Kristin Kidd of School of Rock & The Lash Lounge

“What matters is that you’re a good person and you’re passionate about the business.”

From operating 27 School of Rock locations, to now owning 2 of them AND simultaneously serving on The Lash Lounge’s leadership team as VP of Operations, Kristin Kidd has lived all sides of the franchising model. And she has a lot to say about what works (and what definitely doesn’t).

Kristin joins Ab and Vini to share her path from entry level to executive. Listen to her takes on the top things ‘Zees and ‘Zors should do for success. Learn how culture and communication (in both directions) powered The Lash Lounge’s amazing COVID resiliency. And hear why she believes that deep due diligence is the most critical step for anyone considering diving into franchising.

Transcript

 Hi everyone, welcome and thanks for joining us for Stars of Franchising. Get ready for a roller coaster ride through the world of franchising as we bring you the best stories of inspiration and entrepreneurial grit and turning dreams into franchise realities. That's right Vinnie. From emerging to global brands, we'll chat with the genius minds behind the magic. All brought to you by the Tariq Farid Franchise Institute at Babson College. I'm Ab. And I'm Vinnie. Now buckle up for some serious inspiration.



 And we are so excited to have Kristin Kidd here as our guest.



 Welcome Kristin.



 Thank you. Thanks for having me guys. We are so grateful here at Babson and the Tariq Farid Franchise Institute to have this platform to really learn from folks like you and share your experiences. And what we love to do is start off with what's your why and what caused you to do what you do and maybe a little background on your journey.



 Yeah, absolutely. Thanks. I'm a talker too. So interrupt me at any point in time. Wait, wait, wait. That makes three of us.



 Listen.



 I mean, I think my why is an interesting, I don't know. It's interesting to me, right? Because it's who I am. But I come from a musical family and I've always been into music and creativity and the arts.



 And growing up, that's all I wanted to do. I didn't know what I wanted my degree to be in. I didn't really know anything other than I want to be a musician and make music.



 And so I've always been in bands. I've always played. I've always been very creative and I never really found something that I was super passionate about for my job because of course, no musician or creative wants to have a job. So I kind of fell into, you know, just the corporate world and that kind of stuff. And I just didn't, I don't know, it wasn't for me. Right. And so then I found School of Rock and School of Rock is a franchise concept. At this point, there's over 300 worldwide. But when my husband and I, we were then just dating, we found it. We were like, this is what we want to do. We get to teach kids and play music and have fun. And so I kind of lucked into finding a franchisee who was just opening their second one of all time. And I said, you're going to hire us. And so we started with them and we just grew to love it. And we ended up going through, you know, for the next 10 years with these guys managing locations and then growing into an opener and then growing into a district kind of manager and then moving out to California and opening an entire region. And then coming back by this point, we were operating 27 locations across the entire United States, building best practices, learning how to run a multi-million dollar business with hundreds of employees. And I just realized how much I loved operating, how much I loved like encouraging management and especially young people in management of something that they really love. And from then we were like, you know what, we want to do this for ourselves. We want to own our own future and our own business. And we don't come from money, we're musicians.



 How do you do that? How do you get a loan? How do you get investors? So it was kind of this like learned like DIY, you know, do it yourself. And so we partnered with our family, loved them to death. And now we're partners on two locations. We've learned a whole heck of a lot. But at that transition point, it was like, okay, well, you can't put your whole salary and everything into your business because you want it to grow. And so I had to go get a job and I found the lash lounge. I kind of lucked into it. It was the beauty industry, which, you know, I'm a tomboy at heart. So when I had to jump into the beauty industry, I was like, I don't know. I loved it. And what changed for me from being on the franchisee side to now the franchisor side, the whole world opened up. I really learned a whole bunch more about relationships and all of that. And I work with the most amazing people. I went from a very male, male dominated industry and music and creative and the arts to very female dominated. And I have just loved my time working on the franchisor side with all of these intelligent, incredible, powerful women who are teaching me so much every day and flash forward to five years almost actually yesterday was my five year anniversary. Congratulations. Happy anniversary.



 Thank you. I kind of found myself working up into that business as well. And now I'm so honored to say I'm the vice president of the beauty division for our company. So it's not only the lash conjures, also SCO, which is a facial shop franchise concept and some other things.



 It's just really cool. And when I think about the why, like myself, like I'm just a girl, I'm just a musician. I just, I'm not anyone special, but I found myself in these positions being able to help people grow into the positions they want to grow into and do whatever they want to do. Learn how to get loans, learn how to open franchises, learn how to be your own boss by being a good person and having good practices and running a good business.



 Kristin, this is great. I want to like, since you're someone who has been on both sides of the coin, you've seen both sides of the equation. Can you tell us what are the top things that the best franchises do well? And then flip it and tell us what are the top things that the best franchises do well?



 Oh, Vinny, I like this. That's a great question. Because I could tell you, I mean, sometimes I'm like, "Oh, I got to think about it." I'll tell you right now. The best things I think that franchisees do well is they follow the process. I cannot tell you how important that is. When you, if you go into franchising, you do it because there's a process and there's a brand and there's power in that. If you're always trying to reinvent the wheel, you're just pushing against something that already exists. Just trust your franchisor, follow the process, learn the sales and the techniques and all of that. And I think the best thing a franchisor can do is work really hard to have good people and a good culture. People are not going to follow you if they do not trust you and they do not believe in you and you can't come in with this like iron fist and just say, "No, it's our way or the highway." Who's going to want to follow that process? You really have to work hard to make culture your number one thing. And it's such a buzzword that I think is losing a lot of its meaning these days, but it is extremely important.



 There's so many ways, places I could go based on what you started with, which I love. A few things. What great story on how you did your own "due diligence" by working as a franchisee for that brand before ownership, which is something we try to teach and we get a lot of questions on what does it take and what does it mean? So I'd love for you to talk a little bit about any advice you have for potential franchisees that are entering that process. Clearly, you both followed a passion for something in music and it worked out. But yeah, could you share a little bit about folks that are contemplating taking the path you guys took?



 Yeah, I love that. And thank you for asking that because I think to me, it was really important. We didn't, I think a lot of people find franchising because they think, "Oh, you know, I've worked for someone for 20, 30 years and I want to be my own boss. And so I'm going to go find a broker who's going to show me four different totally random concepts." They're going to say, "Here, you could have a smoothie king or a great clips or a lot of shows. What do you want?" And I think that's really hard because people can get stars in their eyes when they start to think about how much money I could make or how easy this would be or that kind of stuff. I love it when people come through a system and decide this is what they want to do because they know the business, they know the industry, they know the clientele, and they just understand it so much more. And that's why Avi and I have talked a lot about wanting to pave the way for people to become their own owners. I think that is so important.



 And so I think it's like there's nothing wrong with saying, "Hey, I want to be my own boss and I got to figure out what I want to do." But I think the due diligence part is huge. Just understanding the industry you're getting in there, it's not as simple as, "I'm going to learn how to go make smoothies and now I can be a smoothie king or whatever it is," right? You really have to understand the business and the clientele. So I do think that's an extremely important part of it from my own personal experience. And that's great. I mean, I will say because you do, you're right, you get the situation where you have brokers and some can be very, very valuable for that early part that you take a test, here's your personality, and here are four random brands. You're exactly right. I had a call last week with somebody who was looking at a franchise and the, you know, the psych, the therapy, you know, psychology and therapy. And there was a disconnect because he hadn't really thought about what you're talking about and it caused him, you know, to step back and kind of say, "All right, what do I really need to know?" And hadn't talked to his franchisees and followed, you know. So he was caught up in the deal, but that happens. So that's great advice. Thank you. So, Kristin, let me, let's take the next question here. I would want you to, if you don't mind, share with us what has been your biggest, aha moment for me, failure?



 Oh, man.



 What did you, what did you take from it and how has this shaped what you do since then? Yeah. Vinny, you're full of good questions, aren't you? No, listen, I love that question because you should never be afraid of failure. You should learn from it. And if you go into life just thinking that failure doesn't happen, you're, you know, you're in for a big, you're in for a big surprise. I can tell you small failure and big failure. So small failure, I just always thought, you know, even when I was just a manager of one location, I'm great at hiring because I'm great at my job. And so I'll find someone who'll hire them in and they'll be great.



 I went through so many front desk associates that were just not the right fit. They, they were not the right fit for several things. And I had to learn the hard way. You're terrible at interviewing people because I would ask, I would be like, are you a big self starter? And they'd be like, yes. And then you're like, well, no, I don't know anything about this person. So I had to learn over time how to interview and it is something I'm still cognizant of today. Like I will hire someone just myself. I'll always have two or three other people, you know, gut checking and really finding the right person. Cause like I said, culture, so important.



 And I think on a bigger picture, big failure was when I worked for the franchisee on the school of rock side, I never really understood the relationship with the franchisor as an employee. Now, as an employee, that wasn't necessarily something I needed to understand because that was my owner's job, but it was something I really wanted. And there were so many things that we could have and should have done better that when I got in the franchisor side of things, I understood how important it was to be clear with your staff and to train owners, to be clear with their staff, that relationship, but it means how it exists, why it exists so that it's a symbiotic relationship and you're not, no one's in the dark. You know, I think knowledge is power. Wow. Wow. Interesting. That's cool.



 You know, so much about what you've said is really enlightening around, you know, this link between entrepreneurship and franchising. Vinny and I are sometimes confronted with, you know, why franchising and entrepreneurship? Is it really entrepreneurship you're given the playbook and you've shed some light that, you know, you're running a business and creating and leading people. I think I know the answer, but, you know, is franchising entrepreneurship as a franchisee and a franchisor? What's your take?



 A hundred percent. When you are a franchisee, if you're a franchisee of one location or 25, you own that business. It is your business and you are a hundred percent that owner. So it is absolutely entrepreneurship. You got to know a little bit about marketing and operations and balancing budget and payroll and all of it. You are a business owner. I think the thing that people get caught up on is kind of what you said, but you have to realize the only thing that's different between owning Kristen's hair cutting shop versus you know, a great clips is you get a partnership in it. A franchisor is ultimately your partner. You don't run it for you.



 You're responsible for all of it. Wow. Kristen, you know, during the pandemic, you know, I'm making an assumption here that you went into the beauty industry again before the pandemic, right? Yes, sir. And then the pandemic hit, boom. And then when it comes to beauty, you know, I have to be close enough to you to help you, you know, to the eyelash and everything. So was there any innovation in that period that you had to rely on? And what was it? What was the biggest innovation during the pandemic that if you're talking with us today, we are assuming that you are still there, you know, you're still in that. Yes. Yeah, it's still thriving. So what was the magic for you?



 Well, I think the pandemic was the craziest thing we've all alive lived through today. And we've learned a lot from it. And we, you know, hindsight is 20 20. And so we can kind of look back and see what we did that we're proud of and what were some misses that hopefully we never go through it again. But we can learn from it. And I think the biggest game changer in the beauty industry and specifically to eyelash extensions, because you are right, you are sitting over someone's face. Voila. Okay.



 So I think it was the understanding that masks are just commonplace. And especially in America, we were so shocked to see people in masks, whereas in other parts of the world, it's a bit more common if you don't feel well, it's not shocking or scary. Now, I think one of the benefits that's come out of it is when you see maybe your beauty professional, whether they're putting a facial on or they're putting on lashes and they're wearing a mask, it almost is a comfort to you as the customer, you feel comforted that they are, you know, doing what they can to protect you, they're not breathing all over you. I think that was a massive change. Wow.



 Interesting. Yeah. And if you don't mind, if I want to follow up quickly on that, because when you, I mean, helping someone and be given the service and the person maybe even have mask on, not just the person given the service, but the person receiving the service also, you are in a position where you cannot fully appreciate your art because the marks, don't know what the person will look if they remove the mask. Will they still look good? I mean, this eyelash that you have just put on them? Yeah, you absolutely will. So how did they navigate that space, that approximation to say, okay, even when they remove the mask, it's going to look better. Okay. Well, I can always speak for eyelashes specifically, but it doesn't matter if you have this or this. Okay. No, it's the service works the exact same. I can tell you the exact same, but we, it was kind of cool working with all of our franchisees during such a crazy, weird, scary time and sourcing information from the stylists and the managers and the owners and like what makes the most sense. And I, we all came through it stronger than ever before. So you actually learned from the franchisees as well. So because you said something about where you pull in ideas, where you have irregular meetings or how did it, how did this happen? Or was it just organic or you had to like, yeah.



 We became, I think we became closer as an entire unit. I mean, all of us, home office and franchisees during and after the pandemic, because we were home office was meeting every single day and we were putting out daily digest to our entire system of what to do, how to shut down, how to reopen. I will tell you a hundred percent of our salons got PPP loans. Wow. In order to get through this process. And I will tell you that we came out of the pandemic, the same amount of revenue as the year prior, which was nuts and then more than doubled the following year, same store sales. Wow. And I really fully believe it was because of the attention that franchisees gave to home office and home office game to franchisees. And we became a unit. They weren't just on their own when a mom and mom shop doesn't have that. So we worked together and we made it a huge priority to really focus on culture, focus on like communication and relationships. And because of that, the strength of the services and the system just continued to grow.



 Yeah, that's incredible. And stole my question and you answered it, which is, is the franchise system better equipped to partner, right? It's the ultimate network economy, but also push out that innovation to the system. And it sounds like versus an independent or multi chain that the franchising structure really allowed you guys to not only be partners, but turn around innovation and respond quicker. Is that true?



 Yes, sir. I do believe that honestly, because you're absolutely right. You're not alone. You're not having to figure everything out. You've got departments and people that can figure it out in your home office, but also from the franchise system. If someone comes up with a great idea, we're not going to be, we're not going to shut them down. It's like, no, tell us more about it. Let's figure this out. So it's really nice. It's crowdsourcing at its best, you know? Well, one of the things that go ahead, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just said the better one is the better we all are. Right. Totally. I mean, that says it all, which is the best franchisors and the most impressive people like you and your brand are, are ones that really understand what it likes to be a friend, what it's like to be a franchisee and also recognize that partnership and that it's to use someone else's words, it's, it's the franchisors job to focus on the unit economics and the profitability of the Z's, right? Yeah, absolutely. And how much of being a franchisee taught you that? Of being a franchisee. Um, I don't really know. I mean, we focused a lot on our own P and L than our own, um, pro forma building or just, you know, projection building, but then becoming a franchise or, I mean, that's one of my big things that I look at and deal with all day. Every day is looking at people's P and L's and comparisons and where their percentages are and really being able to provide guidance along those lines. I will tell you, it's made me a better franchisee. Like my communication with corporate is different because I understand I want to, I want to approach everything with sympathy and with empathy as opposed to being like, tell me this right now or give me this. I want to be like, I get it. We're all here to do this together. Support versus oversight. Love it. Yes, exactly. Well, well, Kristin, let me take you back a bit, uh, to maybe share with us what you think most people misunderstood the most about franchising. Yeah, man, that's, that's interesting. I mean, I think I'll kind of hit the nail on the head when it's people don't know if you're an entrepreneur or not. Um, I think there's even still a lot of misunderstanding even in Washington about what franchisors are and what franchising, right? Because I am not the employer of any of these salons employees. Like that, that's, that would be joint employer. We're not, we don't employ them. We are your partner as an owner and that's important, but it's an independently owned and operated business. Your revenues are your revenues, your, your deficits are your deficits and you have to run your business. Well, we will give you all the tools and the advice and the guidance, but it's your business. So being an entrepreneur is the like literal definition is owning a, owning a business, right? Like opening and starting and owning a business. It's absolutely franchising. I think people don't, I don't know why people don't know that. I just don't. And it's interesting when you mentioned that, that even people in, I'm sorry, in Washington don't understand that you could see that play out when the, uh, the Uber and the lift were having issues, you know, okay, the key, these people are independent. Okay. They use a platform. These are everything, but they're still independent, so it does interesting. And I've, you know, we've talked to franchisees who have said the same thing, Kristen, which is, wow, I wish Washington and the politicians recognize that we're in our community creating jobs and working hard to pay our people the best we can and support our community.



 And, um, you know, franchising we've learned is, is really the epitome of, of social impact and community. And one of the things Vinnie and I are interested in is that is this concept of, you know, franchising role and DEI and diversity, equity, inclusion and pathways. Like you mentioned, love your thoughts on that. And, and, you know, cause we think there's, you know, a lot of great examples being set, but also more room for improvement. What do you think Kristen?



 I love that. And I think that goes back to, you know, you and I talked a couple of weeks ago about, our, our both shared passion of helping people maybe come up in a franchise system and become their own owners. And oftentimes I'll just use my, my, you know, personal examples for this, you know, school of rock. Again, it's a lot of musicians, a lot of people just love music. And then they find that they're also passionate about teaching, which is such a beautiful thing. But when it comes to being like, well, maybe I'd want to own my own, you don't have a lot of money in the bank. You don't have, you don't have tens of thousands, even of dollars in the bank, or you don't know where to get a loan. You don't know how to get a loan. But the reality is all that stuff exists. And so I, I want to see a world where at School of Rock or at Lashage, or Danny franchise system, the people that are opening these businesses are the people working in them and that are passionate about doing it. And I can say for myself, it's just, it was just a, a girl that wanted to do it, that had money. And I figured it out. I'm nothing special. I want everyone to know that, that anyone can do it. And you can be, it doesn't matter, you know, you're, you're any of your modifiers, right? Your gender or any of that, none of that matters. What matters is you're a good person and you're passionate about the business itself. It's like, I want people to know how to get the resources and how to do it. I think that might've been a circuitous route to answer you, but I'm in, I'm in a lot of its education. And hopefully this is one thing, one way also, which is showcasing people like you and, and, and that pathway and that passion to help others. Because I think sometimes people, when they see the owner or they see you at a certain level, they don't understand that pathway. And our hope here at the Institute and with your help is to help educate folks about those, those different means and resources. Love it.



 Absolutely. Christine, let's, I mean, take off trains. Is there any train out there today with a social technology or regulations or even like customs that you think might shape the future of franchising? I mean, starting with your own industry, for instance.



 Any, are you saying any training? Any trends. Any trends. Any trends. Yeah. Any.



 I don't know. I mean, I, not that I can think of off the top of my head, that would, that any trends in our industry that would shape the future of franchising. For instance, let's take technology, for instance.



 I have this whole thing of chat GPT. Okay. Machine learning, artificial intelligence. So with that, with that mean anything to your industry at the, from the one of the school of rock or the, this one that's a beauty industry. Yeah. Okay. See, I see where you're going with that now. Yeah. I mean, honestly, in the service-based business, in service-based businesses, which is where I feel like my expertise lies. Yeah. Service industry, one-on-one. Education or physical service, right? I don't see how any of that would affect it at all. And I know people are either scared or very excited for the future of AI technology. But services will never go away. Going to eat food in a restaurant or an establishment will never go away. There could be, there could be robots that help you with that, but it's not the actual physical experience won't go away. Lashing, for example, it's never going to be put on by robots. I know that they are, got some robots up in it to try it. I can tell you it ain't happening. You know, teaching guitar, I'm not going to learn guitar from a robot. That would be the most cold, boring experience. So I think the good news is, there are other industries that can worry about that right now, but for our industry, it's going to continue to always grow and flourish because it's either a service people want to have done to them or something they want to learn that will always be out there. And then, so if I may, because yeah, that's great, Kristin. Yeah. You have the privilege and I'm sure maybe there is an advantage of going into this franchising world with your husband, your spouse. So tell us, what was it dynamics like? Because it takes a lot to be able. And then any advice you might give our audience in that regard?



 Well, I appreciate this because I'm giggling because it's fun. I mean, we are, he's my best friend. He's my partner of 15 years. We've played music together. He is an incredible person. Like maybe one of the greatest people on planet earth. And he just loves teaching, educating. He loves his mission. He doesn't care if he makes a dollar as long as his people make money, as long as his teachers have, you know, get raises as they're supposed to. And as long as kids are learning. And so when we first started, you know, he was just a teacher and I was just a manager. And we grew into this and where I became the ops person over the whole company, he became the staff leader. He taught and trained all of the staff and he loves it. He's the back of house. I'm front of house. So it's like a really great relationship. And man, can we get in some knockdown dragouts about things and about how things should run and all that because it's both passionate about it. But for the most part, because I am, you know, full time at the beauty division at Franworth, he runs our two schools. Okay. So we have a great dynamic there where he can go in, he can teach the kids and he'll work with the teachers and all that good stuff while I'm doing this. Cause there's no way I could, you know, I can't have two full-time jobs. But yeah, it's wonderful. That's great. Thank you. Thank you for sharing. And what a great example for, you know, something that we see and teach here at Babson and around entrepreneurship and success is that importance and the value of the team, whether it's your own team or the team partner with, with the franchise or you're exactly right. And that's so great to see and inspiring. We could go on for hours of any, right? Yeah. But we've been so impressed with what you've done, but more importantly, how you you're doing it and your willingness to share. And we'd love to have you here at Babson and shine the light on what you're doing with some of our students. But if there's anything we could ever do to help you as well, Kristin, it's been amazing and kudos to you. Thanks. I really appreciate it. I appreciate you inviting me on. And I mean, let's just put it in stone. I will be there whenever, whenever I can. I'll be there. I love you. I love chit chatting.



 Kristin, this is, this has been great. This has been beautiful. It's so nice to finally meet you when Ab spoke to me about you and share some documentation about you. I say, Ooh, la, la, no, we, I can't wait for us to meet you. And I'm glad finally, I met you. We have this conversation and you give us some great insights. We're just waiting for you to finally, you and your husband moved to Boston, where it's warmer than, you know, he has told me that it's his favorite city in the United States. To this day, we still have not gone there together. I might head up to Boston, you know, maybe in the, in the fall or something like that. And I don't know, I think it'd be so much fun. Of course. Of course. Well, anytime. Thank you. Wishing you all the best. We'll be in touch for sure. And we appreciate you're making time for us. Grateful. Thank you. Thank you. Absolutely. Thanks guys. Thanks for joining us on this episode of stars of franchise stars of franchising was produced at Babson college engineered by Travis gray. Karen Sohla is our guest coordinator and music by Ralph Taylor. If you like stars of franchising, be sure to review us wherever you get your podcasts and swear the word and share these stories. Anyway, you can.