Dave Keil is President and Chief Operating Officer of Franworth, a growth equity firm that partners with and accelerates the growth of emerging brands.  Franworth brings over 450 years of franchising experience to its partnership with The Lash Lounge, City Row, Madison Reed, skoah, Title Boxing and several affiliate brands.  A four-time franchise CEO, Keil most recently led The Lash Lounge, a Franworth brand and growing franchise system offering semi-permanent eyelash extensions, in locally-owned, luxurious salons.  Keil led the organization through a national expansion, from 19 units to more than 107 units open today. 

Prior to Franworth, Keil was CEO of Pure Barre, the largest barre fitness franchise in the nation. With more than 520 studios, and growing, Pure Barre is a total body workout that utilizes the ballet barre to perform small, isometric movements which burn fat, sculpt muscles and create long, lean physiques. Pure Barre creates a sense of community, in which clients are inspired and empowered by each others’ fitness and lifestyle goals. 

Prior to Pure Barre, Keil served as the inaugural Chairman and CEO for The Honey Baked Ham Company LLC, bringing the HoneyBaked brand and business together after 59 years of running as several separate entities. HoneyBaked is a premium food retailer with 1,500 associates serving customers in more than 650 retail locations in 40 states across the U.S., Japan and via eCommerce channels.

Prior to joining HoneyBaked, Keil was on the global management team of Ecolab and led the integration for their $8B Nalco merger. Keil’s previous Ecolab roles included general manager for Healthcare’s North American Sector, vice president of Corporate Development and leading the global Program Management Office responsible for the company’s continuous improvement initiatives. 

Prior to joining Ecolab, Keil was at General Mills as president of The Häagen-Dazs Shoppe Company and director of Corporate Development. Previously, he was general manager of the Häagen‑Dazs brand in North America for Pillsbury, and worked in several finance roles. His background also includes 10 years at Frito‑Lay in a variety of operations, sales and finance roles.

Keil received a bachelor’s degree in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan, and a MBA from the University of Kansas. Keil shares leadership insights via lessonsonpurpose.com, founded the non-profit company Franchise For Good, and was recognized by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal as one of the “Top 40 Under 40” leaders in the Twin Cities.

Guest appearances by Dave Keil: