Bow and I get an idea. I have to do it. So we signed a lease, um, in Chelsea, 1 0 9 West 27th. In 2010, and we are still there today, so 15 years later. Um, and that's really where the model started. I've kind of figured out how I wanted to do it. The different revenue streams and franchising came us later, but I'm sure we'll talk about that in a
Giuseppe Grammatico:Yeah. No, that, that, that is, that, that, that is very interesting. And, and we must have crossed paths, uh, in, in the city because I had left, uh, February, that was January of 2007. So, um,
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Yeah, for sure.
Giuseppe Grammatico:we were, we were probably, uh.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:the same corner because I was right. Three. Three Madison was the Bear Stears building, and I was there
Giuseppe Grammatico:Yeah.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:2003 to two thou. June of 2008 was my last day.
Giuseppe Grammatico:Oh wow. That's, that, that, that, that is crazy. Yeah. We hear a lot, lot of people that just, um, you know, it's a, it's a, well, you can make some good money, but it, it definitely isn't, uh, for everyone. And, uh, I had some, some great takeaways, uh, but I, I'm curious and I talk about it, so no one wants to hear from me anymore. I want, we wanna hear some, some fresh stories. So what did you get out of, out of working for, for Wall Street and, and how did that help you launch? You know, obviously you had this idea, but what did, what did you get from Wall Street? Any takeaways in launching, uh, taste Buds?
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think it taught me how to have a job, really. You know, I, in the summers of college, I was coaching the swim team. I was
Giuseppe Grammatico:Hmm.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:swimming lesson. I was a division one swimmer, so my life was based around swimming and school. So it was really my first largely professional experience. I loved it. I loved numbers. I loved figuring out how things work. I loved the people I worked with. I got a lot of joy out of it, even though it was hard, it was very
Giuseppe Grammatico:Right.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:of my comfort zone, what I was doing. Um, but I think looking back, like. Still friends with my early bosses. You know, thinking back to when I was
Giuseppe Grammatico:Oh, cool.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:right out
Giuseppe Grammatico:Mm-hmm.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:um, was a really great group of people and I think it gave me confidence. I can do this, I can
Giuseppe Grammatico:Right.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:this out, right? I, I've been an employee, I've worked for someone. I generally get how this all works and puts it together and kind of corporate America. And it does pay well. Right? I remember being like, oh, I can just go to nordstroms.com and buy jeans and like, you know, when you're a college kid, you can't do that.
Giuseppe Grammatico:Nope.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:starts to get a little bit easier, right? You have, you know, you're paying rent in New York City and all those things, and it was a big leap to say, okay, all that goes away when I go out on my own. The stability, you know, the structure, you know, and the framework. like this could work, right? And this could change my life. I could do something I'm passionate about that I love that is fulfilling, and I think I can make money doing it. You know me. It's not yet a franchise, not even yet a business. I have to figure this out. I was 26. I was not married. I did not own a home. So, um, it was the time to do it. My dad was definitely the voice in my ear, like, are you sure? You've kind of made it from my perspective, right? You're off my
Giuseppe Grammatico:We had the same parents, I think.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:You're living on your own, right? Like, are you sure? And when I kind of told him my why's and he is like, well then do
Giuseppe Grammatico:Yeah.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Not. When, if not now, Right. So he was very supportive in the end, but there was definitely that are you sure moment. But I had great experience and I think that was a really helpful background that did give me structure, right? And did give me experience. And I did wear a suit every day for seven years. And now I wear jeans every day, right at my best. So I appreciate the wardrobe change as well, but gave me good backgrounds, like
Giuseppe Grammatico:Right.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:numbers,
Giuseppe Grammatico:Mm-hmm.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:I drive Taste Buds kitchen forward. I love food, the kitchen and fun, but I'm like business first. I have numbers first. It has to make sense. I'm KPI driven, so I'm able to take that into a very fun industry where yes, kids are making cupcakes.
Giuseppe Grammatico:It is fun, right? It's fun. It's, it's lively. It's not, it's not a grind. I, I, I really love everything from the branding to just. The kid's having a good time. Something, something you're looking forward to. It's like you don't look forward necessarily, I'm not gonna say in every case going to the doctor, but to see a real, um, a, uh, travel agent where we're going on vacation there, there's a destination there. So, uh, no, that's, that's awesome. And when I say we had the same parents, my, my parents said the same thing, you're making good money. Um, you know, you're, you're gonna start all over to launch a business. Like, do you, do you really wanna do that? Um, and then, and then that gets in your head like, wait, maybe, maybe I, I, I do have it, you know, maybe I should just. Put the, uh, you know, the, the, the noise aside because I, I personally would say I didn't have the best experience, uh, just maybe because, uh, maybe not necessarily the company, but maybe the, the division I was in. So, um, but yes, it, it's hard to leave that, that kind of money. Uh, my aha moment was, uh, the long commute. I, I was a commuter, which did not help the situation, but seeing people telling me I've been, I've been on this bus 20 years and it was an hour commute. Now we're at two and a half hours, and I'm like, it just. They, they did not have some great stories to tell me. And I, and I just pictured myself kind of in their position and I'm like, I, I don't wanna be this happy person sitting on the bus complaining. So, uh, that was my aha moment and I wish I can go back and, and hug them and thank them for those stories, but, uh, never even got their names because they would fall asleep half, uh, midway conversation at 5:00 AM So, um, so that's, that's pretty funny.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:whole, it's a whole other thing on top of the job for sure.
Giuseppe Grammatico:It, it, it. No, it absolutely is. And uh, yeah, and same thing you went from, from, uh, from a suit to, to jeans. I think I have adida shorts on now, but camera only captures here up. So we're, we're good. Um, so no, that, that, that is an interesting journey and I always like to ask those questions because everyone comes from, from different backgrounds and, um, with, with taste buds, you know. My understanding is every franchisor, right, every franchise company has what they kind of see as their franchise avatar, right? Who does well in their business. And sometimes it changes, especially in the, in the intro stages where, where obviously you're well past that. So, you know, ha has the avatar changed at all? And, and who are you looking for now as, as an ideal fit for the, uh, for the brand?
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Yeah, that's a really great question. So I think. are 39 locations,
Giuseppe Grammatico:Mm-hmm.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:14 open. We'll open four more this year. So you are right in that it has changed over time. When we first franchise, um, I just wanted to test that the franchise model would work. When I first decided to franchise, by this point, I met my husband, gotten married,
Giuseppe Grammatico:Mm-hmm.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:looking at expansion options. Did I wanna open a second location in New York City? And ultimately I got excited to research franchising'cause people had asked. You know, would you franchise this concept? Can you teach me how to do it? So when I looked into it, you know, you have the McDonald's in your mind, but you kind of realize, well, there's a lot more to franchising. And I got excited to be a boutique business in the space and to find like-minded individuals like smart, hardworking, engaged owners around the country and help them literally do something they didn't ever imagine was a career, right? Or a job or something they could make money at. initially when we opened. For franchise locations, we opened one or two a year, and our owners were incredibly passionate and found us on Google. You know, we didn't advertise, we didn't put the concept out there. Um, and at that point we were just testing, does this work on the east coast, the west coast, right. Midwest figuring out pricing tiers, everything about the model. And then as we contin, they're still with us today. They're amazing. We just had our oldest franchise renew, which is really exciting. Our second 10 year term. Yes, this is a big milestone. Um, fabulous owner. She now owns two locations. Um, and I think the, the avatar that we've come to form and really our sweet spot. it's good news for people listening, right? You don't need a culinary background. We don't prefer it. Um, and there's a lot of different career backgrounds that will work, right? What we really look for first and foremost is engaged owners.
Giuseppe Grammatico:All right.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:And this isn't in terms of number of hours in a week, it's like, do you wanna, this is pa, are you passionate about this? Do you wanna be engaged and drive this business forward? Right? So engagement is super important. Are you in a good market? Right? So if you're interested in this, you'll talk to Giuseppe. If, if you're not in a good market, you won't even make a past territory check, right. Because we've mapped the country, we have this really great software system where they took our sales from the past 12 months. who our buyer is. We use Experian credit card data to know of the 70 purchasers who purchased Taste Bud's Kitchen, our primary, secondary, tertiary purchasers, and we've mapped where we think we can have really viable locations across the
Giuseppe Grammatico:Oh wow, that's very interesting. Okay.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Very cool.
Giuseppe Grammatico:Yeah.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:we can have 500. Our initial focus is 200 in the next five years. And ideally to do that with 75 franchise owners, we're looking for people who want to be empire builders, right? Who wanna. 1, 2, 3 locations and kind of have their own TBK epicenter, um, for taking advantage of scale and things like that. But what's that's gotten us to is we want our engaged owners, um, who wanna manage the business and who wanna manage the team. We want good business acumen, you know, a strong focus on the customer experience and someone who wants to get out and about and be part of their community.'cause that is a lot of our local marketing effort. Um, and
Giuseppe Grammatico:Right.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:someone who's gonna follow the system, right? Be committed to your own success. We're gonna give you a business in a box, but no business is that easy, right? But we're gonna train you how to do
Giuseppe Grammatico:Mm-hmm.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:how to make it work, and someone that's gonna come in and optimize on the model and execute flawlessly. what we're trying to do and really my number one responsibility I feel like is to grow in a way that we're only awarding franchises to people that meet that profile, right? That kind of fit into the TBK family share that mindset and are excited to, you know, make their own TBK Empire and they're part of the country.
Giuseppe Grammatico:I lo I love that. And 100% right. I mean, it, this is, this is a long-term commitment. I'm assuming you, you said 10 years. So 10 years. And, uh, I, I consider it a marriage and, and you need the right fit. There's no, no reason in, in saying, yeah, it, it's a fit for everyone that has the investment that that's not gonna work. You really need to. Have an expectation of what, what to expect. You have that, that franchise avatar. Um, and I think people forget that. You know, they, they feel, well, I'll just invest in this franchise. Well, the match has to be there and you need to be awarded the franchise, but ultimately, if the fit's not there, it's gonna be a struggle. You know, we,
Jessi Walter Brelsford:you won't enjoy it. We
Giuseppe Grammatico:you
Jessi Walter Brelsford:enjoy it.
Giuseppe Grammatico:enjoy it.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Your, your guests will feel it, but thankfully we don't suffer from that. Most, nearly every candidate that comes my way is so incredibly passionate before I even talk to'em for the first time on the executive call, which is great. So yeah, this sparks a little joy inside. Do you don't know that you had then That's a good sign. I think often I hear, and we mentioned this before we started, uh, recording, is a lot of people come in saying, I, you know, I'd like to open a franchise. I'd like to be a franchise owner, but I don't want food.
Giuseppe Grammatico:Right.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:we end up with Taste Bud's kitchen, Right.
Giuseppe Grammatico:Yes.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:food in the traditional sense. We are cooking classes and parties, but we're not selling food. We don't cater food. Think of it like paint and sip, but with food as our medium, right? So it's very interesting as we've opened, we're not regulated like a restaurant is. We don't use gas. We use electric induction, environmentally friendly, and that really helps on the time to open. Um, as well as different regulations that may apply in your different area. We're about 12 months from signing of the franchise agreement to opening, which is a shorter, definitely lead time than a lot of brick and mortars,
Giuseppe Grammatico:I love that. Yeah. That, and that's, uh, that, that's really important because to your point, don't want food because they're, you know, they think of a lot of turnover. Lots of employees. Yeah.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Bad hours, margins, but our hours are much better, right?
Giuseppe Grammatico:Right.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Wanna come to cooking classes after 9:00 PM and that's late in most parts of the country, right? So. Definitely good hours, especially when schools are out. And we're very economical about our food costs because
Giuseppe Grammatico:Mm-hmm.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:selling the experience. And so we're really cognizant of what goes into the events and to our recipes, making it fun. We teaching tips and tricks. Lots of, you know, different things for different people that they can hold onto in the classes and walk away with something fun, feeling like they learned something new.
Giuseppe Grammatico:Right.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:and laughed along the way. Is the name of the game?
Giuseppe Grammatico:It's an experience. It's, it's, it's something that, uh, and I'm sure there's multiple experiences and different themes. So from a, a staff, uh, standpoint, what, what are you looking at as far as staff? You know, what does that look like for someone that's, uh, that's running a single location?
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Definitely. So when you open, your big key person will be your general manager. We call'em a general manager. Don't think of it like a general manager of a web, of a rep, a restaurant, right? So it's like, um, your lead instructor. This person will generally be full-time. They will teach most of your classes. They will shop for you. They will keep the kitchen clean. They will help you to hire your additional, maybe one more part-time instructor. And a small team of assistants to help with the classes and dishes and keep things going during it. So I'd say most people start in the like five employee range, one that key, full-time, the rest, very part-time, and then you will grow from there in the, you know, 1, 2, 3 years that follow. own the New York City kitchen. We're two kitchens in one facility and I think we're probably the high end. We have the high teens in terms of number of employees, but we are managing two kitchens. Um, and summer camp when it happens, you will hire a separate team just for
Giuseppe Grammatico:Just for that. Gotcha.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:you know, teachers who are off for the summer college kids or other people home who can help put on a 8, 10, 12 week program. Kids love summer camp. We love summer camp, but they kind of bring in a crew just for that. it's, yeah, it's a nice small team. You're gonna empower them, develop them, grow them, be out and about meeting your community, and that's
Giuseppe Grammatico:Awesome. Yeah. And you had mentioned, uh, earlier, you know, having to, you know, really focus and knowing the numbers, and I don't know if you're a fan of, uh, Marcus, uh, Limonis. Um,
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Love him. He came to taste buds,
Giuseppe Grammatico:and, and I actually, that was my, and I don't know what you can share, but on the, was it the fixer, his new.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Profit.
Giuseppe Grammatico:Oh, back when it was the Profit, the previous show. Okay.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:the Pro. So he Did an episode of the Profit. We
Giuseppe Grammatico:Did he?
Jessi Walter Brelsford:theme,
Giuseppe Grammatico:Okay.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:we were like, he was, it was a cheese company I think. So it was, he was having a business meeting and he needed a place to host it and they wanted to do cooking
Giuseppe Grammatico:Really? Okay.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:So the whole film production crew came in and they did an episode for the profit at, well, a little part of one
Giuseppe Grammatico:Right.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:um, at Taste Bud's Kitchen. But
Giuseppe Grammatico:That's funny.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:has been to our kitchen.
Giuseppe Grammatico:I didn't even know that. I'm just, I'm literally watching this show and someone said to him and I, it, it stuck in my head, you know, I'm not a numbers person. And he flipped that and he is like, if you're a business owner, you are a numbers person if you know the,
Jessi Walter Brelsford:I love Marcus.
Giuseppe Grammatico:if you don't know the numbers. So, and they were just, uh, I guess they have a theme. Um, I guess they've been focusing on New Jersey based companies for the, for the Fixer, which is the new, uh, which is the new show.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:No, I would love that.
Giuseppe Grammatico:So, uh, I mean, it's, I'm sure they're, they're recorded for the first season, but I, I thought that was, uh, been waiting a long time for the, for the show to come back. So she and Marcus, if you ever wanna join, we will talk numbers all day long. If, uh, if you're, if you, if you're listening to the show today. Um, I wanna switch gears a little bit because I get this question. So, you know, we work with candidates across the US and Canada and, um, you know, someone had made the, the comment to me. I'm not gonna name brand or the person, I keep everything confidential. But they came back and said, you know what, if, if the brand is so strong and doing so well, why franchise? Um, you know, why, why not just have corporate locations? So we talked about. The differences from owning those corporate locations, the, the, the differences, the di basically the different ways of expanding from licensing to franchising. If you're okay sharing, would, would you mind sharing why you chose the path of franchising? Because I think that'll be super helpful in telling that story.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Yeah, absolutely. So kind of dates back to about 2013 when I first started thinking about franchising. And I had this list, like we said, and it was really, I'm an opportunist, right? I love business, I love the hustle, I love figuring things out. I'm passionate about Taste Buds kitchen. And so I keep trying to make the next right step, but I was at a point in my career and journey where. I'd figured out the revenue streams. I figured out how to run this business. I'd done the hard and scrappy and I was like, okay, what's next? So one option was corporate expansion. Um, either in New York City or you know, beyond. Um, and the other option in the back of my head was, Hey, I have this spreadsheet of 120 people who have reached out and asked me, either they'd been to the kitchen or they emailed and they read about us in press or otherwise. You know, would I teach them how to open a Taste Buds kitchen? And I was like, well, that sounds like franchising. What is this? Right? So I literally read Franchising for Dummies. I went out on this epic search. I'm a, I always like to learn, right? So I'm just, uh, soaking up all the information I can to figure out, and I ultimately got excited. I didn't even think about licensing. I knew that was not for me, right? I, I wanna do it the TBK way, whether that's me doing it myself, or whether that's doing it. Franchising, um. And I ultimately got excited about the growth path of partnering with like-minded people all across the country to bring this to life. And I knew I myself could not do that
Giuseppe Grammatico:Right.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:10 years. I couldn't have, right? I could not have this many locations. I didn't have the capital for it. I didn't have the know-how to do the corporate expansion. nor it wasn't my sweet spot. I, I really got excited about franchising as a way to like, let's meet people all over. Who are smart, passionate, business driven, like the kitchen, like kids, food, Right. Wanna be around this, value this in their own homes, have the capital to do it in great markets, and let's partner together to give them the business model and have them execute on it.
Giuseppe Grammatico:Love.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:it was just research and getting excited about that. And then again, dog with the bone. I have an idea and I wanna be the absolute best at it that I can
Giuseppe Grammatico:Right.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:figure it out. I tell everyone. I did not set out to be a franchisor. It was not in my 10-year-old
Giuseppe Grammatico:Just ha it happened. Right. It just kind of worked. Its YN.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:It really did. And now, you know, I'm. 12 years in trying to be the best franchisor that I can be. Uh, we learn every year, um, trying to keep up our HQ team and grow ahead of the system, and I take it seriously when we have our franchise owners who are investing a large amount of money, right? A lot of their
Giuseppe Grammatico:Yeah, so.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:to meet their dreams. And that's important to me to do the best we can for, you know, every single person in the system. And yeah, ultimately that's how I kind of stumbled upon it, I would say. And have tried to be an avid learner st since, and learn from those that have gone before us and yeah, to be the best we can be in our space.
Giuseppe Grammatico:That's it. And pl, plenty of people have gone the route they've, they've done well. And, uh, that's, that's kind of the point I wanted to, to drive home is that there's no. You know, one size fits all. There's no right or wrong, which is better, which isn't. It depends on how you wanna expand. It depends on what you're looking to do. It depends also on the brand itself. Some of some of the brands, uh, geographically it don't work in certain areas. It due to climates and know, and other variables. So. Or how, um, how, you know, how, uh, spaced out the, uh, you know, is it, is it highly populated? Is it that, do you have that density like you have in New York City or, uh, you know, is it, is it just kind of spread out? So there, there's a lot of things to factor in and there's no right or wrong kind of figure out and work with someone to figure out what you're, how you're looking to expand, you know, get educated on the different options to see kind of which, which is the, the best fit for you. Um. When I, uh, thi this, this is actually something I found interesting. I, and I'd be curious to hear on, on your thoughts. So, uh, I don't remember the, the podcast, but the important part here is that they were interviewing the IFA President, um, current president. And the question that came up, you know, they did a poll, why people, uh, the, in the, does the general public have interest in franchise ownership? So they poll, they did a, a major poll, and this was interesting to me, very interesting. In this day and age, 75% of people came back and said. Yes, I have explored or have an interest in franchise ownership, 75%. That's a, that's three quarters of the people that they interviewed
Jessi Walter Brelsford:bigger than I would expect.
Giuseppe Grammatico:that, and, and I don't, I couldn't tell you all the details and if that was across the country, but it sounded like a national poll in that number. This is the interesting part. So of that, that the, the people, that group of 75% that, that said, yes, we are interested, 75% of them, another three quarters came back and said. You know, you know, why, why didn't you start? And there were plenty of reasons, but the, the most common threequarter, uh, 75% of the reasons were, we don't, we didn't know where to start and they, and they dropped it. Um, what advice would you have to someone who is, and, and most, as we mentioned at the beginning of the show, most our listeners and viewers, our corporate executives, our, uh, military veterans, um, we find that is actually a, a pretty large, uh, percentage here, um, that are listening in. Uh, what advice would you give to someone as to where to start? Because that was actually concerning to me at least, because in this day and age with podcasts and the internet and technology free information, you think you, you, you would not think that would be the number one reason. So I wanted to get your, your feedback and, and your advice.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Yeah. Well, that's a great, great question and that's a great stat. I love knowing that because franchising is a powerful model.
Giuseppe Grammatico:Right.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:that you know it really, it can work very well if the pieces are all aligned. So I'm really thankful for it as a business model and a concept, and I think for all those listening. 75% of of you are interested probably more because you're on this podcast, right? So what is the next step? Absolutely. Listen along. Um, and I think franchising is not for everyone, right? Like you said, you have to wanna come in, follow a model, be profitable, right? And ha have a nice family business that you can then scale and become empire builders and, and all of the like, but I think that that's what I see as my important is make sure we're awarding the Right. candidates. But going back to your question for this. to you, talk to Giuseppe Google research, right? Learn about franchising and, find a brand. I think someone like Giuseppe can tell you, right? You come to him like, Hey, I'm interested in opening a business. What do I do? He's gonna say, okay, what are you interested in? money do you have to spend?
Giuseppe Grammatico:Right.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:do you live, right? And help you navigate to figure out, oh, I should look at these three brands or these five brands. Maybe you love one, maybe you love none, and you go back and say, Hey, I wanna, my investment's actually higher. I wanna look at bigger businesses. I wanna look at brick and mortar, non brick and mortar. I think. He is so well set up, um, and individuals like him to help you, right? To help you navigate. What is that next step when you wanna buy a house, you go to a broker, right? You say, Hey, I wanna do this. So I think that is a really good avenue to figure out what is the right one for you. Um, I would say to anyone. Take the next right step, right? Just keep moving. Figure out what it is you wanna do with your life. I can say from experience, it is hard to leave a good job. It's hard to
Giuseppe Grammatico:Yeah.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:America and the stability, but like, oh my gosh, it's so much better on the other side, you know, like quality of life and flex flexibility. You know, I can take my kids to school every morning
Giuseppe Grammatico:Mm-hmm.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:fit in a kickboxing class at noon every day, whatever is your thing, Right, Married, not married, kids. Not married. Young, old. Um, there is, there is a lot of life to be lived outside of corporate America if it's for you.
Giuseppe Grammatico:Right,
Jessi Walter Brelsford:But you may find, hey, it's not for you too. And all that's part of the journey and the discovery that I think we're all on. But I would say take the next right. step, Right. Kind of learn more, figure out if you're that 75% of the population. don't wanna leave that stone unturned and be like, Hey, I always wanted to learn more, but I never, you know, took the initiative to actually learn more about it. So I would say reach out and see if then franchising could be a good fit, and then at least you'll know you'll not be the 75% of the
Giuseppe Grammatico:Right.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:that never acted on it.
Giuseppe Grammatico:I wanna lower that stat. My goal is to, is to squash that stat and not squash it, but lower that, that number because that is, uh, that is crazy. And I, and I appreciate the, uh. Um, those words and we're, we're always happy to help. But I, I would also add, you know, um, you know, why, why the heck do you even want a business? You know, hating a job is not a good reason necessarily for owning to be a business owner. We'll just call it business ownership. But you should educate yourself and understand, like it is absolutely amazing. I became a soccer coach and I have not missed a soccer game, and that started at age four. My son's, uh, just is gonna actually gonna be 18 in November.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:It's amazing,
Giuseppe Grammatico:what, so that, that, that, that's success. People say, well, success is measured. Well, it's hard to measure. Everything isn't numbers right there. There's, there's quality of life and things like that. So everyone's why and everyone's reason. Um, it, it's not just about money. It's it's flexibility as you mentioned, being able to travel and, and do the things you want and not have to be at your desk and report to a boss. So really figuring it out. And then I'm gonna repeat myself. Know your numbers, you need money. To invest in any business. So make sure that you have your finances. So if you decide to leave the job that either you like or, or dislike, uh, who's paying your, your rent or your mortgage, your student loans and, and, uh, buying food, you know, have, have that, that buffer, have that those savings aside, but you know, you owe it to yourself to, if you don't wanna speak with me, speak with another franchise owner, talk to them.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Exactly. Get, get knowledge. I totally agree with that and I think that's a good thing on numbers to mention too, is like you don't have to have it all figured out right
Giuseppe Grammatico:Right,
Jessi Walter Brelsford:first interested, like we'll help you with funding, you probably have funding recommendations. There are many ways to fund a business, right? So misnomer, you don't have to have all the cash on handle, though. Some people do, right? But there are funding options for well qualified candidates, so don't let again that be a deterrent. Oh, I don't know how I'll fund
Giuseppe Grammatico:right.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:not gonna get started. Right? If you think that you have the means to make this happen. You know, um, people like Giuseppe can help you figure this out, Right, What are the different pieces I need? How does this work? How long does it take? Do I still work while I'm starting
Giuseppe Grammatico:right.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:is yes, Right, Generally it takes us 12 months, so people are keeping their job throughout construction and site selection and some even beyond.
Giuseppe Grammatico:Mike. Good point.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:every brand is different in what's expected of the owner, the capital needed. So these are all the things that you can talk through and figuring out, Hey, would this be good for me and my family?
Giuseppe Grammatico:Yeah, lay, lay it all out. And, uh, I, I could tell you from experience, I had someone say to me, well, I only have 10 thou. Uh, no, I forget what the number was. It was 30 or 40,000 in savings. And then we dug a little bit deeper and they had money in retirement from a, from an old job. And they're like, well, I didn't, you know, you, you know, you can't use retirement to purchase a, you know, a franchise. And I said, actually, you can. There's, there's an actual process. So, so sometimes don't, don't, I always say, don't assume, you know, have, have the conversation and, uh, figure out, because just because you have access doesn't mean you're comfortable with it or if it's a good fit, but it's good to at least have those options so you can decide with whoever's gonna be involved in that business. Uh, and I, and I jokingly say the, the best piece of advice I can give to anyone listening. Is, let everyone know why you're doing this. Let the family know. Don't buy a a if you're married, don't buy a franchise and don't, you know, not tell the the spouse until after the fact. Have all parties engage if you have kids. Our, our kids were, uh, we found out my wife was, was pregnant three days after buying my first franchise. So that was,
Jessi Walter Brelsford:right?
Giuseppe Grammatico:that was our, that was our motivation. But. If you have little kids, uh, or just in general, anyone living in the house will let'em know, this is what we're doing. It's gonna be a busy time. It may be a lean time that first year in getting the business up and running, but you know, you know not to, not to cause any kind of friction. Let everyone know why you're, why you're doing this, and. Maybe incorporate them, maybe involve them in, into the business. Um, in, in a role we had someone right now looking at a brand and the, and the kids wanna get involved at some capacity, whether it be marketing or, uh, you know, making, uh, the frozen yogurt or the donuts.'cause we're looking at a few different concepts. So, um, you know, you can get, you can get them involved, see what that looks like and paint a couple different pictures because they may not wanna be involved, but it's good to. At least present it in that way. Um, yeah, it's, uh, it, it, it's, it's definitely interesting. And those stats, we'll, we'll, we'll get the next time we speak, we're gonna get those stats, uh, lower now,
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Yeah, I love what you just said and, and I would reiterate that we do that first time I talk to every candidate and like, you know, interested in learning more about Taste Buds is the executive call. And one of the first questions I ask them is, what does your family feel about this?
Giuseppe Grammatico:Right.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Right. Hopefully we have a lot of husband and wife team, so normally it's both of them on which I love. If it's not both of them on, I'm like, what does everyone else think? This is not a one person decision. It takes a family, it takes a village, and it's a really good spot check, right? What are the people closest to you, whether they are friends or family, how do they feel about this for you? Do, can they see you doing this? know, do they have support? Do they wanna be involved? We have, you know, people have had babies while owning Taste Buds kitchens, they have high schoolers, they have kids in college, we have grandparents. Right. So we have the whole gamut. And their families are largely involved whether their kids are, you know, learning the hustle, being doing dishes in the back. Or their little kids are coming to camp and they're having their birthdays at Taste Buds, or it's like their grandkids and their grown kids are working with them. So specifically a Taste Buds kitchen. But in general, it's definitely, some people see it as legacy business. Some people just really wanna get their kids involved, show them the value of hard work, show them that you can do something different. You can follow your dreams. So Yeah. I love the family aspect of
Giuseppe Grammatico:Let's.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:It's changed my life really. I mean, my husband and I, we moved to Maryland. Um. We work harder than you can imagine, but it doesn't feel like work to me. I
Giuseppe Grammatico:Right.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:I really do enjoy it. I like what we're building and. Feel really proud of the company we built. We have 11 people at hq, which is a dream. So we're really trying to grow ahead of the demand and make sure we have the infrastructure to sustain. And that's part of building a good, good culture and, you know, a good organization for us. But, um, my sister has worked with us in the past, like my dad helped drive up cabinets and we were first opening the kitchen. It is a family business. Um, my great-grandmother bought our first oven.
Giuseppe Grammatico:Oh wow.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:she literally wrote me a check and, um, Anna, we still have it, but yeah, it's, it's, it's very, very cool part of life if your family can be involved in
Giuseppe Grammatico:Awesome.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:each and every day,
Giuseppe Grammatico:I I like to hear that.'cause we're not on those calls, so it's good. It's good to know that these questions are, are being brought up because they're, they're important. You know, sometimes we kind of glance over, yeah, everyone's fine with it, but it's good to have those
Jessi Walter Brelsford:like, no, no, no.
Giuseppe Grammatico:Yes.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:more than that. Who was fine with this? The key players. Right. Especially if you're husband, wife, or partner, partner, any kind of team are both players on the same page about
Giuseppe Grammatico:Agree
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Right? Very important.
Giuseppe Grammatico:Yep. You got, you gotta be and you gotta be not Yeah. They're on, on the same page. No, let's get on.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:I gotta hear it from their voice that they're good with
Giuseppe Grammatico:Pro prove it. I don't want, I don't want just an email. I wanna, I wanna see the person, I wanna see, I wanna see their face. I wanna, because sometimes they, you know, concerns will come up or questions will come up, and you wanna make sure everyone is gonna be, um, you know, okay with it. Everyone's comfortable with it. And I, and I think that goes a long way. So that's, that's, uh, I preach that all the time. Um, I don't know, I hope everyone follows that advice, but I think that's, uh, that, that's crucial in my opinion. Um. What, what would you say, so there's, there's a lot of listeners out there, you know, what's the best piece of advice? Um, and maybe it's something we, we already talked about that you have received, um, that you'd like to share, because that's a big part of this too, is kind of, you know, we talked about where to start. We talked about making sure everyone's on board. But, um, and again, it could be reiterated, but what, what is the best piece of, of business advice that you have received in your, throughout your entire career?
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Oh, that's a great question. Um, I have had so many mentors and so many people generously lend their skills and, and time and efforts. I think. I don't know if it's business advice as much as role models, which I've then tried to emulate would be like in business. Um, my grandfather and my dad have been great role models in how this works. Both had corporate jobs. They would do side businesses on top of it. Never franchising, but you know, always in the hustle, always trying to figure it out. Um, and I think for my grandfather, he was good with the numbers. He would do math in his head, right? We would just do problems to each other all the time. But he was a fun leader and he was someone that people liked to be with and he made the work fun. He was laughing and part of it and serious at the same time. But I feel like. really what I've tried to take from seeing how he did it. And he just passed away in March, but was a very
Giuseppe Grammatico:I hear that.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:figure in my life for a long time. Um, and my dad is all about process and numbers and like making sure that. this works and you know, being the spot check. Um, and I think both of those things, while not advice, just learning from those, you know, people in my family is very important to me. Um, uh, has really been helpful and that's what I try to do. I mean, my advice I give to all of our franchisees is to be gritty. Be scrappy,
Giuseppe Grammatico:Love it. No.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:it's gonna take to make this work, right? The model's here, but it has to be run and I, think grittiness and scrappiness. Is just that tenacity and the hard work to carry it through and to do what it is you set out to do. It's not gonna be easy, right? Do not expect franchising or anything to write a check and pay for it and have things fall into line. That is just not life. But I, I see no, as like a soon to be, yes, I keep asking until it does become a yes. And having that, I think grit and scrappiness and anything you do is important.
Giuseppe Grammatico:I, yeah, I, you said I could, I couldn't say it any better. And you're the second person. Uh, recently I talked about Great. There's actually a, uh, Ted talk and I forget, uh, I have to share with you. I, I cannot remember who did the talk, but. Someone had just talked about it, and I'll, I'll definitely share that with you after the show. We'll throw it in the, uh, in the show notes. But grit was, it was like the best word. If there was one word, if someone said, come back and, and give us advice, or one, one piece, one word that is kind of the, the, the word that stands out to be successful and grit, you know, that, that really nailed it. That kind of just, you could talk about determination, you can talk about, you know, patience, persistence, but grit was the one that really stood out. So I'm, I'm glad. I'm glad,
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Yes.
Giuseppe Grammatico:I'm glad you brought that up.'cause that that was pretty cool. Um, fun fact. You remember what you put in the form.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:I do not, but I'm six one,
Giuseppe Grammatico:I, I I, I, I, I, I was gonna give you a, I'm five, I'm five eight on a good day. Five, seven maybe today, so,
Jessi Walter Brelsford:And you know, it's so funny because our franchise owners and anyone, I mean, my friends obviously see and know me, but franchise owner, a lot of it is, you know, like this
Giuseppe Grammatico:right.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:format
Giuseppe Grammatico:the same height. Yeah. We're, uh,
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Yeah. And they're like, oh my God. And my husband's six five,
Giuseppe Grammatico:oh, wow.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:six eight, like we have an enormous family.
Giuseppe Grammatico:Okay.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:I'm just very tall is my fun fact. And he would not know that until we met in person.
Giuseppe Grammatico:So, so, so really high ceilings at Taste buds are, are we,
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Yeah, we do a lot. That's so funny you say that because sometimes we'll put in, you know, the drop ceiling, but we prefer the big open
Giuseppe Grammatico:right.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:reasons, but it, that's what we say about our tables. They work for two year olds and for our six one founder, right. So our
Giuseppe Grammatico:That's funny.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:adjust whether you're two year olds you're cooking with or corporate date nights, uh, work Taste buds, kitchen works for everyone.
Giuseppe Grammatico:I got, I gotta, uh, if you have, uh, well, you know where I live now, so I'm curious. We have to find a, a location because I'm, I've been, uh, meeting to visit if there's one, uh, nearby and, and just really get the, uh, the full experience.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:in New Jersey,
Giuseppe Grammatico:Okay.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:that's very exciting. We have, um, obviously one open in New York City. If you're in New York City, definitely go visit Taste Bud's Kitchen. And we have five in development on Long Island, so a lot in this general area and one coming in Connecticut. So still a lot of availability in that kind of general New York City metro area, um, and kitchens across the country. So anyone listening wants to just experience what we offer, you can go to taste buds kitchen.com, find your local kitchen, and find out their upcoming schedule.
Giuseppe Grammatico:And that was my next question, you know, where, where, where everyone can find you, learn a little bit more about the brand, uh, directly to the website. Um, got some information there, overview where you're, uh, where you're open. Um, I'm very, uh, excited to, uh, to, to, to go to a grand opening and, and, and check one out myself. Uh, anything we didn't talk about? You know, anything that you, you'd like to, we talked about Best piece of advice, anything that, you know, maybe we didn't mention, uh, for, for everyone listening in and, and, and maybe we covered it all, but I, I like to.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:No, I, I think the only thing I would add, and I think we have touched on it, but what to me is so special about Taste Bud's Kitchen, and I'm sure other brands is like you can be successful doing something you're passionate about, and that's like my P-S-A-F-Y-I to people I, talk with who are maybe like, oh, well I'm making good money, but it's a. Or like, I love what I do and I'm barely scraping by, right? Like we want there to be a happy medium where you can be very passionate about it, but the numbers and sense can make sense, and it's just a really fun business to run. So whether it's this or something else for you, right? This isn't gonna be for everyone. I think that passion and. Profits. That's the purpose of our summit. We have an annual summit where all of our franchise owners come to Maryland. It's in September, starts the end of the month, and our theme is passion, process, and profit. So like all of those things can and should collide and you should search and really try to find that for you, whether it's franchising or not corporate, you know, whatever it is. But those things should be able to align and that I think is a really good sign, like you said, of you've made it or you know, quality of life or what's important to. you that. You can hopefully, I mean, no one can have it all, but those three things can align.
Giuseppe Grammatico:I, I like that because, you know, and actually that's a very important point that we didn't talk about was the passion piece, and sometimes it's the brand itself. Um, that provi, you know, you, you could be passionate about the offering. In some cases there are some, maybe not so sexy brands that, uh, maybe the passion piece comes from that vehicle and that vehicle is so turnkey that you're home more for the kids.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:absolutely.
Giuseppe Grammatico:Maybe not passionate about the, the widget as, as I call the product or service. Uh, but what brand itself, you know, what, what brand actually am I, can I be passionate about and, and have fun, have fun with the kids, you know, teach them something new, work with the community and things like that. Um, that's a very good point, because sometimes the, the, the, the brand itself is not what the franchisees is passionate about. It's the outcome from that vehicle, if that makes sense.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Yeah, for
Giuseppe Grammatico:but, but, but that's a very good point because I, um, and that's actually, I'm, I'm actually really glad you had brought that up because that is, uh. That's a very important part of the process is that, you know, what are you passionate about? Can you know what is, and sometimes it's just the role you have in the actual business itself. Uh, maybe you're not, you know, so maybe you're, you're out there networking more than you're actually in the not, you know, so maybe you're, you're out there networking more than you're, you're a lot more present. And, um, that passion is really coming through. So that, that is very, uh, important. Now, Marcus talks about what is it, Process people, product is a pro process people product you, you threw three, you threw, you had, uh, three different Ps.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:too. You're right.
Giuseppe Grammatico:I think it was pro, I think it was a process people, pro product. Um, if I'm not mistaken, and yours was, what were your three Ps?
Jessi Walter Brelsford:our people, process and product.
Giuseppe Grammatico:People, process, product, yep.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Thank you Google. Ours are, um, passion, and profit,
Giuseppe Grammatico:Okay. So,
Jessi Walter Brelsford:we're here at the summit, so we have the people. Right. But a big theme is. Growing teams and empowering your general manager and really teaching people, yes, the TBK way, but how to be
Giuseppe Grammatico:hmm.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:bosses, how to be better leaders, how to be better, you know, in your field, in your industry. And I tell all of our franchise owners this, which is exciting. Hopefully every year you're running the biggest business that you've ever run. It's been definitely been the case for me. And that comes with learning new skills and, you know, being prepared for the challenges ahead and in a good way.
Giuseppe Grammatico:And this is, by the way, for everyone listening in, um, getting to speak with Jessi. These are, you know, when someone says, what are the advantages of a franchise? We talk about sometimes. Okay. Specifically the economies of scale and finding your location, and that's all important. But what about the big picture stuff, right? It, it's, it's growing, it's, it's, it's, you know, growing your, the value enterprise building. What are you trying to create? And, and, and maybe it's that legacy that you could pass down to the family. Uh, what happens when you're, when you're stuck or. You know, maybe the margins aren't where, where they should be, or you're having issues with, uh, retaining employees. These are all the things that a, a, a franchisor can support you with and assist you. I always say if you have, if you have issues that franchisor, yes, they have figured out, but that doesn't mean it's, it's perfect. That doesn't mean you, you won't have, maybe you make a, a poor hire. Maybe it just wasn't your fault. That just something happened in that, in that person's life. You know what, what to do in that situation, and that's the advantage of. You know, a, a a a good, or I should say a great franchise company. And by the way, not all franchises are built the same, but it's a company that has that great culture and, and the support system. Uh, and you'll learn that from, directly from, you know, someone like yourself talking to a founder, but also talking to franchisees and, and getting a good feel, uh, on their culture, on the support that they're getting. Uh, this is, again, a long-term relationship. So you wanna do that research and really connect. Uh, and understand where is the brand going, where, how does the, the brand support me? Uh, and these are all crucial aspects and crucial parts of, of the due diligence process. And, uh, this has been super helpful and I, you know, I, you know, sometimes I forget to ask questions. So that, that, that, that passion piece was huge. And, uh, I'm glad, I'm glad we, we snuck that in. I wish it was sooner, but, uh, that was, uh, I'm really glad you, uh, glad you brought that up. So, uh, again, uh, website for anyone that wants to check out your company.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Taste buds kitchen.com and there's a franchise page, learn about franchising and all of our other, where we are, state cities and actually class calendars to. Sign up for a summer camp, although that season's just ending in the fall. It's birthday parties, corporate events, adult classes, all the way down to our, you know, I have 4-year-old twins. My other fun fact, boy, girl, but we have little cla, you know, two to eight year olds. They're learning about ingredients and textures and colors, and literally making everything from scratch. A taste buds. It's always from scratch so that you can have a lot of fun doing it. Whether you're interested in opening your own or not, just experience it and having a fun memory for your family.
Giuseppe Grammatico:Awesome. This was great. I, I really, really, really appreciate you coming on the show. I know you're, you're busy there with the family and the business, but it sounds like, uh, you know, everything is going well, really impressed with the, uh, with the, uh, the franchise model. And, uh, looking forward maybe when you have, when we have you back on, we'll, uh, we'll, we'll, we'll help with those stats and, uh, now, now people are gonna be overly educated. Uh, on business and franchise ownership to make that decision a lot easier. So, uh, thanks again. Uh, I really appreciate your time and, uh, looking forward to our, our next call.
Jessi Walter Brelsford:Yeah. Thanks for having me.
Giuseppe Grammatico:Thank you.
Thanks for tuning in if you want to learn how to make the transition from corporate to owning your franchise. Join Giuseppe on the next episode. You can also follow on all social media platforms and achieve financial and time freedom today.
