I worked for Floor Solutions in Portland, Ore., for eight years when, in 2014, our owner, Robb Siegenthaler decided to sell the business. Robb was a commercial flooring “lifer” and, after purchasing Floor Solutions from DuPont Industries in 2004, he had led the business to a strong market share position in the Portland market. With this success and Robb’s planned retirement, we were faced with making strategic decisions for the business to continue to thrive in the future.
On a personal basis, Robb was a mentor and coach. A pal of my father, Robb took a chance on me and brought me into the business with zero experience in commercial flooring. In fact, I had zero business experience as my degree and previous work experience was in counseling and human behavior. At that point, I was working as a counseling psychologist and my clientele was troubled adolescents. When I decided to make a career change into business, Robb brought me into flooring and began to teach me the ropes. As they say, he taught me everything I know and then some.