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March 27, 2025 • 13 mins

When Rob White refers to window coverings as "the jewelry to your home," you immediately understand his passion for transforming spaces through thoughtful design choices. After nine years of military service, graduate school, and corporate experience with Whirlpool, Rob found his true calling when he purchased his Blooming Blinds franchise serving Winston-Salem and Davie County.

What distinguishes this veteran-owned business isn't just Rob's meticulous attention to detail or his iconic pink service van filled with samples from 14 manufacturers. It's his fundamental understanding that home improvement should be frictionless and personal. While most window covering businesses leave customers waiting days for quotes, Rob provides comprehensive pricing before leaving your home. His cutting-edge CRM system enables real-time scheduling and communication, while his hands-on approach ensures consistency from consultation to installation.

Blooming Blinds' origin story mirrors Rob's own values - beginning as a family business where a mother and her three sons built a 20+ year legacy now expanded to over 75 franchises nationwide maintaining an extraordinary 4.9-star average rating. Rob carries this tradition forward, occasionally bringing his own wife and sons on installations while planning thoughtful growth that won't compromise his commitment to exceptional service. For homeowners looking to elevate their spaces with blinds, shades, shutters, or custom drapery, Rob delivers both the product expertise and the personal touch that turns house projects into home transformations.

Ready to update your windows with service that prioritizes your experience from start to finish? Connect with Blooming Blinds of Winston-Salem through their website or by calling Rob directly at 336-446-9092.

Rob White

https://www.bloominblinds.com/winston-salem/

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Karen Wood.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Well, welcome.
Welcome to episode number four.
Today we have Rob White withBlooming Blinds.
How are you, rob?

Speaker 3 (00:20):
I'm doing well, Karen .
Thank you so much for having meon.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Thank you for being here.
I'm so excited to share you andyour business with the Advance
community and, more importantly,davie County.
This is all about sharingbusinesses and allowing our
community to get to know ourbusiness owners just a little
bit better outside of what theydo in their business.
So thank you for being here.

(00:44):
Tell us a little bit aboutyourself, who you are, where you
come from and how you ended uphere with Blumen and Blinds.

Speaker 3 (00:52):
Sure, I would love to .
So it's a very, very long storybut I'll try to make it short.
So my name is Rob White, I'mmarried to wonderful wife Stacy
and we have two boys, davis andDylan.
They're eight and 10.
They're enrolled at LouisvilleElementary.
We have been in the NorthCarolina area for five years.

(01:16):
I spent nine years in the Army,went to grad school and then
went to work for Whirlpool inthe appliance manufacturer in
Southwest Michigan, met my wifethere.
My last role at Whirlpool I washandling the shopper marketing
team for independent retailbusinesses and the builder
business from an appliancestandpoint, and that brought me

(01:39):
and relocated me toWinston-Salem with a new company
located in downtown Winston.
I was doing that for five yearsand in that capacity I was
supporting independently runbusinesses that sell appliances
you know throughout the countryand really gave me a taste, for
you know the business ownersthat are every day kind of

(02:02):
putting in their chips andbuilding these legacies for
their families and you know theentrepreneurship that went along
with it.
And I kind of got the itch andso had an opportunity to buy
into this franchise and start itand it's really been a blessing
for me and the family.
I mean between my militarycareer and then Whirlpool, and

(02:22):
then, you know, supporting theindependent channel.
I have a real passion for smallcommunities, growing up in a
small town in Illinois, and areal passion for small business,
and so it's been great to beable to be on the other side of
that own the business.
And then, you know, try to helpthe people in our community
with problems that they have,and you know, the problems

(02:43):
aren't like like I had in themilitary.
But you know, everybody youknow wants to elevate their
space and make their homesomething they can be proud of,
and window coverings is a bigpiece of that.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
Absolutely, they're such a personality thing.
I refer to them as, like thejewelry to an outfit.
You know your window coveringsare the jewelry to your home
right.

Speaker 3 (03:06):
Yeah, that's a good analogy.
I like that.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
Yeah, yeah, it's that final piece that really shows
your personality, I think,Awesome.
So Bloomin' Blinds.
How long has this company beenin business?

Speaker 3 (03:20):
So the company itself started in Texas and the mother
she started a blinds cleaningbusiness, did some repairs and
then her three sons eventuallystarted working for her and did
more of the sales side.
And so Blooming Blinds as anentity has been around for 20
plus years.
As a franchise.

(03:41):
It's still relatively young,you know in the 10 years old,
you know in that range, and youknow part of the appeal for me
was it is family owned andoperated and you know there's a
lot of franchises that areprivate equity owned and you
know it's not necessarily bad.
But you know, what I waslooking for was that family
touch, which is, you know, partof who I am and what I want my

(04:06):
franchise to be like in thiscommunity.

Speaker 2 (04:08):
Right, and you know, lots of times with family owned
businesses you still get thatpersonal support or you know the
closer, just a lot of supportthat you may not get as things
get filtered and, once removed,once more layers get added into
it.
I guess yeah absolutely.

Speaker 3 (04:25):
I mean I still I have the autonomy to run the
business in my local market kindof as I see fit.
Now, obviously, as a you know abrand person myself, you know I
want to stay true to who Bloomand Blinds is and how it shows
up, but if you look nationallyof our you know 75 plus
franchises, the average ratingand review on Google is 4.9

(04:46):
stars, and so you know that'ssomething to be proud of from a
franchise and that's somethingthat I really take pride in is
delivering a best in classexperience, and I want to
continue to do that, not justfor my local community but for
the franchise in total.

Speaker 2 (05:01):
Right, right, that's awesome.
So kind of what sets Bloom andBlinds apart for maybe some of
the other competitors, what'ssignificantly different that you
can share with us.
You know, I think it's, youknow, twofold.

Speaker 3 (05:17):
Like you know, all of the individually owned window
covering companies, you know areextension of their owners or
extension of their sales force.
And so you know there can be alot of difference in how that,
you know, shows up to thecustomer.
And I think you know bloom andblind is like for me it's I'm
the owner and the operator,no-transcript and blinds

(05:58):
corporate standpoint, you know,I think it's an extension of
that.
Like they are so focused ondriving a customer experience.
Everything they do from abackend support system is
dedicated to, you know, solvingcustomer pain points and making
the process, you know, morefrictionless.
And that's from you know wehave a dedicated call center in

(06:20):
Texas and so when you call, youknow my number, it gets routed
to them.
All they do is answer calls forwindow coverings.
They handle no other businessexcept blooming blinds and
window coverings.
And then the organization spenta lot of money, you know, on the
technology side to help bookappointments.
Look at my calendar, thecustomer's calendar.

(06:41):
You know, make things seamless.
And then, from you know, like aCRM technology standpoint, I'm
able to, you know, talk directlyto the customer via text, via
email, via phone, whatever theykind of opt into real time and
you know that's reschedulingappointments, moving them up,
moving them back.
You know, and.
And then, from a quotingstandpoint, once I get in the

(07:03):
house, you know we have somesoftware that we use, that I
come in, I take measurements, wepick out stuff and, before I
leave you will have a quote inyour hand and, you know, ready
to make a decision.
Not that you have to make adecision at that point, but it's
just so much better experiencethan okay, I got everything.
I'm going to go run somenumbers at home and I'll get
back to you.

Speaker 2 (07:24):
I got you.
That's awesome.
So when someone like does call,say, for example, your number
and information, they're talkingto you directly, whether it's
text or by the phone, eventhough the CRM system has been
set up for you.
But they're talking to you, notan AI, julie or something like

(07:46):
that, right?

Speaker 3 (07:47):
Yeah, as of right now .
The way it's set up is they'retalking to real time people Now,
from a franchise when I wastalking about, they're trying to
make the process morefrictionless and make it a
better.
You know we're there.
The franchise is investing intechnology and to try to.
You know, right now, one of thebiggest you know and I won't say
biggest because it sounds likea negative one of the pain

(08:08):
points is, you know, becauseyou're talking to people,
there's only a finite amount ofpeople that can answer the phone
and there's 75 bloom and blindsfranchises across the country
and sometimes the hold time, youknow, can be a couple minutes,
right, and we want to get thatdown to instantaneously Right.
So the franchise is looking atthe usage of AI and we're really
piloting it in the backendright now to be able to pick up

(08:32):
the phone, answer it immediately, get all the facts, coordinate
your schedule and my scheduleand make it to where.
Yes, you know you're talking toan AI, but the AI is so smart
that it answers all yourquestions and gets you exactly
where you need to be as quick aspossible.
And so turn what's today, Ithink, kind of a turn off

(08:55):
talking to AI to be a oh my gosh.
This was so seamless andfrictionless that it's actually
nice using technology for good.
Right and you didn't feeldisconnected still from you, the
franchise owner in the end,yeah, and then ultimately, once
you know they're booking anappointment, they have my direct
contact and my direct line andso I'm all the time, you know,

(09:19):
texting the customer.
Hey, you know we have a 8.30 AM.
I'm actually running ahead ofschedule.
Do you mind if I get there at8.15?
And I have that back and forthwith them once the kind of
appointment is set.

Speaker 2 (09:31):
Gotcha, gotcha.
Well, I have seen your largepink blooming van in the
community.
Tell me what's inside that van.

Speaker 3 (09:41):
So the van has, you know, product samples from about
14 different manufacturers thatI can choose from, and those
those manufacturers carryproducts that span the gambit
for window covering, so anything.
We have multiple differentoptions for blinds and shades
and shutters and drapery anddrapery hardware and rods,

(10:08):
drapery and drapery hardware androds, and you know, carrying
multiple manufacturers that allsell the same product, you know
is great for the customer.
So if we don't have that rightfabric or that right material, I
can go to the van and grabsomething else.
Or if somebody's running a youknow a promotion or a special
for one brand, I can lead withthat to try to get my customer
the best bang for their buck.
And then on the other side ofthat it's got a bunch of tools
and a bunch of hardware.

(10:28):
And so you know, because I'mdoing both the sales and
installation, you know anythingthat I need to.
Either you know service,install, repair or you know do.
The initial consultation andsales is in the van.

Speaker 2 (10:41):
Awesome, Awesome.
So you are the installer andthe salesperson, the CEO.
You're wearing all thedifferent hats.
What's your vision for yourcompany with Blooming Blinds?

Speaker 3 (11:04):
You know, right now it's been great Like my wife has
been on a couple of installswith me.
My kids have been on someinstalls with me.
I love the fact that I can bethere 100% of the time and you
know, going back to.
You know, if you're dedicatedto an amazing customer
experience, the best way to dothat is, you know you have
consistency on who shows up, butright now that's me.

(11:24):
I know that's not sustainableas I grow, but you know, for the
, for the customers out there inthis community, you know I
don't.
There's not a lot of overheadfor me.
I have the van and that'sreally it right now, so I'm able
to drive an amazing experience,you know, at a super
competitive cost.
You know at a super competitivecost, and so I'd love to
continue that by.

(11:45):
You know the next kind of bestthing is to hire an installer as
we grow, and then I can stilldo sales, I can still do repairs
, I can.
I can still do some installs,but you know it's more of a of a
two person show and I think wecan.
You know I can scale up thebusiness a little bit that way
and just having my time freed upto go, do more of the

(12:07):
consultations.
While I have a vetted personthat also is dedicated to
customer experience, do some ofthe installs for me.

Speaker 2 (12:15):
That makes sense.
That makes sense.
Well, that is awesome.
Tell people how they can findyou, get in touch with you if
they want to book an appointment, and just learn more about you
and Blooming Blinds.

Speaker 3 (12:29):
Yeah.
So the best way is to reach out, to go on the Internet, reach
out to Blooming Blinds ofWinston-Salem from the website
you can.
You can, you know, schedule aconsultation there.
Consultation there.

(12:49):
You can also reach out at336-864-2971, which will get you
over to the customer carecenter in Dallas.
Or, if you really want to reachme directly, my direct line is
336-446-9092.
Any of those three ways, youwill get in touch with myself or
Blooming Blinds, where we'rededicated to a exceptional
customer experience.

Speaker 2 (13:07):
Awesome, awesome, rob .
Well, thank you for joining ustoday.
I'm so excited to share yourbusiness with the community, and
if anyone's looking to givetheir home a facelift, get some
new jewelry for their home andupdate their own personality, I
would highly recommend BloomingBlinds.
They do have some beautifulproducts and their customer
service, again, is awesome too.

(13:28):
So, rob, thanks so much andlook forward to having you back
on here.

Speaker 3 (13:34):
Awesome.
Thanks, Karen.
Anytime I had a blast.

Speaker 1 (13:37):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to GNP Davey calm.
That's GNP Davey calm.
Or call three, three, six, five, five, nine three zero, four,
four.
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