Catherine Monson brings more than 40 years of franchising and leadership experience with multiple franchise brands. Monson is the CEO of Propelled Brands, a multi-brand franchisor with over 1,400 locations globally including FASTSIGNS®; SIGNWAVE® in Australia where FASTSIGNS centers operate under the SIGNWAVE brand; MY SALON Suite®; Camp Bow Wow, a leading franchise brand in the rapidly growing pet care industry with over 200 franchise locations in 40 states and Canada; and NerdsToGo®, an emerging IT services franchise brand acquired in September 2020.

Catherine Monson began as CEO of FASTSIGNS International, Inc., the leading sign and visual communications franchisor in North America, in January 2009, and in 2021, Catherine oversaw and announced the formation of Propelled Brands. Today, Propelled Brands is actively targeting industry leading franchise systems to their family of brands. With a focus on service franchises and the people behind those businesses, Propelled Brands helps each franchise confidently navigate forward based on their unique position, momentum and purpose. Propelled Brands establishes a strategic path for each brand to chart a course and offer support and guidance to every franchisee in each brand to help them ultimately arrive at maximum success.

Below are awards and accomplishments Catherine has obtained over the course of her career:

• The International Franchise Association (IFA) Hall of Fame (2024)
• The International Franchise Association (IFA) Bonny LeVine Award in recognition of her contributions to the growth of the franchising industry (2009)
• Dallas Business Journal named her a top Women Industry Leader in the Dallas Metroplex (2010)
• Catherine appeared on the Emmy Award-winning series Undercover Boss to learn new ways to advance the FASTSIGNS® brand (2012)
• Named “Innovator and Influencer” by Sign and Digital Graphics Magazine (2013)
• Received the IFA’s first Franchise Action Network “FAN of the Year” award for her advocacy work on behalf of the franchising community (2015)
• Selected as Soderstrom Society Inductee for her contributions to the printing and graphic communications industry (2016)
• 2016 Leadership Award from the Women That Soar organization

Catherine is the only person who has served as the Chair of the Board for the International Franchise Association for two terms (February 2020-February 2022). She has given keynote speeches not only for the IFA in the United States but for franchise associations in Canada, the UK, Hungary, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand. She has also been a convention keynote speaker at sign and graphics industry events and for many franchise conventions, including Wireless Zone, Mainstream Boutique, InXpress, The Learning Experience, Brain Balance, Aire- Serve and LightBridge Academy. In 2024, she was inducted into the IFA Hall of Fame.

Additionally, she serves on the Board of Directors of Brain Balance, a franchise company with a non-drug alternative for children with behavioral challenges, and on the Board of Directors of the franchisor Big Blue Swim School, one of the nation’s fastest-growing swim schools. She previously served on the Board of Directors for The Learning Experience.

Catherine is results-oriented, franchisee-focused, and motivates culture and people behind the brands, which is what makes them stand out. Catherine started with this organization, FASTSIGNS, committed to focusing on building a network with extremely high franchisee satisfaction, continual improvements in franchise profitability, and giving franchisees the training and tools they and their teams need to provide outstanding service and support to their customers, leading to high net promoter scores. Now, as Propelled Brands, she brings the same strategy, culture, and discipline to each of its brands, enriching the lives of their franchisees.