Hogan McFadden, a 2022 Palm Beach Atlantic and Titus Center for Franchising alumnus, has bought his second franchise, a mental health care clinic.
McFadden is now a franchisee of Ellie Mental Health, based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He has the rights to open three centers between Stuart, Florida, and downtown West Palm Beach.
“The whole world is turning (attention) to mental health these days, so it’s a great industry,” McFadden said. “It helps the community, and it creates a better work environment for therapists.”
Ellie offers therapists private office facilities in salon-type environments. Therapists can spend more time practicing their profession and less time marketing and doing administrative duties such as filing insurance paperwork, McFadden said. “We will provide work-life balance for therapists.”
McFadden began exploring franchise opportunities with franchise coach and Titus Center Advisory Board member Rick Bisio, who sent an email blast and hosted an online presentation about Ellie. McFadden visited Ellie in Minnesota and, a few months later, signed the paperwork to acquire Ellie. His first location will open in Stuart by February 2023. He hopes to hire students and alumni of Palm Beach Atlantic’s Master of Science in mental health counseling as interns and employees.
Previously, McFadden and another Titus Center student, Micah Droescher, bought a franchise of The Patch Boys, a drywall repair company. Droescher is a rising senior studying marketing. McFadden also owns The Palm Locals, a screen printing and embroidery company, with PBA Titus Center student Chris Pappas.
McFadden views the experiences as good preparation to one day become a franchisor or franchise consultant, or to continue buying and operating brands. When he graduated from The King’s Academy, a Christian high school in West Palm Beach, he wanted to be a financial advisor and hadn’t even considered a career in franchising. Then he discovered the Titus Center in PBA’s Marshall E. Rinker Sr. School of Business and decided to earn a concentration in franchising along with his finance degree.
It “was an important decision because it opened doors to many opportunities,” McFadden said. “I’m way ahead of where I thought I could be just months out of college, and what I’ve learned about franchising is a result of what I studied with Dr. Hayes at the Titus Center.”
McFadden invested in Ellie with partners, including family and friends, Shannon and Sarah Andersen of Stuart, Florida; Tyler Potts of Stuart, Florida; and Max McKee of New York, New York.
