The Tint World® corporate team brings many talents to bear to support their franchise location owners. Director of Digital Technologies Sean Christianson brings a deep understanding of the technological infrastructure that keeps the franchise brand competitive and innovative.
Christianson has a diverse background in digital marketing, business automation, and software and web development — from performing quality assurance for the Madden NFL video game franchise, to owning a company that, among many other things, hosted a website for classic rock band Kansas for decades, to supporting the digital playback infrastructure used by NFL teams at the Miami Dolphins stadium.
After years of running his own business, though, Christianson came to a crossroads in his life. “I had started a family, and the amount of work and effort required to run the business was more than I wanted,” he said.
Unsure about actually giving up his business, Christianson stumbled upon a Tint World® job listing online. “It wasn’t a typical IT role,” he said. “It fit my skillset. They wanted somebody who’s strong in digital marketing and SEO, who could run a website and program, and knew a lot about business automation and software development, as well as being able to oversee and mentor front-end developers. Overall, it fit me perfectly.”
Still, there was a lot of think about before making the decision, but, in the end, he took the plunge. “It was (CEO) Charles (Bonfiglio) who sold me on coming to Tint World®,” Christianson said. “He really was somebody I could learn from and develop under as a mentor. He knows technology and can communicate intelligently about it. He has a good insight, and his work ethic is very inspiring.”
The Tint World® culture inspires Christianson. “Charles wants the franchise to succeed, he wants to see the franchisees succeed, and he wants all of us here at headquarters to succeed,” he said. “It’s a great atmosphere to be in and an encouraging culture to be a part of. That’s, ultimately, what won me over in terms of joining Tint World®. That entrepreneurial spirit is infectious and permeates through the whole franchise brand. There is a sense of ownership in every department.”
When it comes to life in IT, there is never really a typical day, but Christianson embraces the opportunities and challenges it provides. Lately, he has been concentrating on finding the right team members for his department and has been spending much of his time mentoring. In addition, he continues to be active in day-to-day development activities.
“I also actually do a fair amount of the back-end development on the website and e-commerce platform and a lot of our other software that we have been rolling out,” he said. “I do a fair amount of that myself and am a liaison with third-party development companies.
“Occasionally, franchisees have issues that they need assistance with, so we respond to them and help them along. About 30-40% of my time is usually spent working with marketing on whatever initiatives they’re rolling out, which is usually something involving email or some kind of dynamic, interactive custom feature.”
Being able to make a difference in the day-to-day lives and successes of the franchise location owners is a source of pride for Christianson. “It’s just exciting to be able to see the impact of the work you accomplish and see all of the franchise owners driving to succeed and pushing to do better,” he said.
2020 proved to be a challenging year for the Tint World® franchise brand, but it was also a year of progress and successful IT initiatives. “This past year, we made a lot of leaps and bounds in progress,” he said. “It was a blessing in disguise when we rolled out Microsoft 365 at the beginning of 2020. With COVID-19 obviously forcing a lot more remote work, having access to Microsoft Teams and those collaborative features that are involved with that platform was super helpful. I think it brought value to a lot of people.”
Looking back at his time with Tint World®, what is Christianson’s favorite experience? The annual franchise convention, he said. “It’s a whirlwind — three days of nonstop, fun work,” he said. “You get to meet the majority of all the franchisees. There are a lot of great personalities — entrepreneurial, smart, driven but down to earth and fun. They all have their own ideas and insights.”
If you would like to learn more about Tint World® franchise opportunities, download our franchise kit today!
