From Mastercard to Main Street: Elina Greenstein's Leap Into Franchising

She spent nearly a decade negotiating global fintech deals at Mastercard — then walked away from the corner office to run a managed IT franchise out of Bergen County, NJ. No tech background, no industry experience, just a bet on herself. In this episode, Elina Greenstein gets real about what it actually looks like to trade a corporate paycheck for franchise ownership: the skills that translated (and the ones that didn't), the mistake she made in year one that she wishes someone had warned her about, and why she thinks recession-resilient industries like managed IT deserve a second look from anyone who's watched risk and compliance eat their industry alive from the inside. If you've ever sat in a meeting wondering if there's more out there for you — this is the episode that answers that question honestly, highs and lows included.