Young Ones to Watch: Samantha Lin, VP of Marketing for Premium Service Brands

This month, 1851 Franchise is highlighting many of the most promising up-and-coming professionals in the franchise industry in our annual Young Ones to Watch series. Samantha Lin, the VP of Marketing for multi-brand franchisor Premium Service Brands, believes that it's the people in the industry that make franchising so great.

1851 Franchise: How did you get into franchising?

Samantha Lin: I got into franchising because I got into marketing. I started out as a social media intern summer of 2017 at Premium Service Brands (PSB), and eventually became a social media strategist. When I started, we had about 5 people on the corporate staff; we’ve seen an unbelievable amount of growth since that time. 

While I was finishing up my master's in Rome, I continued to work with PSB and also started working at a digital media strategy company in Italy. It was there I gained a really great perspective on the vendor side of franchising and determined how to write in different brand voices and styles. 

1851: What do you love about the industry? 

Lin: Because the franchise industry is so big, you get to meet a lot of different people. I have been the VP of marketing since February and have been transitioning into the role since then. 

Since transitioning, I’ve come to understand even more in-depth just how diverse the system is. Most of the work we perform is hyper-local, not national. So you really get to see first hand what local businesses go through every day and meet the people involved in that process.  When you support local businesses, you support the communities in which they reside. I love the grassroots lens of this industry.

1851: What makes someone a good fit for the franchise industry? Are there traits that are shared by the most successful franchise professionals you know?

Lin: The first thing that comes to mind is flexibility. Especially in-home services, franchisees and franchisors alike are adapting to the ever-changing needs of their clients. This isn’t about people just buying services; it's bigger than that. I truly believe, and so would my colleagues, that there are two types of clients: the franchisees and the buyers of services. Both need to be happy and cared for in order to be successful.

1851: How do you feel about the industry's response to the coronavirus crisis so far? Are there challenges or opportunities that the industry still needs to address?

Lin: I have been really amazed with how folks continue to respond to the pandemic. Right now, I’m signed up for a million and one newsletters to keep up to date with all things franchise while OCVID-19 persists. I’m continually impressed with how the franchise community has come together by hosting webinars or writing blogs that all deal with how to survive the difficult economy. 

I really appreciate that the field by nature is communal; it's a cool kind of perk of working in franchises, that sense of community. There's always an opportunity for franchisees to give back, whether it's to their communities, their customers, or other franchisees in their network. I direct the non-profit that is part of our organization and right now we’re working with franchisees to help their respective communities supply resources to local churches and schools. This is just one way franchisees can support and step up in the community. If everyone works together in the network, it’s much more impactful than what you can do alone. Franchisee systems can both aid and go beyond transactional relationships.

1851: What advice do you have for other young up-and-comers in the space?

Lin: What I would say is read as much as you can; doing so has really helped me learn about franchising. I would also say find a really great mentor. There is always something you can learn from someone with more experience than you. I’ve been grateful that we’re a young organization, but we also have so many people who have come a long way in a short period of time. Their industry knowledge can only make us better.