Husband Doug and I were attending a charity function here in Minneapolis a few years ago, and as all good fundraising events have, there was a…

I think all of us could use a little positive news right now, even if it means looking backwards. And our annual Franchise Times Top 200+ ranking, based on 2019 sales, is a beacon of the power of franchising: Sales at the biggest 200 brands grew by 4.5 percent over the prior year, for a total of $702.9 billion in worldwide sales. Franchise Times Restaurants Editor Nicholas Upton outlines other imposing stats in his overview article on page 24.

Everyone has a different pain threshold in the midst of a pandemic when it comes to rolling that boulder up a steep mountain day after day, thanks to what some are calling our new normal. (Last month I complained that I was tired of the overused word, “pivot,” so I hate to repeat myself so soon, but enough with the “new normal” talk,” OK?)

A colleague once told me she disliked the phrase “I'm reaching out today” in an email. I've used that phrase, what, maybe hundreds of times? But now that I know it makes her wince, I am sure not to use it when I write to her. When you start to notice a certain turn of phrase or new jargon, soon, every time someone writes it, it jumps off the screen in blazing neon lights.

At the beginning of the stay-at-home order in my home state of Minnesota, I called some of my professional network of friends, colleagues and customers just to see how they were doing.

My Franchise Times colleagues and I had to brave a Minnesota snowstorm and long airline delays to get there, but as I write this, I have just returned from the International Franchise Association's annual convention. It was a great event, and I enjoyed talking with the other attendees and learning about their businesses—as well as seeing the much-anticipated sunshine we sometimes lack at home.