Discover how four FastSigns franchise owners in California transformed their business into a community-driven powerhouse during the pandemic. By building trust, leveraging relationships, and prioritizing core values, they not only survived but thrived. Join Allison Dudas as she talks with Franchisee Excellence Award Winners, Kaitlyn and Gaby (2 out of 4 of the owners), about navigating COVID-19, growing their team, and maintaining strong community ties. Learn practical insights on hiring, cultivating trust, and strategic decision-making that set them apart. Perfect for franchisees and entrepreneurs seeking inspiration from a resilient, family-led operation.
To read more about this family-owned FASTSIGNS franchise, check out their Q&A.
The FASTSIGNS Franchise Opportunity:
FASTSIGNS is the leading sign and visual communications franchise in North America, operating over 775 independently owned locations across seven countries. Serving businesses across industries with offerings ranging from traditional signage to digital displays, promotional products, and printing services.
The franchise operates in the $29 billion sign and graphics industry. With franchisees benefiting from one of the industry’s highest franchisee-to-corporate support ratios, with over 120 corporate employees serving the network.
Each year, FASTSIGNS uses the FBR franchisee satisfaction survey to gain unbiased insights into their franchisees, and they have ranked highly on our unbiased awards lists for many years, including:
- Top 200 Franchise 2026
- Top Business Services Franchises
- Most Profitable Franchises
- Top Franchises For Veterans
Interested in Becoming a FASTSIGNS Franchise Owner?
FASTSIGNS offers special incentives, including 50% off franchise fees for veterans and first responders, 24/7 online education through FASTSIGNS University, and comprehensive training and ongoing support focused on four objectives: franchise growth, franchise profitability, brand growth, and franchisee satisfaction.
To learn more about the FASTSIGNS franchise opportunity and get more information, call (888) 285-5935 or visit fsfastsigns.com.
Transcript
Allison Dudas (00:04)
Hi, I’m Allison Dudas with Franchise Business Review, and I am so pleased to be here to talk to two of our Franchisee Excellence Award winners. I’ve got Kaitlyn and Gaby from FastSigns, who are co-owners along with their spouses of a FastSigns location in California, right? Fabulous, so coming to me from California with their adorable sidekick, Tripp,
Kaitlyn & Gaby (00:26)
Yes.
Allison Dudas (00:31)
Well, thank you. Thank you both so much for joining me today.
Kaitlyn & Gaby (00:36)
You’re welcome. Thanks for having us.
Allison Dudas (00:38)
Absolutely. So I’m so excited to talk to you because FastSigns, the corporate office nominated your team for a Franchisee Excellence Award, which means that they’ve recognized you as being absolutely outstanding. ⁓ And I can’t wait to hear a little bit more of your story and really get to how and what makes you such outstanding franchisees. So firstly, I want to clarify. So I keep calling you the quads, the quad.
Kaitlyn & Gaby (01:07)
Okay.
Allison Dudas (01:08)
Because
you are a franchise that is actually owned by four people. So can you explain to me, you can start with how this all happened, how all four of you came to own this together. I’d love to hear it.
Kaitlyn & Gaby (01:16)
Thanks.
Sure. Okay, I’m gonna take it from here. I owned a company called Fullerton Photographics. We’re in our 26th year of being in the photo industry. And in 2015, the franchise, so the leadership at FASTSIGNS came to a meeting that I was present at with about 25 of my photo colleagues.
and they presented an opportunity for our photo retailers to co-brand with the franchise. ⁓ they recognized rightly that the photo industry and the print industry needed help and needed help for survival. It was a really smart move on their part. And so at that meeting, literally there were everybody was checking their zip codes to see if a territory was available in their town.
And ⁓ that was the beginning of, that was the start of now what is three franchises that we own. ⁓ But at that point we co-branded, we located inside our Fullerton Photographics building in 150 square feet we opened. And ⁓ within a year we had purchased an existing Fastsigns in a neighboring town and…
It was at that point that I started to think about the business as a business that would be awesome for younger people, ⁓ specifically smart young people that could, that, you know, technology was a way of life for them. And ⁓ just the energy that it takes to be successful and to build a really great team would probably be likely better to come from younger professionals. ⁓
and I reached out Kaitlyn and her then fiance, guess, right? Or not even. Yeah, probably not even at that time. We’re living in Michigan. Both of them were.
successful in their own right. Kaitlyn was doing ⁓ senior level event production for ⁓ Quicken Loans and Rocket Mortgage and Aaron was finishing his MBA in data. ⁓ Unbeknownst to me, I was more reaching out for Kaitlyn ⁓ and Aaron to move back to California, but for Kaitlyn to come and be part of the business and eventually, you know, take over the business. At that time, there was only one. ⁓
She gave me an ultimatum and she said, we would love to do it under one condition. If you can find a way to pay for both of us, know, find a way to pay for both of us or you don’t get either of us basically. And you know, that was a tough, it wasn’t a tough decision because I knew they were going to be perfect. I had been to a convention the year prior and I’d seen really smart, energetic professionals moving into the franchise world.
Allison Dudas (04:03)
Yeah.
Kaitlyn & Gaby (04:19)
I saw attorneys, I saw CPAs, I saw people leaving big careers, MBAs thinking, what a great opportunity to own my own business. And I looked around and compared that to what I had just seen at a photo conference.
And it just hit me like a ton of bricks that this would be perfect for young, smart entrepreneurs. So when she gave that ultimatum, it was like, OK, we’ll figure out how to pay you guys. Get out here. That was 2019. End of 2018. End of 2018. 2019, she had finished her role, and they had moved to California.
Allison Dudas (04:58)
love that. It’s like the lengths that a mom will go to to be like, come back home and then have grandchildren so I can be near.
Kaitlyn & Gaby (05:02)
That
was my motive. Our oldest son is in Minneapolis with his two daughters and then we have another son that’s here.
I wanted to our daughter, my daughter, our daughter to be close by and it was a big deal because we have always had a really great relationship growing up. Kaitlyn’s the youngest of three of our children and ⁓ quite a bit younger than her brothers. So it just was one of these things where we really thought long and hard about relationship first because family businesses are notorious for being difficult. And then you have four people. ⁓
Allison Dudas (05:40)
sure.
Right,
the quads, I know.
Kaitlyn & Gaby (05:45)
And when you’re
And when my husband came into the business, when we bought our second franchise, he was leaving ⁓ corporate retail, had spent his career in the grocery industry and in the home improvement industry. it was a big shift to come in and all of sudden learn. A smaller business. A much smaller business. smaller team. The smaller team, fewer people working with us. And of course, I’d been the boss of one company for 25 years.
been the boss of other companies for that same length of time. So that was a little, you know, there’s been some defining moments there. I think we sorted it out much better since Kaitlyn and Aaron came on the scene. Wouldn’t you say? then COVID helped us sort things out really. Yeah. So.
Allison Dudas (06:21)
Yeah.
Yeah, so talk about
that because I am curious because obviously all four of you bring a tremendous amount of skills and knowledge to this business. And I’m very curious about how you divvy up the responsibilities, how that works out.
Kaitlyn & Gaby (06:45)
Thanks
Yeah, so I think in a lot of ways what Gaby was saying in terms of our roles during COVID, those are really defined. 2019, end of 2019, we were able to purchase the building that one of our locations is in now. So we own our real estate. Yeah, huge. But we moved in March 1st of 2020.
Allison Dudas (07:08)
Huge.
Kaitlyn & Gaby (07:14)
into that building. So brand new building, new equipment, new everything. And ⁓ two weeks later, everything changed. The world changed. We had to make some really, really tough calls with our team that we had at the time ⁓ because a lot of our business, my background, as she mentioned, event production. And March is a really big event month in Southern California, Orange County.
Allison Dudas (07:14)
my gosh.
Kaitlyn & Gaby (07:44)
those events were just canceling and we were just watching like things just go away, just disappear. So we made some tough calls, we were quick to do so and we got our team on unemployment right away.
The whole entire team we let go. With the exception of we had a graphic designer who stayed with us and we just said the four of us are going to figure this out. We have to. And that’s the only way that we can do it because at that time we’ve given up everything. know, nobody’s hiring during that time. We’re going to leave and try to find something else. ⁓ So we did figure it out. And during that time, we really, really honed in on the areas that.
Allison Dudas (08:19)
Mm-hmm.
Kaitlyn & Gaby (08:25)
We were good at. So Aaron, my husband, at the time had some knowledge on the back end, quite a bit of knowledge, but he wasn’t running printers before we started doing what we do now. So he learned everything from design, file setup, troubleshooting, printing, anything related to the world of building what we actually sell and making what we sell.
Allison Dudas (08:27)
Hmm.
and
Kaitlyn & Gaby (08:52)
And then also the installs, which is the area that Bob, my dad, really took over is the install section and deliveries. And he was kind of our, our gopher during that time that did all of the running around. You know, he was the one that was wearing his mask everywhere and grocery shopping for everybody and doing all those things.
I did sales and really worked on our relationships and kind of fell into that role, which I had been doing, but even more so. then, know, Gab kind of started at that point removing ourselves a little bit more from the sales side, which she had done a lot of before and took herself to the higher level of what.
Allison Dudas (09:24)
Hmm.
Kaitlyn & Gaby (09:34)
where our businesses were going and the direction that they’re taking them and all the financial side of things and passing off the relationships to Kaitlyn introducing her to, for example, the school district, which became one of our biggest clients. I mean, we were very proactive ⁓ during COVID where we wrote a whole marketing program around
school distancing signs for kids, for young kids, for elementary-age kids. we looked to corporate. Initially, they were doing some, they were trying to provide some help because they wanted their franchisees to succeed, but they were at a level with building marketing for warehouses around COVID. We had a good relationship, great relationship with an elementary school district with 28 elementary schools. We were invited into a meeting and ended up
Allison Dudas (10:00)
Yep.
Absolutely.
Kaitlyn & Gaby (10:27)
having to kind of really do some selling. But at that point, ⁓ we wrote the marketing program with them in mind and they were like, can we have 100,000 of these things? So that we worked together, the four of us for a year and a half, almost a year and a half, but we did it with just the four of us in our building.
Allison Dudas (10:45)
Wow.
Kaitlyn & Gaby (10:47)
Yep, and every day at 4 PM these two kids made us do FASTSIGNS fitness club. We put our sweats on. I mean, even like using the curb outside for a stepper kind of a thing. Yeah, we had fun.
Allison Dudas (10:59)
Yes. ⁓ for sure. ⁓ yeah. No, I have so many memories of doing that kind of stuff during the pandemic, for sure. Well, I love that you brought
up, not that we all love talking about the pandemic, but I think it’s especially ⁓ with a brand like FastSigns, I think it’s really important to bring up because we see FastSigns appear on our recession resistant lists and we see them
get incredibly high marks in certain areas like, I’m looking at my data here, like the franchise system, training and support, the franchisee community. ⁓ And these are things that, you know, obviously the franchisor, obviously you four were incredibly resilient and creative and hardworking and deserve all the accolades for getting through that time and thriving.
And also it sounds like Fast Signs as a franchisor really had some good things set up for you and as is indicated from the report that we have on our site and also ⁓ just the list that they continue to make.
Kaitlyn & Gaby (11:57)
Absolutely.
news.
Yeah, absolutely. Catherine (FASTSIGNS CEO) held a weekly call. So she was online with us every week going over the most important things like maintaining your cash. You know, do not overspend. You know, you’re going to need your money. And then also even to the regulatory things that we were coached on, it was, I thought, really, really remarkable and unexpected and so helpful looking back on it now like.
Of course, they have a stake in us surviving, but it was more than that. It was more than that. And there were, I think, multiple fast signs that had very successful years during that time frame.
Allison Dudas (12:37)
Yes.
Yeah,
I think you’re right for sure about that. ⁓ Okay, so I just want to ask about things like, you know, obviously you made these really strong relationships during the pandemic and how have you kept them going since things have obviously evolved since then?
Kaitlyn & Gaby (13:10)
Great question. Sure, that’s a great question. I think there’s a couple things. One… ⁓
Those relationships are still there. So you remember this shared time together. ⁓ That now was five years ago, six years ago, which is crazy. And people have since moved on and changed jobs and are now with new companies. And we are a part of their story and we’re part of their team now. And so you have some of these people that are in…
Allison Dudas (13:28)
Crazy.
Kaitlyn & Gaby (13:41)
really large roles. Let’s just take a safety manager at a warehouse, right? ⁓
We’re doing all kinds of stuff, especially during COVID. We were doing a lot of safety related items. But as this person in particular that I’m thinking of transition, she’s now at her third company that we’ve worked with her at. Yeah. And we’re just, we’re part of her team that she brings with her. She knows that she can trust us. We get the job done. We’re collaborative with her. ⁓ And we have an understanding of what her needs are going into whatever company she’s moving into. ⁓ Cause her role is pretty similar, right?
She’s just doing it for somebody else in another location. I think that’s been the biggest area of our relationships. And those have changed and grown.
But the school districts are still there. We’re not doing maybe as much for them. But we’re always their first call. I was going to say, they think of us first. Yeah. And they think of us for different things too, which I think the pandemic brought out as well. Like, can you guys do this? Yeah. I’d rather buy it from you than from a company that I don’t know. Yeah, or online. So.
Allison Dudas (14:54)
Right.
Right. that’s such a good point.
Kaitlyn & Gaby (14:56)
And then new relations with
Kaitlyn. She’s, feel like you’ve had in the most recent, say, six months to a year, great connections with college people and LinkedIn people that have turned into, you know, they started as maybe a relationship from years ago, and now they’ve built into an amazing client relationship, you know, that has national implications for us.
Yeah, think that’s part of, I don’t want to say getting older, but getting more established in our careers, right? So some of my friends that 15 years ago, you we were in college together are now doing some really great things, big roles. And they’re finding themselves in these positions where they are decision makers. And it’s also just having those relationships and continuing those things that we’ve been able to do. And so.
Allison Dudas (15:24)
Right.
Kaitlyn & Gaby (15:51)
Now, some of my friends call, I’m like, yeah, we got it. I’m glad you’re in this role now. Let’s do 20 locations together.
Allison Dudas (16:00)
Yeah, I love that. It’s so interesting because I just had a conversation with a franchisee from an entirely different industry, property management, right? Not fast signs, right? Totally different. But the common theme for her with her success was exactly what you were just talking about, Kaitlyn, relationships. And, you know, maybe they start as personal relationships and they turn into professional relationships or the ability to maintain these professional relationships and being that trusted resource for people.
Kaitlyn & Gaby (16:11)
Yes.
Allison Dudas (16:30)
⁓ And you don’t have to be this like salesy, loud, promotional person to be successful as a franchisee. You really just have to be somebody that people can count on. And it sounds like all four of you are that, which is just so.
Kaitlyn & Gaby (16:30)
Yeah.
Exactly.
In different ways. different ways. have, ⁓ we have fobs. Those are friends of Bob’s. ⁓ Yeah. And those are the ones that get things for free. For the next day. And we’re like, what? You told them they were going to get what? said, well, we can do it. Well, that wasn’t the point. Yes, we can do it, but you just met this guy yesterday. So we all have our little
Allison Dudas (17:19)
Love it.
Kaitlyn & Gaby (17:21)
little relationship building tools. Plus, think just listening to Jennifer at the FASTSIGNS Convention recently, she was talking about how the cycle of buying and what buyers really, really want today is trust. That’s their number one thing. They want to be able to trust you. like Kaitlyn is the, we’re kind of the epitome of that. If we say we’re going to do something and it’s three o’clock in the morning, you know, in the rain, we’re still going to do it. We just,
and you can always count on us. And I think that’s so valuable to people to be able to trust that you’re gonna get it done, that you’re gonna follow through, that you’re not gonna leave them stranded and you’ll ultimately make them look so good.
Allison Dudas (18:05)
Yes, how I think that’s so true. I think that’s so, so
true. When you kind of got out of, when we all kind of got out of the pandemic, obviously it didn’t remain just a four person team. So how many people do you employ currently? Because you have three locations. So probably.
Kaitlyn & Gaby (18:19)
Great.
I right
now we’re at 11. We’re included in that number. So seven others, maybe eight. It ebbs and flows a little bit, but we do have, so our first hire after COVID is still with us. second, third.
Fourth maybe maybe fourth. We’ve got one that’s switching industries right now. We’re really excited for him And our designer also wanted to switch industries which just happened at the beginning of this year Yeah, like after nine years and I know nine years ten or twelve years doing graphic design He was just like I think I’m just burnt out I think I just don’t want to do this anymore and you know what that’s good. We were part of his journey and ⁓ He was part of ours But it was a good a good check
for him to go and transition into what he was more passionate about. But our team is fantastic. They’re great.
And we’ve worked very hard at, we are very particular when we were hiring back. Really, really, really particular. And I think that’s a really ⁓ unique and different strength ⁓ from our generation, my husband’s and my generation to Kaitlyn and Aaron’s generation, the idea of really building a business around your culture and core values. And it’s been so evident and important to them from the very
beginning when we hired that we hired our very first you know hire after COVID that these are our core values and we’re not wavering and we want to hire around those and we want to build a culture of people that all believe and can
work within what we feel is so important as business owners. So, and maybe my husband and I had those in the background. We know what core values are. We know what culture is, but now we actually have a 20 foot wall that states our core values. And, and these guys talk about culture and we’re always trying to do a team out. We by we, mean, they are always trying to do a team outing to bring our team closer. And it’s worked. mean, I think it’s really worked.
Allison Dudas (20:39)
Yeah.
Kaitlyn & Gaby (20:41)
but it wasn’t something on the top of my radar 25 years ago when I bought a photo company. Not at all. But we do other things too beyond just team outings. We’re doing quarterly reviews with everyone to make sure that we’re all on the same page. We have promoted from within. We have…
Our fridge is always stocked. We always have snacks. We have stuff to make sandwiches. You know, just making it feel like an environment that you want to be in. exactly.
Allison Dudas (21:10)
Well, I’m just so glad that I got to talk with the two of you. You were nominated by FASTSIGNS Corporate for your leadership, your community involvement, and because you’re consistently in the top 25 % of performance for your centers. And I know that you’re about to open your third, or did you just open your third?
Kaitlyn & Gaby (21:29)
We’re about to open our third. Thank you.
Allison Dudas (21:32)
Huge congratulations. And just
to give ⁓ a little bit of accolade to Fastsigns. this is a brand that gets a lot of good ⁓ feedback from its franchisees. So just to give you a little bit of a highlight for those who are watching, ⁓ 97 % of franchisees of Fastsigns are likely to recommend this franchise to others, which is really, really high.
And 93 % of franchisees agree that they enjoy operating the business. So I just want to draw attention to that. FastSigns is also one of the brands that shares their full report on our website, franchisebusinessreview.com. So you can actually go to franchisebusinessreview.com and go to FastSigns brand page and download their report where you can read actual franchisee comments.
and ratings about what it’s like owning a franchise and being a part of this system. And I just think that’s so valuable because we definitely need to do, if you’re interested in buying a franchise like FASTSIGNS, you wanna talk to franchisees, you wanna get the scoop, you wanna get the dirt, and this is a great way to do that. So I just wanna thank you both so much. Tripp, thank you. You were amazing, truly inspirational.
Kaitlyn & Gaby (22:54)
Thank you. ⁓
Allison Dudas (22:57)
I mean, give me a break. He’s so cute. ⁓ Huge congratulations, Kaitlyn, to you and Aaron. ⁓
And so Gaby, Bob, Kaitlyn, Aaron are the franchisees of soon to be three fast signs in California. And congratulations again on receiving the Franchisee Excellence Award for 2026.
Kaitlyn & Gaby (23:24)
Thank you.
