How she became the CEO of the entire company | Businessman

In 2020, Just Between Friends was facing a crisis. It’s an event-based business, which meant that it was particularly hard hit by COVID. Meanwhile, the husband of one of its founders became seriously ill, so she had to step back from day-to-day operations.

The company began looking for a president to take over — and Tracy Panase was sure she would be considered. She was, after all, the brand’s top franchisee. Three of its four branches were among the company’s top 10 earners nationally. She would make the perfect president, she thought. But they never heard back from her.

Panase choked on it. Then she discussed it with her husband.

“Did you raise your hand?” he asked her.

“No, no,” she realized. She assumed that her hard work and success would speak for themselves, but she never expressed her ambitions. That was a crucial lesson for her: If you want something, you have to step up and express it. You have to raise your hand.

So she did. She reached out to the company’s co-founder, Shannon Wilburn. What followed was an 18-month conversation about how Panase could have done more than become president. Instead, she managed to buy the entire company and become CEO.

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Franchises are often sold to private equity firms or investors, not franchisees. But this move suits the brand well. Just Between Friends is community-oriented: Its franchisees host local consignment sales where they invite neighbors to sell their used clothes. It works because communities come together. So shouldn’t the Just Between Friends brand be sold between friends as well?

In 2022, the company officially took over Panase. But when she started, she made the same mistake she had made before: She thought that because she was a franchisee, her brand’s franchisees would immediately trust her to be the CEO. Instead, franchisees had questions and concerns. Panase realized he would have to speak again.

“The first thing I did was visit 10 different major metropolitan areas around the country,” she says, “where we had casual but intentional conversations about the mayors of the franchisees, and that was amazing.”

She called it a “Better Together” roadshow, meeting franchisees face-to-face and listening to their concerns. It was so successful that she did it again this year, but with a focus on retail franchises. “I’m going to continue to do that every year because that’s the number one thing in franchising — building those relationships and building trust with the franchisees.”

Now he’s thinking ahead. Just Between Friends has more than 150 locations and is looking to grow to more than 200 in all 50 states. But he knows he won’t achieve this goal through his own efforts alone—it will require each franchisee to take initiative and contribute to the larger mission. That means he needs every franchisee to raise their hand, speak up and share what’s on their mind. After all, success is not just about hard work. It’s about knowing when to step in and say, “I’m ready.”

“I think it’s a great reminder for all of us that you have to verbalize what you want,” Panase says.

Related: I’ve seen how unscrupulous franchisors can ruin people’s lives. Here’s how the best franchises grow, find the right franchises and thrive together

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