EP #60 Three Brothers Transform Fredericksburg Kitchens One Home at a Time

What happens when three military veterans decide to transform their brotherhood into a business partnership? Matt Lethbridge reveals the inspiring journey behind Kitchen Tune-Up of Fredericksburg and Stafford, the remodeling company he owns with his brothers Jake (his identical twin) and Zach.

These former combat engineers and Navy veterans have leveraged their military precision to create a thriving kitchen and interior remodeling business serving the local community. Matt shares how their company offers services for every need and budget—from wood cabinet reconditioning and refacing to complete custom kitchens—all while maintaining the same standards they'd expect in their own homes. Beyond kitchens, they've expanded to basements, bathrooms, and built-ins as a licensed Class A contractor.

The conversation dives into the brothers' close relationship, balancing business with family time at their parents' Lake Anna home, coaching their children's sports teams, and even their competitive pickleball matches. Matt candidly discusses the challenges of working with siblings, revealing how communication has been their key to resolving disagreements and aligning their business vision. His advice for entrepreneurs? "Do something that you thoroughly enjoy and love" and "surround yourself with the best people."

What truly sets Kitchen Tune-Up apart is their approach to customer service. Matt acknowledges that mistakes happen in any business, but emphasizes their commitment to making things right when they do—a philosophy reflected in their stellar Google reviews. Whether you're planning a kitchen refresh or a complete home transformation, discover how these veteran brothers are bringing military discipline and family values to home improvement in Fredericksburg and Stafford.

Matt Lethbridge

Kitchen Tune-Up Fredericksburg & Stafford

kitchentuneup.com/fredericksburg-va/

[e-mail]

[phone]

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast
, the place where localbusinesses and neighbors come
together.
Here's your host, Dori Stewart.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Welcome back to another episode of the FXBG
Neighbors Podcast, where weshare the stories of our
favorite local brands.
Today I'm excited to introduceyou to Matt Lethbridge of
Kitchen Tune-Up ofFredericksburg and Stafford.
Matt, welcome to the podcast.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
Thanks for having me, Dori, I really appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Well, I'm excited to learn more about your business.
So let's start there.
Share with us a little bitabout Kitchen Tune-Up.

Speaker 3 (00:41):
So we are Kitchen Tune-Up Fredericksburg in
Stafford, owned by me and my twobrothers, Jake and Zach,
Lethbridge.
Jake and I are identical twins,so that's a lot of fun.
Obviously we're family owned,but we're also a veteran and
locally owned company thatspecializes in kitchen and
interior remodeling.
Within the kitchen we offer avariety of services that kind of

(01:03):
fit all needs, styles andbudgets.
And within the kitchen we offervariety of services that kind
of fit all needs, styles andbudgets.
And within the kitchen we offeruh wood cabinet reconditioning,
uh cabinet refacing, re-dooring, cabinet painting and custom
kitchens, custom cabinets.
Outside of that, we dobasements, bathrooms, built-ins,
etc.
We're a licensed class Acontractor, you know, insured

(01:24):
company.
Last thing I'll say about us iswe have a great team.
You know, outside of theownership team consists of me,
Jake and Zach, installers, salesdesign team, management staff,
our office staff.
We have a great bunch of girlsand guys.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
Amazing, so exciting, to start a business and be
working with your family.
So share with us a little bitabout your backstory and your
journey, and how the three ofyou landed on starting this
business.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
Yeah, so first me, Jake and Zach are all very close
and for the longest time wewanted to start a business
together.
So it kind of started there,Going back a little bit.
As I mentioned, we're veteransJake was in the Navy, Zach and I
were both combat engineers inthe Marine Corps and with that
we wanted to do something thatwe can get down and dirty, do

(02:19):
some physical labor, but alsosit behind a desk and run the
business.
It's lined.
We all ended up inFredericksburg, Spotsylvania
area and after some personalexperiences that we had with
some contractors, doing our ownmarket research and kind of
analyzing our strengths andweaknesses, we kind of settled
on kitchen remodeling and itgave us a chance to work with

(02:43):
four people, excuse me and giveback a little bit.

Speaker 2 (02:47):
So it was a good fit Amazing, amazing.
So it was a win-win all around.
I love it.

Speaker 3 (02:51):
Yes, ma'am.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
I love it.
So tell me when you're not busyworking on your business, which
I imagine you spend a lot oftime there.

Speaker 3 (03:05):
What are you doing for fun outside of Kitchen
Tune-Up?
Yeah, so we're fortunate.
Uh, our parents are local, uh,they have, they have a house on
lake annum, um, so it's abeautiful place.
Uh, so when the three of us aretogether and we're not working,
um, there's a good chance.
We're at my parents lake houseenjoying some time on the water,
um, so that's a lot of fun.
We're truly blessed for that.
Um, Zach has some older kidselementary, elementary, middle

(03:26):
school aged.
So Jake and Zach are involvedwith some coaching, so they do
that after work.
I have some younger kids, so Ispend time with my wife, my two
young kids and, of course, mydog can't forget him.
Some other things uh,pickleball is kind of in right
now, so, uh, saturday morningearly I will wake up and play

(03:47):
some competitive pickleball.
Uh, and then the last thingI'll say I'd be remiss if I
didn't mention, with the, theseason about to start, we enjoy
some fantasy football, so I'llthrow that in there.
It's a lot of fun nice, I loveit.

Speaker 2 (04:01):
So do you play pickleball with your brothers um
, I mean, yeah, we playedrecently.

Speaker 3 (04:06):
um, it goes back and forth, it's a lot of fun.
It gets heated, but it's a lotof fun.

Speaker 2 (04:13):
I love it.
That's fun.
Can you describe a challenge ora hardship that you've been
through that has now made youstronger for it, whether
personally or in business?

Speaker 3 (04:28):
Yeah, that's a really good question and I guess I'll
apologize kind of up front formaybe the lack of specificity
with my answer.
But like the otherentrepreneurs and business
owners you've probably talked to, owning a business is certainly
a challenge.
You have to have the technicalknowledge with whatever industry
you're in, but owning abusiness is also a significant

(04:50):
creative endeavor.
That's not necessarily blackand white, so with that can come
disagreements and the matter offact that there there is three
of us, potentially threedifferent viewpoints on business
goals, expectations, strategy,branding.
Of course, sometimes youdisagree and we've kind of had
to work through this.
But communication is key.

(05:11):
Sometimes have to put personalpride aside if one of us is
wrong or perhaps less right, butultimately we have gotten
together, communicated and donewhat's best for the business.
I kind of liken it to airingyour grievances on Seinfeld I
felt bad.
So that's kind of what it comesdown to is just getting on the

(05:31):
same page, having our prioritiesand intent aligned.
We have disagreed, we failed,but at the same time we've also
come together, succeeded in thecompany and our personal
relationship is better becauseof that.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
So yeah, yeah, Amazing.
It's such a great learningexperience and great for others
to hear that you know people whoare working in a business with
family and friends or thinkingabout it.
So is there any other advicethat you might give someone who

(06:06):
is thinking about starting theirown business?

Speaker 3 (06:10):
Yeah, a little bit again cliche, but certainly do
something that you thoroughlyenjoy and love.
And then, when it comes togrowing and scaling, you know,
take your time and get the rightpeople around you.
Get the people that you trulylove, respect and trust.
Don't sacrifice kind of yourvision and where you want to

(06:35):
take the company, make surethey're bought in, but surround
yourself with the best people.
And that's kind of the bestadvice that I can give yeah,
that's really good advice.

Speaker 2 (06:44):
Make sure you're all focused in the same direction
and have the same vision.
I love it.

Speaker 3 (06:50):
Yes, ma'am.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
What is something that you wish the listeners knew
about?
Kitchen Tune-Up.

Speaker 3 (06:57):
Yeah, so again going back to a little bit cliche,
however, we respect and treatour customers homes as if they
were it was our own home and weinstill try to instill that in
our installers.
That serves as the basis orlevel of care, attention to
detail and quality of work thatour customers receive, that they

(07:18):
get from us.
And to caveat that and this isa little bit of a bugger, but
I'd probably get in trouble withJake and Zach on saying this
but mistakes happen.
We aren't perfect.
But what I can say is you know,if we're at fault, we will
engage with the customer and doour absolute best to make things
right and there's nosacrificing and coming off.

(07:40):
That and I believe our Googlereviews and that kind of speaks
to that testament and kind ofwhat we're about, and that's our
competitive advantage, so tospeak.

Speaker 2 (07:51):
You have amazing Google reviews, so
congratulations on that.

Speaker 3 (07:55):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (07:56):
And it is, you know, a lesson for all contractors.
No business is immune tomistakes, but in how you handle
it is everything.

Speaker 3 (08:07):
That's right.
Especially when you're in theirhome, you certainly want to
respect their space.
So yeah, you're absolutelyright, this man.

Speaker 2 (08:16):
So if the listeners want to connect with you or
learn more about Kitchen Tune-Up, how can they find you?

Speaker 3 (08:22):
Yeah, go to Google, check us out Kitchen Tune-Up of
Fredericksburg and Stafford, oryou can go straight to
kitchentuneup.
com.
We're also on Facebook andInstagram, and then we also have
a little selection center onLafayette Boulevard near
downtown Fredericksburg.
But best tool is just go toGoogle and look us up.

Speaker 2 (08:41):
Amazing Matt.
Thank you so much for joiningme on the podcast today.

Speaker 3 (08:46):
Yeah, thanks for having me.
I really appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (08:49):
Thank you for listening to the Fredericksburg
Neighbors Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go tofxbgneighborspodcast.
com.