Ray Titus didn’t raise no nepo baby.
The serial entrepreneur, who founded United Franchise Group and launched numerous affiliated companies like Signarama and Fully Promoted (PPAI 240143, Gold) – PPAI 100’s No. 51 distributor – refused to let his three sons (or his three nephews) rest on their last name. If they wanted to join the family business, they wouldn’t be cosseted. They’d work their way up the ladder just like every other employee would be expected to.
Even Andrew, the youngest of the Titus boys, wasn’t spared the tough love. His first job at Fully Promoted, which he’s now the president of, was handling maintenance.
“If I had my choice,” Ray says, “I’d have given him a toothbrush and had him clean the floor in front of everybody. Each one of my children did all the work that needed to be done that nobody wanted to do. I made sure of that.”
“I’m old school,” he adds, “and know it works.”
‘Under A Microscope’
Ray made sure his kids earned their stripes just like his father, Roy Titus, had forced him to do when starting at his distributor powerhouse Minuteman Press.
“[When you’re the boss’ son], you’re under a microscope,” Ray says. “If you do it right in a family business, everybody sees what your children went through, respects it and appreciates them that much more.”
Neither Ray nor his sons considered the family business their birthright. Having played basketball throughout high school and college, Ray’s childhood dream was to play in the NBA. But entrepreneurship, specifically franchising, captivated him.
- In 1986, at just 23 years old, he founded Signarama, which specializes in signs for buildings, vehicles, outdoors and more.
- After determining that branded merchandise for Signarama franchisees was the company’s top expense, he launched Fully Promoted (initially named EmbroidMe) in 2000.
Although his kids helped in various departments while they were growing up, Ray encouraged them to pursue their own passions. Andrew, for example, aspired to be in the arts. After graduating from Samford University with a bachelor’s in business administration, he moved to New York City to pursue an acting career.
But living in “The Big Apple” isn’t cheap, so he continued with United Franchise Group, serving as regional manager. What his father intended as a backup plan instantly took over his son’s focus, as Andrew was so agog with the business that he never went on an audition. But he did become the youngest employee to win the United Franchise Group’s MVP Award in 2021 – an honor he received again in 2023.
“My goal was to have the kids work here only if they wanted to,” Ray says. “It was also to be big enough so they wouldn’t be working on top of one another. As each one came out of college, they wanted to come to the family business, and it’s worked out really well.”
Earning Respect
Andrew had just turned 26 years old when he was named president of Fully Promoted at the end of 2022.
It was a vote of confidence from the executive team, a universal acknowledgement of his abilities, enthusiasm and dedication. It was also an indication that his father’s disciplined approach to ingratiating his children into the company had paid off.
“While I’d be stupid to not acknowledge that I’m partly here because of my last name, at the same time, I can’t control that,” says Andrew, a 2024 PPAI Rising Star. “I can only control what I can: work ethic, performance and listening to the people around me.”
Despite earning the approval of his peers and mentors, Andrew cites his youth as his biggest challenge. Most of his franchisees are between the ages of 40 and 55 – seasoned pros who’ve already completed one career and expect his leadership to help guide them through their next one. To win over any doubters, he crisscrossed the country during his first six months as Fully Promoted president, visiting 70 locations to ask franchise owners what required fixing.
“My age was definitely an initial obstacle,” Andrew says. “But once people get to know me, they see the work ethic, accomplishments and that I have franchisees’ interests first. [Meeting franchisees] was an eye-opening experience that gave me a lot of great ideas to improve the brand and showed that I’m going to listen and take their call.”
Like Andrew, Ray was also a road warrior when building Signarama. He’d be gone for a month at a time, meeting prospects and landing deals. Only 25 years old, he was the oldest person in the burgeoning company, which needed some adult supervision while he was out of the office.
In a risky move that even his dad and brother questioned, Ray hired his father-in-law, J.J. Prendamano, as his general manager – a position he’d hold for a quarter century.
“I got to know him extremely well because after work I’d visit my then-girlfriend [now-wife] Andrea and J.J. would be coming home late after starting his own business,” Ray says. “We’d end up in the kitchen. Italian family, right? We broke bread and talked a lot.”
“It ended up being one of the smartest things I ever did,” he adds. “I always knew wherever I was that the office was taken care of because he was there.”
Family Values
Of course, family members are bound to butt heads.
Conflicts arose between Ray and J.J., Ray and Andrew, Andrew and his siblings, and so on. (Newlyweds Andrew and Taylor Titus, finance and HR administrator at United Franchise Group, don’t have to worry about that anytime soon.) But whenever there’s a disagreement about business, all parties involved try to contain tensions to the office.
To maintain boundaries between their professional and personal lives, Ray says the family avoids discussing issues during vacations, family events and the holidays.
As far as priorities are concerned, “family emergencies come first,” he says. “The business comes next because it pays for everything we want to do. Then, it’s other family-related things. Have there been times I’ve missed a birthday? Yes, because we’re in 80 countries and we’re traveling. You can’t do what we’ve done over the last 38 years and not miss a certain thing. We’ll still celebrate it, just on a different day.”
If Andrew created a list of pros and cons of working with his family, half of it would be blank. Although they’ve always been tight knit, he says being coworkers with his siblings and cousins has helped him earn their respect. “My brother A.J. doesn’t look at me as his youngest brother,” Andrew says. “He looks at me like a colleague who does the job effectively.”
“I love working with my family,” he continues. “We really trust each other. We can be blunter with each other than we could with another employee. We know each other’s strengths, weaknesses and what makes us tick.”
As for his relationship with his dad, who he’s enjoyed competing against in ping-pong, basketball and golf over the years, Andrew says they’ve only gotten closer since working together.
“I look back and think, man, I was a jerk to him as a teenager now that I know what he goes through on a daily basis,” Andrew laughs. “I was really adding fuel to the fire there. He’s my best friend and mentor.”
Celebrating 25 Years
Both Titus (deriving from the Latin titulus, which means “title of honor”) men believe their family is the secret sauce to Fully Promoted’s success over the past quarter century.
After all, many of their franchisees are family businesses whom they can relate to.
Robert Pouliot
Owner, Fully Promoted Raritan, NJ
“The family dynamics are certainly interesting: healthy competition, mutual respect and genuine relationships,” says Robert Pouliot, owner of Fully Promoted Raritan, NJ, a franchisee for 16 years. “We believe that the brand is stronger than ever as it continues to grow globally.”
The West Palm Beach, Florida-based distributor’s silver jubilee kicked off in March at its annual convention in Fort Worth, Texas. The three-day event attracted more than 200 attendees, including franchise owners, sales representatives, vendors and staff from United Franchise Group, for presentations, networking opportunities and an awards gala. The franchisees even surprised Ray and Andrew with an award for their years of leadership.
“We’re family-run and privately held, so we have strong relationships with our franchise owners,” Ray says. “Our family values bleed into the culture of the business. We’re willing to do whatever it takes as a family to be successful. Sometimes, we’re competing against a hired gun from another business, and they don’t really stand a chance.”
As highlighted during the convention, Fully Promoted’s growth has only accelerated under Andrew’s direction.
- In 2024, the company reported year-over-year system sales increasing over 5% in the United States.
- The firm also opened 17 new locations in the U.S. and 10 new locations globally, including its first in Darwin, the capital city of Australia’s Northern Territory.
- Fully Promoted also signed 30 domestic franchise agreements in 2024, which will result in 23 new units across the U.S., propelling the company’s national expansion.
“Our goal is to continue to add more salespeople to our business, grow sales by 15% this year and to open up another 20 locations in the U.S.,” Andrew says. “[As of April], we’re up 6.6% and launched five new locations.”
“Given some of the challenges the industry is facing,” he adds, “I’m okay with that pace right now.”
‘Lifelong Learning’
When Ray and Andrea became parents for the first time, they went to a seminar featuring evangelist Josh McDowell. Even though Ray has been in the audience for countless speakers over the past few decades, he still remembers the wisdom McDowell imparted:
“Kids spell love ‘T-I-M-E.’”
So, the couple did just that: Andrea volunteering at school and Ray coaching them in sports. That commitment hasn’t changed, as the latter meets with each of his sons (as well as his nephews) once a month for an hour to dive into a topic. He even brought Andrew to a breakfast with Chick-fil-A Chairman Dan Cathy just to pick his brain.
Ray Titus
Founder, Fully Promoted & Co-founder, United Franchise Group
“It’s about lifelong learning,” Ray says. “We’re always reading, going to seminars, looking at what’s that next idea we can bring into the business to help our franchise owners because the better they do, the better we do. Our franchise owners know that’s our mission statement.”
As you can imagine, Ray urges fellow patriarchs of family businesses to put the time and effort into training and mentoring their children. “Make sure you get them under a manager who won’t be easy on them because they’re the boss’ kid,” he says. “You want them to be tough and hard on them.”
Andrew has no qualms about his father’s philosophy. In fact, he encourages fellow second and third-generation promo pros to endure the same climb up the mountain. If there’s anything that he and his relatives have learned, you can’t be successful in the family biz if you treat it like a free ride.
“You better work twice as hard as everybody else and earn it every single day,” Andrew says. “Be the first in and the last to leave. That’s what inspires the team around you to work even harder. I can only give credit to my dad for this because that’s exactly what he does, and he’s done it for a lot longer than I have. That’s the example I have, and I try to be that same example for my team.”
Andrew Titus
President, Fully Promoted
Of course, that example was initially set by Ray’s father, whose lessons continue to be passed down the family tree. Don’t let his recent 40th anniversary milestone fool you – Ray isn’t even close to finished teaching his children.
“I didn’t dream of having all the boys in the business only for me to retire,” he says. “I dreamed of working with them, helping them and just spending time with them.”
