Young Gun: 25-year-old Opens 10 Red Mango's In Under Three Years

It only took Samantha Goldsmith less than three years to open 10 Red Mango locations on her native Long Island. That makes her the system's youngest franchisee, largest multi-unit owner, and Long Island the single largest market for the brand. That's quite an accomplishment, even for a veteran franchisee. But Goldsmith is just 25 and has been in the business for only three years.

Her list of accomplishments, punched up by multiple Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare accounts, is the reason Goldsmith is something of a rock star at her store grand openings and the recipient of Multi-Unit Franchisee magazine's 2103 MVP Influencer Award. "It's great when young people come to the manager and ask if I'm there because they want to talk to me about being successful in business," she says.

Goldsmith spent her childhood on her father Harvey's heels. "I've wanted to be like my dad since I was five years old. He had an inventory business, renting out scanners to companies to use when taking inventory. I'd sit in the back of his office, making boxes and watching him do business," she says. At 16, she started work at Bed Bath & Beyond and was promoted twice in less than four years. "I liked managing and being part of a team," she says. But she couldn't see spending four years in college when she already knew what she wanted to do.

When she and her father came across Red Mango at a franchise expo, she liked the brand's "delicious and healthy" products. She approached the franchisor, who didn't seem taken aback by her age, she says, and opened her first unit early in the chain's national development.

"Red Mango appealed to me because I'm health-conscious like most people between 24 and 50. We're all concerned about calories, fat-free, and gluten-free. I thought our products would be popular and the stores would thrive right now," she says.

Her instincts were good, and Goldsmith has kept up a rapid growth rate, opening her other nine stores within three years. Her husband, Tim Gatto, is COO, and the pair closely mentor their 10 store managers.

Red Mango founder Dan Kim has described Goldsmith as an "inspiration." But her father is her biggest fan. Says Goldsmith, "He tells me how proud he is all the time."

Name: Samantha Goldsmith
Title: Founder
Company: Goldsmith Companies
No. of units: Red Mango, 10
Age: 25
Family: Husband Tim Gatto, company operations manager, and three stepchildren
Years in franchising: 3
Years in current position: 3
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Top Three Ways to Stay Sharp during the Celebratory College Countdown

As the New Year approaches, high school seniors are beginning to start the countdown for their final days as high schoolers. With each passing week, day and hour, seniors’ graduation anticipation continues to heighten as they come that much closer to fleeing off to college and independence.

This excitement often times ends up translating into poor grades and lack of motivation as seniors feel their fates are sealed, especially those who have been accepted into college. Unfortunately, what many seniors don’t know is that slacking off can ultimately ruin college plans after years of hard work as colleges have the right to rescind admissions.

In order for high school seniors to avoid the heart break that can come from contagious second semester laziness commonly referred to as “senioritis”, Tutor Doctor (http://www.tutordoctor.com/), the fastest growing “at-home” tutoring franchise worldwide, encourages seniors to power through and finish off their final year proudly, and on a positive note. After all, senior year should be used as a time to help students mature and transition to college, not as a year to slack off and regress.

“It is such a shame to see students’ hard work go to waste when they’re so close to the finish line,” said Frank Milner, President of Tutor Doctor. “We always encourage our students, especially high school seniors, to do their best to keep up momentum and motivation and to strive to be proud of their work, no matter what phase they’re at with college admissions. Unfortunately, all it takes is losing focus to potentially wind up back at square one.”

The following are three essentials provided by the Tutor Doctor team for seniors to consider in the months leading up to graduation.

Avoid senioritis

·    Set attainable goals. Write down goals you want to achieve between now and graduation. Keeping a list of your normal tasks, but phrasing them as pointed objectives, is a great way to stay motivated and on schedule.

·    Develop a strategy. On a calendar, note all school assignments and exam dates for the rest of the year, in addition to athletic competitions and practices. Motivate yourself to complete tasks and assignments by remembering that you'll have time for fun and leisure activities later.

·    Take on new activities with friends. Reflect on any new activities or clubs you've always wanted to try but were too busy, and assemble your friends to join in. It can be something as simple as taking on a new sport, getting more involved in extracurricular activities, volunteering, etc.

Study to ace the ACT and/or SAT

·         Study well in advance. While you may only need a couple of days to study for an average exam, you should carve out at least two months to study for these life-altering standardized tests.

·         Get a baseline score. Through an ACT prep book or website like ACT.org, take a practice test without studying to assess how much you need to improve to get into the school you’re interested in.

·         Set a “SMAART” goal. Set a goal that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Action-oriented, Results-oriented, and Time-phased. Determine what kind of score you’d like and outline a plan to get there.

·         Look into study options. To prepare for the ACT or SAT, there are mobile apps, books, courses, study groups, etc. that can help. For those who’d prefer one-on-one guidance and may have trouble focusing, hiring a tutor is a great step to improving your score.

·         Take practice tests. Once you’ve spent ample time studying, it’s time to evaluate your progress through practice tests. The more practice you have, the better you’ll do on test day.

For waitlisted students, stand out by joining quality extracurricular activities

·         At school – Join a new sports team, special-interest club, the school newspaper, a music group and/or school government.

·         In the community – Boost your community spirit by joining a small theater, music or art group.

·         Get a job – Apply for an interesting internship, part-time job, babysitting, etc.

·         Volunteer – This could be as simple as tutoring elementary students or helping out at your local animal shelter on the weekends.


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