April 11-12, 2026: Chicago - Donald E. Stephens Convention Center - Hall F

Ms. Shelton has been counseling Franchise / Business Opp. clients for over 25 years. She especially enjoys working with small business owners assisting them to "Expand their Brand®". Since starting the law firm, she has been focused on providing the “Missing Piece” with legal services to small and emerging businesses. Her business savviness combined with her belief in mentorship is the backbone of the law firms slogan, “Your Outsourced In-house Counsel”. Ms. Shelton focuses on ensuring clients are offered individualized service while handling Franchise Disclosures, registrations, legal creation and vendor distributions within a clients business. Ms. Shelton has published many articles and has even written a book. She has been married for over 25 yrs. and has one son and a sponsored daughter from Haiti. In her spare time she teaches leadership development in third world countries to future colleagues and volunteers at her church.

Dave Woggon has been in the franchise industry since 1986 in both funding and franchise exploration roles. As the VP of Development for Tenet Financial Group, he oversees the consulting team and identifies strategic growth opportunities for the company.

Irving Chung is senior franchise consultant driven to help people take control of their lives and create freedom for themselves through business ownership. My goal is to help others discover More Passion, More Money, More Freedom and Control by becoming their own Boss. As a Professional Franchise Consultant, I help the people I work with understanding franchising, and determine if it might be a good fit for them. If it is, then I take them through a proven, and methodical process to develop a custom model, tailored to them based on their background, skill sets, financial and lifestyle goals, that we then use to match them up with the best franchise business that's a perfect fit for them!

Tim Michaels is the founder of Kickstart My Franchise, a game-changing franchise brokerage firm that offers 100% free franchise selection services and saves its clients up to $10,000. He previously was a multi-unit owner of a national painting franchise and has used his experiences to help hundreds of investors identify great franchise opportunities over the past 13 years.

Tim has an MBA from the University of Michigan and brings a wealth of strategic expertise to the franchise industry. He served as Head of Strategy and M&A for a private equity-backed career services company, was Global Director of Strategy for a Fortune 500 company and was a Case Team Leader for a top-tier strategy consulting firm.

When not working, Tim enjoys spending time with his wife and three children. Having visited 48 states (sorry North Dakota and Alaska!), he's passionate about experiencing new places and promoting work-life balance for himself and his clients.

After spending 19 years as Director of Sales for Caterpillar across North America, he built and led high-performing teams in one of the most competitive industries in the world. But instead of staying in corporate leadership, he made the bold decision to step into entrepreneurship and build a business of his own.

He launched a scratch insurance agency with COUNTRY Financial, growing it from the ground up into an award-winning practice focused on insurance and retirement planning. Throughout his career, he has earned numerous performance and leadership honors, reflecting his commitment to excellence and service.

Today, his passion is helping others do what he did—guiding aspiring entrepreneurs and local business owners to start and grow successful agencies of their own. He is dedicated to developing leaders, creating opportunity, and empowering others to build businesses that impact families and communities for generations.

As a dedicated Commercial Lines Coverage Specialist (CLCS), Greg specializes in crafting tailored insurance solutions for franchises, driving schools, and a diverse range of small businesses. With a focus on risk management, he helps clients protect their assets through customized coverage plans. Passionate about empowering business owners, he leverages industry expertise to ensure they receive the most from their insurance programs and meet financial objectives. In his spare time, he enjoys golfing and is thrilled to be a new Dad in 2026.

Shawn Saraga is the founder of the Franchise Academy, a mini-private equity firm that has holdings in various franchise brands. He also serves as Chief Development Officer of Tahini’s Restaurants and has held this position since October, 2023. Shawn has been in the franchise industry since 2005. He has opened over 950 franchised businesses, and finalized over 700 leases in his career.

He has worked with brands like Burger King, barBURRITO Restaurants, Freshii, Foodtastic as well as many other non-food related brands. Shawn is also a registered real estate broker and conducts real estate transactions on behalf of the brands he works with and there franchisees. Some of his other business interests include a partnership in MEET College for Psychotherapists, Board seats on several AI start-ups. Shawn has also been a Board member of Leadership Sinai since 2005.

Most people start their franchising journey by going to the franchise “buffet,” meaning they google “franchise” and go from there. Instantly, you have access to unlimited amounts of information. But you get a lot of the wrong information, you consume it in the wrong order and you get it from sources you don’t if you can trust. All of this leads to either making no decision, a misinformed decision or a bad decision. Getting into franchising is a big step. There should be a better way. And there is.

Vetrepreneur® offers FREE franchise coaching services to Veterans and their families. Our Coaches are experienced business people and franchise gurus who will lead you through a 10-step, 10-week journey that allows you to make the most informed decision on two things. 1. Is franchising right for me? 2. Which franchise is right for me?