Listen to the full interview with Rachelle in a special bonus episode of The kbbreview Podcast. Use the player below or go straight to it in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube.

Many people joke that you simply “fall into” the KBB industry by chance, but Rachelle Hawes may be the only one who joined by genuine accident.

“I was invited to a kitchen company’s open day by a colleague, and I thought I was just going to go along to support her work, but it ended up being a group job interview!” she recounts.  

Given her background studying interior design and visual merchandising in college, it’s no surprise she was offered a design job with the company. Fast forward to last year, and she took on a studio assistant job at Et Lorem’s recently-opened Beaconsfield showroom.

Although she started the role simply assisting showroom manager Jade Jones, Hawes quickly progressed to taking on her own design projects as well.

“Et Lorem is a great company to work for, they’ve been really supportive and helped me grow,” she explains. “They knew I had the capabilities to become a fully-fledged designer, and they’ve really supported my growth.”

Alongside designing and quoting for clients, Hawes is also a big proponent of trying to pioneer new ways of engaging customers, especially through the medium of AI. 

“I want to make presentations more fun and interactive, with things like VR technology,” she says. “The kitchen industry can be quite competitive, so we want our designs to stand out from all the others.”

One of her biggest achievements so far is helping to spearhead a kitchen recycling scheme, encouraging the industry to donate their unwanted and ex-display products to schools that need them. This initiative has reportedly really taken off this year, with one local junior school already set to benefit from an upcycled kitchen in the very near future.

“Being involved in the local community is a really big thing for us,” Hawes explains. “We’re trying to get the people of Beaconsfield involved in the showroom as well. I think when people know you’re trying to get involved, they really come to appreciate you.”

• Over the next seven months, find out more about each of our Rising Star finalists at kbbreview.com. The winner will be crowned at the prestigious kbbreview Retail & Design Awards ceremony at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole on March 2.