Just Love Cafe Franchise Humble Beginning
At Just Love Coffee Cafe, we pride ourselves on creating fun, friendly spaces where our customers can relax and unwind however they choose — whether that’s reading a good book, writing their latest blog on their laptop, or catching up with family and friends. Just Love customers know that they’re not going to be rushed in and out, and so they stay longer — and spend more.
Just Love Coffee Cafe franchise was founded as an online coffee service to offer financial assistance to couples going through the adoption process, which can be extremely expensive. This charitable branch of the company continues to this day, having raised hundreds of thousands of dollars towards giving children a good home and helping couples fill their homes with love.
We don’t tell our cafe franchise owners what charities or causes they should support, but the right franchise owners are going to be community-minded. When you support the community, the community supports you. In Nashville, each one of our locations opens their doors to different causes, activities and events. It helps connect our brand to more people, winning new customers in the process.
The Just Love Management Team
(Decades of franchise growth experience)
Robert (Bob) Speck, President and CEO
Over 40 years of restaurant experience in nine brands (three fast casual)
- Dynamic Management – Senior Vice President and COO; over 240 restaurants across four brands, sales of $350 million
- Shoney’s Inc. – SVP of Strategic Planning and President of Shoney’s Concept.
- 1470 restaurants, four brands with revenues of $1.1 billion
- Grandy’s Inc. – President and COO; Over 200 restaurants with revenues over $220 million
- Board Member – Blue Coast Burrito, Inc.
- Serves on Boards of three (501c3) Nashville-based non profits and one (501c6) industry organization (Tennessee Hospitality Association)
Richard Wozniak, Chief Operating Officer
Over 40 years of restaurant experience in seven brands (three fast casual)
- Dynamic Management – VP Operations over 45 franchised Denny’s
- Papa John’s – Regional Director of 70 locations DFW
- Shoney’s Inc. – Regional Director of Operations over Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.
- Grandy’s Inc. – Regional Operations Director over SE from Texas to Florida
Rob Webb, Founder and CEO
Rob Webb is the founder of Just Love Coffee Franchise. In 2003 Rob left the Nashville, Tennessee music business to go into the family coffee roasting and distribution business. After five years of successfully growing the business, he dreamt the idea of Just Love Coffee.
He set up Just Love Coffee Roasters as a for-profit venture to help others defray the cost of adoption. In essence, Rob started a business dedicated to using hand-roasted coffees to help others whose passion was to… well, just love. It was a success!
In 2011 he opened the first Just Love Coffee Cafe coffee shop. Then in 2014, after developing a unique food program, he added three additional stores. Rob is the CEO of Just Love Coffee Cafe and is responsible for brand development, roasting (to ensure high quality standards in production), and R&D (new products, identifying industry trends, etc.). Rob is committed to supporting our franchisees on a daily basis. He also works on Roots of Love, our non-profit to support adoptive kids and families.
Alan Thompson, President
Alan has managed the sales and marketing for numerous investment properties. He has been an entrepreneur in the restaurant industry and successful in the development and operation of numerous ventures. Alan has 30 years of experience in developing brands through franchising.
Alan serves as the President of Just Love’s Franchise Company. In addition to offering support and guidance in all aspects of building a successful brand, he works directly with franchisees on initial franchise agreements and real estate. Overall Alan is also focused on brand growth through growing unit level economics. This is accomplished through strong relationships with the franchisee’s and various vendor partners that support our brands goals.
Kevin Bauerle, Director of Franchise Development
Kevin has been an entrepreneur, business owner, and consultant for the past 20 years. His areas of expertise span multiple sectors including restaurant, real-estate investing, franchisee development, corporate franchising, franchise sales, executive recruiting, and marketing and sales training. From 2008-2016 Kevin served as the Director of Sales for Gigi’s Franchising assisting in growing the brand from 27 locations to 115.
Kevin utilizes his franchise expertise at Just Love to support franchise development and overall business development. This includes franchise recruitment and ensuring we find the right people that match our core values. Kevin works to grow our brand through wholesale relationships and assist the marketing support team in sales building initiatives at a local level.
DJ Smith, Marketing & Creative Director
Before joining the Just Love team, DJ was managing partner and creative director for Talstone Group, a firm he founded in 2004. Having worked in the marketing and creative services sector for over 20 years, DJ serves as the brand’s Keeper of the Bean Talk (aka marketing and creative director).
On any given day, you’ll find him developing marketing strategies for our various brand segments, developing creative pieces to support online and offline promotions, working with our franchise owners and managers for local store marketing initiatives, and engaging with customers through various social media channels and in-store opportunities whenever possible.
Eric Wheeler
Since 2019, Eric has been at the forefront of franchise recruitment for Just Love Franchise Group, prioritizing the onboarding of qualified franchisees. Boasting nearly 15 years of experience in establishing strategic relationships and managing recruitment, he excels in connecting clients with the brand.
His sales and marketing expertise encompasses crafting effective strategies to enhance visibility and credibility, ranging from engaging small local markets to building partnerships with billion-dollar companies. In addition to guiding prospective franchisees during both the exploration and onboarding phases, he also supports broker relationships, assists in identifying and vetting potential vendor partnerships, and occasionally seeks out suitable locations for prospective or existing franchisees. Eric’s dedication to brand expansion is reflected in his commitment to nurturing strong partnerships and implementing impactful marketing strategies.
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