Listen to the full interview with Amy on a special Rising Star episode of The kbbreview Podcast using the player at the foot of this post or go straight to it in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Alternatively, simply search ‘kbbreview’ wherever you get your podcasts…

Like most, Amy Hartland’s introduction to the KBB industry wasn’t entirely planned. At a friend’s party, she met a friend-of-a-friend who already worked for local retailer Ashford Kitchens & Interiors, but was preparing to leave due to a house move. 

“She really sold me on the people,” Hartland recalls. “They were looking for someone to take over her role, and she thought I’d be a really good fit, even though I didn’t necessarily have a similar kind of career background.”

Still, the recommendation was passed on, a conversation began, and before long, she found herself stepping into a new role in an unknown industry. 

Now, seven years later, Amy is Ashford’s showroom manager, having progressed from an assistant role to take on one of the most vital positions in the business. Unlike most of this year’s Rising Stars, Amy isn’t a designer. Instead, she’s hard at work both behind the scenes and front-of-house, covering everything from sales, administration, marketing and project management.

In fact, saying Amy’s responsibilities are wide-ranging would be an understatement; she oversees the showroom team, supports the project coordination department during busy installation periods, and essentially ensures that customers experience the business at its best.

Aside from the day-to-day trials and tribulations that come with such a job, one of Amy’s standout contributions has been the development of a new lead-chasing system – a process which Ashford managing director Stephen Flower says has helped the business stay efficient and customer-focused as it continues to grow.

“We needed a system to better handle the higher volume of enquiries,” Hartland explains. Working with Ashford’s marketing team, she helped specify and shape bespoke software that blends automated responses with a personal, human touch. “Now, customers get a response straight away to let them know we’ve got their enquiry, and then we follow up with calls and messages. It’s made everything so much easier to manage.”

And although Ashford has dedicated marketing staff, Amy also helps oversee the upkeep of the studio’s website, making sure it remains fresh and optimised. On top of that, she also started Ashford’s social media presence when she joined the company, which has now reportedly grown to more than 100,000 followers across its various platforms, which Amy says is one of the things that she’s proudest of.

And so, from meetings, upkeep, admin, looking after clients and everything else that makes up the never-ending list of responsibilities for a showroom manager, all of it runs smoothly thanks to Amy’s work.

“The good thing is we’re not fighting fires day to day,” she jokes, before modestly adding: “We’ve got good teams and people to manage everything. So I just check that everyone’s OK. And then I can focus on the bigger picture, checking our processes and systems, seeing where we can improve, and what more we can do.”

Over the next several months, you can find out more about each of our Rising Star finalists at kbbreview.com, as well as on The kbbreview Podcast and in each issue of kbbreview Magazine. The winner will be crowned at the prestigious kbbreview Retail & Design Awards ceremony at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole on March 2.

Listen to the full interview with Amy on a special Rising Star episode of The kbbreview Podcast using the player below…