Scott Zide is a seasoned entrepreneur and franchise expert with over 20 years of industry experience and a passion for building successful brands. After graduating from the University of Kansas, Zide jumped into the franchising world by teaming up with a friend to open two franchise locations with sub shop Mr. Goodcents in St. Louis. This experience ignited his passion for franchising and gave him valuable insights into owning his own business.
Zide’s success with Mr. Goodcents led him to purchase an Outdoor Lighting Perspectives (OLP) franchise location in St. Louis, which he quickly turned into a thriving business. This caught the attention of OLP founder, Tom Fenig, who invited Zide to join the corporate team as a business consultant. Zide’s role at OLP expanded rapidly, and he eventually relocated to Charlotte to oversee the day-to-day operations of the company.
In 2005, Zide co-founded Mosquito Squad, the original mosquito control company, with Boyd Huneycutt, which became another successful brand under his leadership. Zide began developing a vision for a multi-branded platform and parent company, which led to the creation of Outdoor Living Brands (OLB), including OLP, Mosquito Squad, and Archadeck Outdoor Living. The company added and incubated the Conserva Irrigation brand beginning in 2010.
Despite challenges, Zide's dedication to growing OLB never wavered. After divesting Mosquito Squad at the end of 2018, Zide focused on making OLB a management-owned company. When the pandemic hit in 2020, demand for home services skyrocketed and attracted potential investors, including Lynx Franchising, a former multi-brand franchise platform with a complementary collection of B2B essential services.
In 2021, Lynx Franchising announced their investment of Outdoor Living Brands, and appointed Zide as president. The investment in OLB was a formative element of a diversification strategy by LYNX to expand their offerings beyond commercial services into residential home services. In November 2022, LYNX Franchising and Outdoor Living Brands announced their official rebrand to form Empower Brands, a newly named umbrella company focused on championing the success of its franchise owners, and announced Zide as CEO.
Today, as the CEO of Empower Brands, encompassing JAN-PRO, Intelligent Office, FRSTeam, Archadeck Outdoor Living, Outdoor Lighting Perspectives, Conserva Irrigation, Superior Fence & Rail, Koala Insulation and Wallaby Windows, Zide continues to leverage his expertise in franchising and brand building to help others achieve their entrepreneurial dreams. His track record of success in the franchise industry is a testament to his leadership and dedication to creating interdependent relationships between franchisors and franchisees.
