Built To Run

Leighton Healey, CEO of KnowHow, sits down with John Evans, founder of Everline, about turning a fledgling pavement maintenance business into a franchise network approaching 200+ locations across Canada and the U.S.

They explore Everline’s evolution from handwritten operations manuals tested season by season to a tech stack with searchable how-to, dashboards, benchmarking, and an AI layer, while stressing that judgment and the “sizzle” of lived experience can’t be generated by chatbots.

John discusses scaling franchise support, keeping human-to-human coaching central, using peer validation and data to drive adoption, partnering with capital for growth, and a Greenland runway project executed by new franchisees under extreme constraints.

Looking for more expertise from restoration industry experts? Head to https://tryknowhow.com

What is Built To Run?

Built to Run is a podcast for leaders building service businesses that don't live or die by their best people. As a company grows, more of how it works ends up living in a few key heads, and one resignation can put the whole thing at risk.

Each episode digs into how to get that knowledge out of people's heads and into the business itself, through in-depth conversations with the operators, founders, and thinkers who have done it.

Hosted by Leighton Healey, CEO of KnowHow, who has led from every seat in the service world: frontline operator, corporate leader, and now technology founder.