Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to Create Wealth Through Franchising. I'm your host, Kim Daly.
Whether you're a CEO, a military vet, a real estate investor, or simply in career transition and ready to take ownership of your future, with each episode, you're going to learn valuable insights and hear inspiring stories from within the franchise industry.
On that note, my guest stories are their own. And as a franchise consultant, I do not make personal brand endorsements or earnings claims, but I do educate, motivate, and inspire dreams.
Now onto the show.
[00:00:44] Speaker B: Welcome back to Create Wealth Through Franchising podcast and Kim Daly tv. In my studio today, a woman who emailed me asking to be my guest, which I freaking love. And I'm going to paraphrase one of the very introductory emails she sent to me, something like, here's my story. The scary part of, you know, 60 seconds of writing a scary check is nothing compared to the thrilling adventure of building and exiting a franchise business. I was like, who is this woman? Get her in my hot seat. And so today I get to introduce Casey Catala from Atlanta, Georgia. She is a former Massage Heights franchisee and she is here to wow us with her amazing story of going from medical device sales to franchisee to exiting and now building and owning a mastermind. Casey, welcome to the hot seat. Welcome to Kim Daly tv.
[00:01:42] Speaker C: Thank you so much for having me. And yes, I took 60 seconds of nerve to email you because I've been following your content for a while, even when I was a franchisee. I love your authenticity and just the clarity that you put around business ownership. You take the scaries out of it for a lot of people. And I'm just honored to be on your podcast. And thanks for having me. Yeah, I think the first email I sent you was, hey, I went from medical device sales. I have a very similar story. Right. So I was in corporate. I was, you know, came over work, was crying in my car, sitting in my driveway, eating my Chick Fil A before I went in the house, and just like, oh, I'm just so burnt out. I'm so tired. In medical sales, you know, I was in an industry where I was making great money, great benefits. I was really good at it. You hear people in that industry called the golden Handcuffs because you feel like you're meant for more, but you've got it so good. And I was starting over every month in my sales. I mean, there was no contracts. I would get these hospital system accounts and then I would have them, and then anybody could come in and take it from me. You know, I kept clients I had good retention, but I had lost a client. I was like, gosh, I'm just so tired. And I've always loved wellness. I've always loved massage. I was a member of Massage Heights for a few years and I always talked about it. I was like, oh, I really want to own this massage and we need this. And you know, I talked and talked and talked to death about it. And I got to the point where my friends were like, are you going to do something or not? And they were like, are you trying to talk us into doing it or are you going to do it? And I just came in, you know, my husband is an immigrant, first generation, owns a company here, and I just look at them and I said, you know, if someone can move to this country and navigate the red tape of licensing and permits and all that, then I can do it too. And it just was a really bad day at work. And I just said, you know, I'm doing this already been to Discovery Day and got out my checkbook, 60 Seconds of Courage, wrote that I think it was 50,000 ish dollars, dropped it in the mailbox and was like, all right, we're doing it. But yeah, it's a really exciting time.
[00:03:55] Speaker B: Yeah, it's amazing. So you were a member of the brand, so you were familiar with it. So when you were thinking about making this change, did you look at any other options or did you just say, if I'm doing it, that's what I want to do?
[00:04:09] Speaker C: I had a consultant that was very good and holding my hand and putting concepts before me that I was like, eh, maybe you've heard that term. It's like the most profitable businesses are not sexy. They're junk removal and things like that. And I was like, I just can't get behind that. I was looking at different things, but nothing resonated in my gut, in my heart. There was a piece of me that, yes, I wanted the financial freedom and the flexibility and things like that, but there was a piece of me that was like, I really want to do good things for the world. I want to make people feel better. And I have a master's in psychology. And I loved that. I thought about going into that field, but I was like, I want to make people feel better. And I was already a member. And I was, you know, probably the most annoying client that they had because I would ask so many questions of the business when I came in. Who owns it? How many members do you have? What does it look like? What's the business model? So I knew it very well. And I was in there for a massage all the time.
[00:05:06] Speaker B: So then you sign your franchise agreement and you're building a brand new store from the ground up, or did you walk into an established business for sale?
[00:05:14] Speaker C: No. So what are the two things? It was the really bad day at work that pushed me, but also there was a rumor of the other franchisees that owned Buckhead and Brookhaven that they were going to take Decatur. And I was living in Decatur, Georgia. It just so happened. You know, I believe in synergy and the universe gives you signs. And they were tearing down an old building and they put up the round said, you know, new community coming here, new shops. And I kept looking at it and I said to myself, I was like, I can't ride past that every day with FOMO knowing that could have been mine. And so it was two things. I had a sense of urgency because I didn't want them to take it. I had a really bad day at work. I went into a brand new build it from the ground up, which I don't think I would do again. I would go for a second generation space because that was tough. You know, we'd just gotten engaged, we were getting married, we were planning a wedding, and we had all that going on at one time.
[00:06:08] Speaker B: Well, you know what, that's how life works, though. It's because you are probably in that growth mode of I'm getting married and I'm changing my life, that you're so dissatisfied.
[00:06:17] Speaker C: Right.
[00:06:18] Speaker B: Because everything is like moving and you have momentum and positive over here in your life and then over here you feel stuck or stagnant. And so it's like something has to give. And so we know internally that we were made for goodness. We were made to be happy. And so I think that when one part of our life starts to improve, oftentimes like when people go on weight loss journey, like other things in their life will improve, like they'll leave relationships that were unhealthy or like. Right. Like, I think it's probably that same thing that was driving you. And I love that you're like, I can't have FOMO because I'm going to drive by this location, you know, one mile from my house and be like every single day and be reminded of what I could have done had I had the courage.
[00:06:57] Speaker C: I was also coming up in my mid-30s, you know, my mid-40s. Now there's something that happens to you in your mid-30s, and it's almost like this. I don't want to wake up and be 70 and go. I never tried. And I also, for me, the most valuable thing to me is my time being a franchisee. The money was great. I'm not disputing that. The time I got in my life and with my baby, we signed on to do the business, started the build out, had a wedding in 2016, had a baby in 2019, moved, hit a pandemic in 2020, recovered in 2022, sold it in 2024, started a new company just this year.
[00:07:41] Speaker B: It's been a whirlwind. So take us back to launching the business. Let's talk about some of the life lessons that you learned that made you want to be on my show to inspire other people. Like, what is the story in there really for you? What did you learn about yourself or about business ownership that is just inside of you that you want to share?
[00:08:02] Speaker C: Well, I learned trust that you are already overqualified for what you think you can't do. And you don't know that until you get in to the situation and you see other people that are doing it better than you and you see other people as raw as it sounds, that are doing it not the right way, and you fall in the middle and then you learn and you start to be towards the top and you're playing with the A players. But I didn't have that confidence because I was like, I'm not wealthy. I didn't come from a wealthy family. But gosh, I mean, if you need some inspiration, go to a gas station. I always tell people, because all my friends and family come to me and they go, I'm looking at this franchise concept. What do you think? Or I'm going through this ftd. Tell me what to look for. And I'm finding myself doing some coaching and consulting on the side to help other people become franchisees.
And I love that work because I truly believe that if I could do it, anybody can do it. I want to help people stand in that power, that they can do it. And I say go to a gas station and look at the people that own a gas station. They usually, sometimes they don't speak the language. They're not from this country. They moved here. They are running fuel. Gas. You know, they're dealing with vendors for fuel. And then they got a zillion snacks and a ton of inventory and hourly employees and overhead. And if those people can do it, by God, we can do it. I've talked to a lot of corporate employees now that are like, I really want to own a franchise. Whether they Want to leave their corporate job and do it full time or keep it and have an investment. I'm like, you can. You already have the skills.
[00:09:45] Speaker B: It is such a great point. I spend a lot of time reading personal development books and studying, like, you know, why the people who are the wealthiest or the most successful or have the most amount of prosperity, however that's defined, like what sets them apart and the difference between good and great. If that's great, most of the world is good, right? What's the difference? Most of the differences, they dared to believe in themselves and they found the courage to act on their dreams like everybody's dreaming. The difference is just that some people are willing to take a risk and believe in their dreams. And I 100% agree with you. Having ushered thousands of people down the franchise exploratory path over the last two decades of my life, watching people go on and be successful, watching people be average, watching people come back and say, it didn't work for me, I know this to be a fact. It is not having an mba. It is not having prior business ownership experience. It is nothing that is external to the owner that drives success. What drives success is already inside of you. It's that gut feeling of, I'm going to figure this out. That's why, if I ask franchisors, what's the most important characteristic you're looking for? So many times I hear the word grit, I've made videos on that. Right? What does that even mean? What do you think it means? It means you have hustle in you. It means you're willing to get in there and get dirty and get gritty. If it gets challenging, you're not going to quit. That's what it means. Right. And that's what you need inside of you, which is already inside of you. If you have that feeling that you're made for more and you just can't spend one more day for somebody else's dream.
[00:11:37] Speaker C: Yeah. And two, I think a lot of it is grit. I saw some of your content come out the other morning about working on your energy and working on your mindset. And a lot of us do that. You know, we exercise in the morning, do something difficult because it sets the level of stress for the day. Right? Your tolerance. We get in the right mindset, we manifest, we do things and the grip piece comes in because Steph will come along and knock you off, off your kilter and you're like, oh, I got to deal with this, right? I got to put out this fire or something happens that's disappointing. But you take a minute and work through your process and for everybody that's different. You know, I have a friend that's a really successful entrepreneur and he's like, if I'm wearing black clothes, I go put on the brightest clothes and I open the windows and I take 15 minutes and I get out of my state. And then I'm like, all right, let's do this again. And there's that. But then I also think in franchising you've got to have some humbleness because a lot of times you're coming into a business where you are were an expert in medical device, I felt very good at it. But you have to be humble enough to say teach me, help me learn. Because I always say I had no clue. I think of things I did in the early stages of being a franchisee. I'm like, why did I do that? That was such a bad decision. And now I'm like for free. I'll tell you. Don't do this. Because a lot of us that are business owners, we really have no clue. We're just learning and going along and with a vision and a dream of like, this is what I want for myself, this is what I want for my people, this is what I want for my family, this is what I want for my community.
[00:13:07] Speaker B: And I think that's a misnomer because so many people think in franchising it's tried and true. What do you mean you had no clue? Wasn't there somebody there to teach you or tell you?
[00:13:17] Speaker C: A lot of my stuff revolves around people hiring people. I had never hired people before, I'd never fired people before and I had to learn that. I had no clue sometimes how to handle those situations. It's almost like going to college and you have all these people around you and then you get in your small group. And I had a lot of really good friends in Massage Heights that we would run things off of and like, hey, I'm thinking about this and thinking about that because with the co employment laws, franchisors can't really help you with people and comp plans and things like that. And I had to learn a lot of that from my colleagues and a lot of that I share forward. I'm like, hey, this is how I handle that situation because it happens to all of us. It doesn't matter if we're running small businesses or some of the people that are in my mastermind group. I mean they're running multi, multi big global businesses and we all kind of have the same business challenges, and we all come together, we put our egos at the door and we say, this is what I'm dealing with. Help me innovate. Help me think of this in a new way.
[00:14:17] Speaker A: Hey, Daily Coach fans, if you're loving this episode, please do me a quick favor and leave me a five star rating and a short review. Your feedback fuels my growth and rankings and shows others that this podcast is valuable. Now back to the show.
[00:14:35] Speaker B: Can you imagine having stepped out of your corporate job into entrepreneurship versus franchisepreneurship? Like, where do you have the greatest gratitude for what your franchisor provided for you versus if you were out there, like on your own as an entrepreneur?
[00:14:51] Speaker C: So both. I have an interesting perspective because I was a corporate employee, right? And then I was a franchisee, and I really love the support of a franchisor. When I sold my location, I kind of cashed out and said, I'm ready to do something different. I have a young child, you know, he's five. I want to spend time with him. And I was like, I'm going to take some time off. In the meantime, I run up on a really, really strong partnership with a developer that does E Bikes, right? And so my husband is from Finland, and this developer says, hey, we are trying to get this brand out into Finland and Sweden and we don't have anyone there selling well. We also have a business relationship with a warehouser there, right? So we start talking to him, we bring in other partners, and the next thing you know, we have five of us that have formed a company called Kafa E Bikes. It stands for Kentucky, Atlanta, Finland Alliance. It's me and four partners. We started a distributorship for these E Bikes. And that is a true startup. Meet multiple meetings a week and there's no one sending me a pop kit. There's no one creating a website. There's no one doing our social media strategy. We are literally creating it from scratch in two different languages because they speak Finnish and I speak English and I'm from Kentucky and three of them are in Finland. And of course, my husband's a partner and he's here in Atlanta. And every week something happens where I go, you know what? If I was a franchisee, they would have done that for me. So I have a really interesting perspective on both. And I know a lot of people that started up and failed. I know a lot of people that started franchising and they failed. And I know a lot that have won on both sides.
[00:16:32] Speaker B: What do you think is the biggest determining Factor of success or failure, in either case, entrepreneurship or franchisepreneurship, being honest.
[00:16:41] Speaker C: About what you really can take on. And when I talk to people now, I tell them, I say, okay, you want to own this med spa? You want to own this dog grooming? You want to own a Jimmy John's? Think about your best day and think about your worst day, and think about what's your tolerance for your worst day. And really, I'm a big quality of life person. Because I'll tell you, one of the hard things about having Massage Heights was that it was open seven days a week and we had 30 employees. That is tough, because even if I wasn't there, which I wasn't there a lot, I had a manager running it, but it had brain space in my brain, and it's never off. And that was hard. So I tell people, think about, what are the hours? How many employees? What do they look like? What do they sound like? What do you think about them when you're not there? What are you going to be doing? And help them really see that and make sure that it's going to make them happy in the long run. Some of the people I'm talking to, it's like, they're me 10 years ago, and I love that they're nice.
[00:17:43] Speaker B: I have two more questions for you. One about competition and massage space.
[00:17:46] Speaker C: Just.
[00:17:46] Speaker B: I'm just curious what you'd say, but take us to. How did you know you were ready to sell your business? Did you build it to sell it? Or did some new life transition moment happen to be like, all right, I'm done with this?
[00:17:59] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, I was not planning on selling it, but a year before I did, another franchisee came to me and said, hey, would you ever consider selling Decatur? And I said, no, no, no. But, you know, once somebody puts that out there in the universe, it's weird, right? Because it kind of has some energy. And you're like, no. Because I really was like, no, I'm just good. Careful.
[00:18:20] Speaker B: What we let into our subconscious mind, that is the, like, little golden nugget right there. Because that's what I tell candidates when they come to me and we talk it through. And they're like, you know what? Now's just not the right time. And I'm like, you'll be back. I'm not here to talk you into anything, because you'll be back on your own once you've opened Pandora's box and you've thought about doing something and taking a risk. And if you shrink back from that moment, no judgment from Kim Daly, but you have to judge yourself. And you can only stand in that for so long before you're like, I have to push myself through this moment.
[00:18:53] Speaker C: That is so true. I felt that too. When I've explored opportunities and franchising, then I stepped back.
In that time period, I had so many opportunities coming at me for different businesses that I wanted to take the money and invest in. And I was like, you know, 30 employees is a lot.
Seven days a week is a lot.
My son is young, you know, he's 4, and I want to spend that time. I got to a point where I was like, I'm either going to open a second location or I'm going to sell. So it's either go bigger or sell. And I had an amazing opportunity come up and I took my time. I was in no rush. I was like, yeah, if it happens, it happens. And it did. And I handed over the keys. You know, I was crying when I dropped that check in the mail. Like, oh, my gosh, what did I just do then? I was excited. And then the same thing. When I sold it, I was crying. You know, I was like, gosh, we got to tell my team I'm going to miss them. And who am I now? Because I've identified myself as massage hike to my community. Like, who am I? What are we doing? What's my purpose? I'm telling you, just the gates opened and had so many opportunities come at me that I'm taking advantage of some and, you know, some I passed on. But it wasn't really a conscious decision. It was just like, it's time I built it and I'm ready to hand it over. And it's doing great.
[00:20:10] Speaker B: It's so true. For every ending, it's a new beginning. Endings are always sad and beginnings are always scary. Right? So, like, I think the tears are just the human side of the whole thing, of this story. So I'm just curious, going back to Massage Heights, which a lot of people may not be familiar with, it's not the biggest brand in massage like Envy or even Hand in Stone. So you're in a very big market. I'm just curious for you, what was the differentiator? Because a lot of people listening may be like, why didn't you pick massage heights? Why didn't. If you get into massage, why wouldn't you go with the leader? Massage Envy.
[00:20:46] Speaker C: Yeah. So here in Atlanta, I am a self proclaimed spa junkie. I don't buy expensive purses, but I will spend some money In a spa. And I always would go to this place. Like, way back in the day, I would go to a place called Natural Body. And every Friday, I had a standing appointment with a guy named Zeppelin. And I kind of was like, there's a lot to be spending, you know, single, young, in my twenties, and I went looking for a more affordable way, Went into an envy, had a terrible experience, did not love it. And then I wandered into a massage heights. And Massage heights feels like natural body. It feels more upscale. It just felt like I really was that natural body. I mean, massage was amazing. And back then, I think it was 59 for an hour. And I bought a membership. It went on auto renew for 12 months. I was a member for like two or three years. And that's why I love Massage Heights because it felt more upscale.
[00:21:40] Speaker B: You know, what I love about that story is so if I was your consultant, you know, hopefully that story would have come out of our consultation. But so when people say to me, I want a business that aligns with my value, right? So what's so amazing is you're literally are the reason that there even is a membership for massage, right? Because you came to this conclusion, like, wow, that's a lot of money. But now there's an alternative option for the same level of service, but at a lower price point. Even within the various massage opportunities, there's a luxury environment and there's a less luxury environment, Right? So like all of the massage locations, franchises, I've worked with many of them, and I know, like, this one caters more for, like, athletes or stretching, and this one's more like a spa environment with facials and retail. Like, so everyone has their little niche which makes them all fit within the market and have their own unique customer avatar. So if you're out there and you're thinking about a brand or a franchise, you don't have to figure all that out on your own. What I wanted to bring out of that conversation is if you come to Kim Daly, we're going to talk through enough of these characteristics about you and your values. Like, let's go to the haircare space. Kasey, some people really want to be the great clips, right? They want to be in that value proposition and somebody else wants to be the Aveda salon. We have both options. You can have a $20 haircut or you can have an $80 haircut, right? So I want to own a hair salon. Well, which kind of customer do you want to serve? And there are place for everybody. And so in the consultation, when I'm working with people. This is kind of the granular level that we get to because I want to serve up options that align with your core values that help you serve people that you want to serve and create jobs for people that you want to create jobs for. And everybody's going to be a little different in that regard. So you don't have to do all of that research on your own. You have Kim Daly on your side, on your team. I'm going to help you do that. Casey, this has been such an inspiring episode. And now to find out that, like, you're literally helping other people in brands that I even work with in my network, that's even fun. I did not know that I was.
[00:23:55] Speaker C: Going to tell you before we started. But it's kind of interesting too, because with Germany, that's where they're going. There's root for everybody. They're going to that value model for med spa services where envy was right. There's room for everyone. It just depends on what kind of experience that you want. And when I was working with my consultant, I almost said, hey, come to Atlanta. I need you to just go so you can see what I'm trying to make you feel like. This is how it feels. And I can. I'm not articulating it well, but that's what massage heights is.
[00:24:23] Speaker B: You are so inspiring. So to wrap this up, just tell us a little bit about what you're doing now with your mastermind. I'd love to promote that, especially for the business owners who follow me. Her mastermind is geared toward business owners at a certain level. So tell us about that and how anybody could reach out to you if they wanted to.
[00:24:40] Speaker C: So we have started with a partner. We have started a company called Me plus Ultra. And it's a mastermind for to level up your game with business ownership. So we have all different types of business owners with a certain level of gross revenue. And we have two events a year, Business Bourbon and Cigars. And it really is innovative thinking, ways to think outside of the box to grow yourself and your business. Our events are called Business Bourbon Cigars. Our mastermind is called Me plus Ultra. It happens every Wednesday night. We have guest speakers and hot seats. And we help business owners really break through some of those barriers that kind of hold you back from taking your business to the next level. So you can always reach me, Casey. Gmail.com is probably the best way. Just send me an inquiry and we can schedule some time to talk and talk about if it's a good fit for you.
[00:25:28] Speaker B: We'll put that email in the show notes. Thank you so much, really, from the bottom of my heart, for reaching out and inquiring about being a guest on my show and for making this episode happen. You are truly inspiring. I wish you so much luck in whatever else you choose to pursue. Like, really, you're amazing. So for those out there who are inspired, if you're sitting on the sideline having that day in your W2 where you're like, I can't do this anymore, and you want to be like Kasey, well, you know that I want to be your franchise consultant and your daily coach. So please follow the link in the description below and I will reach out to you right away. I literally cannot wait to meet you. Thank you so much for staying until the end. My name is Kim Daly, and I want to be your daily coach.
[00:26:19] Speaker A: You can find more content just like this on my YouTube channel at KimDaily TV. And if you're inspired to take the next step to explore franchise's match to you, please email me right now at inquiremdaily tv. That's inquireimdaily tv.
