Amanda Clark, who Papa Johns announced January 29 was leaving the company, is the new CEO of WellBiz Brands. Clark will take over the chief executive role at the beauty and wellness franchise platform company March 12, WellBiz announced February 15.
Clark, who most recently was the chief operating officer for international at Papa Johns, succeeds Jeremy Morgan as CEO of Denver-based WellBiz. Morgan is leaving after seven years at the helm of WellBiz, where he led the expansion of the platform via acquisitions such as the purchase of Drybar in 2021 and later that year the addition of Lunchbox Wax, rebranded as Radiant Waxing.
WellBiz, which also includes Amazing Lash Studio, Elements Massage and Fitness Together, has combined systemwide sales of nearly $700 million and 900 locations across its brands.
Amanda Clark will join WellBiz Brands in March as its new CEO after four years at Papa Johns.
Clark, who prior to Papa Johns was the executive vice president of restaurant experience at Taco Bell, said she is a “passionate beauty consumer who also loves the franchise business.” Earlier in her career, Clark spent nearly 12 years at Procter & Gamble, where she held a variety of brand management and marketing roles with a focus on driving growth for some of the world’s largest beauty and wellness brands.
“With the services that WellBiz provides, we are in a unique position to provide confidence to women and inspire more women to become franchise owners—something I have always wanted to do,” she said in an email. “As a CEO of a beauty company that can help more women fulfill their dreams, I couldn’t ask for a better job.”
During her time at Papa Johns, the brand added more than 700 net new units and signed its largest development deals in company history: a 100-unit agreement with multi-concept franchisee Sun Holdings and a master franchise deal with FountainVest Partners, one of Asia’s major private equity firms, to open more than 1,350 new stores across South China by 2040.
Clark, though, said it was the opportunities she had to learn from franchisees, “especially in challenging business situations,” that stand out during her tenure at the fourth-largest pizza company in the United States.
“One of my favorite times was going to India with our franchisee who will eventually open the market and conducting consumer research to really understand how Papa Johns could win vs. competition and celebrating together when we both knew we found just the right insight that could unlock growth.
“Or going to China and working with the franchisee group there to understand why our business was in decline and formulating a plan together to turn around the market,” she said. “It hasn’t always been easy, but it has been the moments where I’ve been able to stop, listen and learn together with great teams that have made the job so rewarding.”
At WellBiz, Clark said she wants to draw on her experience in marketing to help bring each brand’s story to life “while being able to keep the synergy that the WellBiz platform provides.”
“During my career I have also touched operations, development and even supply chain, and faced several issues on each, which I hope will uniquely position me to help WellBiz face any challenge with balance, decisiveness and teamwork,” she said.
Founded in 1983, WellBiz is owned by KSL Capital, which purchased it in 2015.