welcome to the academy: education & certification for field coaches / CERTIFY YOUR FIELD COACHES

Give a Shit:
Yes, one of our guiding principles is truly caring deeply for everyone in our community and striving to help them succeed.

Go Be Awesome:
The core value and go-to phrase that has shaped our company culture! When we each do our best and stay positive we all win! 

Action = Growth:
We’re committed to learning by doing and believe that when we take action we grow and improve through the process. 


We’re a Little Obsessed With Our Core Values

Angela has been in every part of the franchise industry from dressing up as the mascot (Kelly Kabob) as a child at grand openings to coaching owners in her 20s to bringing the brand to Vancouver Island as a multi-unit franchisee. 

Angela’s experience gave her a unique lens on franchising and she saw a need for better franchisee support and coaching. In 2019 she launched AC Inc and started building a passionate team and framework to make effective, strategic franchisee support a standard in the franchise industry.

Angela Coté grew up in franchising: Helping her family's iconic Canadian franchise brand, M&M Food Markets grow to nearly 500 locations

It all started with Kelly Kabob…

Angela Coté, CEO + Founder

Angela specializes in leadership, field coaching, and speaking

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Experience & Background

Angela founded AC Inc in 2019 with a mission to transform the franchise industry. She saw the opportunity to positively impact franchise systems across the world through field coaching, education, and training.

Before founding AC Inc, Angela spent 25+ years helping her dad (founder of the iconic Canadian franchise brand M&M Food Markets) grow the brand to almost 500 locations through the franchisor, field coaching, and franchisee side of the business.

Working as a field coach through some of her 20s, Angela noticed the need for more professional development and training of this key role within the franchise system. Field coaches help owners succeed, which leads to the success of the system as a whole.

When she and her husband brought M&M Food Markets to Vancouver Island, and successfully built up the value of the 3 locations to more than 1.5 million, it was validated again how important the support of franchisees is to system success.

After successfully exiting their franchises, Angela started AC Inc and began to support franchise systems to improve their franchisee engagement and profitability through best-practice field coaching, education, and training.

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Steven Inglefield, President

Steven specializes in leadership, growth strategy, and operations

Experience & Background

As a serial entrepreneur, Steven has dedicated his career to the creation, development, and successful sales of innovative startup companies. 

Originally from the UK, Steven started his career in the health and wellness space as a physical therapist for a professional English soccer team. 

After moving to Canada, he led operations in a corporate wellness facility and improved sales by 500% over an 18 month period. 

He continued his operations expertise in various health companies, including an online health directory platform and an exercise therapy company. In 2017, Steven founded what is now IRP Health, a clinic network that offers pain management programs to military veterans and first responders in Canada. 

Following a multiple 7 figure acquisition in 2021, Steven has worked on multiple public company boards and leadership teams, building even further on his experience in mergers, acquisitions, and strategic growth. 

Since 2020, Steven has worked alongside Angela Coté as the President of AC Inc, and has helped build the foundations of the company, and create an exciting path to continued growth.

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Jen Brannon, VP of Ops

Jen specializes in franchisee support, field coaching, and growth strategy

Experience & Background

Jennifer has been in franchising as an owner and a coach for 20+ years, and is passionate about creating successful franchisees through strategic field coaching and support.

During her time as a Tutor Doctor franchise owner, Jennifer was a top-performer from the outset, and consistently placed in the top 12 Tutor Doctor franchisees worldwide. 

She received many franchise and community awards, and led the Tutor Doctor mentorship program - serving as a business coach to new and seasoned franchisees to guide them toward business growth and increased profitability.

After successfully selling her franchise, Jennifer joined the AC Inc team to pursue her passions for helping franchisors create robust support and coaching programs to set their franchisees up for success. Her expertise is the foundation of many training programs at AC Inc, including the IFA-accredited Field Coach Playbook.

She lives in Uxbridge, ON with her husband and 3 kids, and spends most summers at her cottage enjoying water sports and time with family and friends. She loves to have fun and does all that she can to live life to the fullest.

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Robert Bruski, Financial Director

Robert specializes in financials, leadership, and technology

Experience & Background

Robert is not your average entrepreneur. After graduating from Wilfrid Laurier University in economics, Robert spent over a decade working in Canada’s financial investment industry focusing on buy-side investment management. 

He decided to start his own company in 2014, he co-founded a company called PipeDream Interactive that developed a piece of cinema eyewear called Invisivision. This company made waves throughout Hollywood before Robert co-founded Ctrl V. 

Ctrl V is North America’s first, and the world’s largest, virtual reality arcade franchise. With specific, and proprietary, designs around B2B and B2C modeling, Ctrl V continues to innovate the location-based entertainment industry.

Robert has started several other companies in the past decade, and joined the mission at AC Inc in 2019 to help develop the financial plan, expansion, and goal setting for the company.

He’s currently based in Waterloo, ON and sits on the board of directors for the board of directors for Innovate Inclusion, 
a not-for-profit organization that advocates for the success of underrepresented communities in tech and entrepreneurship.

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Belle White, Marketing Director

Belle specializes in marketing, brand strategy, and messaging

Experience & Background

With experience in marketing, photography, and content creation, Belle started her own freelance marketing company after graduating University. 

Through school she photographed weddings, supported local nonprofits, worked as a financial advisor, and managed the digital marketing of a magazine publisher.

With a talent for writing and strategy, and being a skilled integrator and critical thinker, Belle joined the AC Inc team in 2019 to support social media, content, SEO, and brand growth.

Belle quickly learned the ins and outs of franchising and fell in love with the way the industry focuses on empowering small business owners to succeed in local communities.

Belle has successfully grown the AC brand to be an industry leader, has presented at several industry events, and works with franchise brands who are seeking strategy and guidance in their messaging, positioning, and marketing.

She and her husband are based in Calgary, AB where she enjoys hiking, yoga, playing sports, reading abnormally fast, and spending time with friends and family.

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Liane Caruso, VP of Marketing

Liane specializes in scalable marketing strategy & messaging

Experience & Background

Liane is a marketing pro with experience in the industry that spans 20 years and includes franchise development marketing, CMO services, and leading marketing teams.

Starting her career in the franchise marketing space, Liane launched a marketing agency that focused on local marketing programs for franchise brands. 

After her agency was acquired, Liane worked with several franchise brands to build franchise development programs through integrated digital marketing programs and public relations tactics with reputable franchise suppliers.

Liane now owns her own fractional CMO business, joining the AC Inc team as the fractional VP of Marketing in 2023.

Liane is a natural community-builder and is an active leader in the franchise community.

She's a member of the IFA Women's Franchise Committee, the IFA Supplier Forum Advisory Board, the Women's Franchise Network Tampa Bay, and many more committees and boards.

Liane currently lives in Tampa, FL with her two kids and two dogs. She loves attending concerts and broadway shows and can often be found at one or the other!


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Brecon Gage, Director of Advising

Brecon specializes in franchisee support and growth strategy

Experience & Background

With more than 20+ years of experience in the franchise world — from getting coffee to 2x successful franchisee to franchise growth coach — Brecon is a pro at all things franchisee support and strategic growth.

While waiting for his masters program to begin, Brecon took a Summer job for a bath fitter franchise, quickly changing his education focus to learn the ropes of the business. In only 6 years Brecon had worked his way to become the General Manager and business partner.

During his time there, he implemented SOPs, KPI tracking, numerous programs, and grew the business to a multi-million dollar company winning Business of the Year from the GVXX and Better Business Bureau Torch Award for Business Ethics and Integrity. After 10 years with the company, he successfully exited and began his second franchise, this time with Comfort Keepers. 

They grew to over 90 employees, became the top grossing franchise in Canada, winning numerous awards, including Outstanding Customer Service (GVCC), BBB Torch Awards (6 times) and Business of the Year in Healthcare twice (BE).

Brecon exited the Comfort Keepers system and joined AC Inc in 2022. He’s an expert at operations, KPI and metrics, franchisee coaching, and now leads the AC advising team and helps franchise brands across the globe to improve their franchisee profitability.

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Roger Peterson, Field Advisor

Roger specializes in franchisee performance and financials

Experience & Background

Roger started his entrepreneurial career by taking one extra-credit entrepreneurship class in high school — not just learning the practical skills of business, but finding a deep love of business development and following a process to achieve success.

With a passion for business and process, Roger was scouted by major league baseball teams, had a #1 nationally syndicated radio show, was awarded a Turnaround Management award from one of the top franchise systems in North America, and has raised two amazing children. 

Roger has more than 16+ years of franchising expertise including playing an integral role increasing network profits and developing the footprints of 2 of the top 6 ranked franchise mega brands in North America.

His industry experience includes multi-unit management, area development, retail products & services, QSR’s, supplement education services, and more.

His passion for franchise expansion, years of experience in successful systems, and keen understanding of the financials of business led Roger to joining the AC Inc team in 2022 as a Franchise Growth Advisor.

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Linda Young, Field Advisor

Linda specializes in franchisee support and field coach training

Experience & Background

Linda is passionate about franchise operations, building and managing teams, and helping franchisees achieve their goals!

With 15+ years in the franchise space, Linda joined the AC Inc team after spending 8 years as the Sr. Regional Manager of a senior care brand.

She was responsible for overseeing franchisee support, engagement, and the revenue growth of 170 locations with a team of 4 field coaches. 

A couple highlights from her career include serving as an ambassador to the UK franchisee support counterparts for several years to foster collaboration and share best practices.

She also developed and co-facilitated a virtual multi-unit/enterprise owner panel, a Q&A and breakout session for owners interested in expansion, and led a team on the strategic redesign of the owner support structure post-acquisition.

Linda's passion, expertise, and positive energy made her a wonderful addition to the AC team. 

She enjoys live music, reading, and gardening. Plus, her favorite season is football season!

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Stephanie Benze, Field Advisor

Steph specializes in education, training, facilitation, & operations

Experience & Background

Stephanie has 10+ years experience in franchising and led the growth of her last franchise brand up 266% in less than 3 years. She's a system optimization pro, loves project management, and is a compassionate, ambitious leader.

Stephanie lives in Virginia with her husband and 2 kids. You'll often find her outside gardening, on the water, or spending time with family.

Stephanie started her career working on the operator side of a multi location retail business. She learned how to lead all departments and build a business from the ground up. 

She took a 2-location store with a 50 square ft warehouse and grew it into 14 retail stores, a massive 200k square ft warehouse, a distribution center, and a 50-seat Call Center. 

As a lifelong learner, and after spending a decade in franchising in operations, training, and leadership roles, Stephanie wanted to work in an education space to make franchising a better industry - more successful brands, skilled owners, and thriving teams. 

Joining the AC Inc team in 2023 to lead courses and develop more field coaching education made perfect sense. Stephanie brings leadership and expertise to the AC courses and trainings.

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Aidan Pearson, Operations Support

Aidan specializes in operations analysis and improvement

Experience & Background

Aidan is a passionate problem solver, an ongoing learner, and genuinely loves analyzing the operations of businesses to create improvements and efficiencies.

Living in Toronto Ontario, Aidan can often be found hiking, playing video games, or creating incredible spreadsheets.

Aidan worked as a corporate store manager for a 700+ unit pet franchise brand, and was quickly nominated for New Store Manager of the Year and then promoted to Field Operations Manager at the company.

He travelled to stores across Eastern Canada to gain feedback from corporate team members and franchise managers or owners to analyze and improve the standard operating procedures for the brand.

During this time he also worked with Walt Disney Institutes to create a new company culture, including mission statements and core values.

Aidan is currently working towards an Advanced Diploma of Business Administration, Management, and Operations at Humber College while supporting the AC Inc team as a phenomenal Operations Support Specialist.

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Jenna Hilb, Field Advisor

Jenna specializes in project management and field coaching

Experience & Background
Jenna is a creative problem solver, loves live music, has a degree in project management, and has built/led field coach teams for franchise brands across the US, UK, and Canada.
 
With 18+ years of experience in franchise operations, Jenna has supported hundreds of franchisees, including training and supporting 100+ new location openings for emerging & established brands.

With her field coaching expertise and experience in operations, project management, and franchisee support, Jenna joined the AC Inc team in 2023.

She’s known for her ability to connect with even the most stubborn personalities. The FAC at her last company presented her with the first-ever “Franchisee Champion” award at their national conference due to her efforts in bridging the gap between franchisees and the home office team.

Jenna lives in Colorado Springs with her partner and 3 children, she’s a semi-pro game show contestant, loves sewing and knitting, and is a big trivia buff.

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Read the AC Blog

The Structure of Franchisee Coaching Calls

Support Your Owner's First 6 Months

Professional Development for Field Coaches

Get The Info

We love building community. Always have. Back in 2020, Angela started a weekly Zoom call with franchisors who were seeking support. What started as a few franchisors meeting weekly to collaborate and share with their peers has turned into 4 professional development roundtable groups, with more than 600 members and counting. 

A Fun, Collaborative Community for Weekly Professional Development

AC Roundtable Community

development | weekly

For Marketing Directors and CMOs who work IN franchise systems to gain new insights on marketing strategies, insights on how to support franchisees with marketing, and franchise industry best-practices

Marketing Support

For Field Coaches and field support teams seeking professional development around supporting franchisees, coaching techniques, problem-solving, effective tools, and a sense of community in Field Coaching.

Field Support Roles

development | weekly

For franchise executives with 50+ units that have some type of franchisee support & coaching in place. We discuss leadership, maximizing the impact of field support, and improving franchisee engagement and profitability.

Foundations Roundtable

operations | bi-weekly

For franchisors and leadership teams with 10-50 units in operation. We’ll dive into how to maximize your franchisee support and performance as a growing brand, and challenges unique to your stage of growth.

Leadership Roundtable

operations | weekly

on wednesdays @ 3:30 et

on TUESDAYS @ 3:30 et

on Thursdays @ 3:30 et

on Tuesdays @ 2:00 et

COACH YOUR FRANCHISEES FOR SUCCESS | UNLOCK HIDDEN PROFITABILITY | GROW YOUR FRANCHISE

Episode 48: Professional Development for Field Coaches 

Episode 47: The Structure of a Franchisee Coaching Call

Episode 46: Empowering Franchisees with Financials

Learn coaching techniques, franchisee support strategies, and leadership insights with the AC team. Leave every episode with a new key takeaway to grow your system!

It's Like Chatting Franchise Growth on a Rooftop Patio...

new episodes every tuesday

We have zero tolerance for boring emails. Angela shares advice, resources, and funny stories every week in the AC newsletter. Oh, and of course, an exponential growth tip. 

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