Principal
JK McKeon
JK McKeon is an operator, founder and growth strategist with more than a decade of experience across restaurants, franchising, multi-unit operations, CPG and consumer brands. His work spans concept development, franchise infrastructure, P&L management, operating systems, leadership development, retail growth and expansion strategy. He has built brands from the ground up, helped scale restaurant concepts across multiple units and markets, and has been engaged by outside companies to design the systems and collateral required to franchise successfully.
His experience spans three distinct ways food and hospitality businesses scale: additional company-owned locations, franchising and retail distribution.
Areas of expertise
What JK solves for a business.
Restaurant & multi-unit operations
Franchise development
CPG & retail
Brand & concept development
Selected results
Measurable outcomes.
19x revenue growth delivered at a food and CPG business
20+ franchise units developed and sold
$1M+ in capital secured
17% EBITDA improvement
Multi-concept restaurant portfolio operated at the leadership level
Product distribution expanded into a national specialty grocery retailer
Operating profile
Concept, operating system, scale.
Concept → operating system → multi-unit scale → franchise or retail growth.
Operator
- Multi-unit restaurants
- P&L
- Teams
- Systems
- Leadership
- Execution
Franchise builder
- Franchise models
- Franchise infrastructure
- Franchise development
- Expansion
- Training
- Collateral
Founder
- Founder-led CPG experience
- Founder-led consumer brand experience
Advisor
- Outside franchise advisory engagement
Multi-unit hospitality
Building operating systems across multiple concepts and locations.
JK leads operational performance and scalable growth across a multi-concept restaurant portfolio, with responsibility spanning leadership development, unit economics, operating systems, training, service standards and expansion readiness.
His work focuses on turning strong individual concepts into repeatable operating models that can perform consistently across multiple locations and markets.
Franchise advisory
Building the infrastructure for franchising.
JK was engaged by an established operating concept as a franchise consultant to help transform the business into a franchise-ready model.
His work included developing the franchise structure, operating framework and collateral required to present and support the opportunity consistently as the brand prepared for expansion.
This engagement demonstrates outside advisory experience specifically focused on building franchise infrastructure.
CPG founder experience
Building a consumer brand for retail.
JK was a founder of a consumer packaged-goods brand, gaining firsthand experience building the business from early-stage product and brand development through commercialization and retail growth.
The experience extended his operating background beyond restaurants into the economics, supply chain, packaging and distribution requirements of a scalable consumer product.
Product distribution expanded into a national specialty grocery retailer.
Consumer brand founder experience
Building a consumer brand from the ground up.
JK is a founder of an emerging consumer brand, with experience spanning early-stage concept development, brand positioning, commercialization and growth strategy.
The experience provides firsthand exposure to creating a brand from zero: defining the opportunity, developing the commercial foundation and building toward a scalable business.
Speaking & industry leadership
Bringing operating experience into the room.
CJM principals bring their operating experience to leadership discussions, panels, workshops, company trainings and industry events across revenue growth, sales leadership, franchising, brand development and business operations.
Speaking & workshop inquiriesReady to franchise a proven concept, or tighten operations across multiple locations?
Schedule a Conversation