May 18-19, 2024 : Houston, NRG Center - Hall A1

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!

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)".

Former gloval Oil & Gas manufacturing and service executive who turned to supporting others discover their path to career success through education, self-reflection, and the power of changing your mindset from dependent to self-sufficiency. Let's align your personal goals to your Income, Lifestyle and Wealth needs.

Tipton Shonkwiler is the Brand President for Accurate Franchising and also the President UFG Consulting Division. Tipton has been with United Franchise Group for more than 20 years. He has been working in the franchise industry for the past 30 years and has served in various capacities including franchise development, sales and marketing, international master license sales, international brand development, along with having the direct responsibility for the day to day operations for several UFG brands throughout his career. Tipton is a Certified Franchise Executive within the International Franchise Association and holds a Franchise MBA from Nova Southeastern University.

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.

Hossein is considered anexpert in the franchise industry. Mr. Kasmai is the founder and CEO of Franchise Creator, a leading franchise consulting firm that has successfullyconverted hundreds of businesses into multi-locationfranchises. He has acted as aconsultant toover 600 brands worldwide and has helped themtransformfrom local businessesinto global brands. Hosseinhas founded many franchise concepts of his own including Guard-A-Kid, which quickly grew into 175 locations in 11 countries, before it was acquired.He is also the founder and CEO of Combo Kitchen which has grown to over 200 franchises in only 18 months and is currently ranked number 1 in category, top 50 fastest growing franchises, top 25new and emerging franchises, Top 100 Low-Cost Franchises, Top 100 Food Franchises and among the Best of The Best Franchises,by Entrepreneur magazine.Many celebrities including Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem have partnered with Hossein tostart and grow their businessesworldwide. Hossein and his companies have been featured multiple times in well-recognized publications and news outlets including Entrepreneur Magazine, NBC News, CBSNews, Franchise Times Magazine, Specialty Retail Magazine, Opportunity World Magazine, INC Magazine, The Miami Herald, Des Moines Register and more.

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.

Avinash Nichkawde is an Entrepreneur, Chartered Accountant. International Business Consultant. He started his tax practice in Sydney Australia in 1993 and grew to 7000 clients in 4 years, he later went into International Education Business and at peak managed over 200 employees besides consulting to numerous small to medium companies over the years. He brings vast practical global experience to clients. Born & raised in India, Avinash is a Australian citizen having lived there for over 20 years and now residing permanently in USA, with travels to over 30 countries. He is known for providing out of the box practical solutions for his clients which are very cost effective. Avinash is Advisor to Second Street Capital and iMedGo,Inc, California.

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.

Career Ownership Coach

Former Global Oil and Gas Executive who now expowers clients go through a journet of self discovery. We focus on the helping people navigate a new mindset of career ownership through goal setting, education, awareness, aligning skills and finding their desired balance of income, Lifestyle, Wealth and Equity. Many time clients will learn of possibilities beyond what they ever imagined or dreamed possible.

Diana Trondsen is a Franchise Consultant and the Owner of FranNet Houston & The Gulf Coast Region; a locally owned and operated franchise consulting firm. She has over 20 years experience in franchise ownership including managing a multi-unit retail franchise and growing her franchise consultancy business. Diana and her team have helped hundreds of individuals achieve their dreams of business ownership through a no-cost, educational and coaching process. She incorporates personality assessment and financial review then tailors potential franchises to each client’s unique strengths and skills to find the right fit. Diana’s personal experience as a franchise owner gives her the perspective to help her clients assess their real opportunities, risks, and timing to make sound decisions.

Diana is a Texas A&M graduate and certified SCORE Mentor and educator. She conducts over 30 seminars annually on the topic of franchise ownership; many of these seminars have been conducted in collaboration with the SCORE, Small Business Development Centers, Small Business Administration, and similar organizations.

Chris has 20+ years of business experience in the Information Technology and Franchising industries. Chris is a multi-unit franchisee of Club Pilates. Club Pilates is ranked #69 on the top 500 Franchises by Entrepreneur Magazine. Chris’ studio has performed as a top ten studio in the country out of 500+ locations. After leaving a successful career in Tech Sales and Engineering in Corporate America, Chris founded Legacy Franchise Ventures where he guides senior level executives in the identification, research and analysis of franchise opportunities. Legacy Franchise Ventures is a partner with FranServe who represents 500+ nationally recognized franchise brands in multiple industries.

Stanna Palazova is the VP of Franchising & Partnership Growth for Regus, whose parent company IWG operates 3500 flexible office space locations around the world. She oversees a team of franchise and partnership directors to meet the growing demand in industry. Ms. Palazova is based in Chicago, IL.