Lisa Mileto is passionate about her business, zealous about building teams, and a fervent ambassador for the Soul Origin brand.

Lisa is also rightly proud of her newly awarded National Franchise Partner of the Year accolade which she won in the company’s first-ever brand conference held in Vietnam in March.

“For me, the award is all about the recognition of what I do in store and company-wise as well. As franchisees, we can all get blinded thinking, ‘this is my store,’ and we can forget it’s a network. What we do reflects on the brand and each other,” she says.

The top award recognises the franchisee’s unwavering commitment to excellence, a dynamic attitude, NPS score, execution of loyalty programs and promotions, profitability, and coffee excellence.

“Next time I’m trying for the multi-site award!” she says.

Going into business

Lisa’s award-winning status is the culmination of seven years success as a Soul Origin franchisee, which originally started as a change of plan.

“I was actually meant to move to London and travel around for two years. My sister-in-law had a Soul Origin store but the daily travel was taking its toll, so she wanted to sell. I thought ‘why not buy it? I can go to London any time. This could set me up, then I can travel whenever I want’.”

Lisa was no stranger to leading teams and businesses. She had previously owned clothing firms and held management roles in frozen yogurt and gym companies.

“Mum and Dad have a transport truck family business so I know about being the last person standing when no-one else can do a job. And any job I had before, that was me. I’m always committed to my work.”

However, working in food – from making coffee to controlling the cost of goods sold – was a new challenge.

“But I had Soul’s excellent support and in the early stages that really helped,” she says.

Soul Origin’s premium support

Lisa opened her first store after eight weeks in-store training at another outlet. There was on-site support from the franchise team for the first few weeks.

She praises the Soul Origin team for the level of support and care they provide.

“My area managers have been incredible, they have had a ‘ride or die’ attitude, they answer the phone promptly, they provide solutions swiftly.

“They genuinely care and have a heart, and that extends right up to the chief operating officer and the CEO. They listen and consider what franchisees have to say.

“I’m passionate about the brand, and I work hard to make the most of all the support and assistance I get. I drive any promotion I’m given. Marketing is good at what they do, they know what they want to achieve, and it’s been so successful.

“They introduced the loyalty program in a tough market and that has elevated the brand,” she says. “Our biggest focus is value for money, the freshness in our product, and marketing is smashing out the message.”

Lisa’s corporate experience shaped her goals as an owner and leader.

“I wanted to do better than my previous bosses and be more emotionally connected with my team, it’s my work family,” she says.

Success as a Soul Origin franchisee

She cites staff training, and her team, as fundamental pillars of her success.

“I would be absolutely nothing without them. I’ve had five team members with me for the seven years, the others have been here more than two. I’m very fortunate to have team members who have a heart in the business.”

Above all, success as a Soul Origin franchisee comes down to caring for customers, she says, going the extra mile.

“When I’m employing team members, I help them understand the customer is number one.”

Today she not only owns and operates two stores in Sydney’s Macarthur Square, in November last year she also took over the management of two company stores.

“I wanted more personal growth, more of a challenge. I absolutely love rebuilding teams and getting stores back to being a thriving business.”

Of her new management role, she says “I’m learning new skills, working more with head office and implementing my learnings into my stores”.

Planning a mini-empire

Lisa purchased a second store four years ago in Roselands, selling it two years later to open a second Macarthur location.

“We now have a traditional store and a satellite kiosk, and everything feeds from the main location. It was a no-brainer to have an outlet on both sides of the shopping centre,” she says.

Will there be more stores in the pipeline?

“Whatever’s going to get me to a point I can work it from the outside is great; it could be three stores, or five, or 10.

“I love Soul Origin; it’s an amazing brand and we are big but not huge. I want it to be like Boost Juice or McDonald’s!”

Newly engaged, Lisa is lining up that long-awaited overseas trip as a honeymoon. But she may not get to London yet, and she certainly won’t be checking out to go travelling.

She is harnessing her expertise and her passion to her Soul Origin stores.

“I’m building a mini empire so my business works for me when I want to have kids,” she says.