Massage and wellness franchise Massage Heightsis under new leadership with Susan Boresow stepping up as new president and CEO.

Boresow will succeed company co-founder Shane Evans, who launched the company 17 years ago and served as president and COO for the first 12 years and CEO for the last five.

Evans will continue supporting the brand as vice-chair on Massage Heights’ board of directors.

“Susan is an established and well-respected leader in franchising, with extensive experience leading teams and executing brand growth for multiple franchise systems across the food, fitness and personal care and wellness sectors,” remarked Evans.

“Her effective leadership style and level of integrity aligned with our brand culture and her skills will only accelerate our brand in the right forward direction.”

Boresow’s experience in franchising goes all the way back to her first industry job in 1985 as a local store marketing coordinator with McDonald’s, where she oversaw 30 company restaurants in Kansas City.

She moved on to hold executive marketing roles and other positions at multiple franchise brands, including Sport Clips, Cold Stone Creamery, Pump it Up, Godfather's Pizza and Massage Envy – where she acted as CMO for five years.

Her most recent role was president of TITLE Boxing Club, where she led the company through growth periods and navigated the franchise system and team through the challenges of the pandemic.

“There’s excitement surrounding the next six months and the future of Massage Heights. As we leverage in-depth research and think tank discussions on how to best outpace, innovate and differentiate ourselves from others in the industry,” Boresow said.

“I’m grateful to be joining a franchise network filled with passionate owners who're ready for the next big step.”

With over 140 retreats in the US and Canada, Massage Heights recently revealed that its Q1 2021 results made company history with the highest membership growth ever over a quarter.

The brand also saw an increase of over 17 per cent in same-store revenue growth during Q1, compared to the same quarter in 2019.

Looking ahead, Massage Heights is set to open five new locations across Texas and California in the coming months.