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SARAH CRESSALL OBE Obtaining an OBE is no small feat, but that’s exactly what Sarah Cressall has done. The founder of arts and crafts franchise, The Creation Station, is the first ever franchisor to be awarded the royal honour for her services to creativity in education, entertainment, and business. In 2002, Sarah launched The Creation Station after noticing a gap in the market. In 2007, she began to franchise the business, which now has 61 OUT OF OFFICE Ready to fuel your business growth? Here are some essential books and podcasts to get you started this quarter franchisees offering parent and baby workshops, preschool STEM classes, afterschool and holiday camps, birthday parties, adult creative craft workshops, and sip and paint events. Sarah has also set up a creative activity entertainment agency run by head office to maximise franchisee opportunity for leads and revenue. It’s clear that Sarah has accumulated a wealth of knowledge on how to navigate franchising, from launching and scaling, to recruiting and supporting franchisees. And we’re looking forward to seeing what she does next. PODCA S T S THE INDUSTRY INFLUENCERWE’RE FOLLOWING A PODCAST FOR BEGINNERS HOWTO STARTUP WITH JULIET FALLOWFIELD Having a good brand is hugely important to business success and will often be the difference in whether you build a community of repeat customers, or not. This means that when you’re starting out you must launch a strong offering and be able to contend with already established names. Join Juliet Fallowfield, founder and MD of PR firm Fallow, Field & Mason as she talks to big names who have done exactly this. Now in its tenth season, the podcast will discuss writing a brand story, building a brand on social media, defining your mission statement, making your brand an industry leader, and more. MUST LISTEN EPISODE How to build your brand organically through social with Estée Lalonde, CEO & founder of MIRROR WATER A PODCAST FOR EVERYONE MISFIT FOUNDERS WITH BIRO FLORIN It’s been quite the journey for Biro Florin, who started life in the UK with limited funds and living homeless on the streets. Since then, he’s defied the odds, building Saas company Jexo which he sold in 2019 to become an angel investor. Now, Biro has used his own life story as inspiration for the podcast Misfit Founders, which interviews a diverse range of founders who have created alternative paths into the business world. Here, they discuss their failures, the difficult decisions they’ve had to make along the way, and advice that’s often gatekept within business communities. MUST LISTEN EPISODE The challenges of selling on Amazon and how to balance parenting and entrepreneurship FEATURE 76 WHAT FRANCHISE | ISSUE 19.3