Angie Katsanevas, star from the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, testified on Capitol Hill Thursday in support of the American Franchise Act.
Katsanevas, who is the owner and founder of Lunatic Fringe, testified before the House Committee on Small Businesses as an expert witness for a hearing on how franchising is a pathway to entrepreneurship.
“Look, I know people hear the word ‘franchise’ and hear ‘big business,’ but that’s not true,” Katsanevas said. “Franchises are small businesses. My business is a small business, and it is the franchise model that has allowed me to grow my small business.”
Her testimony marks the first time a cast member of the Real Housewives testified before Congress. The other expert witnesses who testified were Tina Patel, Clement Troutman, and Rico Macaraeg.
Lunatic Fringe, the hair salon business she started with her husband, has locations in Utah, Idaho, and Ohio. Katsanevas operates three of them in Salt Lake City, and the six other locations are operated by franchisees.
Katsanevas urged the committee to pass the American Franchise Act because it can “protect” many businesses.
“This committee has the rare opportunity to protect my business and the businesses of fellow witnesses today,” she said. “Congress can pass the bipartisan American Franchise Act to protect the franchise business model for the next generation of new entrepreneurs.”
A few aspects in the American Franchise Act include defining franchise relationships, clarifying the “joint employer” rule, and aligning federal labor laws.
“This is perhaps the most important thing Congress can do for 830,000 franchise businesses in the United States and their 9 million employees that are the fabric of neighborhoods across America,” Katsanevas said.
The Real Housewives star, who is the daughter of a Greek immigrant, also testified in partnership with the International Franchise Association.
The association also praised the legislation, saying it’s a “landmark moment.”
“This legislation recognizes that franchisees are small businesses, and their independence must be protected by federal law,” IFA President and CEO Matt Haller said in a press release. “The American Franchise Act allows franchisors to properly support their franchisees.”
Katsanevas said the franchise model helps upward mobility and provides people with a path forward to becoming entrepreneurs.
“[The franchise model] lets people who wouldn’t otherwise start a business from scratch become entrepreneurs in their own community,” she said. “It lets people achieve the American dream of business ownership.”
“And those American dreams are worth protecting,” she said.
Katsanevas and her husband started their careers as hair stylists before opening Lunatics Fringe.
She said opening their first salon allowed them to provide a “blueprint” for future franchises, arguing they would not franchise their business unless they were certain it worked.
“We were able to provide them the blueprint to [open a salon] and they could stay within our family,” she said. “We were able to set them up for success by passing along our years of discoveries, of failures.”
“We took all the hits to get to where we needed to be today to offer them a salon that was set up for success,” Katsanevas said.
Katsanevas praised the bonus depreciation provision, saying it allowed her business to improve the salons faster than planned and reinvest that money in its employees.
She also supported the no tax on tips, arguing it allows her staff to take home more of their pay and helps with the growth of the business overall.
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Throughout her testimony, some congressional members leaned into Katsanevas’s reality TV background by mentioning moments from the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.
Katsanevas opened her testimony by saying one of her more viral comments from the show, when she gave a snappy response to another housewife: “You do french fries, I do franchise.”
