The Great Franchisee: Kristin Humphrey, Home Clean Heroes, West Houston

Kristin Humphrey has worked on the franchisor side of the franchise industry for most of her career, so it's fair to say she knows a good concept when she sees one. Now, the former director of operations for Pinot’s Palette and franchise performance consultant for Christian Brothers Automotive is transitioning to the other side of the industry as one of the newest franchise owners with Home Clean Heroes*, the residential cleaning franchise backed by multi-brand franchisor Buzz Franchise Brands.

Humphrey says she was looking for a brand that was well-positioned for the post-pandemic landscape, and she found exactly that with Home Clean Heroes. This year, Humphrey and her husband have signed on to open three Home Clean Heroes territories in the Houston area and are excited to introduce the brand’s high-quality cleaning services and unparalleled customer service to their community in 2022. 

1851 Franchise: Tell us your story – what did you do before franchising?

Humphrey: The majority of my professional career has been in franchising. I graduated in 2009 from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. I worked as a nutritionist and manager at Curves for Women for two years. I was a Zumba instructor and also counseled on meal planning and supplements.

After a short stint in retail, I spent four years as the Director of Operations for Pinot’s Palette, where I worked with roughly 100 owners to open their doors and assisted many of them through transitioning from the vintage brand marks to the current ones. I decided to transition out of that company, but I still wanted to work in franchising. I started as a recruiter for Christian Brothers Automotive and was later invited to join the franchise consulting team which I was a part of for three and a half years. There, I worked with 30 different franchise owners, and it was a great experience for me. I knew that if I could work with other franchisees on how to improve their businesses and be their coach, mentor and friend, then I could bet on myself and do it on my own. 

1851 Franchise: How did you initially find out about franchising? 

Humphrey: I have been fortunate to have worked at the franchisee and franchisor level. I’ve been able to see what it's like in both seats, what makes for a successful franchise, and what doesn’t. Additionally, my mother-in-law was one of the first franchisees of Curves for Women, so I’ve had a firsthand experience watching her business grow and expand. At the end of 2020, I put on my vision board that we would start to consider a franchise. In February 2021, my husband was contacted by a franchise broker and it felt like God tapping us on the shoulder to go after it.  

1851 Franchise: Why did you pick franchising over starting your own business?

Humphrey: We had aspirations to start from scratch initially, but the best part of franchising is that you are in business for yourself, not by yourself.— you have the power of the home office and fellow franchisees behind you.

1851 Franchise: What types of brands did you look at?

Humphrey: We looked at a variety of industries — fitness, fast-casual restaurants, home renovation. But, coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, we knew we wanted something that would be considered essential.

1851 Franchise: Why did you pick Home Clean Heroes? What excited you most about the brand’s potential?

Humphrey: We loved that Home Clean Heroes was a new concept that was under the umbrella of a well-oiled, experienced franchisor — Buzz Franchise Brands. We were one of the first 10 franchisees, so we knew we would have a direct impact on the direction of the brand and would be able to build strong relationships with the home office team. Also, we recognized that it was a scalable concept that is easy to understand. It also would give me the option to have boots on the ground while also managing from my office.

On the consumer side, I was excited to give back time to others in my community. Having a team of grime fighters come in to clean your home and help to defend your free time is what we are all about 

1851 Franchise: What trends are you seeing in your local community?

Humphrey: The biggest trend we are seeing, aside from the continued growth of the city, is a boom in home services from cleaning, organizing, landscaping, roofing, to bathroom and kitchen remodels. This ultimately stems from more people working from home over the last two years.   

1851 Franchise: What are your dreams with the business? What does the future look like?

Humphrey: I want to grow it as big as I possibly can, give as many people their free time back as possible and build a culture that embodies this Leslie Knope quote (from Parks and Rec) “Now go find your team. Get to work. Whatever that work is that you find worth doing. Do it, and find some people to love who'll do it with you” 

1851 Franchise: What advice would you have for others looking at buying a franchise?

Humphrey: Determine what is important to you from a personal time standpoint and what you want in a concept. That includes support — does it matter to you that you have support consistently from the home office? Is time flexibility important to you? What is your goal, and what is your why? It really comes down to your goal in life and how much time you want to spend in the business.

Do as many validation calls as possible. Reach out to other franchisees and ask them questions about what they love about the brand and what the support is like in terms of training and other relationships amongst franchisees. 

1851 Franchise: What do you do in your personal time?

Humphrey: We mostly spend time with our dog — a one-and-a-half-year-old Rottweiler named Elvis. My husband played football in college, and we watch a lot of football. Mainly, I love spending time with my family, and I love to cook. 

ABOUT HOME CLEAN HEROES

Home Clean Heroes is a fast-growing residential cleaning franchise that supports local first responders with every home that they clean. They are part of Buzz Franchise Brands, an experienced, financially strong franchisor. The brand’s commitment to providing convenient, customizable and trustworthy home cleaning services has earned recognition from Franchise Gator as one of the Fastest Growing Franchises and as a Top Emerging Franchise of 2021 and by Franchise Connect Magazine as one of the Top 100 Home Service Franchise Opportunities. For more information, visit https://homecleanheroesfranchise.com/.