Brandon Lewis, B.S., M.B.A.
Founder
Brandon Lewis started and grew his painting business to over $1 Million in sales and 20 employees during the worst recession since the Great Depression. He went on to sell his business for a significant profit in a still struggling economy.
Lewis applies the marketing knowledge he has gained as a political consultant to U.S. Senate, U.S. Congress, State/Local Officials, and Caucuses to the painting industry, specifically as it relates to marketing of repaint services.
With a Bachelor of Science in Marketing, Magna Cum Laude, and a Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing, Brandon Lewis has the academic credentials to back up his real world experience.
An author and speaker – consummate reader of business books and a confessed audiobook addict – Brandon has a wealth of knowledge on marketing, advertising, operations, sales, and entrepreneurial leadership subject matter in the painting field.
Over 15 years of intense study pertaining to small business marketing gives him a unique insight into what works and what doesn’t when theory meets cold-hard reality for painters.
Tara Riley
COO and Scaling Specialist
The newest member of the team, Tara joined the Academy for Professional Painting Contractors as Chief Operating Officer and Scaling Specialist in October of this year. With over 35 years of executive management, business coaching, and operations experience in franchising, including over 15 years in the Painting and Home Services Industries, Tara’s greatest success lies in creating profitable growth for business owners at every stop in her career. In her most recent role as President of Fresh Coat Painters, Tara helped to triple franchise average unit volume and nearly quadruple total revenues in just under ten years. Now she is excited to take that experience and team up with Brandon Lewis to provide Franchise-quality coaching and tools to the members of APPC.
Prior to her experience with Fresh Coat, Tara lead teams in a variety of business models including home improvement, personal services, and restaurants. Her broad experience working within global franchise icons such as McDonald’s as well as in much younger high-growth brands, including Sport Clips, NHance Wood Renewal and Comfort Keepers has provided her with an arsenal of creative ideas for growth and scaling.
Also experienced as a business owner, Tara understands the challenges and fears business owners face and has a passion for helping business owners push through to success in scaling.
This experience is instrumental in Tara’s quest to help APPC members on a continued path of growth, increased profits and improved quality of life for their families.
Tara holds a B.B.A in Management from Texas A&M University, an M.B.A. in Finance from Kennesaw State University (Georgia) and is a Certified Franchise Executive. In her free time, Tara volunteers with St Vincent de Paul and loves cooking, golfing, and touring back roads on her motorcycle with her best friend and companion, Steve.
John Schofield
Digital Marketing Manager
John brings over 15 years of digital marketing experience to the Web Services section of the Academy for Professional Painting Contractors. A born-and-bred New-Yorker, his diverse background includes a Bachelors Degree in Advertising and Masters Degree of Education, and has led him to a mastery of SEO after working with several Fortune 500 companies and some of the largest Internet Agencies in New York. Bleeding Yankee Pinstripe, his sense of determination and work ethic make him an incredibly valuable asset to APPC. He works with our customers to not only boost their online success, but also works hard to help his clients understand the ins and outs of SEO through reporting and up-kept communications.
John helps our members organically generate leads, increase web presence, and produce estimate requests through web development, SEO, and social media strategies that produce measurable and traceable results for professional painters.
Jennifer Berger
Enrollment Advisor and Executive Assistant
Jennifer is an employee who’s hard to catch. Whether she’s out doing community outreach for APPC or working hard on special projects, she’s constantly on the move in and out of the office. She works daily to ensure that every single process of her office runs as smoothly as possible. A mother of three, Jen loves spending time with her family and watching football.
Jennifer takes pride in coordinating not only day-to-day operations, but major projects such as the annual Summits put on by APPC. Between client communications, internal processes, and running the office, Jen is the backbone of APPC’s operations.
Kristin Lewis
Membership Support and Executive Assistant
Kristin understands the accounting, reporting, and customer relations aspects of running a painting company as well as anyone in the industry. From post production profitability analysis to efficiently routing estimate schedules, she has a wealth of knowledge in how to organize office activities to increase efficiency and reduce the level of stress found in typical high-volume repaint operations.
With a bachelor’s of science in communications, Kristin also helps members utilize proven methods for communicating with past customers in a manner that increases repeat business and referrals while lowering the average cost of sale per transaction.