Scavenging for blank paper in any place she could find it, including her dad’s work papers, Charla Pettingill, was designing and illustrating before many children knew what pens were. In first grade, she did commissions for the other students for 25 cents each, unknowingly drawing her way toward a design career in the flooring industry.
“From a very early age, I drew constantly and was very interested in art,” she said. “I continued to draw throughout elementary and middle school, won multiple art contests, and always received encouragement from teachers to keep drawing and expressing myself with art.”