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Name: Amol R. Kohli
Franchisee Title: Managing Partner, Legacy Brands International
Franchisor Title: Chairman of the Board, Brinx Holdings
No. of units as a franchisee: 63 Orange Leaf, 60 Clean Juice, 36 Red Mango, 6 Humble Donut Co., 3 Souper Salad, 1 Smoothie Factory + Kitchen
No. of units as a franchisor: 61 Friendly’s
Age: 37
Family: Wife Sharmil, a doctor, and 1 daughter, 3, and 1 son, 1
Years in franchising: 16
Years in current position: Since July 2025
At 15, Amol Kohli’s first job as a breakfast server at Friendly’s sparked a journey that few could have predicted. Two decades later, he was no longer serving breakfast; he was a multi-unit franchisee who owned 31 Friendly’s restaurants. Now, his path has led him to an even bigger role: operating the entire franchise company that owns Friendly’s and six other brands.
Kohli made headlines this summer when his investment group, Legacy Brands International, acquired Brix Holdings, a multi-brand franchising company with seven food service chains, including Friendly’s, and more than 250 locations. Following the acquisition, he continues to manage his Friendly’s franchise locations while also overseeing Brix’s restaurant operations as its chairman of the board. He plans to grow the company and is looking for additional brands to acquire.
As a teenager, Kohli dove into restaurant work, learning nearly every aspect of operations before becoming a store manager at 18. He left to study business at Drexel University but soon got a call from his former Friendly’s general manager, Jeffrey Blum, who was acquiring several locations and needed help running the back office. Kohli jumped at the chance, spending his last two years of college immersed in the business side of restaurant ownership. By the time graduation rolled around, he faced a pivotal decision.
“I graduated with high honors in finance and marketing and was going to look for a job on Wall Street,” Kohli says. “I also had three to four years of experience on the restaurant administrative side with Friendly’s. There was a fork in the road at that moment, and I pursued what I knew.”
After several years, Kohli successfully petitioned the Friendly’s board to acquire four underperforming units that were set to close. He became a first-time franchisee when he was 23 and later added five more restaurants. While many locations became successful, Kohli says the ones that failed motivated him the most.
“If not for those failures, there is no way I would be here today,” he says. “I just would have been satisfied and complacent and would have decided not to keep pushing the envelope. Early in my career, I was doing $15,000 a week in business, but I saw other operators doing $40,000 a week. I wanted to be like them. I felt I had to prove to myself that I could do more than operate stores poised for closure. It fueled me for several years to find the right time and location to add and develop new stores and explore various brands in the industry.”
The son of Indian immigrants, Kohli learned the value of hard work early in life. The same motivation that pushed him up the store ladder at Friendly’s at the outset of his career drove his desire to scale the business as a multi-unit owner. He grew his portfolio to more than 30 Friendly’s restaurants before setting his sights on Brix Holdings and its diversified pool of restaurant concepts.
Kohli believes that being able to work with many of the Brix team members before acquiring the company has helped in the transition and established a collaborative relationship. He plans on taking a strategic approach to expand the Friendly’s brand by targeting Georgia, the Carolinas, Florida, Arizona, and Texas while opening other Brix brands in growing markets nationwide.
“We plan on being a unique and world-class group that provides a potentially rewarding and comfortable lifestyle for anyone who wants to partner
with us,” Kohli says. “I will lead with a franchisee-first mindset and a long-term view that focuses on people, operations, and the guest experience. I am excited to see what the years ahead hold for us.”
First job: As a breakfast table waiter at a Friendly’s restaurant when I was 15.
Formative influences/events: Growing up in a family that valued hard work and entrepreneurship. In addition, starting in an entry-level restaurant role taught me the value of every position in the business. Earning Drexel University’s Top 40 Under 40 recognition reinforced that with focus, persistence, and metered risk-taking, big goals are achievable.
Key accomplishments: Building a multi-unit, multi-brand franchise portfolio that is focused on being an industry leader; successfully acquiring Brix Holdings and its seven national brands through Legacy Brands International; developing top-performing Friendly’s locations and expanding into new markets; and negotiating more than $50 million in landlord contributions and tenant improvement allowances and more than $100 million in leasehold monetization over the years.
Biggest current challenge: Scaling Brix’s portfolio while preserving the unique culture and guest connection that make each brand special.
Next big goal: Expand the Brix platform both organically and through complementary acquisitions with a focus on better-for-you and family-friendly brands and bring Friendly’s into the Southeast, Midwest, and Texas.
First turning point in your career: Trans-itioning from a single Friendly’s operator to a multi-brand developer and realizing I could apply operational discipline and growth strategy across diverse concepts.
Best business decision: Taking the leap to go into business and purchasing my first Friendly’s restaurant and then focusing on finding great mentors and role models as I scaled my business.
Hardest lesson learned: Rapid growth without sufficient infrastructure. Growth and control are key.
Work week: Often six to seven days with a mix of on-site visits, strategy sessions, and deal negotiations as well as significant admin time.
Exercise/workout: Regular weight training and cardio. Staying active is key to managing the demands of the role.
Best advice you ever got: “Never ask your team to do something you wouldn’t do yourself.” That came from James Yanucil, the owner of the first Friendly’s I worked at as a teen. Today, he is one of my strongest mentors and supporters in business and friendship.
What’s your passion in business? Transforming underperforming businesses into healthy, growing ones while mentoring future leaders.
How do you balance life and work? Protecting family time and integrating my children into my work life when possible so that they can see firsthand what it means to build something.
Guilty pleasure: Obviously, ice cream at Friendly’s even after 16 years.
Favorite book: Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything by Carol Loomis.
Favorite movie: “The Pursuit of Happyness.”
What do most people not know about you? I used to be an event DJ. I started while I was in high school.
Pet peeve: People who struggle with being up front with what they need and people who do not respect others’ time.
What did you want to be when you grew up? A businessman. I grew up in a middle-class family, and we always had more than sufficient means for what we needed. But I saw others who were in business and had more money, and I was drawn to that possibility.
Person you’d most like to have lunch with: President Abraham Lincoln.
Business philosophy: People and culture first, supportedby strong systems, routines, and processes.
Management method or style: Hands-on to an extent while also providing room for managers to grow and develop. Being highly collaborative, I’m in the field often, but I empower leaders to own their results.
Greatest challenge: Balancing strategic growth with operational excellence and consistency across multiple brands.
How do others describe you? Driven, disciplined, fair, and relentless in pursuing growth.
Have you ever been in a mentor-mentee relationship? What did you learn? Several. Most of my mentors are still mentoring me today. It is the most valuable resource you could ever have.
Personal and professional mentorship is critical to having a proper life balance and long-term success. Good mentors who have had the experience and longevity can be instrumental to your business success. It is important to have them from an unbiased perspective. I speak with multiple mentors weekly.
One thing you’re looking to do better: Work-life balance and delegating more to create space for long-term strategic work.
How you give your team room to innovate and experiment: Encourage pilot programs at the store level and measure success before rolling out system wide. I also want to encourage team members to come up with genuine out-of-the-box solutions and developments.
How close are you to operations? Operations are the heartbeat of any business, and I try to remain close to that side. I began in operations and still believe the guest experience starts with how the restaurant runs every day while ensuring all the direct and indirect support systems are functioning.
What are the two most important things you rely on from your franchisor? Efficient and profitable systems and innovation.
What you need from vendors: Commitment with a partnership mentality. Advisors and vendors should bring solutions, not just products, and be excellent at logistics and execution.
Have you changed your marketing strategy in response to the economy? How? Yes. We lean into value, digital, loyalty, and localized campaigns that can flex by market conditions.
How is social media affecting your business? Social media is a significant part of our business. It is another way for customers to learn about your business and also interact with your brand. It requires constant monitoring and dynamic engagement. A business with an online presence must be aware of reputation management, which is an important part of making sure your business is properly represented online. For advertising, social media allows you to reach customers in a targeted method. Digital-only marketing campaigns are effective if done properly, but generally, retailers who use digital marketing will coordinate messaging with other marketing channels to be fully effective. The drawback is that with limited dollars to invest in marketing the businesses, a brand’s voice can be splintered due to the need/desire to communicate with customers through multiple channels.
In what ways are you using technology (like AI) to manage your business? We are leveraging AI and analytics to optimize site selection, staffing, innovation, and marketing targeting.
How do you hire and fire? Hire slowly, focusing on character and capability. Part ways quickly but respectfully when alignment isn’t there.
How do you train and retain? Invest in onboarding, mentorship, and recognition programs.
How do you deal with problem employees? Address issues early with direct, constructive feedback.
Fastest way into your doghouse: By overpromising and underdelivering.
Goals over the next year: Open multiple new units across Brix brands, execute at least one strategic acquisition, and expand Friendly’s into two or three new states.
Growth meter: How do you measure your growth? Unit count, same-store sales comps, profitability, and team retention.
Vision meter: Where do you want to be in five years? 10 years? A national and international portfolio of high-performing brands that are recognized for operational excellence and strong franchisee relationships.
Do you have brands in different segments? Why/why not? Yes. Diversification mitigates risk and allows us to capture different guest occasions. But we do our best to focus on kids and family brands in the better-for-you sector.
How is the economy in your region(s) affecting you, your employees, your customers? Inflation pressures margins, but strategic pricing and value engineering help maintain competitiveness.
Are you experiencing economic growth in your market? In many markets, we are seeing economic growth. Many of our restaurants are in growing areas, and we are looking at areas to continue to grow through strategic planning and marketing.
How do changes in the economy affect the way you do business? Changes are good and bad, but unexpectedly, they generally lead to an expense for the business. The economy is very important. You have to be able to detect the change in the economy before it moves and create a plan to attempt to benefit your business during that economy or, at least, protect your business if a benefit cannot be realized during that period of time.
How do you forecast for your business? Data-driven modeling based on historical trends, market analysis, and competitive insights.
What are the best sources for capital expansion? A combination of private equity, family office, REITs, and traditional banking partners.
Experience with private equity, local banks, national banks, other institutions? Why/why not? I have worked with all the above. The experience varies greatly and generally depends on your need for the capital and the outcome of your investment to understand the varieties.
What are you doing to take care of your employees? With competitive pay and growth opportunities. We also foster a culture of respect.
How are you handling rising employee costs (payroll, minimum wage, healthcare, etc.)? Through design efficiencies, training, innovation, and technology. Innovation is critical. Being in the restaurant industry, we focus on the human experience. Great employees and culture are the apex of what we will always be. We need to incorporate technology into our operations to make the job easier, more efficient, and less stressful. We always want to put people first, putting them in the right position while eliminating waste.
What laws and regulations are affecting your business, and how are you dealing with them? Every state has different rules and regulations, such as hourly rates, and they are constantly changing. We work tirelessly to remain compliant by tracking them closely, quickly adopting SOPs, and advocating through industry groups.
How do you reward/recognize top-performing employees? With bonuses, public recognition, and growth opportunities.
What kind of exit strategy do you have in place? Build a sustainable, profitable portfolio with strategic options for transition or generational handoff.