Emily Freemond on Stage: Scaling People-First Cultures

How The Culture Agency Guides Multi-Unit Franchises

to Grow Through Intentional, Duplicable Culture

At Dallas Franchise Week, Emily Freemond, Founder & Director of The Culture Agency, opened the second day by emphasizing what she’s learned from years of helping multi-unit restaurant groups scale: culture is the ultimate growth engine. As the session’s host, Emily carefully developed the questions for her interview with Irfaan Lalani, CEO of Vibe Restaurants, ensuring they highlighted how a people-first, duplicable culture drives success. Together, they explored how Vibe’s intentional culture, from aligning teams around purpose to training core values that travel across states, has fueled rapid growth and earned a Franchise Times cover story. Emily also guided the conversation around Vibe’s Triple Wins approach, showing how culture creates success for franchisees, brands, and communities alike.

Curious how culture becomes a measurable growth strategy? Read the full blog to see how Emily and The Culture Agency guide restaurant groups like Vibe to scale with people at the center

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