Kris Arnheim spent her whole career in hospitality sales, working with prestigious companies such as Hyatt Hotels and Starwood Hotels and Resorts. After having children, she started looking for a job that offered more flexibility. By Kelsi Trinidad
LOW-COST BRANDS
Kris Arnheim spent her whole career in hospitality sales, working with prestigious companies such as Hyatt Hotels and Starwood Hotels and Resorts. After having children, she started looking for a job that offered more flexibility.
In her search, she began exploring franchising, realizing that owning a franchise was much more attainable than she had previously thought. She and her husband started working with a franchise broker and stumbled upon Schooley Mitchell’s cost-reduction consulting franchise opportunity.
Arnheim was looking for two key factors: no requirement for a brick-and-mortar location and the flexibility to work remotely in case they needed to move for her husband’s full-time job. With a fully remote office and no constrained territories, Schooley Mitchell presented the Arnheims with the perfect opportunity for their next chapter in life. One aspect of Schooley Mitchell that caught Arnheim’s eye was its boundless growth potential.
“We just felt like the potential is off the charts,” explained Arnheim. “We bought this during COVID, so we were kind of like, ‘Wait a minute, everybody is looking to save money now, right?’ It truly is a no-brainer model of business, and I hate to say that, because so many people are like, ‘What’s the catch?’ But we realized very quickly that there’s no catch – it is what it is. It’s a cost-free audit to make sure your business is paying the best rates, and if you’re not, then we do our best to reduce those rates for you.”
While Arnheim didn’t have a background in this industry, she knew her experience in account management and building relationships would translate to the skills needed to be successful as a franchisee. Arnheim opened her franchise in July 2020 in Western Springs, Illinois, and has since grown her client list to include businesses from all over the country.
“I love the team,” said Arnheim. “I just kind of figured it would be like my friends that have owned franchises, and they get their stuff, do their training and then they’re kind of off on their own. It’s a very different business model at Schooley Mitchell. I’m part of a team again, and there really is so much camaraderie that comes with it.”
Kelsi Trinidad