Vision, Purpose, Value in Business

Kevin Cushing leads the Allegra, American Speedy Printing, Insty-Prints, KKP, Speedy Printing and Zippy Prints brands as president of Alliance Franchise Brands’ Marketing and Print Division.

Alliance Franchise Brands LLC, the parent company of Allegra Network LLC and Sign and Graphics Operations LLC, is a world leader in marketing, visual and graphics communications, linking more than 600 locations in North America and the United Kingdom. The Marketing and Print Division is headquartered in Plymouth, Michigan. Franchise owners in this division offer one-stop marketing and print communications services. Its Sign and Graphics Division, headquartered in Middle River, Maryland, includes Image360, Signs By Tomorrow and Signs Now brands of sign, graphics and visual communications providers.

Cushing has owned and operated award-winning franchise locations, was inducted into Epicomm’s Soderstrom Society, and was named Print CEO of the Year in 2011 when he served as CEO of AlphaGraphics Inc.

Identifying the leaders in your organization or hiring them is important today and for the long term. As much as some of us believe we can or have to do it all ourselves, the hard truth is without a strong team, you’ve got a weakened business - even if you’re making money. Who will be your successor?

If you’re seeing telltale signs of burnout from your high achievers - exhaustion, forgetfulness, negativity and pessimism - you’re not alone. According to a study by Kronos, 95% of human resource leaders say that employee burnout is sabotaging their efforts to retain their workforce. Here are a few habits that can alleviate a slow burn.

The Winter Olympic Games open February 9, and whether you’re a super fan or casual observer of sports, the competition and the athletes’ personal stories make for some great TV watching. When it comes to setting business goals, there are a few things we can learn from the world’s best in their fields.

One of my great mentors and first “real” boss, Roger Peters, had loads of insight and common sense. During our 18 years of working together in development and operating 81 Hardee’s fast food restaurants, I took away many lessons that I have used in the 22 years since we took different paths.

Every year, I took on the duty of targeting and ultimately winning five new accounts that were “top 10 worthy.” This was not easy for me because I was not a natural salesman. I also wasn’t a big fan of being sold to, which meant I had a rough time making the hard sell to others.

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