Senior director of franchise operations Julianna Voyles reflects on a decade of leadership and growth with the brand as she helps build opportunities for franchisees and employees alike.
Julianna Voyles began working at Jeremiah’s Italian Ice in high school when the frozen dessert chain had just three locations in central Florida. Over a decade later, her career has grown in step with the brand’s rapid expansion, culminating in its recognition as a QSR Top 50 Contender in 2023.
She has steadily climbed the ranks during her tenure, advancing from senior training manager to director of training and operational growth, then director of operations, and now senior director of franchise operations.
“While I worked on my undergraduate degree at the University of Central Florida, I oversaw new store openings throughout Florida. We tapped out at 22 new corporate stores before we started franchising, and it was a great opportunity for me to grow again,” Voyles says. “I went back to school to get my MBA … and moved from new store openings to training and operations. I decided to stick with the brand and see how far I could go, and now we’re at 165 locations and counting.”
The leap from front-line worker to senior director is substantial. Voyles says the biggest challenge was learning to manage a team for the first time. She transitioned from working alongside her peers to leading them and now hiring them—crediting her success to Jeremiah’s encouraging company culture, which champions internal promotions and career development.
Today, Voyles works closely with Jeremiah’s franchisees, helping them navigate the process of bringing the brand outside of Florida for the first time. She says it can be a nerve-wracking experience, but it’s equally exciting to see operators bring their passion for Jeremiah’s across the Southeast.
“Most of our operators grew up in Florida and want to take a concept they grew up with and loved back to their new homes and families for the first time,” Voyles says. “Seeing these opportunities open up for people is so rewarding, but at the same time, these initial movements are challenging. We have a cult following here, but how can we replicate it in new demographics?”
Since launching its franchise program in 2019, Jeremiah’s has expanded its reach to Arizona and is working to fill gaps in warm, southeastern markets. Its growth strategy prioritizes suburban areas with schools, shopping centers, and family-friendly neighborhoods. The next big challenge, Voyles says, will be figuring out how to expand into different climates across the country and tackle seasonality.
As one of Jeremiah’s longest-tenured employees, Voyles embodies the brand’s “frogma,” its foundational backbone of core values. The value of being genuine serves as her guiding principle—and a key quality she looks for in potential employees and franchisees.
“I cherish franchisees who have done their homework, embody our mission, and are in love with the brand before they even arrive on discovery day,” Voyles says. “We are so blessed to work with such a vibrant group of people who bring their diverse life experiences to the table. From our corporate team down to our operators, we’re constantly challenging ourselves to evolve and be what our customers are looking for.”
Voyles says Jeremiah’s has learned to leverage and empower its young leaders, building an executive team that skews younger than those at other veteran brands in the industry. Not only does this approach save money—on the training and marketing side, for example, managers can create TikTok videos for their teams in seconds—it also taps into a passionate talent pool ready to step up, think outside the box, and bring a fresh, relatable leadership style to the forefront.
“I’m always coming back to the genuine piece. I haven’t forgotten where I started and how Jeremiah’s opened doors for me while I was still in school and didn’t know what path I was going to take,” Voyles says. “I am very mindful about my team and how my leadership affects their lives. This isn’t about managing the store to open and close every day anymore … we are rallying together to overcome problems, projects, and initiatives in a really strong way.”
Jeremiah’s continues to expand into new regions and launch new treats, including a to-go program that will be the brand’s largest product launch since its inception in 1996. Voyles says this presents a big opportunity for team members to rise to the occasion and carry the brand forward into a new era of growth.
“Often, we are someone’s first job, and we take their development seriously. We’re teaching people how to make an ice cream cone and fill out their W-2,” Voyles says. “I was a first-generation college student. Jeremiah’s has opened so many doors for me, including allowing me to give back to people, which holds a big place in my heart.”
