Meet Our Leadership Team

Catherine became CEO of FASTSIGNS International, Inc. in 2009, bringing over 30 years of franchising and management experience.

In 2009, she received the International Franchise Association (IFA) Bonny LeVine Award in recognition of her contributions to the growth of the franchising industry and in 2010, the Dallas Business Journal named her a top Women Industry Leader in the Dallas Metroplex. In 2012, Catherine appeared on the Emmy Award-winning series Undercover Boss to learn new ways to advance the FASTSIGNS® brand. In 2015, she received the International Franchise Association’s first Franchise Action Network “FAN of the Year” award for her advocacy work in the franchising community. In 2016, she was selected as a Soderstrom Society Inductee for her contributions to the printing and graphic communications industry and was also honored with the 2016 Leadership Award from the Women That Soar organization. In 2018, she was honored by the Sales and Marketing Executives International (SMEI) with their Ambassador of Free Enterprise Award.

Catherine has served on the Board of Directors of the IFA since 2008 and is currently in the role of Vice Chair. Additionally, she serves on the Board of Directors of Brain Balance, a franchise company with a non-drug alternative for children with behavioral challenges, and serves on the Board of Directors of the franchisor Big Blue Swim School, one of the nation’s fastest growing swim schools. She is a keynote speaker at many franchise industry events, as well at many sign and visual graphics industry events.

Mark is a Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) with more than 20 years of experience in all aspects of franchising in both consumer industries (home services, food and retail) and in business-to-business (flooring; signs and graphics). His extensive franchising background includes franchisee relations, operations, training, company store operations, franchise law, intellectual property, financial management, procurement, technology, and sales and marketing.

He joined FASTSIGNS International in 2009, and today leads Franchise Support (including Training, Operations and Supply Chain) and global Franchise Development. Mark’s responsibilities cover overseeing “lead to lights on” support (through Franchise Sales, Real Estate and Development Services teams) and then continue seamlessly into providing ongoing, lifelong franchisee support (through the Training, Operations and Supply Chain teams).

Mark has been a panelist and panel leader for sessions at many International Franchise Association Conventions and at the Franchise Development Leadership Conference, and has spoken at international franchise forums in Middle East, Peru and the United Kingdom.

Since joining the company, the brand has added more than 200 locations domestically and signed international agreements to enter twelve new countries (UAE, Malta, Italy, Greece, Chile, Spain, the Caribbean, and 4 others in the Middle East).

Prior to joining FASTSIGNS, Mark was the Vice-President of Franchise Development for 8 years for multiple franchise-owned brands at CCA Global Partners including ProSource Wholesale Floor Covering.

Jennifer brings over 20 years of experience in marketing with a demonstrated capacity to solve problems with fresh, insight-driven strategic solutions and scale for growth. Her broad background includes all marketing disciplines and strong cross-functional knowledge of all business fundamentals.  She has a successful track record of transforming brands and driving business results in multiple fast-paced industries with diverse environments.

A confident, goal-oriented leader with the ability to motivate others to achieve results, Jennifer most recently held the role of Chief Marketing Officer for Smoothie King. During her time there, she directed all brand, marketing and R&D strategy to build the brand and drive business results in the fulfillment of its mission to inspire people to live a healthy and active lifestyle for over 1,000 locations.

Before joining Smoothie King, Jennifer held senior leadership positions in a wide variety of franchise and company brands including Gold’s Gym, Dave & Buster’s, Nestle Waters North America and Pizza Hut. Jennifer began her career with The UPS Store where she worked in several roles as the primary driver of new product development and customer services in support of over 2,000 franchisees.

In December 2018, she was named one of Dallas’ Rising Brand Stars by AdWeek. Herskind is a Dallas native and belongs to a family of business entrepreneurs she enjoys assisting in her spare time.

Jason White brings an extensive financial background to his role as Chief Financial Officer of Propelled Brands. Prior to this role, he served as the Chief Operations Officer of the Americas Region for Pentax Medical, a medical device subsidiary of HOYA. He joined Pentax in October 2021 as a Financial Business Consultant before transitioning to COO.

Before coming to Pentax, Jason spent 14 years with HOYA Vision Care, where he began his career as the Corporate Controller helping to establish a solid accounting foundation before moving into finance and administration working with IT partners to build scalable systems as the VP of Finance and Administration. He later became the Interim CEO, and during his final six years there, Jason served as the CFO of the Americas Region for HOYA Vision Care, where he developed a successful mergers and acquisitions strategy for the company.

Jason received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting as well as a Master of Science in Finance from Texas A&M University. He is also a Certified Public Accountant.

Michael Chachula spearheads the development, planning, and implementation of Propelled Brands’ IT strategy to elevate business objectives, maximize return on investment and ensure security. He formerly served as the Chief Information Officer at FAT Brands, where he spearheaded the strategic development and implementation of cutting-edge, scalable, and sustainable technology platforms tailored specifically for the company’s expansive portfolio and franchise system. FAT Brands is a multi-brand franchise platform company (as is Propelled Brands) with 16 Brands: Fatburger, Round Table Pizza, Marble Slab Creamery, Johnny Rockets, Hurricane Grill & Wings, Great American Cookies, Ponderosa and Bonanza Steakhouses, Buffalo's Cafe, Elevation Burger, Hot Dog on a Stick, Twin Peaks, Pretzelmaker, Yalla Mediterranean, Native Grill & Wings, and Smokey Bones. As CIO, Michael was focused on Security, Salesforce implementation, Point of Sale, Payments, PCI Compliance and Revenue Creation. With over 25 years of distinguished experience in senior management, Michael is a visionary leader who held numerous pivotal positions in the business and technology sectors, spanning financial services, consumer goods, franchising, pharmaceuticals, and the hospitality industry.

Before joining FAT Brands, Michael excelled as the Head of Digital and Revenue Growth for the franchisor, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf®, where he successfully orchestrated the delivery of an enterprise-grade Point of Sale (POS) system, alongside innovations in Customer Relationship Management (CRM), marketing automation, and cross-channel/omni-channel growth strategies for the brand and its franchise network. His pragmatic approach and forward-thinking solutions set a new benchmark in the industry.

Michael's excellence in leadership also extended to his role as Head of Technology and Executive Director of the franchisor IHOP® Restaurants under Dine Brands Global Inc., where he executed transformative technology initiatives including security, payment, POS updates that elevated operational efficiency, and customer engagement across the board.

Michael is an alumnus of DePaul University, holding a bachelor’s degree, and he further enhanced his strategic acumen with an MBA from the Northwestern University–Kellogg School of Management. His educational background and industry credentials underscored his commitment to driving technological innovation and strategic growth at FAT Brands.

Jim Howe brings over 30 years experience in franchising, both as a franchisee and a franchisor, to his role as President of FASTSIGNS®. Jim leads the growth of the FASTSIGNS brand and is dedicated to increasing franchisee profitability and satisfaction through effective leadership, innovation, new revenue streams, and operational efficiencies, as well as driving growth in the number of franchise locations. To accomplish this, he is focused on franchisee/franchisor collaboration, sharing best practices, and optimizing processes, as well as deepening customer relationships to bring the brand promise to life.

Prior to this role, Jim was Brand President for NerdsToGo®, for over 3 years, where he helped transition the brand from B2C to B2B, creating new relationships with vendors, systems, and processes around being a managed service provider.

Before that, Jim was with the FASTSIGNS International team for 11 years, where he last served as Vice President of Franchise Support and also held several other leadership roles. In the Vice President role, he led the Franchise Support, Sales Development, Training and New Center Opening Support departments, as well as executing planning for all company events. He has also held his CFE (Certified Franchise Executive) designation for over 8 years.

Jim’s prior franchisor experience includes The Coffee Beanery and national candle retailer, WnS, Inc. Jim was also a Hallmark franchisee, and he and his wife are currently franchisees of Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming. His wife Shelley and their son Trevor operate the Woof Gang franchise.

Howe is truly passionate about and understands franchising, which includes the importance of effective systems, possessing a deep focus on franchisee profitability, and working to build strong relationships with franchisees through open, two-way communication. He believes in delivering well-thought-out programs to help the network grow its profitable sales. In addition, Jim has previously been a speaker as well as roundtable facilitator for the International Franchise Association’s Annual Convention. Jim has also previously served on the IFA Convention Committee.

“Jim’s leadership acumen was evident in his previous roles at FASTSIGNS, but it’s his passion for the franchising industry, franchisee support and brand excellence that I am most excited to experience again,” shares Carmen Ruiz, franchisee with FASTSIGNS® of Daytona Beach, Florida. “It’s evident why the amount of enthusiasm over Jim’s return to the brand is overwhelmingly positive. Jim is a well-rounded leader who truly cares and gets work done, and he’s the right choice to take FASTSIGNS into the future.”

“Jim is a down-to-earth leader with excellent vision, who thoroughly understands the franchise world,” says Chris Farr, franchisee with FASTSIGNS® of Conroe, Texas. “He genuinely cares about our success, and he fosters a culture of performance. Jim has inspired and motivated us on our FASTSIGNS journey!”

As General Counsel, Jennifer Rote leads Propelled Brands’ Legal Department which serves a critical role in ensuring the organization operates within the law and adheres to regulations and internal company policies. She provides legal advice to executive leadership and develops legal strategy, while managing legal risk.

A leader dedicated to developing and empowering others, Jennifer’s educational background and in-house counsel credentials have solidified her commitment to supporting growth and ensuring legal compliance. Jennifer brings 25 years of extensive legal experience, including contracts, domestic and international franchise, real estate/leasing, corporate, employment, and mergers and acquisitions, along with a strong cross-functional business knowledge. She most recently held the role of Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for TGI Friday’s Inc., where she worked over 20 years in increasingly senior positions before rising to the top spot in 2017. Prior to joining TGI Friday’s, Jennifer began her in-house career at RadioShack Corporation, with a primary focus in real estate and leasing matters.

Jennifer is a Texas native and an alumnus of University of North Texas and Texas Tech University School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in the State of Texas.