Ray Titus didn’t raise no nepo baby.

The serial entrepreneur, who founded United Franchise Group and launched numerous affiliated companies like Signarama and Fully Promoted (PPAI 240143, Gold) – PPAI 100’s No. 51 distributor – refused to let his three sons (or his three nephews) rest on their last name. If they wanted to join the family business, they wouldn’t be cosseted. They’d work their way up the ladder just like every other employee would be expected to.

Even Andrew, the youngest of the Titus boys, wasn’t spared the tough love. His first job at Fully Promoted, which he’s now the president of, was handling maintenance.

“If I had my choice,” Ray says “I’d have given him a toothbrush and had him clean the floor in front of everybody. Each one of my children did all the work that needed to be done that nobody wanted to do. I made sure of that.”

“I’m old school,” he adds “and know it works.”

Under A Microscope

Ray made sure his kids earned their stripes just like his father, Roy Titus, had forced him to do when starting at his distributor powerhouse, Minuteman Press.

“[When you’re the boss’ son], you’re under a microscope,”  Ray says.“If you do it right in a family business, everybody sees what your children went through, respects it and appreciates them that much more.”

Neither Ray nor his sons considered the family business their birthright. Having played basketball throughout high school and college, Ray’s childhood dream was to play in the NBA. But entrepreneurship, specifically franchising, captivated him.

• In 1986, at just 23 years old, he founded Signarama, which specializes in signs for buildings, vehicles, outdoors and more.
• After determining that branded merchandise for Signarama franchisees was the company’s top expense, he launched Fully Promoted (initially named EmbroidMe) in 2000.

Although his kids helped in various departments while they were growing up, Ray encouraged them to pursue their own passions. Andrew, for example, aspired to be in the arts. After graduating from Samford University with a bachelor’s in business administration, he moved to New York City to pursue an acting career.

But living in “The Big Apple” isn’t cheap, so he continued with United Franchise Group, serving as regional manager. What his father intended as a backup plan instantly took over his son’s focus, as Andrew was so agog with the business that he never went on an audition. But he did become the youngest employee to win the United Franchise Group’s MVP Award in 2021 – an honor he received again in 2023.

“My goal was to have the kids work here only if they wanted to,” Ray says. “It was also to be big enough so they wouldn’t be working on top of one another. As each one came out of college, they wanted to come to the family business, and it’s worked out really well.”

Earning Respect

Andrew had just turned 26 years old when he was named president of Fully Promoted at the end of 2022.

It was a vote of confidence from the executive team, a universal acknowledgement of his abilities, enthusiasm and dedication. It was also an indication that his father’s disciplined approach to ingratiating his children into the company had paid off.

“While I’d be stupid to not acknowledge that I’m partly here because of my last name, at the same time, I can’t control that,” says Andrew, a 2024 PPAI Rising Star.“I can only control what I can: work ethic, performance and listening to the people around me.”

Despite earning the approval of his peers and mentors, Andrew cites his youth as his biggest challenge. Most of his franchisees are between the ages of 40 and 55 – seasoned pros who’ve already completed one career and expect his leadership to help guide them through their next one. To win over any doubters, he crisscrossed the country during his first six months as Fully Promoted president, visiting 70 locations to ask franchise owners what required fixing.

“My age was definitely an initial obstacle,” Andrew says. “But once people get to know me, they see the work ethic, accomplishments and that I have franchisees’ interests first. [Meeting franchisees] was an eye-opening experience that gave me a lot of great ideas to improve the brand and showed that I’m going to listen and take their call.”

Like Andrew, Ray was also a road warrior when building Signarama. He’d be gone for a month at a time, meeting prospects and landing deals. Only 25 years old, he was the oldest person in the burgeoning company, which needed some adult supervision while he was out of the office.

In a risky move that even his dad and brother questioned, Ray hired his father-in-law, J.J. Prendamano, as his general manager – a position he’d hold for a quarter century.

“I got to know him extremely well because after work I’d visit my then-girlfriend [now-wife] Andrea and J.J. would be coming home late after starting his own business,” Ray says. “We’d end up in the kitchen. Italian family, right? We broke bread and talked a lot.”

“It ended up being one of the smartest things I ever did,” he adds. “I always knew wherever I was that the office was taken care of because he was there.”

Family Values

Of course, family members are bound to butt heads.

Conflicts arose between Ray and J.J., Ray and Andrew, Andrew and his siblings, and so on. (Newlyweds Andrew and Taylor Titus, finance and HR administrator at United Franchise Group, don’t have to worry about that anytime soon.) But whenever there’s a disagreement about business, all parties involved try to contain tensions to the office.

To maintain boundaries between their professional and personal lives, Ray says the family avoids discussing issues during vacations, family events and the holidays.

As far as priorities are concerned, “family emergencies come first,” he says. “The business comes next because it pays for everything we want to do. Then, it’s other family-related things. Have there been times I’ve missed a birthday? Yes, because we’re in 80 countries and we’re traveling. You can’t do what we’ve done over the last 38 years and not miss a certain thing. We’ll still celebrate it, just on a different day.”

If Andrew created a list of pros and cons of working with his family, half of it would be blank. Although they’ve always been tight knit, he says being coworkers with his siblings and cousins has helped him earn their respect. “My brother A.J. doesn’t look at me as his youngest brother,” Andrew says. “He looks at me like a colleague who does the job effectively.”

“I love working with my family,” he continues. “We really trust each other. We can be blunter with each other than we could with another employee. We know each other’s strengths, weaknesses and what makes us tick.”

As for his relationship with his dad, who he’s enjoyed competing against in ping-pong, basketball and golf over the years, Andrew says they’ve only gotten closer since working together.

“I look back and think, man, I was a jerk to him as a teenager now that I know what he goes through on a daily basis,”Andrew laughs. “I was really adding fuel to the fire there. He’s my best friend and mentor.”

References:
You Want It? Earn It
United Franchise Group
Signarama
Fully Promoted
No. 51 Distributor: Fully Promoted
Minuteman Press
BVM Sports
How The Titus Family Built United Franchise Group
Fully Promoted Announces Leadership Change
Meet The PPAI Rising Stars Class Of 2024
Fully Promoted Raritan, NJ
Fully Promoted Reports Sales Growth, Continued Franchise Development