Teenager gives single mom idea to open Menchie’s Franchise in Pembroke Pines, Fla.

Sometimes, the best ideas come from unexpected places. Just ask Menchie’s franchise owner Aileen Martinez, who got the idea to open a Menchie’s from her now-19-year-old daughter Raquel.

Raquel was working at an ice cream shop, and she told her mom, “This is so easy. We should open a business like this.” Aileen, a single mother of four — Jillian, 20; Raquel; Matthew, 16; and Sara, 13 — piled the kids into the car for a field trip to a Menchie’s that had opened not far from their home. “We loved it! The atmosphere was just wonderful. So Raquel was the one that planted the seed, and we looked into it and proceeded from there … and the one that I own now is the first one we went to.”

As owner of an air-conditioning company that’s been in business since 1992, Aileen already knew what it was to be a successful entrepreneur. She loved her life in Pembroke Pines, Fla., just southwest of Fort Lauderdale, which she describes as “paradise.” There was still one thing she was missing in paradise: more time with her kids and she knew buying a frozen dessert franchise from the largest self-serve frozen yogurt franchise gave her just that.

“I love my AC business — it’s actually what helped me acquire my Menchie’s franchise, but it wasn’t something I could do with my family,” Aileen says. “This is a totally different ballgame because my kids can work there and the stress, to me, is minimal. You’ll certainly have moments that are stressful, but it’s all in how you look at it, and at Menchie’s the atmosphere encourages you to view things very positively … Menchie’s is something different and quite special.”

“It’s exciting to be a part of the Menchie’s company culture”, Aileen says, “because of the company’s involvement in its communities and with its franchisees. There’s a real emphasis on families, schools, communities that encourages people to come in. When you have the fun environment we have, they’re happy and want to return again and again.

“There is nothing you cannot like about this opportunity,” says Aileen. “Our customers are walking into a beautiful store where they are getting something that makes them feel good, and they’re happy. It’s such a fun environment. You know the old saying that if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life? That’s what it’s like to work at Menchie’s.”

In her store since January 2012, Aileen is ready to expand her Menchie’s horizons with another store soon. For people like her, with management experience, passion and a positive attitude, there’s always opportunity to grow with Menchie’s.

“We’re looking for a place to open a second store because this has been such a great experience,” says Aileen, adding that Menchie’s folks will be there to help her “every step of the way” in choosing the perfect location. “We know now what we want, so we’re not settling for anything less than that.”

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