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Subway father-daughter teams a Dad's Day delight

This Sunday is a day for the patriarch of the family, but at Subway it might also be a day that dad's delight and give thanks for the precious gift of daughters who grow up to become business partners.

Subway Franchisee and Business Development Agent Ali Saifi and his daughter, Gypsy, head off to work and school in the days before Gypsy grew up and the two became business partners.  (Photo provided)

June 14, 2019 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

With the annual Day of the Dads — a.k.a. Father's Day — rapidly approaching this Sunday, Subway Public Relations Manager Kevin Kane provided some great stories about several of that QSRs' father-daughter teams, involving Subway Business Development Agent "fathers" who've ultimately partnered with their daughters to run their businesses. And in the following vignettes, each team is also a franchisee, as well. Together, the stories set the perfect tone for the day each year we honor that fellow we call "father," "dad," "pop," or in these cases, "business partner."

From a pickle-bucket perch to partner in 228 restaurants

Marty Hogan started as a franchisee with Subway in 1987, and two years later was a business development agent for the brand. Over the years,

Katie and Marty Hogan today. (Photo provided)

his daughter, Katie, always showed an interest in Subway. In fact, Hogan remembers a 4-year-old Katie standing on a pickle bucket to reach the area she needed to make her own sandwich.

"From a young student in grade school she always did her class project on Subway and her Dad's job," Marty said. "She would always want to come to the office with me and tag along to meetings and business outings whenever she could. 

"The kids ,and especially Katie, all loved the annual conventions. They were the highlight of the year for them. Some of our best memories as a family were around the conventions and being around the other kids whose parents did the same thing as theirs in different parts of the country."

When Katie graduated from DePaul University, she owned and operated eight Champaign-Urbana stores, which her father proudly said she did "a great job" with. Perhaps that's why today she and dad are partners overseeing 228 Central Illinois restaurants. 

As Marty put it, "We seem to complement each other." 

'Every parent's dream' 

In South Carolina, Ali Saifi bought his first Subway in 1981 and was soon also a business development agent, and the business was certainly soon developing inside his daughter's mind. When that youngster — by the name of Gypsy — was a mere 1-year-old, in fact, Ali shared a photo of her wearing a Subway uniform with the communications team at the brand's headquarters and they, in turn, printed it in the company newsletter, with the caption, "Employee in training!" Little did they realize how true that caption would become.

Ali and Gypsy Saifi today.  (Photo provided)

After college, Gypsy started working as a Subway field business consultant, helping the brand's franchise owners with their restaurants and brand initiatives. Soon, she had become a franchise owner, then business development agent and her father's business partner.

"It is every parent's dream to have their children join them," Ali said. "I never encouraged or pushed her. I was very pleasantly surprised to see her show interest. And today I'm most grateful to have her run the business alongside me, as I see her as a stronger version of myself."

Today, Gypsy said she finds that one of the best parts of her job is the chance it affords her to help other franchise owners. 
"We really try to create a family-type atmosphere for our franchise owners," she said. "We want them to come to us with their ideas, their concerns and their successes."

And as for working with dear ol' dad, she said she has learned why so many franchise owners have grown to "love and respect" her father. 
"They've been through ups and downs and so many experiences together," she said. "I know that by being his daughter, I have to work even harder to prove that I deserve to be in this role. "I think a lot of people worry about working with family but for us it has come naturally. We have different backgrounds and many times different views and approaches to the business, but we are focused on the same goals." 
 
 

About S.A. Whitehead

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Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.