Sam Kantrow, recognized as a 2025 Rock Star in the Freshman category, is the proud owner of Real Producers in New Haven, Connecticut, officially launched in May 2024. As a media brand under the N2 Company umbrella, Real Producers connects top real estate agents with trusted local businesses through high-quality, hyper-local publications. With no sales experience, Sam credits the N2 team for hands-on support, from sales training to ad design and coaching. Today, Sam finds purpose in helping others make meaningful connections, and he’s already looking ahead to future expansion and mentorship opportunities.
During your research, what made your franchise brand stand out?
There is so much print advertising, and so much of it is mass marketing. Broad reach is great for brand recognition, but being able to work in a community that is niche, just 3-500 people, allows the local businesses we work with to directly contact and impact the clients they serve.
How did your franchisor help you prepare for and launch your business?
N2 (Real Producers‘ parent company) covers everything for us. They handled the ad design, trained me on sales (I had no sales experience before this), set up coaching calls, etc.
What advice would you give to potential franchisees considering your brand?
No sales experience needed! In fact, the success of my Real Producers publication has come solely on the basis of honesty. I’m not “selling” anything, I am just working with local businesses to help them get in front of people who can make a difference.
Name three things that helped you ramp up quickly.
Habits, consistency, and honesty.
What aspects of franchise ownership surprised you the most after getting started?
The greatest surprise I had was how “easy” it really was to build your business. Don’t get me wrong, of course it takes a lot of work. But when you are working with a product or service that truly can help people, being able to grow it becomes easy!
As a relatively new franchise owner, what are your long-term goals? What does the future of your franchise look like?
For me, happiness is my greatest goal. Not just personal, but for the people I work with. Look, at the end of the day, selling “advertising” is not going to make everyone happy all of the time. But our program builds real relationships between the best of the best. At the end of the day, that means people moving into my community will be taken care of in the best way possible. Beyond that, I would like to expand and launch a second Real Producers publication in the area, and I’m looking forward to doing more mentorships and coaching myself!
