MALE ANNOUNCER: Tonight on "Undercover Boss,"
Renee Maloney,
co-founder of Painting with a Twist,
goes undercover in her own company.
- No. - I'm gonna go undercover.
It'll work.
ANNOUNCER: While undercover...
This is lovely Savannah.
ALL: Hi, Savannah.
ANNOUNCER: This Michelangelo of marketing...
This is ridiculous.
ANNOUNCER: Will meet the people
who make her masterpiece work.
- Calvin, when's lunch? - Lunch is when you finish.
- You got it? - Ugh, yeah.
Look, here's a whole nother stack for you.
ANNOUNCER: She'll take center stage.
Y'all want to hear a blonde joke?
Yeah!
Okay, so she's in, um, um...
I'm so nervous!
Hey, hey, ba-ba!
ANNOUNCER: And what will happen when she discovers
her employees think the company is not so picture-perfect?
I'm gonna show you some of my original artwork.
Zebra in there has sold
- around 3,000 seats already. - Wow.
It's not something that we are compensated for.
Okay.
Are you pretty profitable?
Do you think this is a good business?
She basically had to borrow, like, $350,000.
Jeez.
Listen, the first six months here,
I think we were gonna close the doors, like, three times.
ANNOUNCER: Find out next on "Undercover Boss."
ANNOUNCER: Headquartered near New Orleans, Louisiana,
Painting with a Twist creates
experiences combining art instruction,
wine, and friends for people looking for a unique outing.
Welcome to Painting with a Twist!
ANNOUNCER: With more than 300 franchise locations,
2,200 employees,
and $42 million in annual revenue,
this company's success is a work of art.
Drawing up a prosperous future
for this young company is one woman.
I'm Renee Maloney.
I am the CFO, the co-founder,
and the franchisor of Painting with a Twist.
WOMAN: All you're gonna do is just highlight
your little areas of Texas.
RENEE: Painting with a Twist is a sip-and-paint studio.
The experience is like you're coming to a party.
There's art, music, and we drink.
We drink and paint.
Painting with a Twist is really not paint by numbers.
It's actually a blank canvas.
But we have a really fun artist/instructor
in the front of the class,
and there's a sense of, "We're gonna take care of you.
I can walk you through this step by step."
We don't want it to feel like "art class."
(upbeat music)
When we first started, there was no such thing as sip-and-paint.
Primarily it was developed as a place for women to gather,
have a glass of wine,
not think about the kids, but lo and behold,
we have date night, and we have team building,
and we have men come and paint with us.
And then from there, actually, an industry was born
called the sip-and-paint industry.
So Painting with a Twist has been the leading franchise
in the industry.
- Hey, everybody. - Good morning.
Cathy Deano and I co-founded Painting with a Twist.
- I'm Renee. - I'm Cathy.
RENEE: We fit together.
She's really the creative,
and I'm kind of the kind of boring business numbers.
I met Cathy on the first day of kindergarten
when my youngest child started school.
The teacher says, "Who wants to be room mom?"
So, "I can do the cupcakes."
I raised my hand.
Well, lo and behold, Cathy raised her hand.
And so we were co-room moms.
Through that process,
we became this dynamic duo of raising money.
So we became friends.
And then, you know, Hurricane Katrina happened.
(dramatic music)
Cathy's house was flooded.
Everything that we owned in the city was underwater.
And then I said, "Now what?
Because we don't have any businesses."
And so we just said, "Let's start a business."
And a friend of ours who's an artist called and said,
"Y'all have to do speed art."
We tested it in the back of Cathy's little barn
in the back of her yard, and people liked it.
Everyone had a great time.
We didn't even drink that day.
I said we had to drink
because that would make it much more fun.
In 2007, we rented this terrible little dumpy building.
By the end of 2008,
we had four locations in New Orleans,
and we decided to franchise.
Today we have over 300 studios in 36 states.
We have a goal of 100 studios every year
with the ultimate goal being 700 domestically
and some international growth.
Cheers to our franchise du jour, number 326?
- 326. - Here we go.
(indistinct chatter)
RENEE: I was raised in New Orleans.
I'm the youngest of three children,
and we were just living
the regular, happy, you know, suburban life,
but it all fell to pieces
when Dad fell in love with the babysitter,
and he drove away into the sunset,
and there was Mom, you know, sitting with three kids.
As a girl, you know, seeing that,
there's an insecurity.
I didn't ever want to be in a position
that I needed someone to take care of me
or I needed someone to take care of my kids.
So somewhere deep down inside, I think that's what drives me.
I think she wants to run.
Whiskey. Box.
Oh! (whistles) Hey!
RENEE: At 19 years old, I married Craig Maloney.
I met him when I was 12, and here we are,
27 years later, with 3 kids.
Three days ago, I dropped my youngest child off at college.
I am now officially an empty nester.
Going undercover couldn't have happened at a better time.
It's going to move me through into this new chapter.
(ship horn blows)
Ready for what's happening today?
Yeah, it's good. It's all good.
So I'm going undercover to make sure
that our projections of growth are sustainable
and that they're measurable so that you don't implode.
We want to explode, not implode.
MAN: What's going to be your back history?
I'm kind of an all-natural hippie-dippie chick.
So I'll give you weed-smoking teeth.
- There you go. Okay. - (laughter)
While undercover, I'll be posing as Savannah,
a recently separated woman
who's trying to start her life over.
It's good to be in blonde.
I'm going undercover instead of Cathy
because I'm usually behind a desk crunching numbers.
I need to get into our studios
and see the creative side of our industry
up close and personal
to make sure we're truly prepared
to make our growth goals.
The employees believe that this is a competition reality show.
They have no idea that this is "Undercover Boss."
(indistinct chatter)
- Hi. - Oh, my God.
- No. - I did not even recognize you.
- Are you serious? - I'm serious.
- I'm gonna go undercover. - It'll work.
RENEE: In the beginning, we were the operations people.
We were on the phone with franchisees
walking them through the day-to-day operations,
and a system this large growing this fast, we can't be there.
Bye. I love y'all.
You can stay here,
but you're gonna have to sleep with the dogs now.
- With Georgie. - I could be cute.
We need to know what's happening out there,
and going undercover, it's going to show us.
(upbeat music)
♪ ♪
(cows mooing)
♪ ♪
Today I am in San Antonio, Texas,
and I will be working with an art instructor.
This is a very busy location,
and I'm hoping to learn
what makes this location so successful.
- Hi, I'm Savannah. - Okay, Savannah.
RENEE: At Painting with a Twist,
we make fun art, not fine art,
and I'm hoping to find, with this art instructor,
that they have that ability to put people at ease
and provide a great experience every single time.
- Hello. - Hi, I'm Savannah.
Nice to meet you, Savannah. I'm Maci.
Nice to meet you.
So I am an instructor here at Painting with a Twist.
This is pretty much just, like, Bob Ross live, pretty much.
We're just gonna teach these people
how to paint step by step,
this beautiful painting that they chose.
I'm going to show you this little sheet right here.
And it just tells us what colors we have to work with.
Just black, white, and blue. That is it.
- That's like the recipe. - Right, exactly.
And they already have paint and everything they need.
- Yes, they're already set up. - So we don't have to do that.
- They are ready to go. - They're just waiting on us.
Yes, they're ready to rock.
- No pressure. - No way.
I'm going to do my part, and then I will hand you the mic
when it's your turn to teach the little pyramid.
- All right, I'm with you. - That too much?
No, I'm gonna do what you tell me to do.
All right, you can do it. We're gonna do it.
I am so scared. I failed art.
They told me to leave class.
And so, to be responsible
to walk people through an art experience
when I actually have no idea how to do that,
I'm pretty scared.
I am Maci. I'm gonna be instructing you today,
and this is lovely Savannah.
- ALL: Hi, Savannah. - Hi.
She's gonna be helping me along.
All right. Well, we got some painting to do.
So we're gonna position just a little dot
where we want to place our moon.
One hand on top, boop.
One hand on the side, boop, boop.
And I'm using that skinny edge of my brush
to just bring it on down.
We're gonna do the same thing on the left side.
RENEE: So far, Maci is giving the customer experience
we expect from Painting with a Twist.
If you ever have a confusing time, don't worry about it.
- Keep drinking wine. - (laughter)
RENEE: They're all chuckling and laughing.
So I got my index finger and my thumb 'cause I'm a loser.
You're not. You're beautiful.
RENEE: And she seems to really be able to make them at ease
with just her fun personality.
- It is your turn, Savannah. - Ooh. Ooh.
We'll go ahead and move forward and start with the white part,
so we're gonna take, um, some white to the left.
How's everybody feeling?
(quirky music)
(dramatic music)
Okay.
Well, I got up to take over the painting,
and it's like crickets.
I mean, it is quiet, dead.
Y'all having fun?
WOMAN: Yeah.
Y'all want to hear a blonde joke?
- Yeah! - Okay.
I'm just hoping maybe I can save myself with a joke.
So there was a blonde-headed lady
who got on an airplane,
and the stewardess said,
"Ma'am, um, your ticket is for coach.
You need to move to the back of the classroom," and...
I mean, not the classroom, the plane.
Okay, so she's in, um, um... Mmm.
It's nerve-racking.
There's sweat happening, and my palms are wet.
And the stewardess says, "Well, what did you tell her?"
And he said, "I told her the front of the airplane
wasn't going to Seattle."
Right now it's just kind of like...
(imitates flatline)
- I'm so nervous! - Hey, hey, ba-ba!
(crickets chirping)
Okay. Ba-da-bum. Okay.
That was a good one. I love it.
You liked it? Yeah. Okay.
Back to painting.
Okay, so we have these... Well, you know...
I think the guests feel sorry for me.
And you're just going to position your moon,
trace that with white, and fill it in with white.
- Over there? - Yeah, where the dot was.
And just have fun. Kick up your energy.
Kick it up. Like, Whoo!
Get excited about it. Pretend like you love it.
Okay. We're just going to do a little circle
right here around the cup.
We're gonna fill this circle in with...
White. White, yeah.
Maci is trying to make me feel comfortable.
So, as you notice, our moon is low. That is okay.
Everybody's is going to be different
'cause everyone is different.
Oh, you've done this before. It's nice.
What? Is it really?
- Yeah. - We got a natural over here.
To get the little baby branches,
I'm going to switch to a bit of a smaller brush.
RENEE: She's doing a great job.
She's taking me step by step through the process
of painting a painting.
Just compliment, ask how they're doing.
RENEE: I love how everyone did their own thing,
and they all look good.
(gasps) Look at the blue one, too.
MACI: All right, guys.
Now we're going to take a good old class picture. One...
BOTH: Two, three!
- Whoo! - Whoo!
Thank you so much for coming to paint with Savannah and I.
Let's get a round of applause for Savannah.
- Thank you guys. - Yeah!
Maci is the kind of talent that we look for
for a long time to have as part of our team.
That was painful. How do you do this every day?
I mean, I love it. It's great.
You've been doing this for a long time?
- Only a year. - Are you in college?
- I get my associate's in May. - (gasps)
I wanted to get my bachelor's,
but it's just more of, you know, how.
- (chuckles) - Right.
How are you gonna pay for that?
'Cause my parents, they just recently got divorced.
- Y'all live far apart or...? - Yeah.
I mean, my mom works three jobs, so she's struggling, and...
because my dad was, like, the breadwinner,
and so, when he left, he started his new life.
He already has a new fiancée and then, whew...
(voice breaking) So my mom's just over there,
you know, trying to live and survive.
I wish I could see her more.
I see her, like, two times a year maybe.
My dad left for the babysitter.
- So, I mean, I can feel it. - Oh, yeah.
- I mean, I know. - This just happened, like,
- two years ago or so now. - Oh, no.
Yeah, so... It was on Christmas Day.
- (gasps) - I mean, that happened,
but he had to start his new life and pay for new things,
so I guess he couldn't afford me anymore,
and so you got to just learn how to deal.
- Right, but you have debt. - Oh, yeah.
Student loans, 'cause I went to university first and, whew.
RENEE: Seeing Maci onstage, you would never know
what her personal life was like.
You wouldn't know what she's going through.
Really, she could take what life has fed her,
and she could just quit, and she's not.
Everybody at this job is awesome, too,
so that's already a step up.
RENEE: I'd always hoped that Painting with a Twist
would be an escape for our staff
as well as our customers.
Meeting Maci really helped me understand
that that actually is happening.
This is what makes this location so successful.
It's a dream studio.
- What problems? - We don't have problems.
No, we just have success.
(upbeat music)
♪ ♪
RENEE: So I'm in Rockwall, Texas,
and I'm going to be working with a manager in training.
Being here is important to me
because I've never been to this location before.
In the beginning, Cathy and I could be there
for the initial training and onboarding of everyone,
but this location...
we weren't present for any of it,
and so I'm hoping my team did a good job
portraying what our fundamental goals are
in the day-to-day operations of a studio,
and I'm hoping this manager has absorbed that.
- Oh, hi. - Hi, I'm Savannah.
Savannah. Hi, Savannah. I am Bree.
I'm the manager in training here at the studio.
I'm going to show you around the studio a little bit.
I'm going to introduce you to some of our VIP customers
to know what really drives our business.
You want to treat your customer like family.
You want to treat 'em like they're the only person
in the room at all times.
Miss Brenda... she's visited our studio
over 60 times.
The music is popping today.
This is a whole table of VIPs over here.
These are all regulars in our studio.
Oh, I'm so sorry, Chrissy. I know. Boop!
Bree is so pleasant and so positive.
I really enjoy that Bree introduced me
- to so many VIPs... - Beautiful.
RENEE: And that they're repeat customers
that she knows by name.
I love that she understands how important that is.
BREE: Creating original art is the heart
of what Painting with a Twist does.
Everything we do is copyrighted. It's original.
We own it, so we want to make sure
that everything we create is marketable,
is something that people are gonna want to come paint.
This little series right here is called "Animal Crackers."
They're all my originals.
I wanted to create something that would get butts in chairs,
that people would like to paint,
that kids would love and that they think
is an attainable thing for them to paint.
RENEE: I really like the way that Bree thought about art
when she's creating it.
Bree understands the big picture.
How many pieces have you created?
- I think around maybe 15? - Wow.
BREE: The zebra in there has sold
around 3,000 seats already.
Wow.
I love that other people love it
and it brings other people joy.
The downfall to creating art is that
it's not something that we are compensated for.
If I could change one thing about the company,
'cause I love everything about Painting with a Twist,
that would be the one thing that I'd change.
You know, I'm motivated to create good art
because I want to sell seats.
- Right. - But a lot of people, you know,
they might not be a manager in training.
They might just be an artist at a studio.
They want to know what the "why" for them is.
RENEE: I mean, she's pointed out some things that I think
we really need to think about.
Artists may need to be compensated more
for when they create art
and it becomes a big hit or a best seller.
So that's something I really need to look at.
Today you're going to create an original piece.
- Oh, wow. Okay. - Okay?
And I want it to be an extension of the "Animal Crackers."
And I want you to do it with teaching a class in mind.
- Okay. - Try to complete it
in a timely manner that you know that someone could teach...
that a kid would like to paint.
- Okay. - That's your task.
- That's my task. - And you can do it.
- I have faith in you. - You have confidence.
BREE: Savannah's a little fearful.
She needs to just jump in there,
put on her brave-girl panties, and get to it.
Just draw around...
- Mm-hmm. - With this anywhere,
and then maybe stop at the ears and then draw your own ears in.
- Okay? - Okay.
- I'm gonna leave you to it. - Okay.
And I'm gonna check on my class, okay?
- Okay. Thank you. Yes. - You're welcome.
Okay.
Okay, y'all, this is hilarious.
That's a cow.
(gasps)
(upbeat music)
This is ridiculous.
I am the money side of this business,
not the painting side of this business.
BREE: So, at this point, usually what we'd want to do
is paint in the fill-in first,
and then we go in and we fill in the details and then outline.
- Got ya. - Okay?
I would love to have some wine.
It would be nice. It would be, like, inspirational.
Some sad little puppy.
♪ ♪
How we doing over here?
Okay. Very cute.
Very good. I like it.
Savannah's painting looked, uh...
You know, it looked a little bit like a doodle
that you do as a kid.
I would say now I would like you to re-paint it again, so...
- Do it all over again? - Do it all over again.
Okay.
(laughing)
It just needs a little bit more work.
- You got this. - How do you... how do you...
You're powerful. You're powerful.
How do you make goals?
I mean, what are you gonna do next?
Like, what's the big dream here?
So I'm hoping to be manager,
but one of my most important guidelines
for me to want to work here,
I ask what kind of philanthropy work.
We do a charity event every month.
Every studio... it's part of our corporate policy,
and I thought that was the most wonderful thing.
You know, I have these weird bucket lists for myself.
I want to have... I want to get a Nobel Peace Prize...
- Oh, wow. - At some point, and I know
what I want to get it for.
I want to get it for feeding people.
A few years back, I was in a really bad place,
and I had no money to feed my kids.
No way.
I was going through a lot of financial trouble,
and I took a job at a restaurant
just so I could take the scraps home to my kids.
So I think everybody deserves the right
to have a meal and a home and clothes, so...
(chuckles) Stop it.
I just don't know what to say.
- It's just terrible. - Just... let's do this.
Let's make you win this contest.
That's what you can say. That'll make me happy.
Bree is the happiest, most go-lucky, joyous human being,
and it's just special when people are aligned
with something that you dreamed
and they're willing to dream it with you and implement it.
We're coming back here to clean brushes, boys.
- ANNOUNCER: Coming up... - So we're going to go through
- every one of these boxes? - Yes, ma'am.
ANNOUNCER: Savannah can't take the heat in the warehouse.
- Calvin, when's lunch? - Lunch it when you finish.
- ANNOUNCER: And later... - Are you pretty profitable?
I mean, this is a good business?
ANNOUNCER: The boss meets a frustrated franchisee.
Listen, the first six months here,
I think we were gonna close the doors, like, three times.
(upbeat music)
RENEE: There's a lot more to Painting with a Twist
than just the studios,
so I felt it was really important
to stop in Hammond, Louisiana,
to find out about our supply side.
Louisiana Art Supply is our third-party vendor
that supplies the canvases,
paint, brushes to all of the studios,
Painting with a Twist.
I'll be working with the shift manager
to make sure that the quality is there.
If we're gonna continue to expand,
we need to increase our supply of product
without sacrificing its quality.
So the end result, the customer gets exactly
what we promised them.
I'm Savannah. Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you. My name is Calvin.
I'm the shift supervisor in this warehouse.
- Okay. - Being the warehouse supervisor,
I'm going to have to know where everything is.
I'm going to have to explain things to workers.
I'm going to have to make sure
everything gets out on a time limit.
Where do they go?
We have over 250 painting studios.
- Okay. - And we supply them
with everything they need to start up their own company.
Wow. Okay.
These are canvases I'm stacking up right here.
And today I'll be showing you
how to sort and separate our canvas.
- Okay. - We're going to see if
if the canvas are defective or if they're good,
because we don't want to send them any damaged products.
So we're going to go through every one of these boxes?
Yes, ma'am.
One piece at a time.
This is the most important part,
'cause you don't want to paint on a bad canvas.
Well, that's true.
You want to first look for any visible damage.
- Okay. - Looks fine.
We're looking for warped canvas.
I got ya. Okay.
People want to hang it on their wall.
- That's a flat surface. - Oh.
So, if you have a gap in it, it's not going to be
as beautiful as you want it to be.
You lay it on a flat surface.
You want to tap the corners,
and if you don't see it move, it's fine.
- Okay. - So you try one.
- Like that? - Yes, ma'am.
Okay. Seems flat.
Okay, yeah, it's not totally flat.
- Okay. - It has that play in it.
Right. This is just a little bit.
That's a warp in it.
You got to pay attention to detail sometimes.
Put 'em away from the good pile.
Got ya. I think I'm gonna put this down.
It seems like we're going to be here for a while.
Yes, ma'am. (chuckles)
So what happens if it went out bad?
- That's how you lose business. - Right.
- You about to check? - All right.
The detail of this is crazy to me.
It's really exciting to me.
Somebody in the front lines
is really interested in it going out from this warehouse
with the quality that we expect.
Having to do it one by one seems, like, crazy.
But the magnitude of the boxes of canvases is amazing.
(upbeat music)
♪ ♪
I didn't really realize there were so many.
(gasps) I bet you I just did that.
Quality control...
it's detail-oriented, which I'm excited about.
I just kind of feel like it's not very fun to do.
Calvin, when's lunch?
- Lunch is when you finish. - Wow.
It's tedious. I'm in pain.
It's hot, and I'm looking at that tower of...
We have to go through every one of those.
It's a lot.
There's a lot that's not good.
I was very surprised.
There are so many warped canvases.
This is thousands of dollars of canvases.
So, if the quality control
that I see here today wasn't in place,
I would say that it would damage the brand.
- You're doing very good. - Oh, thank you.
One by one, make sure... Mm, that's bad.
That's a bad one. Yep.
- Where are you from? - Born and raised in Louisiana.
- Really? - Yes, ma'am.
- Married? - No, ma'am, I have a girlfriend
and a daughter... she's seven.
She is the best little girl in the world.
I love my baby.
How old you gonna be this year?
- I just turned 27. - Wow.
Wish I could roll the years back.
Yeah? Would you do anything differently?
A lot of things.
I probably would be owning this warehouse...
(chuckles) Instead of working in it.
- Oh, that would be cool, right? - Right.
If you could open your own business,
when you think now, what would you do?
Actually, I'm working on it.
I have a vending-machine business.
What?
Yeah, it's like gumball machines,
chips and cold-drink machines.
Really? And so do you have, like, a route?
Yes, ma'am.
That's how I started my daughter.
So, when she comes in and wants some candy,
she can count her money
or eat her candy or whatever she wants to do with it.
- Look at you. That's fabulous. - She's seven.
But she has a brain of a 27-year-old.
Try to put her in positive environments.
That's right. That's right.
I am not Calvin's boss.
This is a third-party vendor
that distributes the art supply,
and so I'm not sure if I'm going to get the opportunity
to really talk to Calvin again.
It's just really important before I leave
that I let Calvin know how important he is to us.
He's not my employee, but he plays a huge role.
Well, listen, Calvin...
the truth is this not really even a competition.
- It's not a competition? - No.
And I'm not Savannah.
I'm actually Renee Maloney,
co-founder and CFO of Painting with a Twist.
Right. (chuckles)
And this is "Undercover Boss."
(laughs) Man, I would have never guessed it.
I really wanted to go undercover
'cause I really wanted to find out what was going on.
I didn't know you looked through every single canvas.
I didn't know how much it took.
I mean, you know, we can't do what we do
if we didn't have you here having our back.
- You have our back. - I try my best.
Well, so I want to do something for you
'cause you're so special.
You and I are very aligned,
in that my first priority is my kids,
and I feel like you really have that.
You have... as I'm, like, gonna cry...
Not all dads are like you.
- Gonna make me cry. - I know.
So I want to give you $5,000
to build your business.
- This is not a joke right now? - This is not a joke.
- This is real. - I'm about to start crying.
Goodness.
And, you know,
we girls have dreams, and so...
This is amazing.
I want to also go ahead
and give you $10,000 towards your daughter's education.
- Are you serious? - I'm serious.
Oh, my goodness. (chuckles)
This feels like a joke or a dream.
This is amazing. Can I have a hug?
Give me a hug. Thank you so much.
Oh, thank you.
CALVIN: I can't believe it.
It's, like, hard to wrap my mind around.
I feel like I'm dreaming or something.
Like, I would never expect this today.
I can't explain it, you know,
how this can help my family,
how this will help my family.
When I see my daughter today,
we are talking about the college that she's going to,
because now I'm sure that, you know,
nothing will stand in her way.
Okay, give me another hug.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
- Okay. - My family appreciates it.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
Today I'm going to be working with a franchisee
in Royersford, Pennsylvania.
(upbeat music)
I wanted to be here in Pennsylvania
because it is a growing market
with franchisees doing multiple studios.
It's going to be in this first aisle.
RENEE: I feel like it's really important to hear
from a franchisee's perspective to find out,
either that they're successful...
I can take that policy
and spread it throughout the system,
or is there some failure or some opportunity
that we can improve, and then I can then roll that back out?
- Hi, I'm Savannah. - Savannah, how are you?
I'm Steve.
- I'm the co-owner here. - Awesome.
My wife and I co-own this business.
- Awesome. - We're happy to have you here.
Well, thank you.
I've met these franchisees back at home office
when they came in to apply for a franchise.
So I'm hoping that my disguise works
and that I'm not busted.
Today we are going to work on checking in people.
So come on back here.
So we're an entertainment company
as well as a painting studio, right?
So, when people come in, we smile.
We make 'em happy when they first come in.
"Hey, what's your name? Find you on the list.
Let's find out where you're sitting."
We got to get started because people are already coming in.
All right, here you go. Here's your first customer.
"Welcome to Painting with a Twist."
Hi, welcome to Painting with a Twist.
- How are you? - Good. How are you?
Good. We'd like to get you checked in today.
And can I get your name?
Megan and Akira.
STEVE: Savannah was greeting customers.
She was very quiet. They had to lean in.
I thought they were gonna break their back on my countertop
trying to lean all the way over.
They were going to check themselves in pretty soon.
Get 'em fired up, you know.
We want them excited when they walk in the door.
Deep breath.
- Hi, welcome. - Hi, how are you?
Painting with a Twist.
I'm losing my energy just trying to bring her energy up.
She's sucking the life out of me.
Now I want to walk around, talk to people.
The whole business is about customer service.
We call it fun art, not fine art, so...
I can walk around and make sure people are happy.
A lot of times they check out my abs.
"I saw you looking at my abs, right?"
"Yeah, that's right," you know?
Follow me, all right? Big and bold, right?
All right, welcome, everybody. This is Savannah here.
She's going to be helping out.
You won't get lost. Don't worry.
If you do, Savannah here's going to help you.
(laughter)
She knows how to draw stick figures, so she's good.
Take it away, Amy.
My name is Amy. Who's done this before?
I can't paint probably any of these things.
- But I can still help the class. - Right.
Seeing somebody who's not having fun,
I'm on them more than I am everybody else.
- What do you do? - Encourage, you know?
Walk up, be like, "Hey, the beat.
Come on, paint to the beat."
I'll be like... you know.
We're going to collect some brushes as we go
and kind of dance a little bit.
We're going to get 'em moving, all right?
We're going to shake our groove thing, all right?
Come on, I'll show you. Follow my lead.
- (upbeat music) - You guys shaking it? Come on.
Come on, shake it!
♪ ♪
How's it going? How are you doing?
- Hi. Good. - It looks good.
You're, like, almost have the whole thing covered.
Thank you.
Let's kind of go down this way.
That's it. You got the girl thing going.
Steve is so high-energy. He's so customer-centric.
Shake it!
RENEE: Steve is really funny.
He's kind of like a teenager stuck in a grown man's body.
- Hold it above your head. - Above your head.
WOMAN: Everybody say "cheese."
Great job.
So what we have is dirty brushes, right?
So we need to keep these brushes clean...
- Got ya. - In order to save inventory,
save money.
Another thing that I would advise is,
you know, how you can generate multiples streams of revenue.
I mean, that's one thing that's hard for us as a franchise.
We can only do what the franchise allows us to do,
and right now all we can do is sell classes.
We don't have any other stream of revenue right now.
You need to think, "How do I market to people?"
Word of mouth is great,
Facebook... we didn't know Facebook when we started.
- Mmm. - Not for business,
I took a course. I paid for a course.
- These people didn't teach you? - They teach you Facebook.
But we still didn't understand best practices,
so we had to learn that for ourselves.
RENEE: It sounds like Steve didn't get the training
when he needed it on social media
and that he really had to take a lot of independent initiative
to teach himself.
I feel like we've solved that problem since then,
but I hate that he had to pay for the training
out of his own pocket.
Speaking of branding...
These canvases here, they don't say anything
but "Painting with a Twist" on them.
So we ordered a little stamper.
It says "Painting with a Twist Royersford" on it.
Every canvas that goes out this door is stamped.
"Painting with a Twist Royersford."
RENEE: The stamping of the back of the canvas
kind of get me in the gut, I got to tell you.
It's hard to have consistency
when people break off and do their own thing.
They're not just his customers.
They're everybody's customers.
Are you pretty profitable?
I mean, is this a good business?
We basically had to borrow, like, you know,
for our two studios about $350,000.
- Jeez. - We still haven't paid
any of that back yet.
Do we worry about it? We do.
The first six months here,
we were gonna close the doors, like, three times.
We were fighting so much,
we weren't speaking to each other for a week.
It affects the kids, affects our marriage.
I, at one point, said, "You know what?
"I would rather close the doors
and have a good marriage than run this business."
- 'Cause it was hard. - Mm-hmm. And how'd you change?
- What happened? - I smiled.
Starts right there, honest to God.
I just finally said, "You know what?
I don't care about the money now... I'm gonna have fun."
Attitude is everything.
So, if you don't have attitude, then you got nothing.
It doesn't matter. I don't care how much money you have.
- Right. - Your business will stink.
It pains me to hear about the lack of family time,
but I loved Steve's response.
Even when he's having a bad day, he just kept saying,
"Just have a good attitude. It's all gonna be okay."
We need more Steves.
Look, here's a whole nother stack for you.
- You thought you were done. - Oh.
(chuckles)
- ANNOUNCER: Coming up... - Hey, how are ya?
- You look like Savannah. - I'm not Savannah.
ANNOUNCER: The boss reveals her true identity to her employees.
I'm actually Renee Maloney,
co-founder and CFO of Painting with a Twist.
- ANNOUNCER: How will they react? - You are on "Undercover Boss."
Oh, my God, I'm dying.
(upbeat music)
RENEE: My time undercover has ended.
Shaking off the blonde.
One of the most exciting things that I learned
is that the people who are involved
in Painting with a Twist love it.
I'm really excited about seeing the employees today
and telling them who I really am.
- Hey, Renee. How are you? - Hey. Good. How are you?
- Good. - How did Savannah do?
Savannah was quiet.
Did she look like anybody you know?
You look like Savannah.
I guess I should probably tell you I was Savannah.
Did not expect this, not at all.
- You're Savannah? - I'm not Savannah.
I'm actually Renee Maloney,
co-founder and CFO of Painting with a Twist.
Oh, my God.
So are you familiar with the show "Undercover Boss"?
I am, yeah.
You are on "Undercover Boss."
Oh, my God, I'm dying.
(laughing) You're killing me.
So, Maci, you're such a superstar.
I mean, you can deliver the Painting with a Twist experience
like I've never seen before.
That means a lot.
So I got my index finger and my thumb 'cause I'm a loser.
You're not. You're beautiful.
You're just going to pinch it, just like so.
- You're inspirational. - Thank you so much.
- Wise beyond your years. - (chuckles)
With what happened with your family...
- Yeah. - My dad left, too, you know.
And dealing with all this other stuff,
it makes me, um...
it makes me sad that you're so...
burdened.
Yeah.
There's something I'd like to do for you.
I want to give you $25,000
to pay off your school debt.
(sobbing)
Thank you so much.
I also want you to finish school,
so I want to give you another $25,000...
- Oh, my God. - To finish.
I can't believe this is happening.
You're like an angel.
I'd like to do something else.
I need you to have enough security financially
to be able to go see your mom.
I can tell she's just really important to you.
Oh, yeah.
Let's just throw in 5,000 more dollars...
- Oh, my God. - And you and your mom
take that to quickly be able to come back and forth
and see each other.
She's gonna freak out. She's gonna be so excited.
I also want to give you $10,000...
Oh, my God.
- For your rent. - This is crazy. This is...
- It is, huh? - Yes.
- Now I'm gonna hug you. - All right. Okay.
- Thanks, sweetie. - No, thank you.
MACI: I'm just so happy.
I can't believe this is happening.
Like, everything's going to be easier now,
and I can get an education
without having to worry about it.
You're gonna be all right.
(exhales deeply) Nothing can stop me now.
Steve...
so some things I really love about you
is that you are totally committed
to an awesome customer experience.
You guys shaking it? Come on. Come on, shake it.
Come on, right down the line. Right down the line.
Come on. Come on.
There were a couple things
that I was really appreciative... your perspective on.
Right. Right.
Like when you first bought your franchise...
- Right. - We didn't have a real way
to teach you guys about social media,
and you took that on your own and taught yourself and...
Well, I went out and just spent some money...
- Yeah. - To do that 'cause I didn't know
what the heck I was doing.
So, speaking of that, I'm going to give you $10,000...
Okay.
- Um, to cover your... - Thank you.
The expense that it took for you to learn on your own.
- Mm-hmm. Thank you. - You're welcome.
You shared with me that, you know,
going into this business,
financially, was stressful
but it's also stressful on the family.
And I'm going to try not to cry.
You're going to make me... I'm starting to well up already.
I want to help.
So what I was thinking
was an all-expense-paid Disney cruise
that would then bring you into Disney World
and just be able to forget
and just be a family and be with your kids.
- They would like that. - And we're going
to send somebody from corporate up
to make sure your studio's running with your manager
so that you don't have to worry.
Oh, that'd be awesome.
(softly) Thank you.
I mean, Renee's generosity is... I just can't thank her enough.
Just the fact that, you know,
she's given us some time back with our family
is, you know, overwhelming.
So, Bree, you are a rock star.
I love the company, you know.
I love my work.
I love my customers.
Miss Brenda... she's visited our studio
here in Rockwell over 60 times.
These are all regulars in our studio.
I looked up... I looked up your paintings.
- You did? - Mm-hmm.
So you created 18 paintings.
Those 18 paintings
has infused $250,000...
- Oh, my gosh. - Across the country.
Oh, my God. I just got chills. That's so amazing.
You talked about some type
- of a commission for artists... - Right.
- To be acknowledged... - Right.
And that's something we've worked on,
and it's gonna go to the top of the priority list,
and we're gonna figure it out.
- Oh, my gosh. - There's a couple other things
I want to know.
I know how hard it is to juggle work
and juggle family and worry about bills, and it's stressful.
So I want to give you $20,000
just to, like,
put in the bank for an emergency.
I feel like I'm gonna fall out of the chair.
I'm sorry.
I don't even know what to say.
Thank you so much.
I think my eyelashes are coming off.
(both laugh)
I'll probably give some of it to Meals on Wheels.
Okay, before you do that, what I'd like to do is,
for the next two years,
every time "Rainbow Zebra" is painted,
I want to collect those royalty dollars
and put it towards your nonprofit.
(crying) Oh, thank you.
That's gonna make such a difference.
We talked a little bit about your future goals,
and you've got some great, fun, wonderful goals.
What I want to do today is...
I want to give you a franchise.
Is this real? Are you really for real?
It's a value of about $100,000.
Oh, God, you just changed my life.
I'll help you with the lease negotiations.
I'll help you with the breakdown.
Oh, I'm dying.
Oh, my God, I cannot believe this.
This is the best day of my life.
(laughing)
I can't even believe it.
What my possibilities are now, it's just out of this world.
You've just shot me to the moon.
You really have. Thank you so much.
This whole thing has made
my dreams become a reality.
I love the company, and this just...
oh, my gosh, just seals the deal.
- Okay, bye. Oh, my gosh. - Okay, bye.
It's gonna change my family's life for the better.
Oh, I have no makeup left.
(laughter)
And the eyelashes are just all over the place.
(upbeat music)
♪ ♪
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