29. Catherine Monson

FASTSIGNS International (asi/395000)

2020 Rank: N/A

Title: CEO

Industry Experience: 37 years

There’s very little Monson won’t do for her franchisees. After all, this perfectly coifed professional once donned goth rocker garb for an episode of Undercover Boss so she could get an unvarnished look at the experiences of FASTSIGNS employees and the challenges individual owners were facing.

That willingness to try new things and a hands-on attitude has served Monson well during the pandemic – and earned her a return to the Power 50 list, after appearances in 2008 and 2009. The FASTSIGNS executive team hosted weekly “Connect With Catherine” video calls for the franchise network, created new products like intubation boxes and custom safety barriers, developed new marketing materials for every stage of the pandemic and educated franchisees on everything from how to get PPP loans to selling remotely. FASTSIGNS finished 2020 down only slightly, thanks to those efforts, and 2021 has been even better, Monson says. “We have double-digit comp sales and have exceeded $600 million in systemwide revenue, a record for our brand,” she adds. “We remained positioned for incredible growth, in addition to what we have already achieved, and we expect 2022 will be another record year. We have the best franchisees, the best brand, the right strategy, the highest name awareness and more.”

Catherine Monson, CEO of FASTSIGNS International (asi/395000), appeared on ASIMedia’s Promo Insiders podcast last year to discuss leading during a pandemic.

With three decades of franchising and management experience, Monson has been an advocate for the franchise model in general, serving as chairwoman of the International Franchise Association (IFA) since 2020. During the pandemic, Monson and her team also expanded the company’s reach in the franchise world, acquiring NerdsToGo in September 2020 and Suite Management Franchising, the parent of MY SALON Suite and Salon Plaza, in June 2021. All of the brands, including FASTSIGNS, fall under the umbrella of Propelled Brands. And that’s only the beginning for the new franchise platform company. “We’re looking for additional B2B and service franchise brands to add to our family of brands,” she says.

FASTSIGNS has been dealing with the same supply chain issues and labor shortages as the rest of the industry. As of early October, there were more than 1,000 open positions at FASTSIGNS locations in the U.S., according to Monson. Despite the challenges, she’s optimistic about the future, already putting into place a number of large-scale initiatives, including helping franchisees to buy books of business from local competitors and launching proprietary e-commerce software that integrates with its CRM and extensive data warehouse.