I am Kelsey Stuart
Franchise consultant, former Bloomin' Blinds franchisor, and the guy who will be completely honest with you about whether franchise ownership is actually the right move for your life.
“He didn't show me a single franchise until he had spent two hours understanding what I actually wanted.”
Marcus T., Denver CO
Hear it from Kelsey directly
Before you book a call, here's a 3-minute conversation that might answer most of your questions.
The Short Version
I live in Whitefish, Montana. I fish, I ski, and I hang out at the local tap house after a day on the mountain. I got into franchising when I helped take a family business and turn it into a real competitor. Then we franchised it as Bloomin' Blinds and grew it to a $40 million system with over 200 locations.
After that I went the other direction and became a franchisee. Honestly, I was terrible at it. We made a lot of mistakes and we lost money.
That combination is why I can look you in the eye and tell you whether this is a good idea for you or not.
Not sure where you stand yet? Take the 2-minute readiness quiz → or see exactly how the process works.
Credentials & Background
“Roughly 7 in 10 people I work with decide not to buy a franchise.”
That's not a failure. That's the point.
How I Work
I do not pitch brands. I do not have a quota. I match real people to validated franchise models based on their actual situation: their skills, their capital, their risk tolerance, and the life they want to build.
If the fit is not there, I will tell you. If the timing is wrong, I will tell you that too. I would rather lose a deal than put someone into a franchise that does not work for them. That is not a sales line. If I make bad matches, nobody buys, and I do not get paid.
I just wanted to understand my options. I was not in a hurry. Kelsey never pushed me toward anything. He helped me put together a plan so that by the time I leave corporate, the business will already be running.
James P.
Still employed, franchise opens Q3 2026
Chicago, IL
I came in with a list of brands I'd already researched. Kelsey set the list aside and showed me something I'd never considered. Six months after that call I opened my doors. I would not have found it without him.
Tom W.
Former tech executive, franchise owner
Seattle, WA
Why I Do This from Montana
I could live anywhere and do this job. I chose Whitefish because it fits the life I have always been trying to build: one where you are accountable to your own decisions, not someone else's calendar. My entire adult career has been self-employed. Every chapter has been my own business, my own risk, my own call.
How I Get Paid (And Why Bias Matters)
Franchise consulting is free to you. If we find a fit and you buy a franchise, the franchisor pays me a referral fee out of their marketing budget. Your franchise fee is exactly the same whether you use me or go direct.
The elephant in the room: Does this make me biased? Yes, consultants are financially incentivized to make a match. But I am not incentivized to match you to any specific brand. My incentive is exclusively tied to finding a brand that fits you so perfectly that you are genuinely confident in moving forward. If it is not a phenomenal match, you walk away, and nobody makes a dime. I decline to present brands with weak financials, and I explicitly block brands from paying higher bonus commissions to push their deals.
My business model is simple: tell people the truth, lose the deals that shouldn't happen, and build a reputation where every placement succeeds. That's a much more profitable long-term strategy than selling you something you don't want.
What I Am Not
I am not a corporate recruiting firm. I am not going to send you a slide deck full of logos and ask you to pick one. I am not going to pressure you into a timeline. I am one person who knows this industry inside and out, and I treat every conversation like I am talking to a friend who is thinking about making a big life change. Because that is exactly what this is.
Want to have a real conversation?
30 minutes. No agenda. Just an honest back-and-forth about where you are and what makes sense from here.
Want to see how I work first? See the process →
Know someone who might benefit from this conversation? Here's how to send them my way →