At a certain point in your career, you stop chasing just any opportunity and start looking for the right one. After 25 years in franchise development across fitness and wellness — F45 Training, Perspire Sauna Studio, World Gym, RealRyder — I have learned to evaluate concepts the same way a sophisticated investor does. You look at the macro trends, the model, the unit economics, the team, and the category dynamics. And then you ask: is this the brand I want to spend the next chapter of my career building?

Zoom Room is the first brand in my career where every answer came back yes.

The Macro Trend

Experiential retail is not a buzzword. It is a structural shift in consumer behavior. People are spending less on things and more on shared experiences — connection, memories, time well spent with the people and pets they love. That shift has fueled the rise of concepts like Orangetheory Fitness and F45 Training, both brands I know well from the inside.

Zoom Room sits at the center of that same shift, but in a category with one critical difference: there is no national competitor. In fitness, you are selling against a dozen scaled brands competing for the same customer. In dog training, Zoom Room is the only franchise building a structured, recurring, group-class experience around socialization. The competitive landscape is thousands of independent trainers and big-box pet retailers who treat training as a sideline. None of them operate this model. None of them deliver this outcome.

When I find a brand riding a powerful consumer trend with no scaled competition, I pay very close attention.

The Model

What drew me in as a franchise development professional is how accessible the Zoom Room model is for prospective owners.

This is a brick-and-mortar concept that does not require massive capital or prime real estate. Franchisees can operate successfully in Class B and flex retail spaces, which means lower occupancy costs and a much more efficient path from lease signing to grand opening. In a world where real estate is often the single biggest barrier to franchise entry, that flexibility is a significant advantage.

The operations are intentionally lean. Most locations run effectively on a small team. For first-time business owners — and many of our best franchisee candidates are first-time owners — that is a manageable and far less intimidating way to step into entrepreneurship. At the same time, the model is highly scalable. Owners can grow from one unit to multiple locations without dramatically increasing operational complexity.

And the revenue model has something most franchise concepts lack: genuine predictability. Zoom Room operates on a membership and recurring-visit structure. Instead of constantly chasing the next transaction, franchisees build a stable, reliable revenue base. That kind of predictability allows owners to focus more on delivering exceptional experiences and less on short-term sales pressure.

The unit economics validate the model. Customer acquisition is efficient, and the revenue generated in a new customer's first months with us is remarkable relative to the cost to acquire them. Retention is strong — the system-wide rate and customer satisfaction scores place Zoom Room alongside the most admired consumer brands in the country. And the top-performing stores deliver revenue and margin profiles that are exceptional for a concept with this low a cost of entry.

The Community

But what truly sets Zoom Room apart — and what makes my job in franchise development different from any role I have held — is the community.

This is not a one-and-done training program. Zoom Room is a hub for dog lovers, a place where people come not just to train, but to connect, return, and build a weekly ritual around their dogs. Owners stay in the room during every class. They learn alongside their dogs. They see progress, feel pride, and come back. That ongoing engagement creates a depth of customer relationship that most service businesses never achieve.

The motto — "We don't train dogs; we train the people who love them" — is not marketing language. It is an accurate description of what happens in the room. The owner is the one doing the learning. The dog is the one doing the socializing. And the bond between them deepens with every visit. That emotional architecture is what produces thousands upon thousands of five-star reviews, a willingness-to-recommend score comparable to Apple and Amazon, and customer lifetime values that rival the best subscription businesses in any industry.

I know this personally. My dog Daisy was with me from eight weeks old until she passed peacefully at home, two weeks before her 15th birthday. Fifteen years of companionship, of daily routine built around her, of a life shaped by the bond between a person and a dog. That is what Zoom Room's clients are investing in. Not obedience. Not commands. A relationship. And that relationship is why they stay for years.

The Category

The pet industry continues to grow year after year, even during economic downturns. Americans spend heavily on their pets, and the trajectory is only accelerating as Millennials and Gen Z — now the largest pet-owning cohorts — treat their dogs as family members. People prioritize their pets. They cut discretionary spending in other areas before they cut spending on their dogs.

That resilience makes the pet category particularly attractive for franchise investors. And within pet, training and socialization is the one major segment without a dominant national brand. Daycare, grooming, veterinary, retail — every other segment has scaled players. Dog training — the most emotionally resonant service in the entire category — has no scaled competitor to Zoom Room.

For a franchise development professional, that white space is the opportunity of a career.

The Team

The final piece is the leadership. Zoom Room has nearly two decades of operational experience and has already learned the lessons that break younger concepts. But what convinced me to join now — in early 2026 — is the team that has come together around the brand.

Ron Coughlin, the former CEO of Petco, is our incoming chairman. Soumik Chatterjee, former Chief Strategy Officer at Petco, is our CFO. Don Allen, who built Orangetheory studios for three decades, runs operations. Herb Heiserman, who designed experiential retail for Starbucks and Whole Foods at CBRE, leads design and construction. Anthony Polazzi, with 25 years in private equity, is both a board member and a multi-unit franchisee. Alex Samios, who helped grow Dogtopia to almost 300 locations, has been on the board since 2017.

That combination — a proven foundation with nearly two decades of operation, paired with a leadership bench drawn from Petco, HP, PepsiCo, Capital One, CBRE, Orangetheory, and Dogtopia — creates a rare moment. The model works. The category is open. The team is in place. And the growth chapter is just beginning.

My Role

My job is to find the people who will build this brand in their communities. Franchise owners who are passionate about dogs, disciplined about execution, and serious about building a business. People who want to own something meaningful — not just profitable, but genuinely impactful in the lives of dogs and the families who love them.

After 25 years of recruiting franchise partners across fitness and wellness, I can say with confidence: the Zoom Room opportunity is the most compelling I have seen. Strong industry tailwinds. A smart, scalable model. Deep customer loyalty. No national competition. And a leadership team built for the growth ahead.

If you are exploring franchise ownership and this resonates, I would welcome the conversation.

Why I Joined Zoom Room