ColorTyme and my investors took a chance on me, giving me the freedom to build relationships and make my own decisions to satisfy my customers.
Shelli Shealy, ColorTyme Franchisee

After Shelli worked her way up to management, she wanted to turn her 18 years of experience into something for herself: becoming her own boss.

A summer job not only turned into a successful career path for a Middleburg, Florida businesswoman, but also made her a pioneer in a male-dominated industry. Shelli Shealy started in the rent-to-own (RTO) business working part time to buy herself a car when she was just 15. She decided to stay with the business full time when a position opened and spent nearly 18 years with industry giant Rent-A-Center before opening her first ColorTyme store.

After Shelli worked her way up to management, she wanted to turn her 18 years of experience into something for herself: becoming her own boss. She says it has always been her dream to be a small business owner, and her family, husband Mark and two daughters, sacrificed to make her business successful. “ColorTyme and my investors took a chance on me, giving me the freedom to build relationships and make my own decisions to satisfy my customers,” says Shelli. “I realized that I can do this without all the red tape I experienced in the corporate world.”

Shelli’s new ColorTyme celebrated its grand opening in August. “Pat Sumner, ColorTyme’s Director of Franchise Development, guided me through the process, helped me find a great location and even found a broker to negotiate construction costs,” she explains. “And my husband’s experience and knowledge as a ColorTyme franchise consultant provides a wealth of information.”

Big screen TVs and computers have already proven successful for Shelli, and she’s making a difference for her customers as well. “I had a customer who relied heavily on her laptop while traveling, but the battery pack wasn’t holding its charge,” says Shelli. “I invested in an adaptor enabling her to charge the battery in the car, and it allowed her to use her laptop for longer periods of time. That type of customer service is worth the investment and goes above and beyond what our customers expect.”

ColorTyme, Inc. is the oldest franchised rent-to-own or rental purchase company in the United States with nearly 300 stores. Headquartered in Plano, Texas, ColorTyme offers customers the opportunity to own the things they want and need in a way they can afford, just as founder Willie Talley envisioned ColorTyme 27 years ago. The company got its start when Talley began selling Curtis Mathes color televisions and realized many of his customers couldn’t afford to buy a new TV in one payment. A new brand and concept was born. The company launched an aggressive franchise development plan in 2004 and is on track to grow significantly in the next five years with many of its newest locations being developed by rent-to-own professionals.