Megan Glenn

Raised on a dairy farm in Texas, Paul Groshko literally crossed the ocean on his career journey after a 25-year stint with supermarket chain Safeway. Following several years in Japan where he helped develop Starbucks, anyone else might have considered retirement after a fulfilling career. Not Groshko. Now living in Chicago, he'll soon open his second Spavia location.

This article is part of an ongoing series in which Franchise Times reporters Megan Glenn and Emilee Wentland catch up with emerging brands.

The Story of Ramen starts at the beginning. The emerging experiential brand teaches customers the art of making ramen broth, cooking the noodles and customizing their dishes with various add-ins. In the end, customers taste their creations and walk away with a new skill.

Riko's Pizza is looking to break into the ever-competitive pizza segment with its tavern-style offering. For co-founder and CEO Enrico “Rico” Imbrogno, this milestone is the first of many to come.

Mike McGrory's franchise journey through multiple concepts was born from economic challenges, and now as a Pool Scouts franchisee he’s working to develop his territory in Harleysville, Pennsylvania as the

Cousins Maine Lobster operators Yunus and Thameem Shahul acquired the South Florida market for the brand across Miami, Fort Lauderdale and the Florida Keys. The Shahul brothers started franchising with

Taylor Thomas probably holds the record for earliest start to a restaurant career. His parents had a crib in one of the kitchens where a toddler Thomas watched as his parents ran their Whataburgers.

This article is part of "Where Are They Now?"—an ongoing series in which Franchise Times reporters Megan Glenn and Emilee Wentland catch up with emerging brands.

Daniel Golik was taking a year off school to study for the Medical College Admissions Test in 2012 when he came across a novel idea: nitrogen ice cream. Given his family of entrepreneurs, he decided to pitch the idea to his mother, Donna Golik.

Flexibility is essential to achieving longevity in franchising, as is the deployment of new tactics to maintain a brand’s relevance.