Engineering Background Fuels Rebecca Preston’s Success with Creative Colors
Rebecca Preston knows what it’s like to be a woman in a man’s world. The Fort Worth, TX Creative Colors International (CCI) franchise owner has worked in a field dominated by men for her whole career. “Coming from an engineering background, I have mostly worked with men my entire career,” said Rebecca. “So I can hold my own and have no problem getting my hands dirty. But the thing that really helps me thrive as a CCI owner is I know the manufacturing process of an RV.”
Rebecca Preston, Franchise Owner-CCI of Ft. Worth
As a career engineer, Rebecca has been working around RVs for decades. She graduated from Purdue University in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and went on to obtain a Black Belt Certification in the rigorous Six Sigma manufacturing program. She spent her early career working for Intel and Abbott Labs before taking a job with Raytheon. She held multiple positions in her 13 years with Raytheon and often worked in and around recreational vehicle manufacturing facilities.
While she loved working for Raytheon, Rebecca began to feel restless, and desired a new challenge. So, she hired a franchise consultant to investigate businesses that would be a good fit for her. She was living in Indiana at the time, but was hoping to get back to her home state of Texas. And crazy enough, she found the perfect solution at an R-V manufacturing facility.
“I remember seeing these people walking the floor in uniform wearing backpacks and they caught my attention,” said Rebecca. “What they did blew me away. They could repair linoleum floors and fix many other things that had gone wrong in the manufacturing process – things that would cost hundreds, potentially thousands, to replace or manufacture again. So, I decided to speak with one of these folks and that ended up being my first introduction to the Creative Colors International process and franchise opportunity.”
Soon after, Rebecca found out that Creative Colors International was a family-focused franchise with dozens of female franchise owners and executive leaders. Additionally, she did her homework and discovered Creative Colors International was a top 100 franchise with available franchise opportunities in central Texas. She called her consultant and worked with her to conduct her full due diligence on the Creative Colors International franchise opportunity.
Two years later, on May 5th, 2014, Rebecca launched her own Creative Colors International franchise location in Fort Worth, TX. She believed Fort Worth was a perfect location for her as she knew she could establish a reliable revenue stream with the dozens of R-V dealers located in her community. As someone who had spent years in R-V manufacturing plants, she knew R-V’s front to back and could speak intelligently to the owners and managers at these dealerships.
And today, more than two years later, Rebecca’s R-V knowledge and blue collar grit are paying dividends. She introduces her services face to face and then shows clients how much money she can save them by repairing over replacing. And while she makes R-V dealerships a priority, her and her team handle repair and restoration projects for all kinds of Fort Worth businesses.
Operating two trucks with two employees currently, Rebecca says the future for her business is bright. “I am working at growing the business,” she said. “There is definitely room for growth. Only God knows, but I see another employee and a van soon.” Rebecca says that knowing yourself and what drives your market, whether it’s RV’s boats, automobiles or some other industry, will help Creative Colors International franchise owners grow their own businesses.
For more success stories like Rebecca’s and to learn more about Creative Colors International franchise opportunities, please visit www.creativecolorsintl.com.
