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09 May 2013

Tim Shepelak, Cincinnati’s Growth Coach, celebrates 10-year anniversary and expansion

Ten years ago, Tim Shepelak was courageous enough to escape corporate America and open the very first Growth Coach franchise in the country, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Although the proven coaching and marketing systems had been successfully working for founder Dan Murphy for the previous decade, Shepelak took a chance on the opportunity that those same processes and methods would work for him as well.

“I knew Dan professionally and he was in the process of deciding how best to take his business coaching company nation-wide, including franchising. Dan ended up partnering with a proven franchising veteran, Gary Green. United, those two made a powerful combination. Once I looked at the content and value of their group coaching workshops and marketing systems, I knew they had something very special. Opening the first franchise seemed like a natural fit for me,” Shepelak said.

Now, ten years later, Shepelak is excited to be celebrating the 10-year milestone anniversary of his successful coaching business, as well as a decade of positively impacting the Greater Cincinnati business community, working for himself, and having a flexible schedule and fulfilling lifestyle.

“I think my success over the last decade comes down to the essence of what we do – helping people make mindset and behavioral changes to better themselves, their businesses and their lives in general,” he said. “While building any business is challenging, it’s been a fun and enriching journey for me, my family, and my many clients.”

Shepelak, Coach of the Year in 2008, was also the first franchise owner to be inducted into The Growth Coach Hall of Fame, which required 10 years as a Growth Coach owner, a track record of significant financial success, and a history of giving back to the franchise community.

Dan Murphy, founder and now CEO of The Growth Coach Franchise, started coaching small business owners in 1992 with the mission of helping them gain more success, personal balance and free time. He awarded the first franchise to Shepelak in early 2003 to make coaching more available to more clients.

“When you help a business owner or leader improve, all of the employees and their families are better off, and so are their suppliers, customers and the entire community … the positive ripple effect of business coaching is extensive and extremely satisfying,” Murphy said. “I was certain Tim would embrace that mission fully and successfully help spread our impact throughout Greater Cincinnati and beyond.”

The Growth Coach is now in more than 140 North American and international markets and continues to be the only franchise focused on pure business and sales coaching with the sole purpose of helping drive success while balancing the lives of business owners, leaders, managers and sales teams through group workshops and one-to-one coaching. This year, Entrepreneur Magazine ranked The Growth Coach as the #1 franchise for business coaching and consulting in their Best-of-the-Best edition.

Before becoming a Growth Coach, Shepelak worked for P&G, Burke Market Research and, most recently, as a Divisional Chief Executive Officer with Halma p.l.c. In addition to his everyday coaching and networking role, Shepelak is a frequent speaker for business owner/CEO groups, annual meetings and company retreats. He also helps the franchise system with high-end training, mentoring and boot camps.

“My clients benefit from my passion, professional experience, relationships, and The Growth Coach’s proven processes. Their progress leads to further opportunities that keep my business growing, diverse, and interesting,” Shepelak said.

“The key to my business is understanding my clients and the diverse markets in which I coach, and bringing extreme value to their table by leveraging my resources for their benefit. Additionally, the processes of coaching, selling, and marketing in diverse markets continually renew and develop me and my relationships, making me a renewable, expanding resource for my clients,” he said.

As he celebrates his 10-year anniversary as a business owner, Shepelak also is excited to celebrate that he’s expanded his franchise territory for the fifth time and now covers almost all of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. He said that expansion was a strategic decision from the beginning.

“I’m looking forward to serving additional clients in my expanded territory. This expansion was always a part of my long-term plan and I’m happy to have achieved such incredible growth and goals,” he said.

Looking back on the decade, Murphy said, “I’m thrilled I decided to franchise and that the person who was the brave pioneer was Tim Shepelak. He has incredible passion, curiosity, and a desire to serve and help others. I could not be more proud of Tim. He is living the dream through the vehicle of his coaching franchise. His hundreds of clients are better off and so are their families and communities. Tim’s positive impact in Greater Cincinnati and throughout our franchise system has been immense. I was so blessed to have him be the rock on which to build this solid and expanding franchise system. The ten years has been a great journey and I could not think of a better person to share the ride with than this franchise owner, partner, collaborator, and now dear friend. He’s been a generous Go-Giver and has helped countless others within our franchise system in so many ways.”

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