March 2-3, 2024: Washington D.C./Virginia - Dulles Expo Center

Joe has over 35 years of experience in the corporate world. He has owned, operated and sold a franchise business. He is currently a franchise owner of the Entrepreneur Source. He has lived in many parts of the country and has traveled extensively overseas. He has been married for over 30 years with a son and daughter. He enjoys coaching encouraging and supporting others in achieving their goals.

Steven Cooper has 25 years of benefits consulting and pension administration experience. He was the first to evangelize the essential exit strategy that popularized the ERSOP(TM) Plan. Beginning in 1999, he successfully marketed the concept to franchisors and business brokers. In 2001 he coined the term "ERSOP (Entrepreneur Rollover Stock Ownership Plan)".

Scott has been an entrepreneur dating back to his teen years, where he started small businesses mowing lawns, raking leaves and shoveling snow. In his early twenties, he began a career with a major news organization as a cameraman for the White House Press Corp. Several years later, Scott could not ignore the calling of his entrepreneurial spirit, and so left the news industry to pursue a career in business. After 35+ years of experiences Scott has been a significant contributor in various senior leadership positions. Scott is a team player and recently utilized his expertise in development to help build a well-known national fast-casual concept. His tenure in franchising has landed him on leadership panels at several franchise conferences. Scott has also earned his certification as a CFE, Certified Franchise Executive. Scott’s major strengths include his listening skills, where he has the ability to tune in to what his clients’ needs are, and balance that with where their interests lie regarding a franchise business. He is exceptional at building relationships and earns the trust from his clients he needs to help them succeed. Scott truly believes that, “It’s all about my clients’ best interests, not mine”.

Ms. McAmis is a Franchise and Trusts Attorney with Shelton Law & Associates. Christina has also clerked for the prestigious and Honorable Consuelo Callahan of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Christina shouldered responsibility and embraced challenges as an elite level gymnast at a very young age. She tackled being a business owner before her eighteenth birthday and thrived in the face of a devastating diagnosis. Christina is a metastatic cancer warrior who has overcome adversity to practice law. Before and throughout law school Christina studied Alternative Dispute Resolution including earning a degree in ADR. She is a recipient of the Witkin Award for Mediation. During law school she was also awarded a Soroptomist scholarship; recognized for her legal research and editing skills in the legal Text Book, Understanding Torts 9th edition, and graduated with the elusive “Great Distinction” honors. Christina enjoys “geeking out” in her free time by reading Fantasy and Science Fiction as well as by participating in mock trials and authoring articles for comic book events. She has defended the Winter Soldier and written about Captain America’s military benefits. Now Christina’s writing can be viewed on the BeTheBoss expert legal writers page and in the Franchise Connect Magazine on a fairly regularly basis.

Today Christina enjoys helping others achieve their dreams and overcome adversity. She speaks regularly at Franchise Business Expos and other events to help educate and inspire others.

Serial entrepreneur exiting three successful companies, and a certified John Maxwell & Dale Carnegie business leadership coach, Distinguished ToastMaster and TEDx Speaker, and Director of New Distribution for SleepM products and book Author. Graduate of Pepperdine and MIT in Sustainability Management.

Mike Minitelli is the vice-president of business development. Minitelli will target and drive the growth of the company’s new business relationships with franchisors, as well as managing the department’s existing clientele Mike provides communication and relationship support for the franchise brands on their roster. In addition, Minitelli’s brings more than 15 years of Fortune 500-level sales experience and has a proven track record of driving multimillion dollar growth and market expansion. Prior to joining the Benetrends team, Minitelli served as the national sales and relationship manager for one of the industry’s leading franchise consultancy firms.

Chris Conner has spent the last twenty years working in the franchise development field working primarily with startup and emerging franchise systems. Mr. Conner's work covers a variety of franchise categories including strategic planning, franchise operations, franchise training system development, franchise marketing and franchise sales. In 2009, Mr. Conner founded Franchise Marketing Systems based out of Atlanta, Georgia which today has grown to a team of 34 team members located in markets across the United States and Canada. Franchise Marketing Systems has developed over 700 franchise brands and supported clients in selling over 8,000 franchise units in North and South America, Asia, the Middle East, Canada and Southeast Asia. Franchise Marketing Systems has worked with a variety of well known brands and significant franchise systems including Baxter Healthcare, Anytime Fitness, Costco, Ford Motor Company, Delta Airlines, UPS Stores, European Wax Center, Junk King and others.

Mr. Conner’s vision was to develop a model that allowed for efficient, effective and performance based franchise development work to be completed for new and emerging franchisors. The combination of providing consulting and franchise development support along with the franchise sales and marketing model for new brands created more opportunities to more brands to scale and grow through franchising. Chris Conner holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from Miami of Ohio and an MBA in Finance from DePaul University in Chicago. He is married to an amazing wife, Dr. Alaina Conner and has two great kids, Ashton and Jameson.