Jeff Helfgott’s first job was sweeping hair in a small-town barbershop. Since then, he has served as an Army officer in Iraq, worked as a McKinsey associate, and led a private equity-backed fitness company to a major exit. Now he’s back where he started, as CEO of Boardroom Salon For Men. In this episode of the Growth Diaries podcast with host Sudheer Koneru, Jeff explains why a monthly haircut membership now drives 43% of Boardroom’s revenue, and why memberships actually increase tips. He also covers how he picks franchisees for 10-year relationships, why he cut a 162-SKU retail wall down to the essentials, and why he believes responsible growth will decide which brands are still standing 20 years from now. Bonus: Sudheer has also captured lessons from 42 founders across nine countries in his upcoming book, Growth Diaries: How the Best Beauty and Wellness Brands Scale from 1 Store to 100+. The book maps the 4 phases of scaling a beauty or wellness brand, the 5 invisible constraints, and the 12 universal principles that separate the businesses that stall from the ones that keep growing. Order the book here: https://go.fame.so/growth-diaries-book.

In this episode of the Growth Diaries podcast with host Sudheer Koneru, Jeff explains why a monthly haircut membership now drives 43% of Boardroom’s revenue, and why memberships actually increase tips. He also covers how he picks franchisees for 10-year relationships, why he cut a 162-SKU retail wall down to the essentials, and why he believes responsible growth will decide which brands are still standing 20 years from now.

Bonus: Sudheer has also captured lessons from 42 founders across nine countries in his upcoming book, Growth Diaries: How the Best Beauty and Wellness Brands Scale from 1 Store to 100+. The book maps the 4 phases of scaling a beauty or wellness brand, the 5 invisible constraints, and the 12 universal principles that separate the businesses that stall from the ones that keep growing. Order the book here.

What You’ll Learn:

Why Jeff treats every growth plan as a hypothesis rather than a thesis
How a once-a-month haircut membership grew to 43% of revenue
Why splitting the payment from the visit makes members tip more
How Boardroom chooses franchisees, and why growing too fast kills more brands than growing too slowly
Why trimming retail to the 80% of products most men actually need beats offering everything
How corporate store profits fund franchise support

Jeff Helfgott is the CEO of Boardroom Salon For Men, the premium men’s grooming brand founded in 2004. He began his career in a barbershop and ran a web development business as a teenager. Jeff then served as a U.S. Army combat arms officer, including the initial deployment to Iraq in 2003. After the military, he held leadership roles at USAA and McKinsey, served as CEO of Excel Fitness through a successful private equity-backed outcome, and gained med spa experience in aesthetics. Since joining Boardroom in 2024, Jeff has relaunched the brand’s core values, built its membership program, and returned the company to franchising, with a focus on profitable growth.

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Highlights:

[00:33] From Sweeping Barbershop Floors to Building Websites
[05:09] The Common Thread: Fitness, Med Spa, and Men’s Grooming
[06:54] Why Men’s Grooming’s Moment Is Now
[07:47] How Boardroom Was Born on a 2003 Flight
[09:43] Corporate Stores, Franchising, and Private Equity
[11:54] Why Jeff Returned to Franchising
[13:32] Launching the Monthly Haircut Membership
[17:22] Why Memberships Increase Tips
[18:40] Making Membership the Business Model
[21:52] How Boardroom Picks Franchisees
[23:41] The Art and Science of Site Selection
[24:50] Value Engineering the Box for a Three-Year Payback
[26:15] Splitting Marketing Between Franchisor and Franchisee
[27:58] From 162 SKUs to the Sweet Spot
[29:51] Supporting Franchisees on Recruiting
[31:21] Responsible Growth and the Corporate Store Engine
[34:00] A Contrarian Take on AI
[37:18] Army Lessons From Jeff
[38:45] How to Step Into an Established Business
[40:34] The Memorandum of Understanding Tip
[41:48] The Champagne Tower Approach to Wellbeing
[43:47] The Companies and Books That Shaped Jeff