From one struggling franchisee to 600+ program graduates and 19,000+ YouTube subscribers, the academy celebrates a decade of solving the industry’s unaddressed business acumen gap.
ATLANTA, July 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Ten years ago, a franchisee reached out for help. His business was failing, and he couldn’t find guidance on how to save his dream. So, Aicha Bascaro — a former pizza delivery driver turned global franchise executive — decided to develop a training program for him, and the American Franchise Academy (AFA) was born. The institution is now celebrating its 10th anniversary as the only structured business management academy built exclusively for franchisees and their teams.
Join the 10-year celebrations on AFA’s YouTube channel, featuring alumni success stories and conversations about the next decade of franchise development
An immigrant from Guatemala, Aicha began her franchise story in 1987, when she took a job delivering pizzas at a Domino’s in Dallas, Texas. What followed was 35+ years of rising through the ranks of the franchise industry: crew member, manager, international consultant, director of operations, vice president, and brand president, overseeing 300+ locations across the US. That full-spectrum experience is the foundation of AFA’s inside-out approach to franchise education.
“Franchisors provide the brand and train people to operate it, but they can’t provide the business acumen. That’s where we come in, to train them on how to lead a franchise and grow,” said Aicha. “That distinction is the basis of everything we teach.”
AFA addresses the operational realities of owning and growing a business, serving every tier of the franchise organization:
- MANAGE provides business management education for single-unit franchisees and unit managers.
- LEAD is a unique district manager certification for multi-unit leadership.
- COMMAND — AFA’s flagship program — takes franchisees through the full curriculum to ensure they can successfully lead and scale their business.
To date, AFA has certified 400+ district managers, 200+ unit managers, and around 100 franchisees from franchise brands including McDonald’s, Popeyes, Dairy Queen, Subway, Dunkin’, Anytime Fitness, and many more. Aicha has also authored three Amazon bestselling books, writes a weekly franchise-focused blog, and hosts the Franchise Success Formulas podcast, which has 19,000+ subscribers on YouTube alone.
Looking ahead, AFA is developing multilingual programs to provide operators worldwide access to high-quality franchise training. Additionally, it’s accelerating its franchisor partnership strategy to help brands bring structured business education to their networks through a vetted third-party model.
“The next 10 years will be louder, wider, and in more languages. The work is just getting started.”
ABOUT THE AMERICAN FRANCHISE ACADEMY
The American Franchise Academy (AFA) is the premier independent business management academy for franchisees and their teams. Founded July 18, 2016, by Aicha Bascaro — a 2022 NRN Power List honoree, Trailblazer Award recipient, and CFE Instructor for the IFA. AFA’s programs (MANAGE, LEAD & COMMAND) have trained 700+ franchise professionals.
americanfranchiseacademy.com
SOURCE American Franchise Academy