Summary

Franchising has a funny way of finding people who never went looking for it. Samantha Musonda was finishing her psychology degree at Temple University when her dance-team coach suggested a part-time job teaching gymnastics at a nearby, "The Little Gym." Samantha started by teaching classes and running birthday parties.

It was supposed to be a stopgap before beginning a career, but that's not how it turned out.

Eight years later, Samantha left the franchise location she'd grown up in professionally and moved across the country to join The Little Gym International as a Franchise Business Coach, initially supporting roughly 60 franchisees.

She went on to lead franchise support, became Director of Consulting and, following The Little Gym's acquisition by Unleashed Brands, moved into the VP of Operations role.

Today, she's Brand President.

Samantha joins Stan Friedman to talk candidly about that climb—including the mentors who opened doors, the importance of actually telling people you want to grow, and the inevitable moments of self-doubt that accompany leadership.

They also look at The Little Gym today as it celebrates its 50th anniversary, with approximately 275 locations operating in the U.S. and Canada and more than 100 more, internationally.

Samantha shares how the brand supports franchisees, where AI can genuinely make their lives easier, what she looks for at Discovery Day and why the best franchisees build community rather than simply market, locally.

And then comes the challenge ahead:

How do you evolve a 50-year-old brand without losing the very things that made it successful?

Samantha Musonda kicks off Season 18, this week on Franchise Today.