How I Franchised This Opera Singer to Crumbl Cookie Franchisee — The Wildest Career Pivot You'll Ever Hear
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Mar 26, 2026 Taj Suri, former opera singer turned entrepreneur who now owns top-performing Crumbl Cookie locations and runs an entertainment agency. He recounts the wild pivot from music and hospitality into franchise ownership. Short, vivid stories cover the chaotic first months, financing and seasonality, managing two stores, hiring trustworthy managers, and a regional growth plan.
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Use Franchises To Buy Proven Playbooks
- Choose franchising when you value an established brand, systems, and peer support to reduce early risk.
- Taj picked top-performing Crumbl units in the top 150 and leaned on nearby franchise partners and training stores for playbook ideas.
Chaotic First Months With Heavy Setup Work
- Taj describes the intense first months: training in two stores, then a training-store placement, while also sorting taxes, vendors, inventory and moving across many Airbnbs.
- He moved 11 times in three months and lived out of suitcases while setting up vendor access and safe controls.
Performance Training Makes Ops Switching Easier
- Taj says conditioning from performance and hospitality helps him manage extreme context switching in operations.
- He compares pivoting tasks to musical rehearsal—repeating and adjusting tone lets him shift between counters, spreadsheets, and staff coaching.