Five Star Painting : Owner of the Year Dan McMillan Builds Five Star Painting in Georgia

This Five Star Painting owner profile features Dan McMillan, who opened Five Star Painting of Woodstock in Kennesaw, Georgia in 2016, and his wife Meredith, who later joined as the financial manager. The video documents how they were named the brand's Franchise Owner of the Year — including a live moment where the brand's leadership presents the award on camera. Dan walks through his decision process. He had spent his career leading enterprise sales organizations at large companies; when that ended in 2014–2015 he wanted a career change that meant ownership rather than another corporate seat. He hired an outside coach to help evaluate the fit, and one of the things that drew him to Five Star Painting specifically was that it sat inside a larger Neighborly organization with the critical mass and infrastructure he felt he needed. Meredith's joining was what unlocked the next stage. She describes a tipping point at her first owner reunion where it became clear that for the business to succeed long-term, she needed to come in full-time. Both credit the franchise model — the business plan, the call group with other new owners, the Atlanta peer network — for making the steep learning curve a survivable one. The team-building philosophy is central to the video: hiring people who can manage themselves and execute, then differentiating on how the business responds when something goes wrong rather than pretending nothing ever does. This watch page is part of the Five Star Painting (Neighborly) content series on Franchise Direct.