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Frozen yogurt was written off as a dead category.

Neil Hershman didn’t buy that.

After leaving finance, Neil became a franchisee of 16 Handles, fixed broken operations at the store level, doubled profits, and eventually acquired the entire brand. Today, 16 Handles has ~40 locations open, dozens more in development, and multiple million-dollar frozen yogurt stores - while competitors stagnate.

In this episode, we break down:

• Why frozen yogurt was never actually dead
• The unit economics behind 20%+ margins
• How Neil turned underperforming corporate stores into cash-flowing assets
• Why owning stores as a franchisor keeps incentives aligned
• How COVID created the best real-estate opportunities of his career
• And what most franchise brands get wrong about growth, PE, and operators

This is a masterclass in operator-led brand revival, smart franchising, and building community-driven businesses that actually work.

• From finance job → franchisee → franchisor
• Turning legacy brands into growth machines
• Frozen yogurt unit economics (rent, labor, margins)
• Why self-serve = automation before AI
• Urban vs suburban store performance
• Scaling without private equity
• Million-dollar dessert stores
• Buying brands when founders are “checked out”