Franchising is the right option when one is thinking of owning a business with a business model and established brand. Mr. Todd Owen was invited on my Podcast to share his thoughts about running a creative franchise with different yet successful experiences. Todd is the CEO of ‘Painting with a Twist’ which is an art class with over 230 franchise locations in the United States. Painting with a Twist is an extraordinary spot to enjoy around with companions or family, while painting and socializing. Their accomplished and energetic artists will guide you step-by-step through a blank canvas to a finished painting. This creative brand has an artistic approach for the people who want to engage in fun art. Todd, the CEO of Painting with a Twist has a lot to offer in this art class and reservations are also made online for private parties or any kind of celebration with 20,000 plus paintings you can choose from. Todd also talked through his journey from being franchisee to CEO of the brand was quite swinging. He supported franchisees as a major vendor without spending years to develop trust. Now as CEO, he is remarkably training his team to be efficient enough to help grow franchises with honesty and integrity. If you’re passionate then surely you can connect with Todd Owen to have your own franchise by going through all the procedures he will suggest to you. You ought to consider your degree of individual interest in the plan of action. Search for a plan of action you find fascinating and a product offering that excites you. Tune into today’s week Podcast and know about the creativity of franchisees and how they are working vigorously to provide a fun and engaging business. This is Eye On Franchising, where we share our vision for your franchise future. Lance Graulich Franchise Consulting Services from ION Franchising Eye On Franchising
Franchising is the right option when one is thinking of owning a business with a business model and established brand.
Mr. Todd Owen was invited on my Podcast to share his thoughts about running a creative franchise with different yet successful experiences. Todd is the CEO of ‘Painting with a Twist’ which is an art class with over 230 franchise locations in the United States.
Painting with a Twist is an extraordinary spot to enjoy around with companions or family, while painting and socializing. Their accomplished and energetic artists will guide you step-by-step through a blank canvas to a finished painting.
This creative brand has an artistic approach for the people who want to engage in fun art. Todd, the CEO of Painting with a Twist has a lot to offer in this art class and reservations are also made online for private parties or any kind of celebration with 20,000 plus paintings you can choose from.
Todd also talked through his journey from being franchisee to CEO of the brand was quite swinging. He supported franchisees as a major vendor without spending years to develop trust. Now as CEO, he is remarkably training his team to be efficient enough to help grow franchises with honesty and integrity.
If you’re passionate then surely you can connect with Todd Owen to have your own franchise by going through all the procedures he will suggest to you. You ought to consider your degree of individual interest in the plan of action. Search for a plan of action you find fascinating and a product offering that excites you.
Tune into today’s week Podcast and know about the creativity of franchisees and how they are working vigorously to provide a fun and engaging business.
This is Eye On Franchising, where we share our vision for your franchise future.
Franchise Consulting Services from ION Franchising
Lance Graulich 0:00
Hello everyone and welcome back to another fantastic episode of eye on franchising. I am your host, Lance Graulich. So today we're gonna get a little bit creative. So we like to talk to successful franchisees and successful franchisors will today, I have a combination of both. This gentleman was an incredibly successful franchisee of this very creative brand. There's a hint for you very creative, and something artistic or artsy. And he started as a franchisee with this brand in 2014. And today, he is the CEO and one of the owners of painting with a twist. Welcome, Todd Owen.
Todd Owen 0:46
Great to be with you, Lance. Thank you for having me and giving me the opportunity on your platform.
Lance Graulich 0:52
My pleasure, Todd, thank you so much for spending some time with me today. So let's go back, way back. Now we can go as far back as you'd like. But why franchising? How did you become a franchisee? Talk a little bit about your history because obviously our show is about everything franchising, so people that are, you know, maybe considering a franchise might want to look inside what you've done and maybe follow your path perhaps.
Todd Owen 1:21
Sure. So I'll go back to college. I graduated from the University of South Florida, which is in Tampa. I majored in Business Management, BA and management was hired by the largest retailer in the world off campus and spent 30 plus years with them. The last 15 years been running a very large business for them in excess of a billion dollars in sales annually, roughly 4000 employees and 120 plus salaried managers and that experience that minute Walmart of course lands Yeah, and whether it's no sense and hide in it, but the the opportunity that that company gave me and learnings over this long career has been just instrumental in my growth and business acumen and being able to bring it you know, to painting with a twist as far as getting in on the franchise end of it it's kind of interesting my other half who was also with Walmart retired in 2014 started receiving like, business build a basket book started showing up at the house and I'm like, oh, no, no, no way. No way are we going down this path but thank goodness her and three girlfriends went to a painting with a twist. And that night they came home roughly 10 o'clock and I have never seen four women so excited in all my life.
Lance Graulich 3:08
So tell me Todd How did they find painting with a twist? Or how did somebody from painting with a twist find them
Todd Owen 3:17
so you know it's a girls night out googling things to do and Tampa Florida great website went on the website booked a class for the four of them. instructor led guided classes, it's again, safe space for women to meet is the best way I can describe it. Not the regular bar scene, Lance where right? You know, you have all kinds of walks of life. You know, hounding you if you're a woman, potentially. But we're, we're real safe, where you can, you know, gather with friends have a glass of wine, do something in the DIY space that is absolutely incredible. But what sold me lance on this was the reaction I have never seen four women so excited about what they just did, and painting a 16 by 20 canvas, and they were amazing on painting so that night, you know, I said hey, you know, there's something we should we should look at, you know, boredom set in and one thing led to another, we've added three other painting set brands, and it was clear what the choice for us was, which was painting with a twist and the first one officially for us opened in 2015. And then And where was that was in Brandon, Florida, which is in Hillsborough County right outside of Tampa. Same county is what Tampa is and then we opened up two more studios in short order, one in Winter Haven and another in Pinellas Park. And then purchased one in South Tampa. quickly after that, probably six months in, I was asked to be on the franchise Advisory Council. And I immediately fell in love with the franchisees. So still doing my big boy job and spending lots of nights and of times on painting with a twist and with the two founders of painting with a twist. And I think probably, probably more than anything, it's helping franchisees become successful from a franchise Advisory Council. And then the eclectic array of personalities that existed through our brand was incredible. I mean, it was incredible all teachers, nurses, lawyers, doctors, accountants, I mean, you name it. Bartenders, I mean, they exist. So just but all had that will to succeed the entrepreneurial spirit, and it was just, I just fell in love with the franchisees in the system.
Lance Graulich 6:20
So we got a lot to kind of unpack in that last segment. So what was your so your wife officially retired from Walmart in 2014? So what was her role in your first painting with a twist? Or second? And third, as you know, you develop more?
Todd Owen 6:38
So obviously, owner operator,
Lance Graulich 6:42
she's the boss, we know that
Todd Owen 6:44
there it's without question I'm being that cannot be. It just can't be disputed. I mean, she was definitely the boss, I got intimately involved on the social media marketing end of it, and know, obviously managing the finances and things like that. But you know, came out of the gate on studio, one swing, and I be honest with you, Lance, I just wanted to break even, and keep her busy. And then I was like, Oh, my goodness, money, we're making lots of money. And she loves it. And I'm loving this. And this is exciting. So that's what led you know, obviously to the four and then obviously, as you grow out Lance, you develop studio managers and you take, you know, artists that you have and develop those skill sets. And we still have six originals with us from 2014.
Lance Graulich 7:46
I love it. That's fantastic. You brought you brought up something great, that I absolutely love about franchising is that so many people don't that aren't in in franchising, just make assumptions, so that anybody that owns a McDonald's franchise had to have kitchen experience, or be a cook or whatever it might be sure there's nothing that's further from the truth, just by the example that you gave, you know, you probably have people that have no artistic ability at all, that own a painting with a twist. These aren't artists, maybe there's a few that have some background as an art teacher, but very few I'm sure, right.
Todd Owen 8:30
You're obviously you're spot on. It's, you know, what's amazing, too, and what is unique about our franchises, you know, probably 99% of them were customers, you know, and fell in love with that whole experience that again, if I could bottle up with those, Gina and her three friends had that night in 2014. And that energy and you the experience that they go through, and the fun factor of it, and the uniqueness of it all, is what you know, it's the secret sauce
Lance Graulich 9:11
and Todd, for those people that are listening that have not been to a painting with a twist, you got a couple 100 locations, but for the people that haven't been to the to any locations, talk a little bit about the experience what's the product? What do you have what walk us through what happens when you walk in the door until the time you leave?
Todd Owen 9:32
Sure. Great question. So 90% of our transactional answered done online so we do a lot of marketing through social social media, Google AdWords etc, etc. To reach this customer base. But you literally go on to our website, select the studio that is closest to you and then a whole new world opens up a calendar of events and paintings we have over 20,000 paintings in our library for our studios to select from. And so the franchisee, you know, it's, you know, I want to get back to the experience I'm going to I don't want to jump but so they they they go on there and go wow, I want to paint that. And obviously just about nobody Lance goes alone. So relax, I access the site go, I love this painting and they'll call their girlfriends and we also have date nights for husbands boyfriends, significant others etc. And so they booked the reservation online. It's all spelled out for him very clearly, you know, come 15 minutes beforehand online have a glass of wine. Tables are set up. They're typically named plates. At each seat, they find their nameplate sit down, and in front of them, Lance is a completely blank canvas with a paint palette, with the colors that they're going to use to create their masterpiece. I love it. In the meantime, you have an artist on stage with them with a headset and a microphone, you know, talking it all up greeting everybody as they walk in. And then the artist on stage. And we also typically have a floor artist, depending on the size of the class, helping assist and give some technique. Suggestions if needed. But the instruct
Lance Graulich 11:33
for people like me that need a lot of suggestions.
Todd Owen 11:36
Lance, let me tell you, the first time I did it was okay, we're vetting these people, I went and painted a seahorse. And I couldn't believe it. Because I don't have an artistic bone in my body. And I could not believe when I was done. I'm like, I can't believe I did this. I took my my daughter and of course Gina and we went and did it. I was like, Okay, I'm all in. If I can pull this off, you know, and we had a blast. So anyway, awesome, are, you know, getting back to the artists, so the artists on stage, I mean, they're an entertainer, as well as an artist. And it's all about the entertainment that they deliver, you know, to the guests and in our, in our studios, Lance in that culture that we have the fun factor and, you know, at breaks, they'll play little games that are, you know, just fun and, you know, give away a gift certificate, those type of things. But I'll tell you, it's when they're done. And they're amazed. And they look at their painting and class picture. And it's something they experience, it's out of this world.
Lance Graulich 12:47
Yeah, and that's something you can't really replace these days, having just gone through this awful pandemic, that threw everybody for a loop. You know, people are talking about the future again. And, you know, you can't eliminate the experience that people still want to have by going out and having a good time, especially with a concept like painting with a twist. But you had your share of challenges. As you were in you know, you're in certain states that you had to be shut down whether you were a hair salon are painting with a twist, somehow you are maybe deemed you weren't an essential business somehow.
Todd Owen 13:25
Yeah, and obviously, that was the case. And it was a very challenging time for our system. I do want to credit. The last group that ran our brand did a masterful job at innovating our product line to include virtual classes where you could sign up and we would teach it via zoom to do a painting and that's our supply our supply chain, which is PD art supply would send them a paint kit with the paint with the canvas brush apron, etc. So we would mail them or artists would deliver them to homes or you could come by were allowed to pick up a kit and then you know and and it got us through it and they did a really great job with it.
Lance Graulich 14:13
Yeah, and you help people with franchisees with PPP loans. I mean, you were a franchisee and in the heart of the pandemic and corporate help with that.
Todd Owen 14:22
Let me tell you, Lance, again, those two things. I'm very grateful for the last group that came through and that we're running at for those two reasons, the innovation that they built and then the way they guided us and at that time it was us because I was a franchisee Lance guided us through the PPP process, and then guided us through the eidl process if needed. Not every studio obviously needed it but they did a masterful job and I mean, sometimes two or three times a week phone call guide and franchisees through it, helping them through it. Part of me developing the strategies to help keep that top line going and getting getting studios through it. So, and even, I gotta tell you, even in development, they did a nice job to helping with lease negotiations and engage in landlords on behalf of franchisees who didn't necessarily have the skill set to, to do it. So all those things combined really helped this system get through it.
Lance Graulich 15:36
So I'm hearing from my sources that not only have you recovered, but you've, you know, through the pandemic, you You're, you're back to not only pre pandemic numbers, but you've you've started to exceed that.
Todd Owen 15:51
Yeah, I'm pretty jazzed about it. And we're just getting started, you know, we're 10 months in with these new strategies and new ways of looking at our business. And for the first six months, this year, we are crushing average unit volume, we're up 8%, over 2019, we don't look at 2020 or 2021. Wow, it's a huge growth opportunity. And again, when I want to stress, we are just getting started. We have about 500,000 square feet of retail frontage across the US, Lance. And we do about 85% of our sales comes after 7pm. And we have this these studios that are not being they're under utilized 9am to 6pm. So there's a whole new world that we're opening up from a growth standpoint during those hours and then evading in the DIY space. And I am when I need to control my excitement, I mean, and I am jazzed up about the opportunity that we that we have.
Lance Graulich 17:06
So Todd when you were a franchisee versus today, because you took over as CEO in 2021. But but from the past to currently have the hours changed at all yet or the hours of operation still the same.
Todd Owen 17:23
So it's really stayed consistent because obviously our core business, Lance is paint and sip, you know, what I described and painting paint and sip, paint and sip. So you're painting and you're drinking. And most of our, you know, the Friday, Saturday night, Sunday night, Thursday night, during the week classes, the core is you know, 7pm to 9pm. And that's, that's, again, where we do 85% of our business is during those hours, so, and again catered towards, you know, 90% of our customers are women. And then we do some other things. You know, earlier on Saturday, a lot, a lot of studios run the what we call kid classes, and we'll do some kids camps in the summer, but we have an extremely huge opportunity to grow revenue and raise a UV in a massive way. And it's already coming to life.
Lance Graulich 18:23
So let's talk about your transition from franchisee to CEO. How'd that come about? And obviously, How's it been going? Because not quite a year in that position. But pretty close.
Todd Owen 18:36
You know, I was again I was, you know our founder, Kathy Dino. Gosh, when I tell you she is the one that has kept this entire thing together. She's done an amazing, amazing job with it before I talk about myself. Her I've seen her get choked up about her love for the franchisees about her her expectations and the accountability that I feel from her on the way we're going to conduct business at the home office with our franchisees and the way they're going to be treated. She is an amazing, amazing founder. But getting back to me, Lance, you know I was being on the FAC in driving some changes through the system. It really gave me the opportunity to get to know and at conferences and meet all these franchisees and build relationships and phone conversations, hundreds of franchisees that I'd had. And then the other thing was in 2018, when we, myself and Dave, which is one of the CO owners of the brand, launched TD art supply in that company Lance, save the average franchisee, and supply calls to run classes about, on average about at that time about $1,000 a year. So, that also made a lot of deposits, you know, you know, you know, again, you know, for on my behalf, you know, which obviously, having that trust walking in as a franchisee as an FAC as a supplier to their studios. I, you know, it has uniquely positioned me to come out swinging with trust out of the chute. And a lot of times people like me spend months and months and months building trust. So I was able to skip that step. And I hope that makes sense, you know, I really was able to skip that step. And
Lance Graulich 21:18
it's awesome that you have the ability to support and help as a major vendor, to the franchisees. That's, that's, that's incredible. And, and to help with that amount of savings, that's tremendous. And, you know, there's so many supply chain related issues today, and for you not, you know, you to help franchisees, so they don't have to worry about that is fantastic.
Todd Owen 21:45
Yeah, and the other thing, you know, Lance and case studies will tell you, we, we don't make it you have to buy from TD art supply, they're, what our goal is, and what we need to deliver on as be the lowest price in the United States on the supplies they need. And if we can deliver on that they will buy from us, as long as it's great quality, and we operate with integrity. And if we're not, here are your other options, you know, so we're not going to get into that game, you know, have you have to buy from that's no way to run a business, or in the business from the franchisees and others.
Lance Graulich 22:21
I love it. So tell us a little bit about your process. Now that you're a CEO, you're looking to grow, you already have what's on my list here. 200 225 studios are so open.
Todd Owen 22:34
Yeah, so you know, and we're actually Lance on track to open up more studios this year than we have the last four 2018 2019 2020 2021. And what's really exciting about it is we're getting internal growth, we're getting studio owners who are loving what we're doing, and reinvesting in the brand. And we haven't had that in quite some time. And I always tell the team, our performance will dictate our growth, our ability to give franchisees the ROI that they deserve. And if we're all maniacally focused on delivering those things. It remarkably takes care of itself. And it's, it's been happened a little quicker than I thought. And I'm excited, because Lance the team, the franchisees are amazing. The team at the home office is just incredible. And their willingness to change, you know, and I'm the type of guy I don't even like being called CEO, I believe I can't stand it to be honest with you, I'm Todd, I'm like you we're the same or equal. Your opinion matters. And it's like, you know, and again, I often tell the team, we're going to build a team so strong, nobody knows who the boss is. And it's, you know, it's one thing you know, these people go out there and say, those cliches, if you were to talk to the home office team, they would tell you, they have a voice. Their opinion matters. They I don't know the franchisees know, the Home Office team knows and if we listened closely enough to the entire segment, we'll get the right answers for the benefit of the franchisee Sorry, I'm going off on I'm very, very passionate about it.
Lance Graulich 24:33
Todd this is important stuff and you know, and you're you're you're only oozing the information that people really want to get to, you know, why do I want to be part of your brand? Well, obviously, your company culture that you're so proud of, you know, people will be able to pick up on that throughout the process. So if somebody and look by the way, let me digress for a second. You just said something that's incredibly powerful. as you're growing and growing faster than you've grown in the last four years combined, which is amazing. You're, you're obviously having existing franchisees that are growing and adding additional locations. That's one of the most powerful signs of success is that existing franchisees want to do it again, and again, just like you did, because you're ahead multiple units, that is the number one sign of success. But talk a little bit about the process. So myself as a franchise broker, if a listener wants to talk to you, or a member of your team, describe the process, how long does it generally take from the first phone call to becoming a franchisee? And what are the fun little unique steps along the way?
Todd Owen 25:49
Yeah, you know, obviously, we want to get back to in person discovery days lands, you know, we've been doing them virtually, but I know, if I get potentials in front of my team, the rest will take care of itself. So we're working on that vigorously. But, you know, obviously, we have our funnel of potential new franchisees and we get that funnel all the way down. And then they go through a four person vetting process with the team and the four people that they get to talk to have been with us a combined 40 plus years, you know, we're a 13 year old brand, so you can do the math on how long they've been there. So we go through and they interview them. And there's a person a personality assessment test, you know, I know, you know, Lance, there's a slew of them out there, and we all do it, and the results come back, and they all look about the same to me, by the way, so I'm not sold on some of this stuff. But, but once they, you know, and, um, you know, look, money is important. And that's our job is to make people money, you have to protect the brand. Yep. And I want people who, who have been to a class, who are looking us up, because just like me, and just like probably 90% of our, franchisees out there, they fell in love with something. And I know, if you're passionate, you know, I'm sure you can tell I'm passionate about this. I know, if you're passionate, your chances of success and our brand, go through the roof. And it's Z, Z after Z who's who's like that, just knock it out of the park. But after the four then I get to visit with them at the end, you know, and, and really visit with them get to know them. You know, what we're doing right here Lance That's the conversation that I have with them.
Lance Graulich 27:51
And you and you have some sort of validation stage. You mentioned discovery day, every brand has some sort of discovery day meet the team, where you meet the executive team, obviously, there's this slow progression. I always tell people, nobody asked for your credit card in the first phone call. There,
Todd Owen 28:13
we put all 19 of us on zoom calls. And we go through the introductions and you know, I could talk to you of the entire length of time about our home office staff and all the amazing things that they've done for this brand. But yeah,
Lance Graulich 28:30
so what's the training like when you become a franchisee?
Todd Owen 28:34
So you know, and again, I think we're working on getting back to in person training again, right now we do it via zoom we offer. And it's it's really awesome. Lance, when I tell you that like we just completed one last week we we have one scheduled every six weeks. And it's five intense days of putting you through soup to nuts, top to bottom. And now it's exciting that so if you're so we have a lot of current franchisees, we let them go through it for you can go through it anytime you can put managers through at any time. That's why we have it every six weeks. We even had a 11 year actually we had three combined they probably 25 years in our brand went back through corporate training last week.
Lance Graulich 29:27
And where is this training held?
Todd Owen 29:29
So it's held via zoom. And when I tell you my team has this thing dial in, I mean Lance it is dialed in, and it's awesome. And then obviously we send out the rating surveys and get that feedback but the the ratings on the feedback I think we put 15 people through it last week and the ratings from it are they're always I mean they're through the roof and I love it.
Lance Graulich 29:56
So I heard you like to empower your franchisees you're really just set them up for success. And you give them give them that freedom because you know, one of the other misconceptions about franchising is that, you know, you're, you got this stranglehold on people and I always tell people I said, when you find the right brand, they just want the right people to be trained to execute the model as it was intended, and you run with it. So describe a little bit for me how you do it and how you empower franchisees.
Todd Owen 30:27
I think that's, you know, probably one of the things that maybe we could have done better over the last few years is we really harnessed franchisees from innovating in the space and truly listening to their ideas so we can bring them to life. So literally, Lance right now in a studio in Colorado, we've empowered a franchisee to build a splatter room, inside the studio and what a splatter room is you go into this room, and you're in it's out there in various, this form of anger management. Yeah, exactly, exactly. But you know, and I, the team was hesitant. I said she's passionate about it her name's AJ, she's an incredible franchisee. Listen, one studio at a 225 She wants to do it. Let's see what she can do with it. And we're gonna build some marketing assets for and help her out. And let's see, I mean, it's the best example I can use. Hey, we talk about innovating.
Lance Graulich 31:32
Todd, I'm gonna whisper right now an idea that I have based on that you should rename it painting with a splat. There you go. At least in that room.
Todd Owen 31:43
Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. That's awesome.
Lance Graulich 31:48
So we talked about COVID. Let's talk about your leadership style. You're the new CEO since August, you have all this real world big box experience? How is your leadership style? You already mentioned some changes, but what do you see going forward? Not only the future, the concept, but you know, your leadership style within it?
Todd Owen 32:10
Yeah, you know, and I covered it a little bit ago. And again, I, for better or worse, I'm completely brainwashed over my 30 plus years at Walmart and seeing and being exposed to some of the best and brightest leaders, whether it be military, professional athletes, CEOs of various companies. Again , I feel like I'm the luckiest guy in the world to have been exposed to all this. And, again, it's who you become and who you are as a leader. And listen, obviously, I have a big type A personality. Sometimes I have an ego. But when we talk about building a winning team, in a team where nobody knows who the boss is, you know, instead of saying, I don't know, he's the vice president of it. I say he runs it. You know, she runs operations, she runs marketing. We want to go You're the chief development officer. You're the executive leadership team. No, no, no. Because my art department to intimately have knowledge of what's going on in studios. They have something to offer in every conversation Lance. So it is it's one of inclusive, it's one of your opinion matters. But it's not we're going to talk about it for days on it, and we're going to talk about it. We're going to come up with a solution or a decision. And we're going to move fast. And not this. Let's have a meeting for the meeting and have another meeting for the meeting. That's not my style. My style is let's have a great business decision. Let's include franchisees, let's pull a team together. Let's have a task force. Let's meet let's land Let's move. And it's one of empowerment and you know, in each of the groups, they have a sandbox to play in and I often tell him I don't mind if you play outside the sandbox play, we have to explore it's only way we can get better.
Lance Graulich 34:27
But can you color the lines. I wanted to ask investment, I didn't ask the square footage and investment.
Todd Owen 34:40
So we have two models for one room studio. It can be anywhere from 1000 square feet to 1300 square feet. Our prototype, you know the ideal is a 2000 square foot 50 by 40 or 40 by 50 You know box where you can have a private party room incorporated Within the space, gotcha. Um, you know, so?
Lance Graulich 35:06
And how about wine? How do you? Well? And how do you get away with, like, licensing is different in different places?
Todd Owen 35:15
It is, you know, and it's, and we've gotten through it in the 38 states that we're in and really skin the cat and figured it out. But most Lance, it's just, again, generic, we'll make a generic statement, the easiest way is a beer and wine license, and they're very inexpensive, which enables most of our studios to do to be able to bring it in to the space and consume it. So with that license, you know, early on, we were doing the bottle club license, and that created a lot of people having to go in front of County Commissioners, because that has a bad connotation behind it. You know, is this gonna be some other type of club? Yeah, no. So but you know, and there's some couple states, California, Michigan, there's some tougher things that we have to go through. Yeah. But
Lance Graulich 36:05
so speaking of states or territories, what are your hottest areas that you're still looking? I mean, you're looking for franchisees in a lot of places. But if you had a hot list of a few areas, what are they?
Todd Owen 36:20
So Kansas City, just absolutely. A must. And then there's another dozen highly dense populated areas where we're not in metropolitan areas that fit our demo. And we're targeting those areas very aggressively. We have work to do. And again, it's from our growth standpoint, it's, you know, put them more they're not I have no problem competing against anybody. I don't think we're not going to impact any of our studios currently. And I have a rule that no matter what it's, and we have all the data and it's coming completely dissected, no more than 5%. And I don't even want to do that right now. And then the other one I'll mention is Memphis.
Lance Graulich 37:17
Memphis. Got it?
Todd Owen 37:18
Oh, yeah.
Lance Graulich 37:20
Are you in Nashville?
Todd Owen 37:23
So now? Yes, we are in Nashville. Yep. And around Nashville. In fact, one of our owners lives in Nashville. And she actually has a couple studios in and around Nashville as well. Nice. Theresa Johnson.Yep. She's awesome.
Lance Graulich 37:36
I've been in Memphis been in Nashville. So it sounds like great, great opportunities, any final words of wisdom? You know, I mean, look, you've told everybody a lot of great stuff. And, you know, I'm sure you'll continue to have interest you're already crazy successful. And, but any final thoughts for today?
Todd Owen 37:58
If you could give me an opportunity to talk about some of our home office team, there's Trey mantha. He's our head of it. He's built out the best paint and sip platform you've ever seen in your entire life. It's proprietary in nature. It's not an off the shelf system, and integrates with our website. Anything that you could possibly want for paint and sip Numerix mining of data. Knowing the best sell if you want to know the best selling paintings for Mother's Day, the last five years, you can mined the data in two seconds. But what he has built there is nothing short of incredible. Katie Rashard is in charge of our operations team. She's been with us for a dozen years, she has personally opened Lance over 100 Studios. Wow. So she has been the ops consultant on 100 of our our openings and has an incredible, incredible team, Brittany Graf, who's the head of our marketing and has an amazing team, the things that they have built in the vendors that we have for our franchisees, it is absolutely and they have made this thing. And I hate to use the word dummy, but it's almost dummy proof the way we have built this marketing out and when I tell you in two seconds, you're gonna have a comprehensive web presence marketing presence. Where your ads go on CNN Fox News, US magazine People Magazine, retargeting, you know, the ads that follow you around Google AdWords, Facebook, Instagram, with the push of the button lands for franchisees. So in I could go on and on and on and on.
Lance Graulich 39:35
Those are all the reasons you want to franchise and you want to buy or you want to invest in a painting with a twist franchise for sure, based on all that.
Todd Owen 39:43
Yep, for sure.
Lance Graulich 39:45
Todd. Owen, thank you so much for being here painting with a twist. And until next time,
Todd Owen 39:51
I appreciate you having me. Thank you, Lance.
Lance Graulich 39:53
My pleasure.