Decorating Den Interiors this week named two new vice presidents and announced the retirement of a long-time senior executive and other promotions.
“The changes reflect our continued growth and expansion of resources available to our franchise partners and their teams of design professionals,” said James S. Bugg, Jr., Chief Executive Officer and President.
Suzanne Price, Director of education and training has been named Vice President, adding technology support for design and business management to her responsibilities.
Price is a previous franchise owner who moved into her current position in 2016. She has introduced web-based learning resources to supplement other ongoing education and is heading up the development of a technology strategic plan to support design professionals with a wide range of resources.
The company has also named award-winning franchise owner Jennifer Manley, of Fort Worth, TX as Vice President, retail sales. She replaces Joanne North, Senior Vice President, who is retiring after 40 years with the company.
Manley has been Franchise Owner of the Year, runner-up Decorator of the Year and won other design and sales awards. She also has served on the franchise owners’ leadership council, a position to which she was elected by franchisees.
“I have witnessed Jennifer’s passion for helping our company continue its record of six straight years of retail sales growth,” Bugg said. “She is tech savvy, forward thinking and will add a great dynamic to our management team.”
“I am so excited for this new stage of my career,” Manley said. “I have had an amazing experience owning my franchise. Our vast resources have helped me reach all of my goals as a business owner. I look forward to helping all of our owners reach their fullest potential and continue the upward growth of our company.”
“Seeing Joanne retire is not easy,” Bugg said. “She has guided and mentored our franchise partners to understand that building a successful interior design business requires much more than talent and creativity in design. She has developed national and local marketing strategies, taught owners how to do business planning and been a constant cheerleader for increasing sales. Most of all, she has been a true friend to our corporate staff, our franchise owners and their teams and to our suppliers and business support partners.”
“I have found it a humbling experience to mentor and support hundreds of business owners as they pursued their dreams of entrepreneurship,” said North. “The impact of setting and achieving goals, both personally and professionally, has truly been an awe inspiring experience for me to witness these past 40 years."
The company also announced three other promotions: Vicky Sharp to Controller, Kaitlin Pabon to Retail Sales Manager and James Grimplin to Technology Manager.
Sharp joined the firm in 2016 as Accounting Assistant, Pabon in 2012 as a Graphic Designer for advertising and other marketing and Grimplin in 2016 as Information Technology assistant.
