S3 Ep8: Toastique: How Brianna Keefe Swapped Burnout For Gourmet Fast Food
With a lifelong passion for nutrition and food, founding her own gourmet empire was always on the cards. Find out how Brianna found her feet in catering and created Toastique.
Toastique is a gourmet toast and juice franchise, offering healthy, responsibly sourced food all day long.
The Wolf and Brianna talk about decision-making at the 11th hour, working with friends and family, and expanding the Toastique brand across the US.
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Episode Transcription
Brianna Keefe:
My dad was like, whatever you do, don’t get into credit card debt. And I was like, well, I don’t have a choice. So I opened three credit cards, went and maxed them all out. But we opened in July of 2018 and we were profitable from day one. So once we opened, there was never a scary moment. We’re like, oh shoot, we need more money.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Welcome to Franchise Empires, where aspiring entrepreneurs learn exactly what it takes to become a successful franchise owner. From one location to 10 and beyond, I’m the wolf of franchises. Hey everyone, Wolf here. Today on the show we have Brianna Keith, the founder and CEO of Tost. Brianna graduated college in 2016 and after working 80 hour weeks in her job, decided to quit and go all in on her restaurant idea. It was our first time operating a restaurant, but the concept was a hit, and two years later, she decided to franchise it. Today, toast has five corporate stores, four franchise stores, and another 60 plus in development. We dive into her whole journey up to this point, I think you’ll enjoy it.
Narrator:
The Wolf of Franchises is the CEO of Wolf Pack Franchising, as well as a creator at Work Week Media. All opinions expressed by the Wolf and podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of Pack Franchising or Work Week. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. The Wolf Work Week and Wolf Pack Franchising may maintain positions in the franchises discussed on this podcast.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Thanks for coming on. Brianna. I think a good place to start would be you’ve only recently graduated college within last five, six years, and you’re already a franchise founder of a growing national brand. So what did you study in college as a starting point? And did anything there kind of inspire you to go on to found your franchise?
Brianna Keefe:
Yeah, so it’s actually an interesting story. I went to James Madison University with originally going in a health science major, and I wanted, at first it was gonna be a dietician. I wanted to study nutrition. That’s something that I was always passionate about. And so I spent the first year and a half taking my gen eds and anatomy, chemistry, biology, and I loved it all besides chemistry for whatever reason, just did not click with me. I loved all the other classes and my guidance counselor was like, well, you do know this major has the most chemistry classes out of any of them at the university, so I suggest keeping nutrition a hobby and doing something else. And so I was like, oh, shoot, <laugh>. Okay. So I really had to kind of think, okay, what do I wanna do? And I don’t know what took me so long, but I realized, oh, hospitality, I’ve worked in restaurants, I worked in events.
That’s what I was doing throughout high school and in summer and whatnot. So I then changed my major to hospitality management with a minor in business. So it really, it was the two worlds colliding. I loved nutrition, I studied hostility, restaurants, I still loved events. So I think just the mesh of that, it kind of took me, it was the guidance counselor really, that was like, maybe you should do something else. And I was like, yeah, that’s probably a good idea. So it just made sense after I switched my major and I’ve learned a lot. They have a really great hospitality school too, so got a lot of experience there as well.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Amazing. And so right outta college. And what year did you graduate again?
Brianna Keefe:
2016.
The Wolf of Franchises:
2016, right. Okay. And so you got a job, you started as a job in events, right?
Brianna Keefe:
Yeah, so they, JMU really pushed hotels in the hospitality because they were like, there’s so, hospitality is so broad, there’s so much you can do with it, but in a hotel you can really get your feet wet everywhere cuz they have everything events, restaurants, they have banquets, they have literally everything. So they really pushed that. So I did that after college and worked specifically in events.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Okay. And was there something that happened, I guess when did you go from maybe having a more career oriented mindset where you’re an employee versus saying, I’m gonna stop doing that and go start my own business?
Brianna Keefe:
So I love events. I still do love events and catering is a big aspect with Tosi, it was something, or it is something I’m still passionate about. But in my current role, we had amazing opportunities. We had a off premise catering team, so we did really cool events in the hotel and outside of the hotel in DC there was weeks I was working up to 80 hours a week and I just didn’t feel super appreciated and I couldn’t see myself as being a general manager of a hotel. That’s not something that I wanted to work my way up to. And so I kind of got burnt out, I got really burnt out and that was the extra push that I needed to do something on my own because at that point I was only less than, I only worked there for less than two years, but I was like, I can do so much. And I know the restaurant industry where if I need to go back to a serving job, I can do that to pay rent or whatever.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Okay. So I love the confidence that you’re just like, yeah, I can quit my job and try to figure something out. I know a lot of people wouldn’t necessarily feel that confident. And I have a lot of questions about how you really started toasts, but I guess just as a starting point for folks who are listening, how would you explain just the concept of what toasts is and how it is a little different from your average fast casual restaurant?
Brianna Keefe:
Yes. So toasts is, we always say it’s more than just a juice bar because we have everything that a juice bar has. The cold press juice we make in house, the ass ables, the smoothies, we make everything without sugars or sweeteners. So it’s super healthy and it’s still perfect for the people that want something quick on the go, come in, buy a couple juices at once for the week, but we also have our gourmet toast, so that’s our specialty. Of course with toast and depending on the location, it makes up between 40 and 60% of our sales and it’s a huge part of our menu. And that was the goal where instead of just grabbing a quick juice or smoothie, you can actually have a whole meal and whole experience. And that’s really what we try to do at toast seek. Yes, it’s quick serve, but we’re trying to redefine what quick serve is because most people think it’s unhealthy, not very warming, not very clean. And we’re kind of doing the opposite where you’re still getting everything from scratch. The things we don’t make, like our bread, we source locally, coffee’s local. Kombu is local, produce is local, and you can have a whole meal, you can bring your whole family, you can brunch, you can have a office meeting, you can sit in there and work by yourself for a few hours. So it’s much more than a juice barn. It’s much more than what people think as fast food or quick serve.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Amazing. I love it. So when you started this then, I guess you did say that you kind of loved always having toast based meals. So when you started this, I mean, did you already have a menu in your mind ready to go? Or did you have to teach yourself and say, Hey, if I’m gonna turn this into a restaurant, I can’t just put my favorite few meals on it, I have to expand it, or did you, you know it from the get go,
Brianna Keefe:
It’s a little bit of both. My initial menu had 20 toast on it, <laugh>, and obviously that’s not very sustainable having such a large menu. And it was all things that I love making. I love the flavors, also love avocado, but I realize people, not all, people don’t love avocado. So I didn’t wanna have avocado on all of the toast. So I had initial list of toast, the smoothies, bowls, juices, but we brought on a chef from Philly in the 11th hour, it’s actually my friend’s mom. And she just took the initial menu and elevated everything to the next level and put the chef kiss on it. So instead of regular fresh cut tomatoes, we are marinating them instead of mozzarella, we’re using barara, just things like that. So she took the original menu and just made it what it is today really.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Yeah, no, I could see that. So it sounds like you more maybe created the core of the menu and then this chef perhaps put some finishing touches and some enhancements to what you had already created.
Brianna Keefe:
Exactly, exactly. And she added the depth of flavor and the height to it and the colors and the sweet and the salty and the crunch and everything on there to really just make it the perfect balance on each toast.
The Wolf of Franchises:
That’s awesome. And you said the 11th hour. So what were the steps and would be curious to hear if now that you have a lot, multiple years of experience, if you would’ve done anything differently with the grand opening of your first store. So how did that whole process go picking real estate, getting money together to be able to maybe design the restaurant to the way you want it to look like? Just what was that like as a first time entrepreneur?
Brianna Keefe:
Yeah, so the first time, I mean with our location, whoever’s familiar with dc, it’s in Southwest, it’s on the waterfront called The Wharf at the time is brand new, hottest place. It opened in 2017 and our restaurant opened in 2018, so it’s very new. And my partner and I were just walking around here not thinking about Tost Toss, didn’t even have a name at the time. It was just an idea. And we were just blown away. We’re like, wow, this is such a cool area. It’s right on the water, this is where the idea needs to go. And we fell in love with it. We emailed the broker right away, his window, there was window film up with his name on it and we were like, Hey, is there any spaces available? He’s like, no, not until phase two in 2022, which ironically that just opened last week, <laugh>.
And we were like, oh, okay, yeah, that’s a little far away. Yeah. He’s like, what is your concept anyway? We’re like juice, smoothies, bowls, but then toast, so it’s gonna be more of a cafe. And he was like, oh, we do have one spot available, it’s a thousand square feet. We’re like, great, can we come see you next week? And very nicely and professionally, he basically said, before I waste my time, show me something. And I had nothing at the time besides this idea. So that day I sat down and wrote a 27 page business plan and made it everything that was, that’s the first time that TOS had anything on paper. And it still didn’t have the name toasty at the time, but long story short, Les in the Space, he loved us. He saw the passion behind it and they didn’t have a juice bar.
And ironically, they were looking for some sort of juice movie place. So that’s how we land on the location. It just felt right. People are like, oh, what kind of market analysis did you do? And we’re like, zero <laugh>. It just, it felt, so the whole development was like, this is where Tose needs to go. And so we just hit the ground running from there. I told my parents I was quitting and they’re like, oh, it’s such a stable job. But they’re huge supporters, of course every parent just gets cold feet when someone’s like, oh, I wanna quit and open my own store. But huge, huge supporters. And we sign the lease and just kept moving forward with it full steam ahead, quit my job and it was supposed to be my partner and I, Kyle. And we did that for a couple months and then realized we needed more money and that I really only had my restaurant experience but was front of house.
And of course why I learned in school, but I didn’t have a lot of true kitchen experience. And actually all the cooking I did was just what I like to make, no professional culinary experience. So we brought on his best friend Kevin, they’ve been friends since middle school. And we were like, okay. And he worked in fine dining, catering, vegan places. He worked at all different types of restaurants. So he had that back house, house kitchen experience. And he came from a family that loved cooking. All they did was cook and eat. So we were laying on him for money. We brought in my brother as a partner who’s also has worked in bars and restaurants. He also has a hospitality degree. And I was saying going at the 11th hour, I think Kevin was like, oh no, all this menu ideas and stuff is falling on me.
And so his mom is our chef. So in the 11th hour he was like, we need my mom. We’re like, what? And he was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, we need my mom. She’s gonna just take this what we already have and just make it that much better. And she absolutely did. The menu that she created is really what we still have today. So yeah, that’s kind of how the whole team involved. And actually she was only supposed to help us for three months and move back to Philly for where she was working. And she has never left <laugh>, she still lives in DC after four years. She just loved it so much and being part of the team, working with her son. So it’s been super fun.
The Wolf of Franchises:
That’s amazing. No, yeah, I feel like that happens a lot more honestly than people expect where they go to one job and it’s supposed to be a temporary thing and then all of a sudden a decade passes by and they’re still doing it because they love it so much. So that’s really cool to hear. So did the bulk of that whole process with iterating on the menu, realizing you might need more money, is that all preop of the very first location in 2018 or is that throughout your first year, you guys are just kind of making it better as you go?
Brianna Keefe:
No, it was actually all before we opened. We just, with construction, we had no credentials, no resume to prove for that were gonna be great business owners. So most landlords give the tenants improvement money, and they didn’t give us any because we had, they didn’t wanna essentially waste money in case we failed. So everything was out of pocket. So we knew that we were gonna need all the money we could get <laugh>. My dad was like, whatever you do, don’t get into credit card debt. And I was like, well, I don’t have a choice. So I opened three credit cards and maxed them all out. But we opened in July of 2018 and we were profitable from day one. So once we opened, there was never a scary moment. We’re like, oh shoot, we need more money. That was all prior, luckily. Yeah,
The Wolf of Franchises:
That’s wild. Well, I wanna obviously go through what the reception was upon actually opening the doors after all kind of the crazy run up to it, but the whole maxing out the credit cards thing, were you just cool with that or did you just believe in it so much that you knew it was gonna work? Or was that an incredibly stressful experience? What were the emotions with going through all that?
Brianna Keefe:
I think the biggest stress was signing a 10 year lease that was extremely scary and guaranteeing the rent if we went outta business, that was the scariest part for sure. But after I signed it and quit my job, it was all in. There’s no turning back. Wasn’t scared of anything until I was like, oh, we need people, we need to hire people and train people. But the initial scare, I’m not sure I truly believe in the concept, and maybe we were just very naive in the beginning, but I had a team believing in me too and believing in it. And the credit card thing didn’t scare me, even though my dad warned me, I was like, this is gonna be successful. It had no interest for 15 months on all of them. So that also helped as well. But the scariest part was signing the lease, the, for whatever reason, the credit card <laugh>, that didn’t scare me.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Well, I hear you. Yeah, I guess when you frame it against a 10 year lease, that is a little bit scarier. So yeah, I guess it’s all relative. And you kind of had a 15 month timeline to maybe pay off any debt on the credit I
Brianna Keefe:
Did before 15 months. So that’s a
The Wolf of Franchises:
Congrats. It’s amazing. Yeah. Well, alright, so you go through all this, just the run up to opening your first restaurant, and I guess how’d it go? Were there any major surprises in that first year that you were like, holy crap, this is not what I thought I signed up for. Or was it kind of smooth sailing? Cuz from a franchise perspective, you guys seemed to have just done a phenomenal job, but pre franchising is kind of what I’m trying to key in on as just how it initially went.
Brianna Keefe:
Yeah, honestly, the first year, 12 months, there was no major problems. Issues. Just like we turned over our entire staff three full times. Besides our first employee is still with us. <laugh> besides, that’s amazing. Besides her, every other employee, we turned over three times and we opened in July summer. That’s all people wanted was smoothies, juice bowls. So they’re definitely stressful for sure, but I wouldn’t say there’s any major challenges. It’s also just the best part for me was having repeat customers. And that’s the biggest validation I feel like is people that come back and multiple times in one day, multiple times in a week and just hearing people being like, oh, we need to bring one here or I wanna open one. And that feedback is just very motivating and gives you the adrenaline day by day. Even with the stresses or problems that happen, it’s very rewarding to get that feedback.
The Wolf of Franchises:
And is that feedback what you would say, did that give you guys the inspiration to franchise it? Or did you think from day one we’re not only gonna open a restaurant, it’s also gonna be a franchise restaurant?
Brianna Keefe:
No, no, <laugh>, the first location was me being burnt outta my job and creating a job for myself that I knew I was going to into every day. That was the vision is just being happy at what I was doing and with all the feedback with people wanting them places or wanting to open them, that’s when we had to sit down with my team and be like, okay, what is gonna be our growth strategy? It could be us just opening a bunch of corporate stores, but the attention to detail that goes in every single product that we make, I just didn’t feel that managers, no matter how much you pay them, would care as much as someone that has their own time and money involved and has some skin in the game. So that’s why we chose the franchising route. And strictly at this point in time in the Toast EQ life is looking for owner operators. We want people to want to be the face of the store, be part of the community, be in the store, lead the team. Because we know, I know firsthand being in the store tos is not a business where you throw money into and think it’s gonna be successful. It’s just not one of those businesses. Not many businesses are <laugh>, but being in a restaurant is restaurants are hard to do and especially the detail that we have in all of our food, it’s almost impossible for it to be successful if there’s not a strong leader there.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Yeah, no, I completely agree that amongst all businesses, but also within franchising you see it a lot passive franchises and it’s like, is it really passive though? Probably not. <laugh> especially too, I think the thing that’s often overlooked is even maybe you could hire people from day one to run everything, but the reality is if it’s your money, the emotional, the fact that it’s your money on the line and it’s your skin in the game. I met someone who tried to do this and they kept their w2, they paid good money from day one for GM to do the construction and build out, but they found themselves a few months in, they quit their job to just do it themselves. Cause they just couldn’t stop thinking about it. And the amount of trust you would need in someone to be able to manage everything, it’s a difficult thing to do. So yeah,
Brianna Keefe:
For sure.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Yeah, but it’s funny, something you said that I think there’s a thought out there that franchising’s actually risky in terms of quality control, whereas the way you framed it, you’re like, oh no, I’d actually rather have Doug franchise my concept because then the people will be using their own money and they’re actually gonna care about it. And so now a few years passed when you initially decided to franchise, have you seen that play out where you do believe that it’s actually a way to enforce higher standards is to just find, to franchise it so that the people who are running the restaurants are also the ones who own them?
Brianna Keefe:
Yeah, that’s a really great question and I just feel like I don’t like, yes, it’s true. I don’t know. I feel like I need to open more franchises to really grasp that because we have everything, we have all the tools to be successful. We have handbooks, operational manuals, we have an online learning system, but it’s still difficult. I think it’s very true. The stores that we have opened, they’re all present in there. They’re touching tables, just making sure that everything’s going out as standards. So so far it’s been good. So I would like to say that it’s true, but I think no matter how you grow, whether it’s franchising or corporate, consistency is gonna be the hardest part. And holding people accountable. We have five corporate stores and they’re all in the DC area and I live in DC so it’s way easier for me.
I still go in the stores work some shifts too. Cuz to me that’s the best way to really grasp what’s going on. But it’s so much easier popping in all the stores at least once a week where our franchise is in Colorado and we’ve already done some secret shoppers and it’s been good, but there could be days that aren’t good too that we’re not gonna be there for. So I think just continuing to retrain where we need and keeping up with them. And we still, after they open, we still have weekly calls just trying to have that open communication if they have any questions, any problems, anything like that to keep it consistent through the brand.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Definitely. No, I like that you’ve got some secret shoppers coming in, <laugh>, you do. Well, just even hearing that you have five corporate stores, what’s that been going from one to five, especially with a pandemic? Not that it’s necessarily fully over, but a pandemic in the middle of all that. I think a common question I get is if I open five of the concepts, and this could be for any franchise, whether it’s in fitness or some other industry, sometimes people think initially that, oh, it’s like it’s impossible, it’s gonna be five times as hard. But how have you managed the efficiencies as you’ve scaled?
Brianna Keefe:
Yeah, I think the hardest part is going from one to two. Cause you’re used to being at one store all the time, and two, it’s the first time you’re experiencing multiple locations regardless how close they’re our second location’s, very close, but that’s your first learning curve. But after that, I truly believe it gets way easier in so many ways, the efficiencies of if bread doesn’t come in on time or if someone calls out or if you need anything in a pinch, it’s a drive away. You can put a person in an Uber from another store. There’s so much that you can gain from that Instead of panicking, like our bread, we get delivered fresh every day, but if they’re late or something, when you had one store, there’s nowhere else you could get it. So there’s like no plan being no backup. But when you have multiple stores, then you can pull a person, you can pull bread, you whatever you need.
And also with juicing specifically, it’s a lot of labor. Nothing hard, but it’s cold press, so it’s a two step process. So in two of our stores we have a big juicer that will juice for other stores. So then you’re saving the labor on the other stores that aren’t juicing and then you’re just getting the juice delivered every day. And I think with staffing too, it gets way easier. Just I was saying about the customers coming in multiple times a day, that’s reassuring that you’re doing a good job and they like your product. And it kind of goes the same way with employees when they start recruiting their friends and families or acquaintances that they once worked with that are looking for a job. You also know, you’re like, okay, I’m doing something right here On the people aspect where they work, the culture is cool. So it’s very much a work hard play hard atmosphere where it gets super busy with lines out the door. But everyone’s appreciated. Everyone feels like they’re appreciated. And I made that a priority from day one since my last job. I didn’t feel that. So with the first door we turned over the staff three times when you’re just hiring off the streets, off the internet, wherever, and now you’re having a recommendation of people that your current employees are bringing in people. So even the hiring gets easier and the turnaround is less.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Yeah, that’s interesting. And that’s awesome. That’s definitely gotta feel like an amazing stamp of validation to have your own employees trying to bring in more people of their own to fill in spots. I’d also guess the bigger you get, even from your corporate territory standpoint, that it’s more upward mobility for employees as you have more restaurants.
Brianna Keefe:
Absolutely. And that’s something too that we plan on continuing opening one corporate store year because we want longevity. Whether that’s being, we have a manager right now who started as an hourly employee, no restaurant experience, but in her interview when I asked if she had any restaurant experience, she was like, no, but I’m willing to learn. And I loved her right from day one. And now she’s been with us for two years and she’s assistant manager at one of our stores. So we want that longevity and really we don’t want people to feel like they’re capped out because if they’re capped and then they’re gonna go somewhere else where there’s more opportunities. So opening more corporate stores, you can get up to manager level, but then eventually we’re gonna need a regional manager. And then also with franchising, they can come on that side as well if that’s something they wanna do and help travel and train and be quality control and things like that. Yeah,
The Wolf of Franchises:
No, it’s a just for everyone, I think as the organization grows. So it’s cool to see that even already a few years and you’re kind of seeing the benefits of that. And speaking of franchising, so I think when we spoke before, you said that you guys started franchising in 2021, and I know, so you guys are partnered with Raintree, a franchise sales organization. And for anyone listening who doesn’t know what that is, it’s there’s effectively a handful of these companies, at least in the United States, that they’ll find promising emerging franchises and they partner with those franchises and they become effectively the franchise sales department. So companies like Raintree will walk perspective franchise buyers through the due diligence process on a brand with the goal of ultimately having them sign a franchise agreement for a company, TOST eq, that’s one of their partner brands. So I guess that was a lot for anyone listening. So <laugh>, sorry if that was your first time hearing that, but Brianna, I’m curious, did you, just stepping in from, I guess from within a few years, just being new to the restaurant industry as an owner and then now jumping into franchising, which is obviously that’s a whole new world. Did you have to think long and hard on do we wanna do this ourself or do we wanna work with a company like Raintree?
Brianna Keefe:
Yeah, I think the quick answer is that we knew we were gonna have to work with someone that we had a franchise attorney and they were the ones that actually recommended Raintree and just there’s so much work that behind the scenes work that goes involved with it. And already before even franchising, I was too busy to <laugh> have to do that internally. And we’ve met with a couple people, obviously Braintree and then two guys that were more local. And then we met with a guy that was massive that wanted to open a hundred in two years and we’re like, eh, that’s not a great fit. The local people, they were super nice. The one guy actually went to JMU and I got really sad when we said we weren’t gonna work with them, but when we met with Raintree, the biggest thing that we loved about it is that it was a mutual agreement.
They interviewed us and we asked them about their business and everything like that, but it was a pretty intense interview with us. Currently they only work with 10 brands, so they’re very particular with their brands. They don’t wanna just sign on a bunch of people, sell a bunch of units that don’t really mean anything to them. And we just really connected with them right away. Luckily they liked us and we liked them and they’re really just the whole package deal. They got together all of our marking material, they flew out and did photography and videography and put all together the back end and filtered through all the applicants. So it saves us so much time. And I mean that’s the biggest thing too. I hate to say it, but they do all the dirty work and then the potential franchisees come in that have already had two calls with their team, they’re making sure they’re qualified financially, they think they’re gonna be a culture fit, everything else. So by the time someone gets to me, I’m already feeling pretty good about it. So it’s been amazing so far and I would a hundred percent recommend for newer franchises working with a company like that.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Yeah, and you’re definitely right about it is the dirty work. That was kind of where I learned about the franchise world, is that a competitor to ranch and we would filter through a lot of leads before we introduce them to a founder. So yeah, it’s definitely gotta be nice to be able to just speak to the pre-qualified ones. But I am curious, how has your role, have you seen your role changes as the founder and probably primary owner of Tost from now that you’re franchising and you do have to do those due diligence calls and probably make decisions on franchisees? Do you go to your I yeah, I’m sure you’re hosting Discovery Days in Washington dc so yeah, just how have you been able to figure out how to balance that franchising aspect while doing the corporate stores and presumably still trying to have some type of life outside of all this? Yeah.
Brianna Keefe:
Well, I don’t have hobbies besides <laugh>. I was actually just talking about that other day. I was like, I feel like I should get, that’s not work. But no, I’ve always, and my partners as well have been very, very hands on from the beginning. We’re all very driven, hardworking people. So the first six months I was working open and closed every single day in the store because I love to be there. I do still love to be there. I just know that’s not where my time is most valued. But I love to be in the store talking to customers, talking to employees, and worked open clothes every day. I still work morning tonight every day, but it is very different and it’s been kind of adjustment because I do love being in the store so much. But the majority of my day, or at least afternoon until 7:00 PM every day is just on calls.
And we do everything ourselves. We do have a support team, but Discovery days, Kyle and I are on them all the time. I don’t even see in the near future where we wouldn’t be hosting them just because we do love it. We take ’em from our first store at the wharf, a thousand square feet up into our newest store, and it’s just a really fun day. So I do it, my brother is actually kind of being the in person store, the people person, the employee store. So I could backfill myself and really focus more on franchising. And honestly, for now, until 2023, my, myself and my brother Sean are gonna be the ones traveling and training. It’s super exciting and we have the ability to do that still. I know that that’s not gonna be possible and probably 2024 and on. So we are hiring the support staff for that. But we do try to just be everywhere. We don’t wanna lose. We don’t wanna, of course, franchising is so new, so we don’t wanna lose any sight or grass with that. But I also don’t wanna completely remove myself from the corporate side either because those people are what made to seek what they are, and they still have so much more growth opportunities. So it’s definitely a balance. But I do have the people that mainly backfilled me out of corporate.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Gotcha. Yeah. Wow. So working, basically, you were working, you said for six months, just in open to close in the restaurant before even?
Brianna Keefe:
Yeah, yeah. We were open seven to seven, so I would be there for 12 to 14 hours every day. But I loved it. I didn’t feel how exhausted I was until I got home and sat on the couch and I was like, wow, <laugh>, I’m actually really tired. But then I would get up in the morning, I would have all this adrenaline and like I said, I loved it. I love hearing feedback and talking to customers and just educating them on our super foods and just explaining how gourmet toast is not the typical toast. We still have to do that every day, especially people that are my dad’s age that are toast, $14, and then it’s just this massive open face sandwich and they’re like, wow, I get it now. I get it. And I think that’s like <laugh> the best feeling.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Yeah. Well, okay, that’s good. So I mean, I’ve lived in New York City for most of my post-college career, and there is a thing in New York where it’s like you see avocado toast them and you’re like, don’t, no, boom, buy that. It’s like $19 and it’s a tiny piece of toast with a little bit of avocado. So it sounds like your food is, your meals are far different than that horrible Manhattan experience.
Brianna Keefe:
We make everything in house. Our bread is local, so I love just kinda commencing PI typically is the older people that just want eggs and bacon and then they try it and they’re like, I get it. I love this <laugh>. Cool. Whew. Good.
The Wolf of Franchises:
<laugh> funny. Well, so just kind of wrapping up here, I mean, I think I’ve read you have 60 plus locations in development. Yes. So yeah. How does it feel and is that when you said that you’re gonna be on the road visiting franchisees, visiting all those new openings that are scheduled to happen?
Brianna Keefe:
Yes, yes. Okay. The goal, I mean, everything’s always exciting and I wish I could be everywhere at once, but we go out a week before just to help with finalize things, prep up the store and be there for the grand opening. And then Sean flies out for five to seven days after, so they have full two weeks with us. It’s just super, super exciting going into new areas and developments because all we’ve known was DC and the DC market loves it. So being out in Colorado and New Jersey and we’re gonna have Florida and Utah by the end of the year as well, another one in New Jersey. So it’s just super exciting to go into these different markets and see the brand thrive. It’s super exciting.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Yeah, that’s amazing. If you had to say, do you have an overarching vision for what you want to seek to be, and I don’t know, five, whatever your timeline is, five, 10 years. Are you thinking international or just kind of everywhere in the us? Yeah. What are your thoughts?
Brianna Keefe:
International would be sweet <laugh>. That would probably be a little more like after five years maybe, we’ll see. But definitely focusing on all over the country right now. I think that every state and city could use a toastie and just finding those prime locations with the visibility. Cause that’s the thing too. No one’s looking for a toast seek yet. So we wanna be in the best locations where people are walking by and they’re not necessarily looking for us, but we love, we’re very confident in the way our stores look and we know how warm and welcoming they are, and we also know people are really gonna enjoy our food. So if we can be in their faces and really start that brand recognition across the country is the goal.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Amazing. Yeah. Well, you guys are off to a good start, that’s for sure. Yeah. Look, Brianna, thanks for coming on the show. It was awesome to learn more about Tost. Where could listeners follow along, whether it’s you personally or your company and your franchise journey?
Brianna Keefe:
Yes. The best way is to follow us on Instagram is just at toastie. Our brand’s very visual. So you get to see all of our products, our toast, we do toast of the month too. You can see our new locations that are opening up and hopefully find one near you too, <laugh>.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Awesome. Yeah, we’ll plug that in the show notes, guys, so you can check out the toast Instagram. And yeah, thanks again Brianna, for coming on. I think maybe in a few years we can do this again.
Brianna Keefe:
Perfect. Thank you so much.
The Wolf of Franchises:
Thanks for listening to Franchise Empires. We’re coming to you soon with actionable insights to take the next step on your franchise journey. So make sure to subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen.