Karen Powell

CEO, Decor&You®, Inc.

Few understand the significance of the phrase “If it’s not on the calendar, it doesn’t get done!” better than Karen Powell, CEO of the national interior decorating franchise, Decor&You®. Karen is part of a team of women who launched the business from the ground up in 1998.


Women Working Hard to Have It All
Karen views Decor&You as the ideal opportunity for businesspeople with extraordinary spirit and who want to be their own boss and can find the courage to be master of their own success. Today, Decor&You is composed of 98 percent women franchisees who work hard to balance their time among the demands of career, family, health and hobbies. She cautions that it’s not easy to run your own business profitably, particularly a home-based business, while balancing competing interests. Yet she and many of the more than 100 franchisees who make up Decor&You will attest that when it’s done right, it’s profoundly rewarding.

Karen is a masterful scheduler, always first to arrive each morning at the franchise national headquarters and training center in Southbury, Conn., and last to leave. She shares her determination with new franchisees during the first few of several hundred hours of training in the Decor Professional Education Program. The program imparts a substantial small business platform through hands-on training, online and distance learning opportunities, and accessible, proactive coaching.

Keep Growing
Karen is very proud to lead a field of franchisees that stretches into 30 states, talented people, most college degreed professionals who enjoyed success in their first careers before coming to Decor&You for tools, resources, systems, continuous innovation – and the culture of encouragement which Karen Powell established.

Karen’s vision for the franchise drew from her first career, as a business educator. She earned a BS in Business Education from Salem State College in Massachusetts, and continued on to earn a Masters in Business Education from Central Connecticut State University. Teaching business basics to young people inspired Karen to create the DecorPlan System, the franchise’s roadmap to sell, create and manage decorating projects.

Following her own advice, Karen makes time for her own development through the International Franchise Association (IFA), where she holds the Certified Franchise Executive designation. As a leader in a female-dominated industry, Karen is well qualified for the IFA Women’s Franchise Committee, where she currently serves on the board of directors. She actively supports several national organizations dedicated to advancing women in the business world, including Women Empowered by Business and the Entrepreneurial Women’s Network. In spring 2007, Karen participated in the International Institute for Franchise Education’s (IIFE) CEO Summit, convened at Nova Southeastern in Florida, where she studied franchise organizational development and networked with another well-known Connecticut franchisor, Fred Deluca of Subway Restaurants.

Karen’s husband, Terry Powell, is CEO of two successful franchises, The Entrepreneur Source and Business Advisors International. Karen is a member of the International Franchise Association (IFA), IFA Women’s Franchise Committee, 2007 Member of the Board of Directors, Entrepreneurial Women’s Network, National Association of Business Owners, National Home Furnishings Association, Southbury Business Association, Women Empowered by Business - 2007 Leadership Committee Member, Window Coverings Association of America, and the International Institute for Franchise Education.