Celebree School Franchisee Britt McKenzie Left the Corporate World To Go Into Business for Himself

McKenzie’s drive to give back to his local community inspired him to work with the early childhood education and enrichment franchise. 

Like many other franchisees, Britt McKenzie found himself looking to go into business for himself after spending a large part of his career in corporate America. With the help of a franchise broker from FranNet, McKenzie discovered Celebree School, a children’s learning center founded on a mission to Grow People Big and Small™. The brand creates a supportive, enriching community that allows children to succeed in school and beyond.

Celebree School was founded on three principles: educate, nurture and protect. The process-oriented curriculum creates a foundation for students to achieve beyond the classroom and sets them up for a lifetime of success. In a nurturing environment, children are given the tools to build confidence, feel comfortable expressing themselves and form respectful relationships with others. High-tech security and state-of-the-art closed-circuit monitoring systems give parents peace of mind that their children are in good hands at any Celebree School location. Celebree School is also one of the top 25 for-profit early childhood education providers in the U.S., and the brand’s locations generate an Average Gross Revenue of $1,412,153. 

From both a personal and a business perspective, Celebree School stood out to McKenzie. “Initially I wasn’t looking to get into the education space at all,” said McKenzie, “but the great thing about FranNet is that they provided several options that could work for me based on a personality test.”

As a father of two daughters—Margaux, age 15, and Caroline, age 13—Mckenzie and his wife Sheri understand the importance of a good education. Not only that, but McKenzie’s desire to spend even more time with his family led him to look into franchising. “While there are many things that were fantastic for us about my job in the corporate world, we had our frustrations as well,” said McKenzie, who often had very little time to do anything outside of work. 

About two years ago, Sheri took the leap into franchising and purchased a Pure Barre Fitness studio. McKenzie also watched a former colleague leave the corporate world to pursue franchising through FranNet. After seeing the people around him succeed, McKenzie felt it was the right time for him to explore a career in franchising himself. 

One of his biggest priorities, when it came to business ownership, was a desire to be more involved with his local community. Since leaving his corporate job, McKenzie has begun volunteering with the Special Olympics, something he hopes to continue doing in partnership with Celebree School. “In my former job I did a lot of community work, but none of it was local,” said McKenzie. “I wanted to have that in the community where I live.”

When McKenzie was first introduced to the Celebree team, he was very taken by their enthusiasm for the concept. “You just want to be around these people. There is so much passion and dedication behind what they do that makes you want to be a part of it,” McKenzie said. 

The feeling of respect and admiration is mutual. “Britt has a strong understanding of our company’s dedication to students, families and the communities we serve,” said Richard Huffman, founder and CEO of Celebree. “He plans on being incredibly hands-on as his school gets up and running and we look forward to seeing him realize his potential as a business owner.”