Amy Freeman

CEO and Co-Founder The Spice & Tea Exchange

Last Reviewed: September 28, 2026

Executive Summary

Amy Freeman is CEO and co-founder of The Spice & Tea Exchange, a franchise retailer of fine spices, hand-mixed seasoning blends and exotic loose-leaf teas headquartered in St. Augustine, Florida. The concept launched as a single St. Augustine store in 2008, in the middle of the Great Recession, and under Freeman and her co-founder Penny Rehling it has become a national franchise system of nearly 100 stores in 38 states. Freeman came to the business from hotel sales rather than food retail, worked her way through its sales and operations departments, and now sets the company’s overall direction as CEO, a role Franchising.com reported in September 2026 she had held for eleven years. She is a Certified Franchise Executive.

Career Highlights

• CEO and co-founder of The Spice & Tea Exchange, co-leading the company with President and co-founder Penny Rehling (company release, November 2025).
• Grew the brand from a single store to more than 70 locations by 2020 and nearly 100 across 38 states by 2025 (Women in Retail Leadership Circle; company release).
• Before becoming CEO, led the company’s sales and operations departments and worked in production, fulfilment and marketing (Women in Retail Leadership Circle).
• Earlier a Corporate Sales Manager for Sheridan Hotels (Women in Retail Leadership Circle).
• Certified Franchise Executive (Women in Retail Leadership Circle).

Professional Journey

Freeman built her early career in hospitality sales and was, by her early thirties, a Corporate Sales Manager for Sheridan Hotels. In 2005 she came across a small specialty spice retailer and saw a concept that could be taken much further.

The Spice & Tea Exchange opened as a single store in St. Augustine, Florida in 2008. Freeman worked across nearly every function of the young business, leading its sales and then its operations departments and working in production, fulfilment and marketing, as it expanded through franchising. She also earned the Certified Franchise Executive designation. As CEO, she guides the company’s overall vision and its major profitability initiatives, and she runs it as a two-person partnership with co-founder and President Penny Rehling.

The brand’s recession origins became a reference point in 2020, when Freeman described closing stores during the COVID-19 pandemic, shifting the company’s focus to e-commerce and returning a percentage of web sales to franchise owners. The system then had more than 70 stores. By November 2025 it had nearly 100 stores across 38 states, stocking more than 140 spices, 85 hand-mixed seasoning blends and 40 loose-leaf teas, with the Thanksgiving-to-New Year season accounting for roughly a third of annual sales. Franchising.com’s September 2026 profile counted 98 units and credited her with 21 years in franchising.

Education

No academic degree was found in any source reviewed. Freeman holds the Certified Franchise Executive professional designation.