Co-Founder Jack Griffey's wife was a hair stylist who rented a chair in a salon suite. He quickly saw the potential to launch a creative real estate development and leasing business in the franchise industry that provides high-end retail space for beauty and wellness practitioners. In December 1997, not knowing how to develop a salon suite business, Jack and his business partner Cecil Miller conducted two separate focus groups, each consisting of 10-12 beauty professionals (i.e. hair stylists, nail technicians, facialists, etc.), all of whom worked in conventional salons. The idea was to gage their interest in the business model. Despite a consensus among the participants that such a business was a fad, Jack and Cecil proceeded with their plan. Tapping into their personal funds and securing a SBA loan, Jack and Cecil opened the first Salons By JC in 1998. They started offering a franchise opportunity in 2008 and sold their first four franchises to family and friends. We are meeting with Jack Griffey, co-founder of Salons By JC. The San Antonio-based concept has quickly become one of the nation's fastest-growing franchises in the nearly $20 billion salon suite industry.