A Shared Passion for Franchising

by Elizabeth Denham

Franchising offered Heidi Morrisey more than just a successful career. It also gave her a shared passion with her father and an undiscovered level of understanding and knowing in their relationship.

“Working with him was interesting,” she said. “I was able to come in and see him in a completely different light, and it gave him the opportunity to see me in a different light. Looking back, I realize he didn’t know me from that perspective, and I don’t know that I really knew my dad that well, either. I knew him as a daughter would know her father, but with three brothers, they spent more time with him, and I spent more time with my mom.” Dave and Cindy Haglund founded Kitchen Tune-Up in 1988. They have five children, and according to Heidi, her dad had worked with a few of her brothers, and it hadn’t really worked out. “So, my dad was sitting there in 2003 and wondering if he would ever be able to take a little of a break,” she remembered. “And he said, what you are doing with your other business would work great, and I thought, well, I don’t know anything about kitchens, I don’t know anything about franchising, and I don’t know if you and I could work together – because I’ve heard stories!”

Morrisey and her husband moved from Wisconsin to South Dakota for a one-year trial with no real job description to see how they could assist. After working in sales and marketing for 13 years, she is now President while her parents spend time traveling and with their grandkids.

“I fell in love with franchising and with the business,” Morrisey said. “And it was my first real introduction into what my dad had created.”

Morrisey believes that one of the most important things they did when they started out working together was to join a family planning business group that would meet and discuss family dynamics in business, succession planning, etc. They were so beneficial that she and her father lead sessions for franchisees, many of whom were also working with family.

“Any time you are working with family, you can get passionate - maybe because it is a safer place – so we definitely had some passionate discussions,” she noted. “And then you say, ‘well, see you at family dinner or church.’ The experience absolutely created mutual respect between us in many different ways by having a business relationship.”

Morrisey believes the family dynamic had positives and negatives in terms of communication.

“There were times we talked about things that maybe someone else couldn’t bring up,” she said. “And times when I was still his kid, and that idea wasn’t going to fl oat. Where if it came from someone else, it might have gotten more bounce. Also, having access to him when we would go to the lake house, and he was relaxed was also benefi cial. You don’t always have that kind of access.”

The family dynamic is something she believes strongly in within the framework of the franchise business model.

“I believe you can still have a business and you can have fun and you can have relationships,” she summed up. “In fact, I don’t know how to have a business without that.”

About Heidi Morrisey

As a 2nd generation franchise owner, Heidi Morrisey strives to keep the franchise relevant, profitable and a leader in the industry. Her ultimate goal is to attract like-minded entrepreneurs to join her home improvement revolution. The culture is family-oriented, and the bottom line is just as important as making the process easy for both the homeowner and her franchisees. Her franchisees have named themselves Tunies and the Home Office, Homies. The business is about creating relationships while creating a space that people are proud of in their homes.

Kitchen Tune-Up was founded in 1988 by Morrisey’s dad and she joined him in 2003. In 2020, they launched their 2nd brand, Bath Tune-Up. In 2021, they joined Home Franchise Concepts as their 5th & 6th brands.

To learn more about Kitchen Tune Up, please visit https://kitchentuneup.com/.