Why Premium Service Brand's VP of Learning Deb Jewell Decided to Launch Her Own Kitchen Wise in Virginia

Although Deb Jewell only recently franchised with Kitchen Wise — the fast-growing kitchen, pantry, closet and bathroom organization home service franchise backed by multi-brand franchisor Premium Service Brands — she is certainly no stranger to the brand. As the Vice President of Learning for Premium Service Brands, Jewell has helped countless entrepreneurs achieve their dreams of business ownership by training them on how to succeed with well-positioned brands like Kitchen Wise. Now, Jewell is leveraging that experience to invest in herself as a business owner with Kitchen Wise in Charlottesville, Virginia.

“Most of my background has been in corporate marketing, in various industries like financial services, apparel, insurance and more,” Jewell said. “Prior to joining the Premium Service Brands executive team, I spent six years working with faculty at UVA Darden School of Business to develop educational programs for big, corporate Fortune 500 companies. During that time, I became interested in developing learning programs and started working on my doctorate in education on adult learning.”

In April 2020, Jewell saw an opening on the Premium Service Brands team, which is headquartered in her hometown of Charlottesville. “I learned about the company and was really intrigued by what they were doing and interviewed for the VP of Learning position,” she said. “It was clear we shared a vision for helping new entrepreneurs learn how to launch and run their businesses.”

Franchise launch preparation

In her role, Jewell helps incoming Premium Service Brands franchise owners utilize the company’s technology, processes and resources to accelerate their expertise in running the businesses.

While helping onboard new franchisees, Jewell recognized an opportunity to bring Kitchen Wise to the Charlottesville area. “I knew it would require a lot in terms of marketing skills and team management skills, which are two areas in which I have a lot of experience,” she said. “I felt that I had the right skill sets to be successful at running the Kitchen Wise franchise here.”

Jewell says she could also see the organization industry was growing rapidly, especially as demand for home services boom following the COVID-19 pandemic. “It has been a really strong market, and the home services segment is getting a lot of visibility in popular media,” she said. “I did some of my own research and felt that the competition in that space was very low in my area, despite demand being very high and growing quickly.”

Business growth and expansion

Jewell officially signed on with Kitchen Wise in late 2021 and opened on the first of the year. “It has been super busy so far, with a lot of leads coming in and a lot of people interested in a wide variety of organization service projects,” she said. “In addition to kitchen organization, homeowners are looking for projects in the garage, basement, mudrooms, master closets and more. The demand is way outpacing the capacity.”

While Jewell's experience on the Premium Service Brands corporate team certainly helped her launch her own franchise business, she says the alternative is true as well — her experience as a franchise owner is now helping her thrive in her VP of Learning role. In fact, the team is developing an entire new Kitchen Wise training program as a result of Jewell’s experience as a franchise owner.

“This experience will allow me to develop some more effective and thorough training for Kitchen Wise design consultants, installers and owners,” she said. “It has already helped me develop a better understanding of what it’s like to be a new franchise owner. Now, when I’m teaching the other franchise owners, it is very helpful to have this hands-on experience and understand that journey. I can clarify certain aspects that may have seemed obvious before, but now I can see the complexities of actually implementing them.”

Looking ahead, Jewell says she is excited to continue expanding into more territories as she builds out her team and processes as a franchisee. Additionally, she says she is thrilled to continue helping fellow Premium Service Brands franchisees launch and grow their own businesses through her role on the corporate team.

Kitchen Wise is looking to expand with qualified franchise partners in available territories throughout the country, including Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Phoenix, San Antonio, Boston and Raleigh.