kbbreview Rising Star: September
We’ve teamed up with Blum to find the upcoming stars of kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom retail. This month our Rising Star is Georgia Astley, branch manager at Kutchenhaus Lutterworth, who explains her passion for kitchen design
Like many before her, Georgia Astley didn’t set out to join the kitchen industry but her career path was, perhaps, more inevitable when you consider that her dad owns his own fitting company.
“With dad running a kitchen fitting business, I’d grown up around the industry,” she explains. “But, I’d never really planned a career in kitchen design, it just developed into a possible pathway that I now absolutely love.”
At 18, Astley decided against going to university, favouring a work-based career route instead. She got more involved in her dad’s fitting business and realised that designing kitchens didn’t only come naturally but was a process she really enjoyed.
“Working in dad’s business progressed from sweeping floors to helping fit the kitchens,” she explains. “It gave me good insight because it taught me how a kitchen gets put together and what’s required if things go wrong. I loved the end result and realised that designing kitchens was what I wanted to do. I have a real passion for designing kitchens and when you’ve got that passion for something it doesn’t feel like work, which is lovely.”
Two and a half years ago, Astley’s talent landed her a role as an apprentice junior designer with Coalville Kitchens in Leicestershire where she soon became a valuable member of the team, as co-owner Luke Wedgebury explains.
“Georgia quickly became a huge asset to that business, taking on key design work for myself and other designers,” Wedgebury says. “The energy and creativity that Georgia carries is infectious and powerful. Ideas, design, and creative thinking are the key elements she brings to any project she builds.”
Recognising her talent, just 18 months into her junior role Wedgebury promoted Astley to the role of branch manager, following the opening of his franchise operation Kutchenhaus Lutterworth. Add to this the fact that Astley is only 22 and the gravity of her achievements really hit home.
Having already achieved so much in just four years, where does Astley see herself in 10 years. What does her KBB future look like?
“With everything I’ve already learned, I can see myself running my own kitchen business eventually,” she says. “I’ve still got lots to learn and I’m going to really enjoy that process, but in another five or ten more years I hope to have the confidence to do something like that and it’ll be a decision that isn’t money driven, it’s passion driven which I think is what we need in this industry.”
Listen to Georgia on a special episode of The kbbreview Podcast. Use the player below go straight to it in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube.