Franchise Consulting Firm
Corporate Bios

• Mario Altiery

  President/Founder

  Mario J. Altiery, CFE, Founder and President of Upside Group Franchise Consulting, began his franchising career with a large franchise conglomerate in 1995.  Working in all aspects of franchising, Mario progressed through the ranks, and in 1997 he was promoted to Vice President.

  It was as Vice President that Mario pioneered new sales and marketing processes, creating a number of landmark programs including a nationally implemented franchise resale program, institutionalized royalty maximization training seminars and international expansion.  Also during this time, Mario authored an industry recognized Head Start program designed to jump start revenue for new business owners.

  In 2000, Mario founded Upside Group Franchise Consulting, a full service, boutique franchise consultancy.  Upside Group provides franchisors with comprehensive solutions including marketing, sales, development, day-to-day operations, strategic planning and crisis control.

  As a previous owner of multiple franchises and President of a successful franchise system, Mario has helped many franchisors develop their systems in numerous industries.  Mario is a published author and has been sought after as a guest speaker for various organizations including the International Franchise Association (IFA) and NOVA University, among others.  Recently, Mario served as co-author of the Continued Legal Education (CLE) paper, 'Use of Consultants and Paralegals in Franchising: Are you Aiding and Abetting the Unauthorized Practice of Law?' which he presented at the 2011 American Bar Association’s (ABA) Forum on Franchising.

  Mario’s company, Upside Group, co-founded the acclaimed Franchising for Athletes Seminar Series.  In addition, Upside Group was recently honored with three Davey Design awards for marketing and advertising through a nation-wide competition of 4,000 entries.

  Mario has set up franchise systems throughout the United States, Australia, Europe, and the Middle East.  Mario often lectures on the art of the sale as well as franchise operations, franchisee relations and strategic planning.

  Mario is a Member of the IFA and an Associate Member of the ABA.  He has been honored as one of "Arizona's Finest" by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and serves as a steering committee member for Lift Up America, an empowerment charity group designed with the goal of stamping out hunger domestically.

• Elizabeth Moreno

  Director of Sales Support

  Elizabeth has been with Upside Group since 2003 and in the franchising industry since 1993.  Through her career she has had a number of roles in franchising. Her beginnings were right out of college and into marketing support.  She has lead multiple national and international franchise trade shows always being an important part to each shows success. Her Sales experience turned her in the direction of franchise Regional Manager for the Northwest where she moved to for a few years and raised the region to a successful level. Then she moved to the UK to do the same for that region.  She has managed profit and loss operations, negotiated leases, coordinated construction of new franchise sites, and multi-franchise cooperative marketing.  She has also been an important part to assisting franchise organizations effectively penetrate global markets. Has traveled to more than 12 countries in an effort to setup master licenses.  These are a few of the strengths Elizabeth offers to Upside Group’s domestic and international franchise clients.  Her array of strengths undoubtedly keeps our Sales Department at a great standard.

• Larry A. Schwartz

  Senior Consultant

  Upside Group Senior Consultant Larry Schwartz has more than 20 years of corporate and business development experience and has held executive-level positions in the ancillary healthcare and franchise industries. During that time, he has been instrumental in developing and managing new business ventures and has spearheaded the growth of several start-up, early and middle stage companies.

  Larry began his career in franchising as a Master Developer for a multi-brand organization in Southern California. Shortly after, he was asked to help lead the company’s National franchise development efforts as well as assist in the launch of a new high-profile brand. In that capacity, Larry was responsible for developing, implementing and executing a National rollout strategy with emphasis on sales and marketing, resale transactions, contract negotiation and real estate procurement. He also served as regional Vice President for a multi-brand International franchise company where he was responsible for the development of several brands in the Southwestern US.

  Since joining Upside Group Larry has worked closely with several start up, early stage and established franchise organizations in the areas of system development, operations, sales and marketing. He is also active within the industry having served as both a presenter and committee member for the International Franchise Association as well as a participant in industry-related policy and public affairs.

• Heidi Bohi

  Creative Director

  As the Creative Director Heidi is an asset to the Upside Group Franchise Consulting firm and has won more than 50 state and national awards recognizing excellence in television and video production, soundtrack and radio production, branding, print and collateral development, and public relations, including: 10 Public Relations Society of America Awards (PRSA), seven advertising Telly Awards, and more than 30 Advertising Federation of America Awards. The signature stamp of her campaigns is that they are results-oriented and measurably promote franchises for some of the most established brands in some of the largest industry sectors.

  Heidi’s portfolio includes examples of work that prove her abilities to develop and implement strategies that are outstanding examples of concept, messaging, and effectiveness in promoting institutional programs, community relations, public affairs, marketing communications and long-term issues management. Additionally, Heidi writes for Operation Franchise Magazine and is regularly featured in other industry publications on franchise consulting and other franchise-related topics.

• Nicole Petrossi

  Marketing and
  Client Projects Liaison

  Nicole Petrossi serves as Upside Group’s Marketing and Client Projects Liaison, with project management responsibilities. A California native, with dual business degrees from Cal State Long Beach, Nicole has high-level, administrative experience across multiple industries. Nicole is a published author, with multiple published works in the healthcare industry, which display her advanced writing and editing skills.  Under her marketing role, Nicole coordinates community outreach and manages USG’s online presence, including; USG Website, Blog, Social Media sites, USG Monthly Newsletter, PR and Email Marketing.  Under the project management role, Nicole succeeds in planning, executing and finalizing client projects, while developing best practices and tools for project execution and management.  In addition, Nicole supervises USG’s support staff, developing top-of-the-line franchise manuals, and development and design of franchise sales and marketing materials.  Nicole has taken a vital role in the development of multiple company-wide initiatives, promoting and supporting the growth of USG in the future.

• Mar-Lyn Vitale

  Executive Administrator

  Mar-Lyn Vitale serves as Executive Administrator and brings almost 20 years’ experience in administration and office management to Upside Group Franchise Consulting.  Mar-Lyn comes to us from the east coast where, most recently, she held the position of Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer of a global, public institutional brokerage at their Times Square headquarters in New York.  Prior to supporting the CEO, Mar-Lyn held roles supporting their General Counsel and Executive Vice President of Global Marketing & Communications.

  Mar-Lyn has direct corporate experience working in Executive Management, Legal & Compliance, Human Resources, Treasury, Marketing & Communications and Information Technology throughout various industries. In addition, Mar-Lyn spent several years serving as Office Manager of a privately owned service business.  She understands the nuances of small business verses corporate America and brings to Upside Group a unique skill set born of both environments.

  Mar-Lyn’s current responsibilities include administration of our client SharePoint intranet, SharePoint training, facilitating client communications and orientation, event planning and coordination and management of vertical company communication systems. Mar-Lyn works closely with all members of the Upside Group Franchise Consulting firm and our clients and vendors to ensure office support operations run smoothly.

• Deena Bogan

  Technical and Creative Writer

  Deena Bogan is a vital member of Upside Group’s franchise manual writers’ team.  Drawing on her 20+ years as a Technical and Creative Writer in various industries, Deena applies her writing talent, experience and expertise to creating customized manuals for USG’s clients. She also serves as a productive, dependable and innovative resource for many of USG’s internal documentation projects. Deena specializes in creating documentation that is clear, concise and user-friendly.  Her writing credits also include published general interest articles, and client-specific SEO articles and press releases.

• Mike Grace

  SEO Developer

  As Upside Group’s SEO developer, Mike is responsible for modifying or building client web sites according to search engine optimization standards, and through franchise consulting he develops website marketing plans that increase traffic to client sites.

• Chad Grant

  Design and Information Technology

  At Upside Group Franchise Consulting, Chad Grant serves as a creative design and information technology specialist. Under this role Chad develops marketing materials, websites, and maintains the Upside Group Franchise Consulting firm website, intranet and computer-based infrastructure. He has worked in the information technology field for over ten years serving in a variety of creative and technical roles.