Female Founders
provided marketing and product innovation leadership to senior-level executives
at Fortune 500 companies.
The Israels sold Doc Popcorn to Dippin’ Dots in July 2014 but have remained
actively involved in the business. “It’s been
a win-win for us,” she says. “We are now
co-branding with Dippin’ Dots, and their
widespread presence and iconic ice cream
products have opened up a whole new
world of opportunities for our franchise
base, and vice versa.”
Today, Doc Popcorn has 102 locations
throughout the country and 8 international locations, and she continues to
oversee marketing, brand development,
and creative strategy for the company.
“We built a brand around a great
product and we built a culture,” she says.
“Franchising is a wonderful industry and
our journey so far has been fantastic!”
GETTING STARTED
What inspired you to start your business? When my husband Rob saw some
mom-and-pop kettle corn makers at a Boulder farmers market, we quickly recognized
the opportunity to bring fresh-popped
flavored popcorn to a wider audience,
and do so in a way that had never been
done before. We spent almost a decade
perfecting a unique, branded offering of
fresh, flavored popcorn along with a variety of simple and flexible business models
appropriate for high-traffic venues such
as convention centers, entertainment
venues, malls and stadiums, using carts,
kiosks, and inline stores.
What is your background? How did
it prepare you for starting your business? Before Doc Popcorn I was a vice
president of marketing for Digitas, a top
integrated brand agency, where I learned
to create a strategy and then manage a
team to execute it. The methodologies
I learned working for Fortune 500 clients—which included being accountable for client satisfaction and running
a profitable bottom line—were useful in
creating the Doc Popcorn brand and the
initial systems and processes required to
get started.
What’s the best and worst advice
“When my
husband Rob
saw some momand-pop kettle
corn makers
at a Boulder
farmers market,
we quickly
recognized the
opportunity
to bring freshpopped flavored
popcorn to a
wider audience,
and do so in a
way that had
never been
done before.”
you got when starting out? Best:
Joining the IFA. We attended our first
conference in 2010, a few months after
we started franchising. I learned so much
at the various sessions. I was also enamored by how much people were willing to
help. I went through the attendance list
in advance and organized meetings with
folks I never thought would return my
emails or phone calls. I wound up with a
full calendar and received invaluable mentorship. Worst: Since I’m a brander and
marketer by trade, listening to those who
said to not start a marketing fund from
day one. It sounded like a good idea at
the time, but if I knew then what I know
now, I would have done it differently.
Why did you choose franchising? In
addition to some of the reasons I mentioned earlier, the popcorn industry was
fragmented, and a large popcorn franchise
didn’t exist in the U.S. There were a few
players with locations and big build-outs,
but our model was simple, replicable, and
easier for an entrepreneur to execute. Also,
we wanted people to love the business
and our vision of creating smiles with
our product as much as we did. Having
corporate-owned locations and hiring
managers around the country wouldn’t
have accomplished that.
How did you get started in franchising? We grew the business in Colorado
to 11 locations, using a variety of models
in high-traffic venues. From 2003 to 2008,
we owned three mall locations, kiosks, and
storefronts, and operated mobile units at
several event and entertainment venues.
We knew it was time to grow the business
outside of Colora