He Went From Corporate America To Owning A $2.5 Million Franchise Recycling Cooking Oil: 'i Decide How I Want To Achieve Success'

If you attended nan Super Bowl this twelvemonth — aliases ate point fried anyplace successful New Orleans, for that matter — chances are it was cooked successful lipid that Filta Environmental Kitchen Solutions franchisee Trent Carlos has serviced.

"There is point we don't touch successful that city," Carlos says, "including colleges, restaurants, arenas and everything else."

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Recycling and dense cleaning

Founded successful 1996 successful nan U.K., Filta debuted successful nan U.S. successful 2002 and now has 350 franchises worldwide. The company, #213 connected Entrepreneur's 2025 Franchise 500 ranking, offers environmentally-friendly solutions for cleaning, recycling and repurposing materials successful kitchens successful nan nutrient and hospitality industry.

When Filta techs activity a restaurant, they dense cleanable nan fryers utilizing only environmentally friends materials and a proprietary filtering process that tin importantly trim nan magnitude of lipid restaurants must purchase. Additionally, cooking successful cleanable lipid enhances nan tone and texture of nan food. "I image it arsenic dialysis for cooking oil," Filta CEO Tom Dunn says. "We do nan micro-filtration of nan lipid arsenic a activity telephone incorrect of commercialized kitchens."

Carlos says his franchise recycled overmuch than 1 cardinal pounds of lipid successful 2024 — including 72,000 pounds conscionable from nan Superdome, nan tract of Super Bowl LIX. However, though recycling cooking lipid tin beryllium economical, location is simply a limit to really galore times it tin beryllium reused. Filta has a solution for that: When lipid tin nary longer beryllium utilized for cooking, nan institution recycles it to beryllium utilized arsenic biodiesel.

Related: Here's really we wished nan yearly Franchise 500 ranking — and what we learned from nan data.

No acquisition required

Many franchises require specialized backgrounds and experience, but not Filta. Carlos worked successful firm environments earlier a chance reside pinch a Filta franchisee group him connected his journey. "At nan time, I was reasoning astir making immoderate changes successful my life, and he told maine astir Filta and that I could make a bully surviving disconnected of it and personification immoderate work-life balance," he says.

Carlos purchased his Filta franchise successful 2020; he credits nan company's training programme for his seamless modulation to business owner. "I didn't personification immoderate acquisition successful nan manufacture — nothing," Carlos says. "Filta does each nan training correct successful their facility, and past they nonstop you retired pinch conception franchise owners to get immoderate further training you mightiness need."

Now, Carlos trains those caller franchisees himself.

Related: After Decades of Hard Work, This Couple Is Living nan Entrepreneurial Dream. Here's How They Achieved Generational Wealth

Marquee clients

Some big-name clients personification contributed to Carlos's franchise's monolithic financial occurrence — he topped $2.5 cardinal successful gross past year. "We don't conscionable activity restaurants," Carlos says. "We activity each nan fryers astatine nan airport, each nan restaurants and hotels nearby, nan Superdome, nan Smoothie King Center. Anything that has a room aliases a edifice — we're everywhere."

Carlos's occurrence enabled him to statesman hiring group quickly and to spell overmuch of a CEO than a hands-on worker — for many, nan entrepreneurial dream. "I can't retrieve nan past clip I cleaned a fryer," Carlos says. "Now I personification layers of group — guidance — underneath maine to support my imagination and mission. At nan aforesaid time, [it allows] maine nan elasticity to unrecorded nan life I want and personification nan work-life equilibrium that I want."

Related: These Women-Founded Franchises Surpassed a Major Milestone — Against nan Odds. Here's How They Did It.

Self-determination

When Carlos looks backmost connected his clip successful firm America, he acknowledges that though he made bully money, he ne'er genuinely knowledgeable freedom. His life often depended connected nan leader he had astatine nan clip — if his leader changed, his life could change, too. Now, he nary longer faces that uncertainty. "Today, my occurrence is wished nan infinitesimal I get retired of furnishings and touch nan ground," Carlos says. "I group nan gait for my day, and I find really I want to execute success."

Reflecting connected his occurrence pinch Filta, Carlos has immoderate connection for entrepreneurs who want to recreation successful his footsteps and investigation franchising: "Don't beryllium afraid," he says. "In nan beginning, it's going to beryllium scary, but don't comprehend to each nan group who opportunity you can't do it. And 1 day, you'll beryllium amazed astatine nan occurrence that you've had, conscionable for illustration me."

Related: Greg Flynn Owns 1,245 Restaurants and Makes $2 Billion A Year. Here's How He Did It.