You Didn't Buy a Franchise So You Could Work Inside It Every Single Day.
Secretsos™ Academy is the coaching and mentorship program that helps franchisees turn long hours and thin margins into a business that runs and earns, without them standing in it every day. Built specifically for franchise owners, not generic small business advice.
3 days – 90 minutes a day – Academy enrollment opens live, on the final day.
Never Leave a Franchisee Behind.
It’s not a tagline, it’s the standard every mission, every Handler, and every Security Clearance Level is built to meet.
If your franchise runs you instead of the other way around, something upstream is missing, and it's not always time.
Most franchisees hit the same wall eventually, whether that shows up as 60-hour weeks with no end in sight, or as revenue that looks fine on paper but never quite turns into real take-home profit. Either way, the franchisor’s playbook got the doors open. It was never built to teach you how to run, or grow, the business from here.
- You followed the franchise system. So why does it still feel like you’re guessing?
- Some months the revenue’s there. Some months it evaporates, and you can’t always say why.
- You’re working more hours than ever, and the margin still isn’t moving.
- If you took a real week off, would your team handle it, or would everything catch fire?
- You know something’s off. You just don’t know if it’s the money, the time, or both.
MEET YOUR GUIDE
Built By Someone Who's Actually Run the Business You're Running.
Before Secretsos™, April Porter was a trial attorney, then a municipal court judge, then a first-time franchisee, she grew a single kickboxing franchise into four locations in under three years, landing repeatedly among St. Louis’s fastest-growing companies and the top 1% nationally within her brand.
She’s been the franchisee answering the phone at 9pm. Secretsos Academy is what she built so you don’t have to learn the operator-to-leader shift the hard way she did.
- Top 10 Woman in Franchising
- Top 30 Global Franchising Influencer
- Founder, Secretsos™, the Franchisee Intelligence Agency
She’s built the coaching team the same way. Every Secretsos Handler leading your monthly implementation coaching is a former multi-unit franchisee who’s grown a location to acquisition, not a certified coach reading from a script.
ACTIVE ENGAGEMENTS
Real Results From Franchisees Who've Already Run This Mission
Hear from George on his experience at our free Franchise Growth Formula Workshop, and the impact it’s had on his growth strategy.
When you’re stuck in a box, it’s hard to see a way out. The techniques we learned really pulled me out of that box — it was refreshing. Secretsos™ helped me identify our value and pushed me out of my comfort zone into something with real substance. It’s hard to describe, but I felt I was really digging into the roots of what we do, which was a substantial sales tactic. We used to close around 20% — if 10 people walked in the door, we’d lock down 2. Now we’re flirting with 80-90%.
– Adam T., Multi-unit Franchisee
[Secretsos™] breaks down information into easy-to-follow steps and simplifies concepts without making me feel inferior. I turned my hobby into a lucrative business in less than 60 days, increasing my sales by 200% and growing. I’m done guessing who the best expert to learn from is. I don’t need to waste time and money on anything else.
– Vickie A., Small Business Owner
April Porter is a marketing genius. There are a lot of so-called ‘coaches’ out there who will take your hard-earned money while claiming they can help you grow your business. April is the REAL DEAL. She owned and grew four gyms to the point where she was able to sell them for a profit. April is one of the few worth hiring.
– Angie H., Realty Franchisee
When you’re in a franchise, they give you what they think you need to succeed. But if you don’t have a business background, you end up doing everything they tell you without realizing you’re getting stuck — because no one else can run things but you. Once I joined Secretsos™, I learned how to separate everything into team, operations, marketing — each piece working together as part of the bigger picture. I had more wins in five months than in five years of owning my locations. Basically, it taught me that my business can run without me there.
– Cheryl T., Multi-unit Franchisee
Full written and video testimonial library available on request.
THE PLAN
How Enrollment Into The Secretsos™ Academy Actually Works
There’s no cart, no checkout page, no self-serve signup for the Academy. Enrollment opens one place: inside the Franchise Growth Formula Workshop.
Step 1: Reserve your seat in the workshop
A free, live, 3-day virtual training, just 90 minutes a day, where April walks you through the exact gap between where your franchise is and where it should be.
Step 2: Get briefed on your Clearance Level
See the full Academy curriculum, meet the coaching structure, and get matched to the Security Clearance Level that fits where your business is right now.
Step 3: Start your first mission with a Handler
Enroll and get to work, a former multi-unit franchisee holds you accountable to execution, not just information.
THE FRANCHISE GROWTH FORMULA WORKSHOP
The Workshop Is a Working Session, Not a Sales Pitch, Here's What Actually Happens.
Three live days, 90 minutes each, with April Porter running the room directly, not a recorded webinar, not a highlight reel. You leave with a clear picture of where your franchise is bleeding time or margin, and what to do about it first.
- A live breakdown of where your franchisor’s training stops and where you’re currently filling the gaps yourself, unpaid and unnoticed
- What the top-performing franchisees in any system consistently do differently, operationally, not mindset platitudes, the actual sequence and structure
- One tactical shift you can put in place in your business before the workshop even ends
- Live Q&A each day, so your specific numbers and situation get addressed, not just the general case
This is also where Secretsos™ Academy enrollment opens, on the final day, but the workshop stands on its own. Attend, get real answers, and decide from there.
INSIDE THE FILE
Franchise Coaching, Mentorship & Business Support, What's Actually Inside Secretsos™ Academy
Whether you’d call it coaching, mentorship, business education, or hands-on support, here’s exactly what it looks like: self-paced video lessons plus live coaching, sequenced from ten years of refinement across hundreds of franchisees, covering marketing, sales, team leadership, and the financial clarity that turns revenue into real profit, organized into “missions” so each one builds on the last instead of leaving you to guess at the order.
There’s a reason it’s built this way…
AKA: Secret Agent Theme
Step-by-Step Curriculum Pathway & Gamification
Most business training gets bought with good intentions and then quietly abandoned — modules half-watched, binders unopened. Secretsos™ structures the curriculum as a series of missions with your own Handler, and turns your progress into something visible: badges, leaderboard standing, and Security Clearance Levels you advance through. Complete a mission and you might get a shout-out during an Intelligence Briefing, a feature on Secretsos™ social media, an invite to an exclusive event, or something unexpected showing up in your mailbox. It’s not a gimmick — it’s a structure built around the real reason most franchisees never finish generic training: nobody’s tracking whether they show up, and nobody’s celebrating when they do.
AKA: Field Trainings
Practical "How-To" Business Education
Under-10-minute lessons on marketing, sales, operations, team leadership, and the financial clarity most franchisees were never taught, each paired with a worksheet you actually use.
AKA: Mission Review Meetings
Hands-On Implementation Guidance & Accountability
Live sessions with a dedicated mentor, a former multi-unit franchisee, so what you learn turns into action in your business, not just another video you watched.
AKA: Intelligence Briefings
Executive Coaching & Mentorship
Weekly group mentorship on rotating topics, marketing & sales, operations & team, financial strategy, mindset, plus 1-on-1 “hot seat” coaching in front of the group.
AKA: Specialist Meetings
Direct Access to Expert Advisors
Monthly Q&A with a CPA, commercial lender, business broker, and HR expert, the advisors most franchisees don’t otherwise have on call.
AKA: “Q” AI Assistant
24/7 AI Assistant
Built into the Academy to help you apply what you’re learning to your specific numbers and business, any time you need it.
AKA: Peer Network
Ongoing Peer Support Community
Other franchisees working through the same coaching and mentorship path, so you’re not troubleshooting alone at 11pm.
SECURITY CLEARANCE LEVELS
Two Clearance Levels. One Briefing Where You'll See Both.
Secretsos™ Academy runs on two Security Clearance Levels, each unlocking a different depth of coaching access.
LEVEL I: Intelligent Franchisee
- Full access to the business-education curriculum, implementation guides, the 24/7 AI Assistant (nicknamed “Q”), and the peer community
- Weekly hands-on implementation coaching with your dedicated mentor (what we call your “Handler”).
LEVEL II: Freedom Franchisee
- Everything in Level I, plus…
- Weekly live executive coaching & mentorship
- Monthly direct access to expert advisors (a CPA, lender, broker, and HR specialist)
- Additional personal attention through small group intensives, built for franchisees ready to fully step out of daily operations.
Full clearance details, including exact investment, are briefed live during the Franchise Growth Formula Workshop, after you’ve seen the curriculum and the coaching for yourself. Not published here.
BEFORE YOU SAY IT
"I've Tried Coaching Before. What Makes This Different?"
"I don't have time for a program."
The video lessons run under 10 minutes each. The curriculum is built for owners squeezing in learning between fires, not people with spare afternoons.
"I've tried coaching before, it was generic."
Secretsos™ missions are sequenced from ten years of data across hundreds of franchisees, not repackaged small-business advice, and every mission is paired with a dedicated mentor (your “Handler”) who adapts it to your specific unit.
"My franchisor already gave me systems."
Your franchisor’s system got you operational. It wasn’t built to teach you leadership, delegation, or how to run the business without being in it every day, that’s a different skill set entirely.
"My business is unique, templates won't work."
Secretsos™ doesn’t hand you a template and walk away. Your monthly implementation coaching and dedicated mentor exist specifically to adapt the framework to your unit, your team, and your numbers.
"I can't afford to slow down to build systems."
You’re not slowing down, you’re already doing everyone else’s job. Systems are what let you speed back up.
"My revenue is inconsistent, I can't invest in a program right now."
Inconsistent revenue is usually a visibility problem, not a market problem. The financial clarity built into Secretsos™ missions teaches you exactly what to track so you can see a cash-flow problem coming, instead of reacting to it after it’s already expensive.
FRANCHISOR FILE
For Franchisors: You Built the Playbook. Secretsos™ Gets Franchisees to Actually Run It.
Secretsos™ Academy also operates as a Designated Supplier Partnership, professional development infrastructure that franchisors add to their FDD so every new franchisee gets structured leadership and execution training your internal support team was never built to deliver.
- “We built the tools. They’re not using them.”
- Support is drowning in repeat issues and basic execution gaps.
- Top performers are stalling instead of scaling into multi-unit ownership.
- More initiatives are rolling out, but adoption quality is inconsistent.
Secretsos™ doesn’t replace your support team or your FBCs, it’s the professional development layer they don’t have the bandwidth to build themselves. Because Secretsos operates independently, franchisees get coaching without creating joint-employer exposure for your brand, and your FBCs get relief from repeat, basic-execution tickets.
Currently the designated scaling-phase training partner for:
BRIEFING FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Secretsos™ Academy?
Secretsos™ Academy is a membership training and coaching program for franchisees, built around sequenced “missions”, short video lessons (what we call Field Trainings) paired with worksheets, plus live group coaching from a dedicated mentor (a “Handler”), a former multi-unit franchisee. It’s designed to help revenue-proven franchisees build the systems and leadership skills to run their business without being the bottleneck in it.
Who is Secretsos™ Academy for?
Franchisees who already have revenue, typically $100K or more, but are still working 50 to 80 hour weeks, stuck making every decision, and unable to step away without something breaking. It’s not a startup program for people still validating whether the business can work.
How much does Secretsos™ Academy cost?
Secretsos™ Academy runs on two Security Clearance Levels, priced differently based on the depth of coaching access. Exact investment and which level fits your business are shared live during the free Franchise Growth Formula Workshop, after you’ve seen the curriculum and coaching for yourself.
How do I enroll in Secretsos™ Academy?
Enrollment opens during the Franchise Growth Formula Workshop, a free 3-day virtual training held every 6 to 8 weeks. You can’t enroll directly from this page, registering for the next workshop is the first step.
Is Secretsos™ required by my franchisor?
For some brands, yes, Secretsos™ partners with franchisors as a designated supplier of post-onboarding professional development. If your franchisor hasn’t required it, you can still enroll independently as an individual franchisee.
What’s the difference between Intelligent Franchisee and Freedom Franchisee?
Intelligent Franchisee is the entry Security Clearance Level: full access to the mission curriculum, community, and monthly group accountability meetings. Freedom Franchisee adds ongoing live executive coaching, monthly specialist Q&A access, and added workshop perks for franchisees ready to fully step out of daily operations. Full details are covered in the Franchise Growth Formula Workshop.
I’ve already tried franchise coaching. How is Secretsos™ different?
Secretsos™ missions are sequenced from ten years of data across hundreds of franchisees rather than generic small-business advice, and every mission is paired with monthly, mentor-led implementation coaching to adapt it to your specific unit, so it’s implementation and accountability, not another course you watch alone.
Can franchisors partner with Secretsos™ for thier whole network?
Yes. Secretsos™ operates a Designated Supplier Partnership for franchisor brands, adding Secretsos™ Academy to the FDD as the required post-onboarding professional development program. Franchisees pay Secretsos™ directly, Secretsos™ does not charge franchisors to partner.
THE ONLY WAY IN
The Franchise Growth Formula Workshop Is Where Academy Enrollment Opens.
Free. Live. Three days, 90 minutes a day. Offered every 6 – 8 weeks, with seats capped each cohort. This is the front door, there’s no other way to enroll in Secretsos™ Academy.