Catherine Monson, CEO of Propelled Brands and FASTSIGNS International, shows us that growth never ends
By Roma Ihnatowycz
By the time many people reach their late sixties, they’re either on the golf green enjoying retirement or preparing to take that leap. Not Catherine Monson, though. The 69-year-old CEO of Propelled Brands—the franchisor for FASTSIGNS International Inc.—is showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, mention retirement and get ready to hear a mouthful.
“I would be bored out of my mind!” says Monson. “Everybody’s wired differently but I love what I do. I work hard, I eat clean, and manage my body to optimize it to be the best machine it can be.”
Anyone who’s familiar with Monson needs little convincing. She’s a powerhouse in everything she does. She lifts weights three days a week (and proudly boasts of carrying 90 pounds of muscle); attends more rock concerts than most people half her age (including Metallica, Def Leppard, The Eagles, Shinedown, Bush, and the Backstreet Boys in the last year alone); and continues to build on the extraordinary success of FASTSIGNS while simultaneously growing two other acquired brands: My Salon Suite and Camp Bow Wow.
In short, nothing can slow Monson down once she sets her mind to something. “Most people describe me as a workaholic and I don’t see that as a negative,” she says. “I love what I do. I used to hear from my father that if you want to get something done, give it to the busiest person you know. There are some people who just know how to get stuff done. They just do it. They’re always working to advance the ball down the field. That’s me.”
The beginning
Since taking the helm of FASTSIGNS in 2009, Monson has grown the brand’s system-wide sales from $271 USD to over $1 billion USD, steering it through a recession and the COVID-19 pandemic in the process. The brand now has 800 locations in seven countries and is a leading global player in the signage and visual graphics industry.
With that kind of achievement under her belt, one might think that Monson’s life had been set up for success from the very start, and in some ways it was. She had a close relationship with her father, who taught her important skills in business management and ownership at a very young age when she would help out at the preschools her parents owned.
“Growing up in a family business was very, very positive,” says Monson. “I would mow the lawns and clean the toilets and the kitchen at the different schools. I had conversations with my dad about accounts payable, accounts receivable, customer service, margins, and managing people on our drives to and from the schools. It was a really great learning experience.”
“I use the Olympics as an analogy: to get the gold medal,
Catherine Monson
you’re not twice as fast as the person who got the silver,
you’re 1/100 of a second faster,”
All was not rosy at home, however. Monson’s mother battled alcohol addiction and was abusive, which led to Monson’s own struggle with depression as a young woman in her twenties. She subsequently sought out therapy, and this proved a pivotal moment in her life. “I realized I had a choice to make,” she says simply. “And the reality is that we all have that choice: Are we going to be a victim or a victor? We’re responsible for how we think and for all our actions and decisions. I chose to make decisions and take actions to build a successful life and not to be defined by or held back by my childhood.”
That healthy, positive mindset was the starting point for Monson’s successful foray into the working world. After graduating from Pepperdine University with a degree in business administration, she worked briefly for a medical instruments manufacturing firm before moving to a then-small franchisor called Sir Speedy Printing Centers.
Monson held increasingly senior positions with the company, which grew into the multi-brand franchisor Franchise Services, Inc. She eventually became the president of one of its key brands, PIP Printing and Document Services, where she increased franchisee and franchisor profits following six straight years of decline under its previous ownership.
Propelling forward
In 2009, Monson was presented with an opportunity to shift gears to a new company. She was asked to take over FASTSIGNS International after its founder and CEO retired. She readily accepted the offer, which also saw her move from her home state of California to Dallas, Texas. “I thought it was a strong, mature brand that I could take to the next level,” she says, “and together with my team, I’ve done just that.”
Given the business’ stellar growth under Monson’s leadership, some may call that an understatement. The “next level” she speaks of includes the brand’s rapid expansion, increasing center count by 60 per cent and growing into several new countries as well as evolving into a multi-brand franchisor: Propelled Brands.
Today, in addition to FASTSIGNS, Propelled Brands owns My Salon Suite (acquired in 2021) and Camp Bow Wow, which it purchased in 2024. The former is a salon suite franchise that lets beauty, health, and wellness professionals rent a secure private space for their business, and the latter is a dog daycare and boarding brand. “It was my vision to grow FASTSIGNS into a multi-brand franchise platform company, and that’s what we do today,” says Monson. “Today, rather than leading franchisees, I lead leaders who lead franchisees.”
To become a successful leader, Monson believes strongly in developing five key attributes: a positive mental attitude, goal-directed behaviour, self-motivation, ongoing learning, and, interestingly, a sense of urgency. To that last point, she says it’s all about never putting something off until tomorrow that can get done today, no matter how small or inconsequential the action may seem.
“I use the Olympics as an analogy: to get the gold medal, you’re not twice as fast as the person who got the silver, you’re 1/100 of a second faster,” says Monson, explaining that even the smallest action can differentiate someone who’s performing at their best. “At the end of every working day, when I’m ready to go home, I ask myself, ‘What is one more thing I can do?’ It might be [as simple as] walking by a team member and praising them for the great job they did or sending a franchisee a note of encouragement or congratulations for a big project they and their team had just completed. But I do something.”
Monson is also a constant learner. This allows her to embrace change, which in turn has helped her spearhead beneficial new initiatives such as introducing soft signage and environmental graphics to appeal to a wider market and bringing in AI technology to help franchisees save time and money in their day-to-day work.
These days, AI technology helps FASTSIGNS franchisees with everything from colour matching to choosing the right materials and reactivating dormant customers. “If you’d asked me about AI 10 years ago, I wouldn’t have known what you were talking about,” Monson says. “But we always look at things that are changing in different industries, and we try to put them to work to the advantage of our franchisees.”
Cultivating in Canada
As Monson continues pulling out all the tools in her arsenal to keep building Propelled Brands’ three brands, Canada figures large in the plan. My Salon Suite and Camp Bow Wow are in the early stages of entering the Canadian market, but FASTSIGNS already has 39 locations, with another six set to open this year. Monson and her team are actively looking for new franchisees across the country, and given the nature of the FASTSIGNS business, are open to various circumstances: “We have a dual approach, looking at both greenfield locations and conversions and co-brands,” Monson says.
A big selling point, Monson adds, is that FASTSIGNS is a unique concept that allows franchisees to hire external salespeople and, when appropriate, outsource manufacturing in order to grow sales volume. The business is not limited by “four walls,” she points out. There’s also a substantial advertising fund to promote the business. “This means that our Canadian franchisees have FASTSIGNS TV commercials running in Canada, as well as great search engine optimization and pay-per-click programs. We’ve optimized all our websites for AI engine optimization as well.”
With expansion forthcoming for all three brands, plus potential opportunities to add even more feathers to her cap, Monson has enough to keep her busy for a few years yet. Clearly, you won’t be seeing her spending long days out on the putting green anytime soon. You might, however, bump into her at a big-name rock concert. After all, even the most ardent workaholic needs a break now and then.
Learn more about franchising with FASTSIGNS International Inc.
