About Markarie
Franchise experience with a more focused approach.
Since 2015, Markarie has combined franchise experience, disciplined candidate research and hands-on pipeline work so brands can build stronger ownership conversations.
Why Markarie Exists
Franchise brands need more than a volume of names. They need a disciplined way to identify prospective owners whose experience, goals and resources may align with the opportunity.
Markarie supports that work through candidate research, direct outreach, early qualification and ongoing pipeline coordination. The approach is deliberate at the start so the conversations that follow have better context.
Since 2015, the model has stayed selective and relationship-led. Markarie works directly with franchise leadership and development teams, takes part in industry events and associations on an ongoing basis, and represents brands with exclusivity per vertical.
Living the Long-Short Way, not the Short-Long Way.
Founder and CEO
Shawn Goldsmith, CFE
- Board of Directors, VendTech
- CFE Past Chair
- IFA Membership Vice Chair
- Franchisee The Spice & Tea Exchange
- YPO Member
- Cornell University MBA and 10 Under 10 honoree
- Senior Advisor, Strategic Relations to U.S. Congressman Rich McCormick
Shawn earned his BS and MBA from Cornell University, where he served as a Franchise Visiting Lecturer and was recognized among Cornell's notable alumni in the Cornell MBA 10 Under 10.
Since 2008, he has been active in the International Franchise Association. He earned the Certified Franchise Executive designation, served as Chair of the CFE Executive Board and serves as Vice Chair of the Membership Committee. He also completed Georgetown University's Franchise Management Program.
Shawn brings both advisory and operating experience to Markarie. He is a multi-unit franchisee of The Spice & Tea Exchange and a member of YPO, giving him direct perspective on business ownership, growth and franchise operations.
He also serves on the Board of Directors of VendTech International. Outside work, Shawn participates in boxing and Ancient Roman research expeditions. He earned the rank of Eagle Scout and all 121 merit badges.
Chapters
Our Story
Our Story
Franchising tends to be most people’s plan B, C, and D. We’re making it most people’s plan A; this is where our story begins.
Years ago, our Founder and CEO, Shawn Goldsmith, was a product of IFA “Next Gen” as a recipient of the Don DeBolt Scholarship in Franchising at 17 years old. That experience put him in front of leaders like Steve Greenbaum and Dina Dwyer-Owens, people who became mentors, then friends, and even Board members of Markarie.
What struck him most was that every one of them had an unorthodox path. None of them planned to be in franchising. They fell into it. And yet they’d built extraordinary things.
That question kept coming back: if franchising creates this kind of success, why isn’t it anyone’s first choice? Why isn’t it taught in top-tier universities? That question became the reason Markarie exists, and eventually the reason Shawn became a Visiting Franchise Lecturer at Cornell University’s MBA Graduate School. Because if no one was going to open that door for the next generation, we would.