Franchise Spotlight with Katherine LeBlanc

Ziebart's Chief Growth Officer Larisa Walega and Franchise Assembly co-founder Liane Caruso join Katherine LeBlanc for a direct conversation about what's actually working in franchise development marketing right now. From portals to PR to GEO, this episode covers the channel decisions and budget tradeoffs that franchise marketers need heading into the next planning cycle. You'll walk away with a clearer framework for where to put your Franchise Development dollars and why.
In this episode:
  • Why contact rate, not cost per lead, is the metric that should be driving your portal decisions
  • How Ziebart funds PR outside restricted ad fund dollars and what 17 years of that investment produces
  • The Meta targeting shift that displaced Ziebart's website as their top Franchise Development lead source
  • Why GEO scores are replacing Google search spend in forward-looking Franchise Development strategies
  • Brokers: what it actually takes to make them work and where brands are leaving money on the table
  • The resourcing gap in Franchise Development marketing and why consumer teams can't fill it
Guest: Larisa Walega, CFE, Chief Growth Officer, Ziebart
Larisa has spent 17 years at Ziebart, starting as a field marketing manager and growing into a role that now spans marketing, franchise development, data and analytics, and annual business planning. She thinks in compounding investments and long-view brand strategy ā€” which makes her take on what's working in 2026 Franchise Development worth paying close attention to.

Guest: Liane Caruso, co-Founder, Franchise Assembly and Fractional CMO
Liane advises brands from emerging to 100-plus locations on marketing process, brand standards, and budget strategy. She also co-founded Franchise Assembly, which runs Mastermind programs for franchise CMOs and Franchise Development leaders. The cross-brand visibility she carries into this conversation sets her observations apart.

Host: Katherine LeBlanc, Fractional CMO | Apollo CMO
Want to go deeper?
 šŸŒ apollocmo.com
 ā–¶ļø @MyPodcastHost on YouTube
 šŸ”— linkedin.com/in/katherineleblanc
 šŸ“© katherine@apollocmo.com

What is Franchise Spotlight with Katherine LeBlanc?

Conversations with the leaders who are actually building franchising - from the executive suite to the field. Each season explores what success looks like right now, what franchise leaders should be paying attention to, and how the best brands are delivering real returns for their franchisees. Because at the end of the day, franchisee profitability isn't just a metric; it's the whole point.

Your host, Katherine LeBlanc, brings 13 years inside franchise systems, having led marketing across six brands spanning food, wellness, beauty, and experience. She's been in the room where these decisions get made. These conversations reflect that: direct, practitioner-level, and built for franchise leaders who don't have time for surface-level takes.