DeSario Turner did not have the traditional take-this-job-and-shove-it second — no dramatic resignation, no sudden enterprise closure. In reality, she had a profitable, secure profession at Harley-Davidson, the place she held a management position managing on-line ecommerce operations throughout the U.S. and Canada. She might have comfortably stayed within the company world indefinitely.
However Turner had different plans. She needed possession, autonomy and the possibility to construct one thing significant in her hometown of Racine, Wisconsin. So, in 2023, she opened a Smoothie King franchise and hit the bottom operating. “I knew that if I needed the liberty and the life that I want, only a paycheck wasn’t sufficient for me,” she says.
Picture Credit score: DeSario Turner | Smoothie King
Bikes to blenders
Turner spent almost 18 years at Harley-Davidson, serving in varied customer-facing roles that ranged from dealership help to managing North American ecommerce. Throughout that point, she additionally explored a number of aspect hustles — from rental properties to merchandising machines — as half of a bigger imaginative and prescient for long-term monetary independence.
Turner needed to go all-in on a enterprise that aligned together with her values and supplied a product she believed in. When she found Smoothie King, the idea clicked. It mixed well being and wellness, neighborhood impression and a scalable franchise mannequin — all issues she felt keen about bringing to her hometown.
After deciding on the model, she started the franchise utility course of in late 2021 whereas nonetheless working full-time and juggled each obligations for almost two years. “That is when it actually kicked off; it was undoubtedly a busy time,” she recollects. “However I needed to make it occur.”
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File-breaking opening
Turner’s Smoothie King location in Racine shattered expectations proper out of the gate, breaking the franchise’s report for first-week gross sales when it opened in 2023. Regardless of being in a market unfamiliar with the model, her retailer generated greater than $38,000 in its opening week and shortly turned a go-to vacation spot for health-conscious locals.
Along with constructing a thriving enterprise, Turner made it a precedence to present again. She repeatedly companions with native colleges, gyms and youth packages and donates smoothies for occasions, helps fundraisers and presents healthful catering choices for student-athletes.
“She believed in herself, did the work and selected a location that gave her enterprise the perfect likelihood to thrive,” says Katherine Meariman, VP of coaching and schooling at Smoothie King. “She understood from the beginning that there is no higher technique to introduce Smoothie King to a brand new neighborhood than by way of genuine connection.”
By the top of her first 12 months, Turner’s location had already crossed $1 million in web gross sales — a milestone that positioned her retailer within the prime 50 out of greater than 1,200 areas within the system.
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Constructing for the long run
Now, Turner has an eye fixed on the long run. Her 19-year-old daughter has stepped right into a key management position on the retailer, managing day-to-day operations and studying each side of the enterprise firsthand. However this is not only a job — it is a long-term funding in her future. Turner is deliberately mentoring her daughter to sooner or later take full possession, passing down not only a enterprise however a blueprint for independence, duty and generational wealth. “Finally, that is her enterprise,” she says. “I am exhibiting her the whole lot now so she understands what it takes — as a result of it is for her future.”
And the imaginative and prescient would not cease there. With plans to broaden and a second location already within the works, Turner is simply getting began. Her recommendation to others contemplating the bounce into enterprise possession like she did is easy. “Make investments that present and vitality into your self and construct one thing for you and your loved ones sooner or later,” she says. “Go for it.”
DeSario Turner did not have the traditional take-this-job-and-shove-it second — no dramatic resignation, no sudden enterprise closure. In reality, she had a profitable, secure profession at Harley-Davidson, the place she held a management position managing on-line ecommerce operations throughout the U.S. and Canada. She might have comfortably stayed within the company world indefinitely.
However Turner had different plans. She needed possession, autonomy and the possibility to construct one thing significant in her hometown of Racine, Wisconsin. So, in 2023, she opened a Smoothie King franchise and hit the bottom operating. “I knew that if I needed the liberty and the life that I want, only a paycheck wasn’t sufficient for me,” she says.
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