
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.
Hear it from Kelsey directly
Before you book a call, here's a 3-minute conversation that might answer most of your questions.
Read the transcript
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 you walk away than buy a franchise that does not work for you.
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
Franchise consulting is free to you. If you buy a franchise, the franchisor pays me on that placement. What you pay the franchisor does not change if you go to the brand directly.
Some advisors charge the candidate a fee for their time instead. That is a different arrangement. I do not charge you.
Ask any advisor who pays them, and whether they will tell you when a concept is a poor fit. I will.
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.
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