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Eric Gibbs was born and raised in the Bossier City and Shreveport, La., areas. He went to school at Louisiana Tech where he&nbsp;graduated with a degree in finance. He then received&nbsp;his master&rsquo;s from the University of Colorado, but always imagined he&rsquo;d triumphantly return home to open his own business. He&rsquo;d never had a taste for fast food &ndash; in fact, he wanted to open a business that could help benefit his community. So, finally, in 2013 he and his wife, Lauren, opened their very own <a href="http://www.smoothiekingfranchise.com/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=franchisee-voices-eric-gibbs-of-smoothie-king-7038" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Smoothie King</a> back home in Bossier City. Now, at just 30-years old, he&rsquo;s opening a second location in Shreveport with his father. It&rsquo;s not work for Eric--every day he wakes up excited to do what he does. 

1851 had a chance to speak with Eric to learn more about his background and how he learned about the brand.

Tell us a little bit about your background.

I grew up in Bossier City and that&rsquo;s where I opened my first Smoothie King location. I opened it&nbsp;a couple of years ago now, back in 2013 and&nbsp;I&rsquo;m opening my second location in Shreveport.

I went to college at Louisiana Tech,&nbsp;graduated with a degree in finance and straight from there I went to grad school at the University of Colorado. From high school through college, I saw <a href="https://smoothieking.1851franchise.com/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=franchisee-voices-eric-gibbs-of-smoothie-king-7038" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Smoothie King</a> everywhere. I basically grew up with&nbsp;it and I always loved the product. I knew at a young age I wanted to do something on my own, I just had to wait for the timing to be right. In the meanwhile, I worked at the governor&rsquo;s office in Baton Rouge out of graduate school, moved back home eventually for a separate job at Haliburton Energy and got into a place where I could open up my first Smoothie King.

My wife Lauren and I started the first store together. She won&rsquo;t be around as much for the second location, as we have two children &ndash; a six-year old and a six-month old &ndash; with another on the way. My dad, John, and I are working on the one in Shreveport so it will be his source of income when&nbsp;he retires.

Why did you choose to become a franchisee with Smoothie King? How did you learn about the brand?

I knew for years that I wanted to become a franchisee, I just wanted to take the time to determine which franchise. I worked all over to save money to start my own business. I wanted to work in food but in the healthy food industry. I don&rsquo;t enjoy fast food, so I was attracted to the Smoothie King brand.

Obviously, the brand dominates the smoothie market and it was just a matter of getting qualified before I could open my own store since&nbsp;I wanted to do this all along. The brand recognition was there, the orientation went great and we loved the team.

I wake up every day excited about what I&rsquo;m doing because&nbsp;I get to help people and help my staff. I hire mostly young students so I can teach them about their first job.

I also knew for years that I wanted to franchise, but I&nbsp;wanted to see which one. I worked all over to see and save up for my own business.&nbsp;

What&rsquo;s next for you and your business?&nbsp;

We plan to open more than just the two locations but&nbsp;there&rsquo;s no timeframe at the moment.

Franchisee Voices: Eric Gibbs of Smoothie King

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Eric Gibbs always knew he wanted to open a Smoothie King, it was only a matter of finding the right time. 

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