More Than a Franchise System: Meet Your Strategic Business Partner<\/h2>\n
When you invest in a franchise opportunity, the support system behind the brand matters as much as the brand itself. At Hand & Stone, that relationship starts with your Franchise Business Consultant, or FBC.<\/p>\n
Julie Hauser-Blanner, Hand & Stone’s Chief Spa Officer, has spent more than 20 years working across hospitality, food and beverage, and wellness, on both the corporate and franchise side. She joined the organization in 2024 with a clear mandate: elevate the support franchisees receive at every stage of their ownership journey. Her starting point was redefining the Franchise Business Consultant role.<\/p>\n
“They’re not auditors,” Julie says. “They’re strategic business partners that partner with the franchisee to identify ways to grow their business profitability, grow their culture within their business, the client, as well as continue to strategically build as they want to develop more spas.”<\/p>\n
A Support Model Built for How Franchisees Actually Operate<\/h2>\n
In many franchise systems, field support is reactive, someone you call when something goes wrong. At Hand & Stone, the FBC model was redesigned to be proactive, localized, and genuinely consultative.<\/p>\n
FBCs are geographically placed across the United States, not centralized at a corporate office. Your FBC understands the local market dynamics, the competitive landscape in your geography, and the specific challenges that come with operating in your region.<\/p>\n
“The more they understand and the more localized they are, they connect with the franchisee,” Julie explains. “They also connect with what’s going on in the geography, and they can better assist and identify opportunities to help solve.”<\/p>\n
Each FBC serves as a single point of contact, a trusted advisor who can look across the entire Hand & Stone system, pull best practices from top-performing spas nationwide, and apply them directly to your business. Julie describes it as having “one source of the truth and one person to cultivate a relationship with.”<\/p>\n
The Philosophy That Drives It All: People First<\/h2>\n
The FBC relationship, the data tools, the quarterly evaluations. Julie is clear that none of it moves the needle without the right people inside the spa.<\/p>\n
“It doesn’t matter about the resources, the relationship you have with your franchise business consultant. It’s about people. And if you put the right people first \u2014 the leaders in your spa, which are the most important piece that you should have \u2014 then success follows.”<\/p>\n
The leaders inside your spa set the tone for the client experience, the team culture, and the business performance. Your FBC can identify opportunities and share best practices from across the system, but the people executing on those insights every day determine the outcome.<\/p>\n
“Not just hiring to fill a gap. Hiring for the needs of your business and the talent.”<\/p>\n
Hand & Stone’s support structure is built to help you grow your business. That growth starts with building the right team.<\/p>\n
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Meet the People Behind the Role: Andrew Lawrie, CFE<\/h2>\n
Andrew Lawrie joined Hand & Stone as a Franchise Business Consultant in January 2026, bringing a background that is uncommon in corporate support roles: he has been on the franchisee side himself. As a previous co-owner and managing partner of multiple franchise locations across College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving and Philly Pretzel Factory, Andrew built and operated businesses under franchise systems, managed P&Ls, and worked directly with corporate support teams. He knows what it feels like to be the franchisee waiting on answers.<\/p>\n
Before joining Hand & Stone, Andrew served as COO of Legion Franchise Company and has spent over 13 years on the board of the Philadelphia Franchise Association. He holds a CFE designation, the franchising industry’s highest professional credential.<\/p>\n
Running alongside his franchising career is a long background in performance coaching, working with athletes, business leaders, and executives on mindset, accountability, and leadership. That lens comes with him into his franchisee conversation.<\/p>\n
“The FBC is an integral part of a franchise system. We are the ones who are with the franchisees the most and build relationships with the franchisees at a deeper level.\u00a0 Within this, as an FBC myself, I have found that by drawing on my past as a franchisee, I understand how they feel in many situations.\u00a0 A major part of what I focus on is team performance and how to execute, using my past as a mental performance coach.\u00a0 The numbers tell us a story of what is going on within the business, but the way we lead our staff to get the result is a major influence.\u00a0 Here at Hand & Stone, we are true partners with the franchisees in this role. We are not just here to check off a box, but to make sure that we are consulting them on best practices, aiding them in hitting their individual goals and staying within the bumpers of the franchise agreement.”<\/p>\n
Andrew is one of several FBCs Hand & Stone has strategically placed across the country, each bringing their own depth of experience in operations, franchising, and business development. The standard they’re held to is the same across the board: a trusted advisor who knows your market and is invested in your growth.<\/p>\n
What This Means for Your Franchise Ownership Journey<\/h2>\n
At Hand & Stone, the FBC model was built with long-term franchisee success in mind, with geographically embedded consultants who function as strategic business partners, backed by a leadership team with deep franchising experience.<\/p>\n
If you’ve been exploring franchise opportunities in the wellness space and want to understand what the ownership experience actually looks like, this is a good place to start the conversation.<\/p>\n
Learn more about available markets and next steps to ownership.<\/a><\/p>\n