This webinar explores the profound impact of community connection within franchise ownership. Hosted by Allison Dudas from Franchise Business Review, the session features insights from The N2 Company franchisees Sam Kantrow and Tamera Ahner, alongside Bethany Mascena Tracy, the National Director of Franchise Recruitment. The discussion highlights how N2 franchisees leverage their roles to foster community ties, with Sam and Tamera sharing personal stories of building relationships and creating meaningful connections in their local areas. The conversation emphasizes the unique opportunity N2 provides for franchisees to serve their communities while achieving personal and financial growth, supported by the company’s robust training and coaching programs.
About the N2 Company Franchise Opportunity
Become an N2 franchisee can lead to BIG things. For one, you can really find community connection through franchise ownership. Every year, The N2 Company surveys their franchisees. With the data we collect from all the franchise brands we survey, we make lists. The N2 Company ranks on many of our lists, including:
- Top 200 Franchises
- Top Franchises for Culture
- Top Franchises for Women
- Top Low-Cost Franchises
- Most Innovative Franchises
Learn more about The N2 Company franchise opportunity and how to become a publisher. Plus, check out their page here at FBR for some of our favorite details to share about the company
Transcript
Allison Dudas (00:01)
Hi, my name is Allison Dudas and I’m in the marketing department here at Franchise Business Review. Part of my job here is to talk to franchisees and share the franchisee experience with people like you who are researching franchise opportunities. And I’m so lucky today to get to talk to a few representatives from the N2 company. The N2 company has appeared on our list several times and if you know Franchise Business Review, you know that we love our lists
So every year we survey tens of thousands of franchisees and based on their answers, we rank the different franchise opportunities and franchises that are the best to own. So N2 Company just this year ranked in our top 200 franchises. They ranked in our top low cost franchises. They ranked in our top franchises for women, the Culture 100 list, and we have Sam Kantrow who I’ll introduce in a moment who was
one of our franchise rock stars of 2025. So they feature a lot on our website and we’re really, really so happy to have you three. So before I introduce these three, let me say a little bit more about N2. So 89 % of franchisees reported that if they could do it all over again, knowing what they know today, they would still invest in N2. 88 % of franchisees enjoy being a part of the N2 company.
Tamera Ahner (01:01)
Hello.
with this.
We’ll see.
Allison Dudas (01:23)
88 % of franchisees believe that the franchisor acts with a high level of honesty and integrity. And 90 % of franchisees would recommend N2 company to others. let’s get started. First, I wanna say welcome to Tamera Ahner Tamra is the energy behind Stroll Sonoma Ranch and Stroll Picacho Hills, where she sparks connections between neighbors and businesses.
Tamera Ahner (01:25)
Thank you.
Allison Dudas (01:47)
With a background in rural healthcare and a heart for community, she now leads local love for the N2 company. She recently launched Be Local Las Cruces, the city’s first new movers guide. When she’s not building community, you’ll find her in her garden, on a bike with her husband Eric, or soaking up family time with their daughter Olivia. Welcome, Tamera.
Tamera Ahner (02:05)
Thank
you. That like makes me teary.
Allison Dudas (02:14)
I love it. I love it. And then we have Sam Kantrow So Sam was recognized, as I mentioned, as a 2025 franchise rock star by FBR in the freshman category. And he is the proud owner of an N2 company franchise in New Haven, Connecticut. After a 14 year career as a meteorologist, he launched New Haven and Middlesex Real Producers Magazine in May of 2024.
And in less than two years, Sam has built an N2 business with intention, grit, and a heart for helping others, especially his three kids who are his biggest motivation.
Allison Dudas (02:48)
We’re also happy to welcome Bethany Mascena Tracy from the franchisor side. She’s the National Director of Franchise Recruitment at the N2 Company. Welcome Bethany, welcome Sam and welcome Tamera
Tamera Ahner (03:01)
Thank you.
Allison Dudas (03:03)
happy to have all of you. So I want to get started with some questions for Sam and Tamera in particular. obviously sharing the franchisee experience is critical because people want to know what it’s like. What is it like owning an N2 franchise? Sam, let’s start with you. I’m curious what drew you to this franchise opportunity.
Sam Kantrow (03:20)
So here’s the reality, it’s such a different world than where I came from. ⁓
You know, having a background in TV means that I know how to talk to people. That’s great, but I don’t have to sell anything. I’ve never run a business in my entire life. I think the draw for me came with just understanding that part of what we do is really very niche, right? And so for me and real producers, my entire group of clientele is pretty small, which means a lot of it is about relationships. And that’s kind of been the most important thing in my entire adult life of what I did. So that to me helped draw things in, in a big way.
where I said, ⁓ my people ultimately falls in a group of three to 500 in its entirety. And so I said, I can talk to three to 500 people and learn who they are and learn about their pain points and their needs. And so that was one of the big reasons why I ended up moving in that direction and jumping in. Also pretty cool to be able to hear about limitless income potential, which sometimes is said in places, but never actually realistic. ⁓ It is that way in this instance. So that was pretty cool too.
Allison Dudas (04:22)
That is pretty cool. Now, Tamera, what would you add to that? What drew you to the N2 company?
Tamera Ahner (04:27)
So ⁓ it’s interesting, I was just talking with my daughter about this earlier today. I’m going to touch on the last part first and then go back to the why. We’re in such a unique situation in that there, you we’re surrounded by so many local businesses, many of whom we call friends and business partners, right? But we truly are so unique in that our sole purpose is to serve at the pleasure of the people and connect people to one another.
Imagine having a business where your sole responsibility is to create community. So I want to start there. That was a conversation we just had this morning. My daughter is one of my full-time staff members. And what led me to and really helped me, that drew me to the franchise opportunity is that
I had been in the workforce for decades and decades and decades working in an administrative capacity for large and small companies. I was in healthcare administration, helped to run a county hospital, and I always was that faithful servant that was helping to propel along the mission of the organization. But I always wanted to have my own organization.
I always wanted to have my own mission. When the franchise opportunity came along with N2, it was my opportunity to essentially control my professional destiny. very much ⁓ like what Sam said, know, sometimes you have to believe in the thing you can’t see. And I never could have imagined that my income potential coming from healthcare administration, a very healthy industry coming into the N2 company.
where I’ve literally more than doubled my earnings. And ⁓ it’s been a life-changing experience for my family and actually doing something that
Allison Dudas (06:27)
That’s great. And it sounds like, to your point, the why is really important, right? Now, going back to you, Sam, I’m interested. So you had a career in meteorology, I know you said talking to people was something you could do and that you brought into this new venture. What other previous experience contributed to
starting your business with N2.
Sam Kantrow (06:47)
From a, you know, from a scholastic background, it’s going to sound a little blunt to say this, but nothing, right? I mean, I have a degree in operational meteorology and weather forecasting. So if you want me to read you the geostrophic equation, I’ll do that, right? ⁓ But I think the TV side of things, So.
So what you do when you have a job in TV or in media is a lot of storytelling and beyond just the forecasting and standing in front of a camera and talking to people, it was really, really important to be able to connect. And that’s really what we do, right? I think we’re going to hear a centralized theme if I could force, if I could forecast, pun intended, for the next 15 minutes of our conversation. And the reality is I think that theme is probably, is probably community and connection. And that’s, that’s a huge aspect of what we all do, right? Tamer and I run very,
Tamera Ahner (07:23)
Ha!
Bethany Mascena Tracy (07:24)
You
you
Sam Kantrow (07:34)
franchises and businesses. I’m working with real estate agents, that’s a totally different avenue that she’s working with. But that goal is really being able to build people and make those connections. And so a lot of the time people will say to me, it’s such a change compared to what you were doing before, right? And having built a little bit of a name for myself in this state or in this community, people say that’s a big change compared to the world of TV that you had. But when I looked at all the aspects that I loved the most about my job, which really did, again, surround being able to keep people
safe
and be honest and have that you know group of people that you are able to to help in some capacity. I give speeches all the time. It really matched with so many of the aspects of the things that I loved the most with my job and then cut out the things that were the least enjoyable like working on a Saturday night at 11 35 p.m. right. So that checked so many of the boxes that ultimately ended up fitting the bill and I think that’s why I was able to grow to where I got to.
Because the things that I loved the most and that I was the best at doing I got to continue to do Can’t complain about that
Allison Dudas (08:39)
Hmm, yeah.
Yeah, I know, as someone in marketing, I appreciate that perspective of, you know, it’s all about storytelling, and I can certainly see that being the case. Now, Tamera, I’m happy to have you add to that, but I’m also very curious, especially because your transition almost seems more drastic coming from rural healthcare. I’m curious about what your biggest challenges were when you first started with N2.
Tamera Ahner (09:04)
Yeah, well, I had no sales experience, zero. I was not remotely interested in selling anything. And ⁓ once I was able to wrap my brain around the concept that we are at service to our local community and we are providing a service to local businesses who want to connect with this very special audience and really reframe
my role as community connector and not salesperson, I became much more authentic in my role and it was so exciting to me ⁓ to, know, that every single door that I opened, I was meeting someone new. And regardless of whether we got to partner or not, I had a new resource.
you know, in my toolbox so that when I was sitting with families, I could say, hey, you know, have you tried John Doe? I just met him yesterday. What a lovely man. And that is how I was able to overcome this perspective that I had no experience in sales.
Allison Dudas (10:13)
Hmm. Hmm. that’s that’s really really interesting. Just kind of a reframing.
Tamera Ahner (10:17)
Right.
And which is so much more authentic to the role, quite honestly.
Allison Dudas (10:23)
yeah. Now hearing you speak, Tamera, and Sam, it has me thinking of a question for you, Bethany. Now obviously these are two exceptional franchisees, and I’m curious, from your perspective, when you are reaching out to prospective franchisees, what qualities are you hoping for, or even skills?
Bethany Mascena Tracy (10:41)
I’m
That’s a great question. When we’re reaching out to potential franchisees or when we’re having initial conversations with potential franchisees, we’re really looking for a set of soft skills that are ⁓ pretty easily identifiable through the series of conversations that we have with them. We’re looking for people who are humble, so they’re going to fit our culture. They’re going to be coachable. They’re going to lean into our program.
They’re hungry, so they’re willing to do the work. They’re willing to roll up their sleeves and make the phone calls and go on the sales appointments. This isn’t an absentee owner franchise opportunity. This is a real hands-on ownership opportunity. And they’re smart, so they have that emotional intelligence or that smarts that’s gonna allow them to make those connections and make those sales on the spot while they’re meeting with other business owners.
Allison Dudas (11:36)
That’s great. Now, Tamera, you had mentioned that your daughter works for you, and I’m curious if you have other employees. Sam, I’m interested to hear, is it just the Sam show, or how many people are you working with?
Sam Kantrow (11:50)
I’ll dive really fast. So it was at first…
And the reality is I had no idea what the heck I was doing. So I remember, one of the cool things that N2 does is they ⁓ give us these growth coaches that help us throughout the course of the process. And so you don’t feel like you’re stuck by yourself. There’s somebody there that’s holding your hand. And after I launched and after things started to grow and get a little bit bigger, the person who I was working with said to me, so who’s helping you on your team right now? And I said, nobody. And he was like,
Tamera Ahner (11:59)
Hahaha!
Sam Kantrow (12:22)
buddy, you’re way too many months into this and have grown way too much to not have anybody helping you in any aspect. And what I love about that and appreciated about that is it allowed me to focus on the things that ultimately mattered the most for my business, not just the growth, right? Not just the dollars and cents and how much money you’re making, but also the really important parts of being able to get myself ingrained in this community and assist and help. And so that’s when I started bringing people on. At first, it was someone who could help manage the partners and the ads that they were running in the magazine. And then it was
adding somebody else who could help me when it comes to setting appointments. And then I eventually ended up bringing on sort of a director of operations type of role who does some of the interviews with me, who helps plan some of the events that we do.
It went from me just doing it solo on my own in the room that I’m sitting in right now that is my office that was just for nothing besides storage to managing employees and all of that, which again, no background in doing that at all. You kind of do it trial by fire, ⁓ but as you grow, you need to be able to do that. I think Entoo is great at being able to help provide at least the assistance and being able to help you know when the right time is to do those kinds of things. That’s really important to do.
Tamera Ahner (13:23)
Mm-hmm.
Allison Dudas (13:33)
Thank
Tamera Ahner (13:34)
Yeah. And I would say to piggyback Sam’s sentiments, believe he would concur that it’s so important for us to know every job. You know, as a business owner, we want to know every role. we have ⁓ colleagues across the United States who run their franchises by themselves and very successfully, might I add. ⁓ But there’s also that opportunity
to expand and bring more folks into the fold. So in my particular case, I’ve grown over time and I have ⁓ an ad strategist who is ⁓ actually a contractor that works and manages all of my ads. She’s been with me from day one N2 also provides that service as well. So there’s lots of options and flexibility for the franchisee.
I have my full-time Olivia who runs all the content, is my content manager for all of my publications. She runs all of my social media and she helps me keeping my schedule full so that I’m out in our community consistently. I also have the pleasure of having what we call our client concierge and team assistant. She works on a part-time basis.
Helping us to stay in front of our business partners, always helping each one of them feel important to us. And she’s also that touch point with our neighbors. They adore her. She’s like the mayor of the neighborhoods. And then last but not least, I do have a gal that helps us on a per diem basis with community events. ⁓ And what I found is that leaning in on those resources over time has also allowed me the gift of
becoming a growth coach with the organization. So helping franchisees ⁓ launch publications in communities across the country.
Allison Dudas (15:33)
Thank you. Yeah. You’re also a growth coach? That’s great. And I was gonna…
Tamera Ahner (15:34)
You’re welcome. Yeah.
Sam Kantrow (15:34)
doing that too right now also that was something that I yeah.
Bethany Mascena Tracy (15:37)
Yeah. We tap our best people. We tap our
Tamera Ahner (15:39)
Yeah, it’s wonderful.
Bethany Mascena Tracy (15:42)
best people to coach our other people. I’d love to kind of piggyback on, on top of some of, some of what they’re saying. I mean, really most people who find N2 weren’t even really looking for a franchise to start. They really like the opportunity to, for flexibility, the financial potential and the idea of owning their own business.
Allison Dudas (15:45)
Please.
Bethany Mascena Tracy (16:03)
We’ve been voted named a low-cost franchise. We’ve waived our franchise fee again this year. So people come to us, know there’s not a lot of startup. Sam mentioned it. He started in that room that was a storage room. Most people start at their kitchen tables and then grow from there. So you’re looking at and talking to two very, you know, full business owners who are playing out and spelling out what they do to support their businesses at the point they are now. Most people are solopreneurs when they come.
Tamera Ahner (16:18)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Allison Dudas (16:33)
Right,
right. And so in addition to a growth coach, what else does the N2 company provide with onboarding?
Bethany Mascena Tracy (16:40)
So we have a full training program, really world-class training. give people a blueprint, whether or not they come with sales experience or not, we give them a blueprint to go from right when they start, right when they come out of training, all the way through launching their magazine. And then after that, we also keep them with a coach to help with their ongoing success and reaching their goals. We have online training, we have live training, we have asynchronous training, really any, any.
Tamera Ahner (16:44)
Thank
Bethany Mascena Tracy (17:09)
that you’d want to interact with with the organization you’d be able to get what you need from a coaching and training perspective.
Allison Dudas (17:16)
Yeah, so it sounds like, yes please, please.
Sam Kantrow (17:17)
Can I add one? I was
just gonna add one thing. One of the things that because we were talking about this before we started this, ⁓ there are also conferences and the thing is, I hate to say it, I’m gonna say some really mean stuff about franchises. There’s so much crap that’s out there and maybe I’m not allowed to use that word in this forum. So beep it out if that’s the case.
Allison Dudas (17:38)
It’s okay.
Sam Kantrow (17:38)
But
the reality is, I had joked and said I hadn’t been to any conferences before, aside from the free trip that I won to Mexico for doing this last year, which was really cool. And then I ended up going to the first one that I had gone to. it provided me, despite the fact that things are going really well with some unbelievably invaluable information, sitting down with the person who is the most successful person running all of the real producers publications across the country and just hearing some of the ways in which he has become successful and does the things that he does,
They didn’t have to provide that opportunity for us. They didn’t have to pay for a hotel room for us to go and provide us with food It was a choice at the end of the day and I think many of us would still be successful But it just helps push that level just that much higher and that’s a really good resource that goes beyond just Listen sitting there listening to somebody talk about junk and I’m sorry. I’m a very anti-anti franchisee franchisee. So my bad, but
Tamera Ahner (18:28)
Yeah.
No!
Bethany Mascena Tracy (18:33)
You
Allison Dudas (18:33)
I
think it’s really good to be skeptical. mean, as somebody who speaks to franchisees or prospective franchisees, I should say, you gotta do your due diligence. You gotta do your research, which is why we’re so happy to be discussing all of this with all of you, because the N2 company cares about their franchisees enough that you survey your franchisees to find out how they’re feeling, how satisfied they are. And then of course, with that data that we collect, you appear on a lot of our lists. So…
Tamera Ahner (18:54)
Mm-hmm.
Allison Dudas (19:02)
Not all franchises are the same, Sam, to your point. Totally, totally agree. So I’ve got kind of a last question here. Just having talked to you for a few minutes, I can tell, I can feel your passion, and I’m curious, for all three of you and your perspectives, what are you most excited about for the future for N2? ⁓ Why don’t we start with you, Tamera?
Tamera Ahner (19:24)
Okay, so first of all, I’ve been with the company for a little over eight years and there are a few constants that remain true. So if there’s a skeptic out there, I wanna just reinforce that the integrity of the company, ⁓ I wake up every day knowing that I’m surrounded by a sea of people, I call them my N2 brothers and sisters.
that are here to support me, the franchisee, whether it’s my first day or eight years later. So integrity, we really are, ⁓ we are protectors of our culture. So that’s number one. It remains true after all these years. There’s never once been a blip. Very reliable. The earning potential is truly when they say,
When you may hear the word unlimited in this organization, the earning potential truly is unlimited. ⁓ I also feel that it would be important to, I appreciate so much that the culture of our company recognizes the importance of family. Why is that significant? That is significant because in my particular instance, I’ll use myself as an example. I’ve been able to exceed my earning.
goals while working an honest 40 hours a week. You don’t have to work 60 hours a week to get to that place you want to be and to really values and has created a model that is fully achievable within a 40 hour work week and quite honestly, oftentimes less. And then flexibility. How wonderful is it that a franchisee can come into their new fiscal year and personally determine for themselves
How much time do I want to take off to be with my family this year? I typically take about six weeks off. It’s always scheduled out. I work around all of the things that are happening within my family and within my friendship circles. And I still run a healthy, very healthy business. So there’s that level of flexibility. It’s a real thing. it is truly, once we get an area director launched,
and get the foundation for their business solid, they too can earn that flexibility.
Allison Dudas (21:53)
Sam, what gets you kind of the most excited about N2 and the future?
Sam Kantrow (21:59)
time do we have again? Just kidding. ⁓
Tamera Ahner (22:01)
Ha
Sam Kantrow (22:03)
Well, I you know, I can agree to many of the sentiments that were just said a couple of seconds ago. think that ⁓ I don’t serve, personally, I don’t serve any benefit from trying to sell N2 the general public, to the world. ⁓
I don’t really serve any benefit as a growth coach in the sense that, sure there are a couple of dollars that come in my pocket to do something like that, but it’s not so much that it matters. To me, the opportunity that existed in the past, I’ll get on track in a second, I think makes sense to explain what existed in my own past. ⁓ I almost, one month before going into print, almost lost my house. And that happened only because I had no financial security whatsoever.
And when I first had the opportunity to launch this, I didn’t buy it myself either. And I didn’t buy it at the beginning because you, again, you said it a few minutes ago, you have to be a little bit weary about the opportunities that exist. Every franchise in the entire world wants to fill you with these grandiose ideas that their company is better and different than every other company because they do these cool things or offer these cool incentives. ⁓ I only ended up getting into it because of a personal friend of mine who was a real estate agent that had heard of this and was very connected
in another part of the country and I reached out to her totally by coincidence to ask. I may not be sitting here today if that wasn’t the case so I hope that our conversation can help you know persuade people to think about taking that opportunity but the reality is it quite literally changed my life. Tamera said a couple seconds ago she does six weeks of you know vacation during the course of the year. I worked
Don’t even don’t bleep this out 10 hours a week maybe this entire summer and still gave myself a $50,000 a year raise because we have the equipment or we have the procedures in place Thanks to the training that exists to allow us to be as successful as we can be I
tripled the salary that I was earning and and I’m still on a trajectory and it I only launched 16 months ago so things are just growing at a really rapid rate what I’m excited about is that
I, as she mentioned before, never have to worry about things going awry or things exploding. I have conversations frequently with the people who matter the most in this company and say, X, Y, Z kind of piss me off and I don’t like the way that that’s going. And then actual conversations happen that result in actual changes that can happen too. So even if it’s a company that made, and Bethany can stop me if I don’t have the right number, $157 million or something last year.
It doesn’t mean that you’re too small to matter, to have those conversations, to work on continually having progress in the right direction that ultimately at the end of the day serves not just benefit to us as franchise owners, but to the people who we’re ultimately serving that are in the communities. And that to me is pretty cool because you have a voice. You don’t have that in a lot of types of jobs. So.
Tamera Ahner (24:44)
That’s right.
Yeah. ⁓
Yeah. Yeah.
I have to put a PS on there. So I can say with confidence. dang. But I can say I think this will see this will speak volumes. I think it’s safe to say that all three of us have full access to the two founders of our company. I’ve got their numbers on my cell phone. I could call either one of them right now and they would know exactly who I am.
Sam Kantrow (25:05)
How dare you be the last one to speak? I’m just kidding. Go on.
Allison Dudas (25:07)
Ha ⁓
Bethany Mascena Tracy (25:08)
you
Allison Dudas (25:28)
That’s very cool. Bethany, just to wrap it up, what are you excited about? Especially since given your role, you get to kind of have that bird’s eye view.
Bethany Mascena Tracy (25:41)
Yeah, so one thing I didn’t mention is I was an area director originally when I came to the company. So I’m always excited to talk to area directors and hear about what they’re doing with this business opportunity. It really is a truly special business opportunity in my seat right now. I’m excited about the new people that we’re talking to the territories we can. We can match them with and the products that they’re able to launch and of course the new products that are coming down the pike. So all three of those things I’m excited.
for what’s to come for the Entoo Company.
Allison Dudas (26:12)
Great, well thank you all so much for taking the time to talk about N2. It was great to hear more about the story of how you…
stumbled into this company and what your hopes are for the future. And I’m sure that these stories and these insights will make a significant difference to those considering the franchise opportunity that N2 offers. Make sure that you check out their website and also their website on FBR where you can find out even more. All right, thank you so much.
Tamera Ahner (26:45)
Thank you,
Allison.
Bethany Mascena Tracy (26:47)
Thanks.
