About Us
leadership
Leadership Team
Paul Keiser
Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer
Paul’s entrepreneurial approach and experience blends business management skills with practical, feet-on-the-street consultative marketing and sales experience. Paul is known for his ability to assess opportunity quickly, size up complex situations and move clients to action.
Most recently Paul has taken on introducing Ziik, an EU and Nordic market leader in the Intranet software market into the US market. He excels in bringing new concepts to market.
Prior to co-founding Franchise Pipeline Solutions, he served 13 years as the managing partner of Sales Conversion Group, primarily focused on helping clients use data for strategic competitive advantage.
Paul holds Bachelor of Arts degrees from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with majors in journalism and political science.
jessica harvey
Chief Sales Officer
Jessica is a growth strategist and industry leader with more than a decade of experience guiding executives, investors, and emerging franchisors through strategic expansion and business ownership. She has worked alongside hundreds of brands, aligning growth strategy with the right candidates, systems and long-term vision.
Today, Jessica leverages her franchising expertise to support growing brands navigating the operational and communication challenges that come with scale. Together with Ziik’s international team, she is supporting U.S. franchise brands in implementing modern, mobile-first communication solutions, strengthening alignment, improving information flow and driving stronger employee engagement across growing multi-location distributed organizations.
Dugan Aylen
Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer
Dug has specialized in everything to do with franchisee recruitment for the last 25 years and has a passion for helping franchise companies find the right profile of franchise owner, as well as ensuring that potential franchisees go through the right process to ensure they also come to the right decision.
Away from franchising, Zimbabwean Dug lives with his wife and two children, Pippin and Quinn, in North Norfolk, England and loves triathlon, sailing, barefoot trail running, mountain biking and road cycling.
Derek Knaggs
Chief Technical Officer
Derek is the main IT and systems guy, but he does not fit the typical stereotype…He is extremely client-friendly, an excellent problem solver and great team player!
Whether it’s finding solutions for system integrations, setting up telephone systems, playing with hardware or software, Derek is your man!
Derek is sport mad and plays Ultimate Frisbee in the summer months since he hates the cold. His passion for golf leads to many dreams about little white balls. Derek is loyal and hates letting people down, so usually doesn’t, unless of course there is live sport on TV.
Katie Snelling
Chief Marketing Officer
Katie is the creative one! – a graphic and web designer who lives with her husband and two young children by the sea in North Norfolk, UK. Anything we get involved in that requires something looking professional, Katie will put it together…from websites and email design to social media portfolios, she does it all and more!
Katie brings a creative perspective to the business that is absolutely essential.
Getting the message out with Ziik
With around 170 restaurants all over the country and over 1,000 people working with Subway in Sweden, the franchise chain needed a bulletproof system for getting important messages out. Today, Ziik keeps everyone in the know and helps onboard new franchisees and sandwich artists. Ali Gharaee, Business Development Agent and regional operator explains why Ziik was the right flavor for Subway Sweden.
7-Eleven chooses Ziik
When Denmark’s largest franchise operation chooses a platform for internal communication and information sharing, the demands are big but pretty straightforward: It has to do the job. It has to be easy to set up. And it has to be easy to use. Time is money in retail, and patience is always running low. Tina Kjelgaard, HR Business Partner at Reitan Convenience Denmark explains why Ziik hits all the right spots.
Ziik puts improved communication and increased engagement on the menu at McDonald’s
When McDonald’s Finland needed to connect 4,500 restaurant employees more effectively, outdated top-down emails and social media workarounds weren’t cutting it.
After a successful pilot, Ziik was rolled out nationwide — replacing noticeboards and WhatsApp groups with a secure, app-based platform that employees check daily. The result? Clearer communication, stronger community feeling, and even a little friendly competition driven by shared customer feedback.
With improved engagement and easier access to information, managers and crew alike say Ziik has made work simpler — and more professional.
One Hub for a Growing Franchise Network
As Access4Lofts expanded to 70 territories across the UK, keeping processes, training videos and franchise updates in one place became a growing challenge. Emails were piling up, information was scattered, and franchisees needed instant access — without relying on laptops.
With Ziik, everything moved into one branded, app-based hub. Now instructional videos, FAQs, announcements and even “Motivational Mondays” and “Top Tip Tuesdays” live in one easy-to-access space — right on their phones.
The result? Streamlined communication, fewer emails, and a more connected, positive franchise community.