Founderology Forum

How Steele Smiley sold a fitness empire to bet on healthy fast food

Steele Smiley spent 15 years building a fitness empire with more than 900 U.S. franchisees and locations in more than 35 countries, sold it, and founded CRISP & GREEN in Wayzata, Minnesota. Nearly a decade later, he is back in the CEO seat; the brand stands at 53 locations, and he has been called the modern-day Ray Kroc of healthy fast casual.

September 2, 2026

Steele shared with me more than once that his answer would be controversial, and he was true to his word. He is direct, generous with what he has learned, and unwilling to pretend any of it was easy.

His own start proves it. A noncompete locked him out of fitness after incredible success. The first expert he called said restaurants take a different kind of person. He ignored the expert and opened CRISP & GREEN anyway.

Inside this episode, Steele takes you inside three decisions he had to get right:

1. The first expert he called said he would not succeed. Hear the three questions Steele answered before he rolled the dice anyway.
2. Why he handed the CEO seat to someone else, what pulled him back two years later, and his simple test for whether your business is ready for an outside CEO.
3. The decision he says "probably should have killed us" during a time when everyone else was cutting back.

Most concepts get built first and franchised later. Steele reversed the order. He designed CRISP & GREEN for franchising on day one, which meant the store had to cost less to build, the food had to cost less, and labor had to be better than anyone else's.

Every Founder hears it: What you want cannot be done. Steele heard it from his chef. He wanted high protein, low sugar, no dairy, and food people crave. The chef said no. Steele held the line. They tested over 200 recipes. About 12 made the opening menu. Steele also shares many of his hard -won lessons on menu innovation, giving up Founder control, and what really drives strong franchise growth.

If you are being told it cannot be done, listen to how Steele made it all happen!

Press play. Steele holds nothing back about the hard days and the big calls that went into building CRISP & GREEN to breakthrough!

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