What a Youth Franchise  Brands CEO Wants Every Aspiring Owner to Know

Leigh Feldman did not grow up dreaming about franchise systems. He spent years on the agency side, then the client side, and eventually found himself wondering why so many franchisors made life unnecessarily hard for the people actually running locations. That frustration turned into a philosophy, and that philosophy is now the backbone of Youth Franchise Brands, the company he leads as CEO.

He recently joined Ryan on the Secret Experts Podcast to talk through what he’s learned across both sides of the franchise relationship. The brands under his umbrella, Young Chefs Academy and Flour Power Cooking Studios, teach kids how to cook. But Feldman is quick to say that cooking is almost beside the point. What they’re really building is confidence.

Key Takeaways from the Conversation

• Your franchisor should make your life easier, not more complicated. If they are not removing friction, something is off.
• The skills that made you successful in a corporate job are probably not the ones that will grow a youth-focused franchise. Get out into your community.
• Self-awareness matters more than most people admit. Sometimes the best thing an owner can do is recognize they are not the right person to be the face of the business.
• Not every return shows up in a spreadsheet. Brand awareness and community trust are real assets, even when they are hard to quantify.
• Pressure during the sales process is a red flag, not a reason to move faster. You can walk away at any stage.

Leadership & Vision at Youth Franchise Brands

Feldman has a word he keeps coming back to: aspirin. His job, as he sees it, is to take the headaches off his franchisees’ plates so they can focus on what they’re actually good at. That means handling the operational complexity, building out the support infrastructure, and staying out of the way when things are running well.

It’s a philosophy that maps well onto the brands themselves. Young Chefs Academy and Flour Power Cooking Studios are not afterschool babysitting. They run real curriculum, with real instructors, in actual commercial kitchens. Kids leave with a skill they can use. Parents notice the difference. And owners get to be part of something that feels worthwhile beyond the revenue numbers.

Before joining Youth Franchise Brands, Feldman worked with companies like Nike, Lego, and Google. That experience gave him a rigor around ROI that he now applies at a much smaller scale. He talks about splitting every marketing activity into two buckets: what delivers a measurable financial return right now, and what builds the foundation for a financial return later. Both matter. Treating one as more legitimate than the other, he argues, is where a lot of owners go wrong.

Why This Matters for Prospective Franchise Owners

One of the most useful things Feldman said in the interview had nothing to do with cooking. He talked about what he calls corporate refugees, people who leave stable jobs with the idea that their professional experience will translate cleanly into running a franchise. It often does not, at least not in the ways they expect.

In a youth-focused business especially, success tends to belong to the owners who get out of the office. The ones who show up at school fundraisers, sponsor local events, and become genuinely known in their neighborhoods. Feldman puts it plainly: running one of these locations is a lot like running for mayor. You have to campaign. Constantly.

He also walked through the questions every prospective franchisee should be asking before they sign anything. Is the brand registered in registration states? Have you read the full Franchise Disclosure Document, not just the summary? Do you know which terms are actually required and which are just suggestions? Have you talked to franchisees who left, not just the ones still in the system?

His advice for anyone who starts feeling rushed through the process: slow down. A good partner does not need to pressure you. If the energy feels off, trust that instinct.

Final Thoughts

Toward the end of the conversation, Feldman told a story about a father of two sets of twins. The man’s parenting philosophy came down to four words: maintain, contain, entertain, and feed. Feldman said it perfectly described what his brands try to do in every class session. Keep students engaged and structured. Give them something real to do. Make sure they leave having been nourished in more ways than one.

When Ryan asked him for one thing he wanted listeners to take away, he did not hesitate. Assume success. Figure out where you want to land and work backwards from there.

If you have been thinking seriously about franchise ownership in the youth and family space, it is worth reaching out. Leigh Feldman is active on LinkedIn and welcomes direct conversation at leigh.feldman@youthfranchisebrands.com. Even if Youth Franchise Brands turns out not to be the right fit, he has made it clear he will point you in a better direction.