Meet Our Franchise
Leadership Team
Get to know Firehouse Subs’
franchise leadership team!
Our executives bring years of QSR experience to the table, and they know what it takes to build a business that can thrive anywhere in North America, as well as around the world.
Mike Hancock joined the Firehouse Subs team in April 2022. As President, Mike leads the strategic growth of Firehouse Subs, one of North America’s leading restaurant brands. Previously, Mike led the field operations and standards, technology, development, franchising, and other business functions for Firehouse Subs as COO. He comes to Firehouse from sister chain Tim Hortons®, where he was the chief operating officer since October 2018.
Mike has also held leadership positions in development and operations supporting the Burger King® U.S. business. Mike first joined Burger King as a member of the MBA program in 2013 leading the Development Analytics team. In 2016, he moved to Europe, taking on a General Manager role managing BK® markets in southern Europe, Turkey, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Mike holds an MBA from Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management.
Don Fox serves as Chairman of Firehouse Subs.. Don joined Firehouse Subs in 2003 as director of franchise compliance before moving into the COO role in 2005 and CEO in 2009. Under his leadership, the brand grew to nearly 1,300 restaurants in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, and is annually recognized as one of the best franchises in America. In 2022, for the fifth consecutive year, Firehouse Subs was named the number one brand in the restaurant industry that supports local community activities, based on recent Technomic Insight consumer data.
Don serves on various boards of influence in the business and non-profit communities, and is a respected speaker, commentator, and published author. He was named Operator of the Year by Nation’s Restaurant News in 2011, joining a long list of restaurant luminaries. Don was ranked number one on FastCasual.com’s 2013 Top 100 Movers & Shakers list, and has received the prestigious Silver Plate award from the International Food Manufacturers Association (IFMA). Through his active participation on boards, including the National Restaurant Association, Don gives back to the restaurant industry. In 2013, he received the organization’s Advocacy Leadership Award.
Passionate about traveling to baseball games with his family, Don is also a trumpet player, historian, and a published author. His most notable works are Patton’s Vanguard – The United States Army Fourth Armored Division (published in 2003) and The Final Battles of Patton’s Vanguard (2020).
Favorite Sub: Engineer®
News & Articles
Everyone knows that running your own business isn’t easy, and that includes franchise businesses.
For some franchise owners, having one location is plenty. But for others owning multiple units of the same franchise is their goal, and that is when they feel the most successful.
