The Great Franchisees: Amy and Dustin Hepburn, BIGGBY® COFFEE, Cincinnati

For the past 18 years, Amy Hepburn has worked as a second-grade teacher in Milford, Ohio. Amy’s husband, Dustin, has spent most of his career in real estate, but when he was looking for a career change a few years ago, he found an opportunity that would change both their lives. Today, the Hepburns are multi-unit owners with BIGGBY COFFEE, the 260-plus-unit coffee franchise.

The Hepburns discovered BIGGBY COFFEE through a friend of theirs, also a franchisee with the brand, who posted about an upcoming ownership opportunity on Facebook. Inspired by the success they saw their friend achieve with the franchise, the Hepburns put in an inquiry. Three years later, they opened up their second BIGGBY COFFEE shop, and they are already looking towards their third.

Amy Hepburn: I am a second-grade teacher in Milford and have been for 18 years. Dustin and I grew up together. We went to elementary school and high school together and got married after college.

Dustin Hepburn: I’ve been in real estate since 2004 working on foreclosures. I operated in a hybrid franchise at the company I was at. We were really busy from 2007 to 2016, but once the market changed, there wasn’t a ton of work. I decided I wanted to get into something different and BIGGBY fell into our laps. I’ll be working on the day-to-day operations of our locations.

Dustin: We got into franchising because we aren’t creative types. If you give us the play book, we can run the play. We liked the ability to make changes that we see fit for our own community and stores as they take on a personality of their own.

Franchising has definitely been an entrepreneurial endeavor with a lot of ups and downs, but we wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Dustin: I had always entertained the idea of franchising and thought it would be interesting. BIGGBY came into our lives at the perfect time since I was going through a career change.

Dustin: I did some independent research submitting inquiries on brand websites. I was contacted by a couple of franchise coaches as well. None of the franchise systems we looked at made sense for us. They were either too expensive or were products/services that didn’t excite us like computer fix-it brands and sub shops.

It really helped that we had a relationship with Shanna and got to see her open up her own BIGGBY as a frame of reference.

Dustin: We love the product and are familiar with it. BIGGBY is a tight-knit company and the growth opportunities for us were also very attractive.

Amy: Looking ahead, we’re going to open another location in Q3 of 2021 in Hamilton, Ohio.

Dustin: Michael McFall, co-founder and co-CEO of BIGGBY COFFEE, wrote a book called “Grind” that came out a few months after our first location opened. After I read it, it became a handbook for us and got us through some difficult times. I definitely recommend franchisees read that.

Also, life’s too short to be indecisive. If you’re considering owning a franchise, go for it!

Amy: We like to go on hikes as a family with our daughter, son and dogs. We also like to stay home and watch tv and movies.