Breyanne Bannister’s franchise success story is really a story about finding the right fit. A pharmacist and pharmaceutical consultant, she explored several business options before discovering Dakota London. Working with a franchise consultant, she worked through funding questions, site selection, and the uncertainty that comes with becoming a first-time franchise owner.

Key Takeaways

• Breyanne did not start with a brand. She started with a desire to explore business ownership.
• Her professional background gave her real transferable skills, and she recognized that franchising involved areas she had never navigated.
• Dakota London stood out because she understood the customer problem personally and liked the structure of its extension-only model.
• Franchise support mattered most when unexpected questions around funding, real estate, and the opening process appeared.
• Finding the right franchise is less about identifying a universally good brand and more about whether a particular model fits the person considering it.

Why did Breyanne Bannister start exploring franchise ownership?

Breyanne started exploring franchise ownership because she wanted to build something of her own, and felt some of her skills were not being fully used in her current career.

Her background is not the typical starting point people imagine for a new franchise owner. She trained as a pharmacist, completed a postgraduate fellowship, earned a master’s degree focused on policy and patient access, and moved into pharmaceutical consulting. She told us she remains passionate about that work. At the same time, she had been interested in owning a business for years.

She first considered businesses related to pharmaceutical consulting. As she looked at the market and where the industry was heading, she became less convinced that was the right path. So she started searching online, which created a different problem. There were plenty of businesses to investigate and very little context for deciding which ones deserved her attention. She described it as trying to find a needle in a haystack.

She explored opportunities across several industries, looking for something she found interesting, that made sense as a business, and that she could see herself operating long term. Nothing was sticking.

That detail matters. She was not looking for a franchise because she wanted out of corporate life. She was trying to understand what kind of business ownership actually made sense for her, which is a different starting point and a better one.

Our approach is built around that distinction. The objective is not to find a brand and then convince yourself it fits. The objective is to understand the candidate first, then evaluate models against that. We think of it as decision advisory rather than brokerage, and the goal is a clear decision, including the decision that franchising is not the right move.

How did Breyanne find a franchise consultant?

Breyanne had never heard of a franchise consultant before she was introduced to Integrity Franchise Group, and that changed how she approached the search. As she explained in the interview, the first conversations helped her see how much she did not yet know about franchising.

That is not unusual. Someone can be highly educated, successful in a demanding career, and very capable of complex decisions while still being a beginner at franchise ownership. The gap usually includes understanding different franchise structures, evaluating franchisor support, reviewing franchise disclosure information, understanding site requirements, assessing funding options, speaking with franchisees during validation, determining whether the owner’s role matches expectations, and knowing what actually happens between signing and opening.

A franchise consultant should make those decisions clearer, not make them for you. That is also why it helps to work with someone who has franchising experience of their own, ideally as a franchisee, and someone you can be candid with about goals, concerns, and fears.

For Breyanne, that relationship became most useful once the process moved past simply looking at brands.

What is Dakota London?

Dakota London is an extension-only franchise concept, and it is the brand Breyanne selected for her planned Nashville location.

The model stood out partly because she already knew the customer experience. Breyanne has personally had hair extensions, so she understood the frustrations customers can run into. She described a traditional process that can involve a consultation, color matching, ordering extensions, waiting for them to arrive, and then returning for installation. Dakota London appealed to her because the concept is designed around having extensions available in the studio, so a customer can get a consultation, a color match, and potentially an installation in the same visit. She noted that an installation can take roughly two hours once the right extensions are selected.

That customer perspective mattered. She could see the problem from both sides, as someone evaluating a franchise and as someone who had lived the service.
The operating model mattered too. As a first-time owner, she wanted to understand how the business would be supported, and she specifically pointed to Dakota London’s training, templates, site support, and ongoing communication with franchisees. She called it “wraparound support.”

That phrase gets at one of the fundamental tradeoffs in franchising. A franchise gives a new owner a system to learn rather than requiring them to build every process from scratch. The tradeoff is that the owner operates inside that system. Structure helps a first-time owner, and it also means the candidate should understand clearly what the franchisor controls, what the owner controls, and where those two meet.

Why did franchise support matter so much to Breyanne?

Support mattered because she was learning an entirely new type of decision. She had the professional experience to evaluate information, solve problems, and decide. What she did not have was experience opening a Dakota London franchise.

That became clear when unexpected issues appeared. During the process, Breyanne ran into uncertainty around funding, and her initial reaction was understandable: if one funding path was not working, maybe the opportunity was gone. Rather than treating the first obstacle as the final answer, our team helped her look at alternatives. She said one of the biggest lessons she took from the process was keeping an open mind and looking for another way through a problem.
That is worth sitting with, because a franchise startup rarely unfolds the way the original plan looks on paper. Funding can require more exploration. A preferred site can create unexpected issues. A lease can take longer than expected. Construction requirements can affect timing.

The question is not whether obstacles will show up. It is how you respond when they do. Good franchise support gives an owner somewhere to turn when a question falls outside their experience. It does not remove the owner’s responsibility. It gives the owner another resource for making the call.

What can a first-time franchise owner learn from Breyanne’s experience?

Her story makes a specific point for professionals considering ownership: your career skills transfer, and they do not replace franchise-specific learning.
Pharmacy and pharmaceutical consulting required analytical thinking, research, communication, and the ability to work inside complex systems. All of that is useful in business ownership. None of it teaches someone how to evaluate a lease, select a site, work through franchise requirements, or prepare a physical location to open.
Which is why the question is not “do I have franchise experience?” A first-time owner will not. The more useful questions are:

• What skills do I already have?
• What skills will I need to learn?
• What responsibilities will I personally own?
• What support does the franchise provide?
• Where will I need outside professional help?

The Federal Trade Commission recommends that prospective franchise owners conduct their own investigation, review the Franchise Disclosure Document, speak with current and former franchisees, and get professional advice from an accountant and an attorney. The FTC notes that the FDD must generally be provided at least 14 days before a prospective franchisee is asked to sign a contract or make a payment to the franchisor or its affiliate.

That is the larger lesson. A consultant helps you navigate the process. Due diligence still belongs to the buyer.

How did Breyanne approach the uncertainty of becoming a franchise owner?

Breyanne was candid about the fear that showed up throughout the process. She described moments of hitting another obstacle and wondering whether the original plan was still possible.That belongs in a success story, because it is what makes the story useful. A polished version makes ownership look linear: find a franchise, choose a location, sign the agreement, open the business. Real decisions are messier. Hers involved questions, uncertainty, alternative solutions, and decisions that had to be revisited.

She also made a useful observation about being willing to ask questions. Because she had never gone through the process, she did not always know whether something was a genuine obstacle or just an unfamiliar step. That is exactly where experience and perspective earn their keep.

The goal is not to eliminate uncertainty. It is to understand what the uncertainty means before you decide.

Conditional truth: a franchise can provide a clearer path for a first-time owner, but the value of that structure depends on the quality of the system, the support behind it, and the owner’s willingness to use both.

What does Breyanne’s Nashville franchise opportunity look like right now?

At the time of the interview, Breyanne was in site selection for her Dakota London location in Nashville. She described a target opening timeline of roughly nine months, while making clear the timeline depends on real estate and other factors.

That distinction matters, because a brick-and-mortar franchise has more moving parts than many service-based models. She was weighing location visibility, size requirements, availability, real estate pricing, franchise requirements, lease terms, potential construction work, and the timeline from site approval to opening.

She had already looked at several sites and had one she particularly liked. That location still had work to address, including a potential demising-wall issue. Finding a location she liked was not the same as having a location ready to open, which is a useful thing to understand before you start.

Site selection and construction assistance are worth weighing carefully with any brick-and-mortar concept, because location and buildout requirements can materially change the ownership decision.

Are women finding opportunities in franchise ownership?

Women are a significant part of the franchise ownership landscape, and Breyanne is one example of a professional woman entering franchising from a specialized career.

There is an important distinction underneath the question. There is no single franchise for women. A franchise still has to fit the individual woman evaluating it. Breyanne’s background, interests, goals, and customer experience all shaped her evaluation. Another candidate could look at the same brand and reach a different conclusion, which is not a problem. It is what a good evaluation process is supposed to allow.

The goal is not to find a franchise that sounds right for a demographic. It is to determine whether the model fits the individual.

Who is this type of franchise ownership not for?

A brick-and-mortar hair extension franchise may not fit someone who does not want the responsibilities of a physical location. It may also be a poor fit for someone who wants complete control over every aspect of the business, since franchising means operating inside a defined system. And it may not suit someone uncomfortable learning an unfamiliar industry or asking for help.

None of that means the person cannot be a business owner. It may just mean a different ownership model deserves a look.
This is why we evaluate fit across several dimensions instead of matching someone to whatever franchise is available. Franchising is not right for every person, and part of an advisor’s job is saying so.

The better question

The common question is “is Dakota London a good franchise?” That is too broad to be useful.

The better question is “is Dakota London the right franchise model for me, based on my skills, goals, resources, preferred ownership role, and willingness to operate within its system?”

That is what Breyanne’s story illustrates. She did not begin with Dakota London. She began by trying to understand business ownership. She explored different industries, realized she had more to learn about franchising, worked with a consultant, found a concept that connected with her own experience as a customer, evaluated the support structure, worked through uncertainty around funding, and moved into site selection. At the time of the interview, she was preparing for the next stage of opening in Nashville.

That is the part worth studying, and not because her outcome is predetermined. It is not. It is useful because it shows what the decision process actually looks like for a highly educated professional becoming a first-time franchise owner.

A good franchise is not universal. It is conditional on the person, the model, the market, and the fit between them.

Key takeaways

• Semi-absentee means your involvement is scheduled, not eliminated
• It typically requires more capital than owner-operator, because payroll starts before revenue
• The ramp-up timeline does not adjust because you have a job
• Your general manager hire is the single highest-leverage decision in the model
• Weekly rhythms and monthly financial reviews are what keep it from drifting
• Design the exit early, because the structure that makes a business sellable is built at the start

How Integrity Franchise Group helps

We’re a franchise advisory firm, and our founder owns franchises. That means the conversation here starts with operations and numbers, not with a brochure.

What we actually do:

• Start with what you’re solving for, before a single brand enters the conversation
• Match models to your skills, capital, schedule, and the ownership role you actually want
• Walk you through the FDD, including Item 19 and the development schedule
• Set up and prepare you for validation calls with current franchisees
• Help you work the problem when funding or real estate creates an obstacle, rather than treating the first no as the answer
• Tell you when to walk away. It’s the part of the job that matters most.

What it costs you: nothing. Integrity Franchise Group is compensated by franchisors, the same way a recruiter is paid by an employer. Our advisory services are free to candidates, and the franchise fee is the same whether you come through us or approach the brand directly.

What we won’t do: pitch you a passive income story, or push a model that doesn’t fit your life.

Next step

If you are considering becoming a franchise owner, you do not have to start by picking a brand. Start by determining whether franchise ownership makes sense for you.

The Franchise Assessment helps you think through your goals, experience, preferences, and readiness before you spend significant time evaluating individual opportunities. It takes about ten minutes and costs nothing.

Take the Franchise Readiness Assessment

Prefer to talk it through? Schedule a call and tell us what you’re solving for.

Read more

• How to Evaluate a Franchise
• Guide to Buying a Franchise
• How to Know If a Franchise Is Right for You (From Someone Who Has Guided Hundreds of Candidates)
• Why More People Are Choosing Franchising
• What Successful Franchise Owners Do Differently
• What Is a Franchise Resale? Key Tips Before You Buy
• Our Process · Free Resources

Integrity Franchise Group is compensated by franchisors. Our advisory services are free to candidates. Investment requirements, timelines, and outcomes vary by model, market, and operator. Nothing here is a representation of financial performance — review the brand’s Franchise Disclosure Document and consult your own legal and financial advisors.