Cara Fitch signed up for a blowout membership because she was desperate for a last minute appointment on her birthday. Three years later she got a marketing blast from that same business asking if anyone wanted to franchise, and she picked up the phone. What followed was a 17 month process, an ice cream shop that taught her everything she didn't know about permitting, and a lesson about mentorship she wishes she had learned nine years sooner.
What we cover:
- The email that turned a loyal customer into a franchise owner, and how fast she actually moved on it
- Why hiring a business coach 3X'd a business she had already run successfully for a decade, and why Craig waited 17 years to do the same thing
- The $8,000 permit for a sink that was already installed, and what her first brick and mortar taught her about going it alone
- 17 months from first phone call to opening day, including the long stretch where it feels like nothing is happening
- Selling a service your market doesn't know exists yet, including the wedding room block angle nobody had pitched before
The One Thing: Get a mentor earlier than you think you need one. Cara ran a profitable business for nine years before hiring a coach, and that coach handed over twenty years of hard won lessons in a matter of weeks. Craig did the same thing at year 17 of running his agency. Both of them said the same thing about it afterward: we should have done this sooner.
Cara Fitch is the owner of Blo Blow Dry Bar in Lake Mary and co-owner of Team Modern Fit, an online fitness coaching business she runs with her husband Ryan. Blo Lake Mary opened July 8, 2026.