Maggie Cruz, VP Recruitment Operations, Woofies Pet Ventures

Woofie’s is the first franchise system in the pet industry to offer the combined services of pet sitting, dog walking and mobile pet spa. Maggie Cruz has been Woofie’s VP of Recruitment Operations since it began franchising in 2018. She is the first contact for prospective leads and guides them through Woofie’s franchise sales process. She coordinates all the lead statuses, creates the automated messaging and manages franchisee information through Franconnect. Maggie also oversees Woofie’s FDD updates and registrations and leads the public relations efforts for franchise development.

René Evans, Franchising Director, Manduu

René Evans discovered franchising after a career in health care public relations, freelance writing, owning a walking tour company, and managing street festivals. She found Manduu first as a client and stumbled into her role shortly after her husband joined the company as CFO. When the company found itself short-handed, she volunteered to help out on a short-term basis and now she's all in.

Keith Gerson, CFE, President of Franchise Ops & CMO, FranConnect

Keith Gerson brings 40+ years of executive level expertise as a passionate and driven Franchisor and Franchisee with a proven track-record in building rapid-growth, and highly profitable franchise organizations. Over the last five years, Keith has served as President and Chief Customer Advocate for FranConnect where he has been able to work closely with many Executive Boards and Leadership Teams that are part of FranConnect’s portfolio of 700+ brands and 110,00 locations. His focus is on helping franchisors to get to their desired future state in sales, operations, communications, and engagement. Recognized in franchising circles for his extensive leadership experience, and ability to drive execution, Keith is a highly-rated keynote speaker and has had the rare opportunity to have created several leading franchise systems from their very conception through launch and sustained growth taking these systems from micro-emerging status to that of successful enterprise level brands.