From Franchisee to CEO: Healey Mendicino on Betting on Port of Subs, Losing It All, and Coming Back Stronger
Healey Mendicino, president and CEO of Port of Subs, shares her journey from writing a check at 26 to open the brand's 100th location with virtually every dollar in her savings account, through the 2008 financial collapse that wiped out her real estate empire and left her pulling the covers over her head, to rebuilding, getting the call from founder John Larson, rejoining a brand she loved, navigating its acquisition by the founders of Remax, and now steering Port of Subs toward 500 locations nationwide including its first military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Key Insights You'll Learn:
Met Port of Subs founder John Larson at a White House conference on small business policy at 26 and turned that friendship into a franchise partnership that opened the brand's 100th location
Invested virtually every dollar she had in her savings account into the franchise, signing personally on the SBA loan and the lease with the belief she was going to make it work no matter what
Built multiple businesses simultaneously in the 2000s including commercial real estate development, a national diner franchise, and a ballroom dance franchise, only to watch them unravel in 2008 when her primary tenants were mortgage companies
The biggest lesson from the collapse was not having advisors or mentors outside her own sphere during a period of high growth when everyone around her was telling her things were great
Recovery was not a single magical moment but a slow deliberate decision to focus on what she was good at rather than what she had lost, then waiting for the right opportunity
John Larson's phone call led to setting up the real estate and construction department, then inserting herself into franchise development and company strategy within six months because she simply could not help herself
Area 15 Ventures, led by the founders of Remax, acquired Port of Subs in 2023 through a private sale structured to protect the team, franchisees, and 50-year legacy of the brand
The regional developer model requires a minimum of 10 units per territory over five years and has already signed 19 regional developers with commitments for over 300 future locations
Going slow on infrastructure and platform decisions before growth accelerates is not optional because every operational gap amplifies to the hundredth power at scale
The first Port of Subs location at a Navy base in Guantanamo Bay is set to open in summer 2026, with a third of current regional developers being veterans
Healey's Key Mentors:
John Larson, Port of Subs Founder: Gave Healey her first franchise opportunity at 26, waited for her while she rebuilt after 2008, called her back when the timing was right, and trusted her to lead the brand through its biggest transition
Dave Linegar and Adam Contos, Area 15 Ventures: Brought the franchising expertise of building Remax to 9,000 franchisees in 120 countries and the capital and long-term family office mentality that removed fundraising from Healey's plate entirely
The 2008 Financial Crisis: Forced the kind of humility, self-reflection, and systems thinking that she credits as the foundation for how she now leads organizations through complexity
Her Own Franchisee Experience: Understanding what it feels like to sign personally on a loan and open a restaurant with your last dollar gives her a lens no executive who came up only on the franchisor side can replicate
Port of Subs Long-Term Team
Don't miss this conversation about what it actually takes to rebuild after losing everything, why going slow in growth is sometimes the only way to go fast, and what it means to fuel up the men and women of the US military from a little sandwich shop that started in Reno in 1972.