Bee Organized co founder Kristen Christian opens up about the real transition from excited new franchisor to building a system that can scale.
Success in franchising is not just about selling units. It is about what happens next. It is about founders discovering the difference between early excitement and the ongoing responsibility of leading a franchise system. For Kristen Christian, Co-Founder of Bee Organized, that journey has been marked by passion, grit, recalibration, and the willingness to pause in order to grow.
Bee Organized, a professional organizing franchise built on compassion, empowerment, and life changing service, has grown to 46 markets since its first franchise sale in 2017. But as Christian explains, the journey from those first early sales to becoming a seasoned franchisor was anything but straightforward.
“We did not know what we did not know” Christian says. “I loved what we do, and I believe so much in what we do, and I have loved building our own Bee Organized business that I think I got probably caught up in that emotion and that excitement of it.”
That awareness, and the transformation that followed, became one of the defining chapters of Bee Organized’s growth story.
Early excitement meets real world expectations
When Kristen Christian and her Co-Founder Lisa Foley launched Bee Organized, franchising was fueled by heart. The brand had a strong mission and strong values, and early prospects were drawn to the energy Christian brought into every conversation. But Christian later realized that passion alone was not enough to help franchisees succeed.
“My narrative is different and my expectations are different of our franchisees now” she says. “If I could go back in time, I would change a little bit of how I talked to franchisees or prospects because if they come in with wrong expectations, they’re not going to be happy”
As the brand grew, Bee Organized shifted toward a franchise development approach rooted in clarity, structure, and alignment.
- Candidate clarity. Explain the reality of building, growing, and scaling a service based franchise.
- Realistic ramp expectations. Help prospects understand the investment of time, leadership, and local marketing.
- Values alignment. Ensure candidates understand the brand’s people first mission and the emotional labor of the work.
- Authentic narrative. Bring passion, but balance it with transparency so candidates make informed decisions.
This evolution became a turning point in how Bee Organized awarded franchises and supported new owners.
The courage to pause
One of the defining moments in the Bee Organized journey came when Christian and her team decided to pause franchise sales entirely.
“We went from one in 2017, two in 2018. And then we took 2019 off to get our foundation in place because Lisa and I were still running the home shop and we were not doing anybody any favors doing that” Christian explains.
They paused again in 2024.
“Are our numbers awesome this year? No. But, wow have we grown and taken strides” she says. “Pausing is often what saves you.”
During these pauses, Christian and her team invested deeply in strengthening the foundation of the brand. This meant refining systems, improving training, updating the discovery process, and ensuring long term stability for every franchisee. Their internal playbook emphasized disciplined, intentional growth:
- Small scale testing. Introduce new processes with a small group of franchisees to verify what works before rolling out system wide.
- Measured improvement. Connect every operational update to meaningful results such as client satisfaction, job quality, or market productivity.
- Open dialogue. Explain the reasons for every change so franchisees feel informed and confident in the direction of the brand.
- Guardrails in place. Strengthen the organizing method, brand voice, legal documents, and customer experience to maintain consistency across markets.
These investments created the infrastructure Bee Organized needed to support long term growth.
Supporting franchisees while scaling the brand
As Bee Organized grew to ten franchisees and beyond, Christian discovered the reality that many franchisors encounter: supporting a system is harder than selling one.
Training became a central focus. Unlike food service or brick and mortar concepts, professional organizing is deeply human and deeply variable. Every client's situation is different. Every project requires nuance and judgment.
“Unlike a burger shop that has like one, two, three, four, five steps that you can do, you put the tomato on, you put the ketchup on. We don’t have that because what we do is so different in every single scenario,” explained Christian. “So even more so our systems and processes have to be so accurate and so baked in and so known.”
This ongoing commitment to refining training, updating curriculum, and improving quality control continues today.
“You are never done putting those systems and processes in place.” she says. “Or if you are, you’re going to get into some problems.”
Founder mindset: grit, doubt, and long term vision
Christian is candid about experiencing moments of doubt in Bee Organized’s early years.
“In one given day, in one given hour sometimes I am like, we are going to go this way, and then you get the devil on your shoulder going, you are an idiot. You are not doing this” she says.
She also admits there were times she wondered whether franchising was the right move. Like many founders, she wrestled with balancing ambition, fear, responsibility, and the weight of leading a system.
“We have not had deep pockets. We have really strapped this thing together” she says. “I think our grit and our passion has made up for it.”
These early challenges forced Christian to develop the traits that now define Bee Organized’s culture. Her experience mirrors what many emerging franchisors eventually discover:
- Emotional endurance. Expect moments of doubt and recognize them as part of the founder journey.
- Resourcefulness over resources. A strong mission and consistent action can outweigh limited capital.
- Shared leadership. Leaning on co-founders and partners provides balance during moments of uncertainty.
- Purpose driven resilience. Clarity of mission helps guide decisions during difficult stages of growth.
- Learning through discomfort. Every stressful moment becomes data that strengthens the system and the leadership behind it.
This blend of realism, resourcefulness, and resilience has become part of Bee Organized’s DNA and continues to shape how the brand grows today.
The shift toward consultants and strategic growth
For most of Bee Organized’s journey, growth came through organic interest and direct founder-led conversations. But after strengthening their operational foundation and taking a thoughtful pause in 2024, Christian began exploring franchise consultants for the first time.
“Finally got over that and really have loved the consultants that I’ve gotten to know. I think it’s all about what you put in. You get out of it what you put into it,” says Christian. “They can send me somebody… and if I have that first conversations and I’m like, ‘why did you send me that person…’ we break it down and figure out what went wrong.”
Even with consultants supporting the pipeline, Christian remains the central voice in franchise development. For her, founder involvement is non-negotiable. This founder-driven approach, combined with intentional consultant partnerships, has positioned Bee Organized for its next phase of thoughtful, values-aligned growth.
A decade of growth and a new era ahead
With a decade behind them and a renewed strategy for 2026, Bee Organized is entering a new chapter defined by intention, clarity, and steady growth. Christian and her team are focused on strengthening the discovery process, expanding their presence as thought leaders in the organizing industry, and building the institutional identity that will support the brand for years to come.
What fuels Christian most is the energy she gets from her franchisees. At their recent franchisee conference, she described standing in the room, looking out at the people who are building Bee Organized alongside her, and feeling a deep mix of pride, gratitude, and humility.
“It is a pretty amazing thing to be standing there looking… I know each one of these people so individually and intimately,” she says. “There is nothing better than seeing them growing into themselves and becoming more confident.”
For Christian, this is the true reward. The journey has been unpredictable and transformational. Bee Organized began with a simple belief in the power of organization. Today, it has become a thriving franchise system built on connection, clarity, and the courage to pause in order to grow.
