Episode 178
178: Floors with a Soul: The Purpose-Driven Story Behind Geneva Flooring
I sat down with the incredibly wise and wildly grounded Lisa Wells, owner of Geneva Flooring, and let me just say… this convo was equal parts design deep dive and soulful reminder that how we build our spaces matters.
Lisa brings over 25 years of experience in the flooring world — but more than that, she brings heart. We talk about why flooring is foundational (literally and emotionally), how sustainable choices start with awareness, and why her team’s long-time trade relationships are the secret sauce.
And yes, we totally nerd out on things like wool carpets, cork floors, and what to do before you fall in love with that Pinterest board inspiration.
Quick Links & Goodies:
- Visit Geneva Flooring: genevaflooring.com
- Follow Lisa & the team on IG: @genevaflooring1
💌 Before You Go:
If this episode lit something up for you — maybe you’re in the middle of a reno, dreaming of a future space, or you just love hearing women talk shop — share it with a friend who gets it. Screenshot, tag us, leave a review… it truly means the world.
Looking to work with Rachel? Reach out at rachel@tigerveil.com
Transcript
Hello and welcome back.
Speaker A:I'm super excited.
Speaker A:I've got Lisa Wells from Geneva flooring on with us today.
Speaker A:Welcome in.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker B:Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker A:Of course.
Speaker A:I'm gonna go ahead and set our space.
Speaker A:I'm going to light a candle just to get us grounded and connected here.
Speaker A:And then I'm going to pull a tarot card.
Speaker A:So I like to just.
Speaker C:Cool.
Speaker A:Family.
Speaker A:Definitely has a fire.
Speaker A:Connect with this element of fire for inspiration, creativity, and then, you know, connection.
Speaker A:I got that going.
Speaker A:I'm gonna pull us a card.
Speaker A:Have you had cards pulled for you before?
Speaker B:Yes, recently.
Speaker A:Oh, was it good?
Speaker B:Yeah, we're like too, you know, focus my intentions.
Speaker B:So whatever way the information comes, you know, my life so dynamic and I have so many interests, so I like to slow down and think about things, even if it's for a short time, intentionally, you know.
Speaker A:Amazing.
Speaker A:Okay, let's see what we've got.
Speaker A:Oh, we've got the six of wands.
Speaker A:This is victory, success.
Speaker A:Like, this is, you know, them coming back from the battle in.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:A wonderful space.
Speaker A:So this is all good.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Got the laurel.
Speaker B:So that's what I want to hear is that it's all going to start coming together and the fruits of my labor.
Speaker A:Heck, yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker A:So this is.
Speaker A:This is you coming back.
Speaker B:Oh, cool, dude.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Amazing Here.
Speaker B:My mom's going to love that.
Speaker A:Such a good card.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:I wanted to bring you on because I wanted to highlight and share resources for our listeners, you know, and also learn about the different companies and the people behind them so that we can connect.
Speaker A:And so I'd love to know.
Speaker A:Well, one, my question always is, you know, what's home?
Speaker A:What's home for you at the moment?
Speaker A:We'll start there.
Speaker B:My girls, so they're seven and eight.
Speaker B:And it just makes sure that I really think about the extra space outside of work and exercise and like the, you know, the mandatory things that I'm being present and investing in their future in this time together and doing the hard things.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:So it just takes so much intention to be present and to make good use of that time and to do the hard things with their food and teaching the lessons and all those things.
Speaker B:But that is.
Speaker B:That's my home and it's the most important thing, you know, going on in my personal life right now for.
Speaker B:And I believe that if I invest right now, then it'll in speeds, obviously.
Speaker B:But, yeah, living a happy, healthy life.
Speaker B:So I just don't want any day to pass.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's Amazing.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Your girls are home.
Speaker A:That's so sweet.
Speaker A:I would love to learn more about your origin story, how you got into this business, design, all the things.
Speaker A:And I know there's some rich history there, so.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Do you want to share a bit about how you got into all this?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I've been doing this for 25 years.
Speaker B:Just about.
Speaker B:I started right out of high school.
Speaker B:My mom and uncle owned, opened the business in 99.
Speaker B: I graduated in: Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Oh, probably in the end of high school, I started here doing logistics and waitressing and going to college.
Speaker B:And then in my early 20s, I got out of waitressing and sales and I really just did that one home at a time for 10 plus years.
Speaker B:And I'm just trying to be helpful.
Speaker B:It's really naturally my disposition and my mom's to be helpful.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:I've learned a lot about trends.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Over the decades and what was available, set the trends.
Speaker B:And then I got with trend makers on and looking at the home aesthetic, you know, over time.
Speaker B:But really it was created more.
Speaker B:And as a service and reciprocation, my clients.
Speaker B:Home desires.
Speaker B:Design desires.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:So it's funny, it's probably different than a designer who loves it and create something and then, you know, sets a path for other people.
Speaker B:I was like just trying to be helpful to help them find what they wanted.
Speaker B:But then after decades of doing that, I actually have an enormous amount of knowledge for sure.
Speaker B:And I could be like, well, this is what I hear from designers and other.
Speaker B:Do you want wider, wide or narrow boards?
Speaker B:And I'm like, well, some people say it opens up the room and some people think that you get more plants in a room so the room looks bigger.
Speaker B:But, you know, that's not helpful.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:But I just, I've heard a lot about light, a lot about complimenting colors.
Speaker B:And my mom always says, choose your second favorite color for your floor because your favorite color you're going to put on your cabinets and your furniture and everything else.
Speaker B:So I don't know.
Speaker B:Y' all are just develop these tools to help people make the best decisions for themselves.
Speaker B:And I'm kind of a nerd in technicalities and installation and that's what they really need my help for.
Speaker B:No matter what you choose aesthetically, I want to make sure that it performs.
Speaker A:That's huge.
Speaker A:I think.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And that's a.
Speaker A:That's the piece that so many people forget about.
Speaker A:Especially, you know, not to throw designers under the bus, but.
Speaker A:And a lot of times we're just looking at things from an aesthetic perspective and we're like, okay, that looks great with, you know, all the other things that we have going on.
Speaker A:But to really be a skilled designer, you need to know, is it going to perform?
Speaker A:What's it going to look like in a year from now?
Speaker A:What's it going to look like in five years?
Speaker A:Are they going to have to replace it?
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker A:And then also just educating the client on all of those things and what to expect and how something is going to.
Speaker B:Yeah, and trade partnerships is everything because.
Speaker B:And I think that that's what my mom and I here have always sold is that you don't need to learn everything about flooring.
Speaker B:I already hand procured lines of flooring.
Speaker A:That I believe in that are going.
Speaker B:To sing and then I'm going to listen to what's important to you, whether it's performance or style or, you know, the sound.
Speaker B:You really don't like the sound of a floating floor.
Speaker B:I'm going to listen to you and edit everything I know and I'm going to present you with options that are in line with your, you know, preferences and then I'm going to have the knowledge for that certain type of flooring.
Speaker B:So you need to know that your trade partner is advocating for you because people try to do all the research for themselves.
Speaker B:But I'm like, there's no way you can learn about all the abusives and the moisture mitigation systems.
Speaker B:So read that to me and just believe that the person that you're working with, you know, as your best interest in finding it, listening for you and doing that backup work.
Speaker A:So yeah, and I feel like with your space, you guys really curate, you know, what you've got going on there.
Speaker A:So I imagine that if there's a product or something that isn't up to standards, you're not going to keep that.
Speaker A:It's going to kind of go to the wayside.
Speaker B:We don't have good, better bust like Home Depot.
Speaker B:Like my customer is a residential homeowner.
Speaker B:So I'm like, this isn't turning burn.
Speaker B:This isn't the cheapest.
Speaker B:So there's a certain level that you need to be in here.
Speaker B:It needs to perform in a way that I'm going to feel proud of.
Speaker B:Like I've been here forever.
Speaker B:I'm doing right now kind of people's third homes.
Speaker B:That's how long these customers have been with me.
Speaker B:I had a critical mass around 18 years where I'm doing so many second homes that I needed start build Building my business and get hiring people to help me because with no advertising at all I was, I was inundated.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:And now we're, you know, 25 years I'm doing people's third house.
Speaker B:So yeah.
Speaker B:I mean I absolutely want to be proud and you know what we decided and that I accurately prepared you for the wear and tear, the warranty, the performance, really, the maintenance, what I meant.
Speaker B:So I'm refinishing this week somebody that I put in their floor over 20 years ago.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:And they're like way better than I thought.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And they're like, oh, I wish I would have born bought a little more wear layer.
Speaker B:I'm like, I think we can do it.
Speaker B:But remember we had this conversation.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:And you wanted to save a little bit of money up front but now there's not a ton of recourse.
Speaker B:But anyway, I don't know.
Speaker B:I mean, yeah.
Speaker B:It's a full heart job to be, to listen and to be available for such a large per people.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean the square footage, if you think about it, you know, it's, it's covering a ton of space and it's anchoring you, it's grounding you in your space.
Speaker A:So you need to make sure that that's really.
Speaker B:Nobody wants to redo their floors.
Speaker A:No, it's the worst.
Speaker B:It's expensive.
Speaker B:You have to move your stuff out.
Speaker B:Yeah, well, yeah.
Speaker A:And you guys also do the installation.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:It's not like you're just selling product very much.
Speaker B:I think the installation is directly linked to the performance.
Speaker B:You can get a cheap floor and install it correctly and it's going to lay flat and perform well.
Speaker B:You can get a very expensive floor and not properly prepare your substrate and it's going to break the locking systems, it's going to come apart, it's going to sound bad, it'll expand and ripple and got it completely well stand the test of time.
Speaker B:Like your really expensive floor could go south in a year.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:Or three years if you're properly educated on the oil finish.
Speaker B:And see that a lot with expensive floors is they just get trashed in three years.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:And so your installers I assume have been with you for a very long time.
Speaker A:It's, it's part of like who you guys are.
Speaker A:Can you share a little bit about maybe one of their stories or who they are or how you guys got connected and how long you've been together and that kind of thing.
Speaker A:I'd love to hear that relationship piece.
Speaker B:I love that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Actually nono's been with me for 25 years.
Speaker A:Oh my gosh.
Speaker B:Before I was.
Speaker B:Because my.
Speaker B:The original company was my uncle.
Speaker B:It was Pro Hardwood.
Speaker B:It was an installation company.
Speaker B:And then my mom got together and open Geneva Flooring and Pro Hardwood was eventually disintegrated, you know or like absorbed probably by Geneva.
Speaker B:So we're not two different companies.
Speaker B:So we have our own in house and folks.
Speaker B:But got started an installation company and Nuno was the helper for Steve Norberg who was our.
Speaker B:One of our lead best installers back then.
Speaker B:He moved to Colorado.
Speaker B:Nuno was a helper for six, seven years because he's just a very thorough thinker and just wanted to be prepared and became a crew leader and you know, now he's been with me for another 24 years after that and we just totally grew up together.
Speaker B:But you look at my reviews online, it's like Lisa, Nuno did a great job.
Speaker B:He's booked out all the time just on his own second time customers.
Speaker B:So the reference by name and the shorthand between the two of us, I mean we spent our entire careers.
Speaker B:There's so much respect for people that stick to things and that he's been loyal to us as a company and help us grow our brand and that he's referenced by name and he's absolutely part of the Geneva flooring families.
Speaker B:Work with my mom.
Speaker B:Mom Judy.
Speaker B:So yeah, I.
Speaker B:There's many people that I've worked with for a long time.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, my longest, you know, relationship in this business.
Speaker B:And it really helps that he knows exactly how we work.
Speaker B:Exactly how I think he knows what I did and didn't say.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And I know his talents and capability and skill set better than he does.
Speaker B:He's like, oh.
Speaker B:And I'm like, you got this point.
Speaker B:He left with his.
Speaker B:No, there's no rush.
Speaker B:Like, like sometimes the top of a stereotype and wild.
Speaker B:And it takes most of the time to geometrically figure that out on the saw.
Speaker B:But he can do anything.
Speaker B:I know he can.
Speaker B:You give him time and space.
Speaker B:He goes, oh, he's.
Speaker B:I did it.
Speaker B:Oh, beautiful.
Speaker B:But when you're doing custom work.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, sometimes they ask us to do wild things.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:But I know that he has the saw skills.
Speaker B:He's also like customer service.
Speaker B:He's an adorable personality.
Speaker B:So trustworthy on putting people.
Speaker B:Putting my installers in people's homes.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Or go slow.
Speaker B:You gotta walk them through it.
Speaker B:You gotta take your time.
Speaker B:You gotta show them the material for trepidation, look for preferences, go slow.
Speaker B:Enough for them to, like, be able to digest and absorb it there.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:There is, you know, relationship that happens on site between the installer and.
Speaker B:And the customer.
Speaker B:It's just, you know, huge chunk of savings.
Speaker B:And you want to be respectful about how you do that.
Speaker B:So we take that really seriously as the people that we have on our teams to be in people's homes and.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Huge personal projects for them.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I'd love to tap into more of, you know, who is on your team.
Speaker A:Who can people expect to work with when they come in?
Speaker A:And what does that look like?
Speaker B:Well, Carrie.
Speaker B:Carrie's been with me for 14 years.
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker B:She also knows everything that Lisa thinks and feels, everything.
Speaker B:So I and her.
Speaker B:And me and my mom have worked together side by side in the same room for, you know, a very long time.
Speaker B:So we parrot each other.
Speaker B:We're gonna hear very similar answers, but sometimes that's really nice to hear it from me and then hear it from her again.
Speaker B:And you kind of understand things when you're talking about such dense information.
Speaker B:You hear it differently every single time.
Speaker B:And it's really nice that there's that continuity in messaging.
Speaker B:And we've rolled out hundreds of jobs together.
Speaker B:So, you see, this is how it goes.
Speaker B:You come in, choose a sample, go out, take a measure.
Speaker B:Like, you know, there's just a flow to working together with people for a long time.
Speaker B:But also there's.
Speaker B:She can back me up.
Speaker B:Like, sometimes she has.
Speaker B:She is.
Speaker B:She comes from a fabric and textile world.
Speaker B:Loves the colors.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Loves the light, Loves to talk.
Speaker B:Like, so she really comment on design when.
Speaker B:When I've talked technical and I've showed you your options and told you the trends.
Speaker B:Sometimes it's cool to do round two with somebody else who will start from the top and talk things that you guys know about even more than I.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:Whether it's modern or, you know, I don't know, just how the.
Speaker B:How the different colors and the light plays.
Speaker B:It's what your personal interest is.
Speaker B:Because some people.
Speaker B:That's why it's wonderful to work with the design.
Speaker B:I love working with the designers.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:People with vision about it.
Speaker A:Yeah, I can imagine.
Speaker A:I feel like that probably makes your job a little bit easier or at least it kind of helps, like you were saying before, edit and get down to what is really needed in that space and kind of weed some of that stuff out.
Speaker B:It's wonderful because I.
Speaker B:I could tell you what I think goes well with it and what historically, other people do.
Speaker B:And I work with every shade of cabinet a lot.
Speaker B:So you know, I have my go to, you know, never try to match, try to blend or complement.
Speaker B:Like I like a nice contrast or be careful with that.
Speaker B:You're choosing red.
Speaker B:So that's going to set the tone for everything.
Speaker B:Your whole home or gray and red don't go together.
Speaker B:You know, you look well, general, stuff like that.
Speaker B:But I love a person with vision and I just have so much respect for that cerebral personality type because in a lot of ways it's not me.
Speaker B:So I love working with other people, but I'm a people person.
Speaker A:Yeah, you are.
Speaker A:It's amazing.
Speaker A:And you don't just do residential.
Speaker A:You have products that can expand into commercial hospitality.
Speaker A:All those spaces as well.
Speaker B:Oh, actually that's.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:It started with sole proprietorships.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So we did Pilates studios and optometrist chiropractors and they came to me a lot but then not built.
Speaker B:I mean we've been here for a long time.
Speaker B:Yeah, bank we just did do clean rooms.
Speaker B:We do much more commercial style things.
Speaker B:We just did the stables at the Del Race for some of their medical units and we're also doing multifamily and production work and 2 and 300 units.
Speaker B:So we.
Speaker B:I know a lot about installation, I know a lot about installers, I know a lot about how an install is supposed to be executed.
Speaker B:Very natural expansion.
Speaker B:And I just purchased classic hardwood floors that does all production work.
Speaker B:So it was a really natural expansion to get some more installation support.
Speaker B:So who you could expect to work with is when you walk in here, I've got my like design team that's going to help you look at your samples and provide IT support.
Speaker B:Keep the showroom doors open six days a week so that you can come in with your designer or get support directly.
Speaker B:And there will always be somebody here to help you navigate the world of hardwood flooring, laminate, cork, bamboo, carpet samples and open to the public showroom and human beings that love to do this with you here.
Speaker B:And then I have a whole other side of the business that will help oversee and execute the success of the installation.
Speaker A:Got it.
Speaker A:That's so amazing.
Speaker A:I love that a lot of the listeners are into this world of sustainability in that space.
Speaker A:Are.
Speaker A:Are you seeing certain products come through or seeing trends going toward that direction?
Speaker A:And can you share maybe a product or something that you've noticed?
Speaker B:Yeah, girl.
Speaker B:This is my world.
Speaker B:They call me mainstream in my family, so I always say my mom's a tree hugging hippie and she we devised the green program, the Geneva Florian Green program.
Speaker B:This is like 15, 20 years ago before the FSC, which is the Forced Stewardship Council, which was America's way of tracking from the ground to the home and more accountable for reforestation and carbon footprint.
Speaker B:And we started really with the forests in America, but then the Lacey act passed like 10 years ago now, and that was on protecting the world's forests.
Speaker B:But then also the carb compliance law passed over five years ago now.
Speaker B:So anything sold in California has to, you know, qualify for zero carb compliance.
Speaker B:So looking for off gas in California, but like it does at the source.
Speaker B:So that's why we make a lot of our stuff abroad.
Speaker B:So every part of the chain of custody I am very in tune with because green means something different to everybody.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Somebody was just talking to me last week about neurodestruction and I was like, oh, that's so smart.
Speaker B:But it's true.
Speaker B:We're talking about receipts and how they're disrupting, you know, our home oral systems.
Speaker B:So some people are doing, you know, wool carpet because they don't want the parabens.
Speaker B:You know, some people are doing it for the planet, some people are doing it for hypoallergenic reasons.
Speaker B:So that's the conversation for me is, got it.
Speaker B:Where is the importance for you?
Speaker B:But most companies, you know, there's Green Guard certified, there's Floor Score, there's privacy, there's all these different certifications, there's lead compliance.
Speaker B:So I talk to my customer and see where their interest is and then we talk.
Speaker B:But California's got you covered mostly.
Speaker B:They've already passed all the litigation to protect your health rights and term funds we need.
Speaker B:So and then I get into it with like, if it's a health and home issue, then we talk about wool carpet.
Speaker B:That's huge in the industry right now.
Speaker B:It's performance for color and style, for cleanability, sustainability for protecting the landfills.
Speaker B:Wool is awesome for that.
Speaker B:And you know, you just don't want to buy carpet every five years.
Speaker B:Like.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Invest a little bit more and make that last a little bit longer.
Speaker B:Performance wise, health wise, hypoallergenic.
Speaker B:It's also not flammable, which is really nice for tea.
Speaker B:So I do that in soft surface and hard surface.
Speaker B:It's way more planet friendly and hypoallergenic than soft surface, obviously.
Speaker B:So you make a good hardwood purchase.
Speaker B:You're not filling the landfills.
Speaker B:You're not, you know, getting microbes in your kids home breathing space while they sleep all Night long for cleanability and stuff like that.
Speaker B:So, yeah, I mean, it's multifaceted and it's just all about the conversation, I think.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, I'm interested for sure.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:It's amazing.
Speaker A:And can you talk a little bit about cork?
Speaker A:Because I know you have, like, a huge cork collection.
Speaker B:Biggest cork distributor in San Diego.
Speaker B:It started because I went to, like, high school and built us a website in my high school class.
Speaker B:My mom thought, nobody's going to use those website things.
Speaker B:So we had gone in really organically and because we were doing cork back then.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And now if you, like, type in cork San Diego, like, for a long time, we came up, so.
Speaker A:Got it.
Speaker B:You know, tons of cork.
Speaker B:And I love it because you don't have to kill the tree to get the bark and it bounces back.
Speaker B:So I think that you could get some really cool textures, really unique things.
Speaker B:You could also print a picture of wood over it so you get that you wanted that bleeding cork war when you're walking around in your kitchen.
Speaker B:We're also refinishing two of them this month.
Speaker B:We have a refinished vision where we.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Preserve and bring back old floors.
Speaker B:So we.
Speaker B:We're refinishing, which is cool.
Speaker B:So I love it as a medium.
Speaker B:I think it performs really well.
Speaker B:It's a great price.
Speaker B:And it does have sound deadening qualities that we can get there in different ways.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So not really the.
Speaker B:The first cell, because we can put pad under your hardwood floor stairs to block the sound transmission to.
Speaker B:To.
Speaker B:You don't need it.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:But it's such a cool material.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You don't have to kill the tree, right?
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:It's super rad.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker B:It's all out of Portugal.
Speaker B:Really easy to regulate.
Speaker A:Oh, really?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:All cork comes out of Portugal.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:It's really easy to regulate.
Speaker B:So, like, just fair ethical practices and like, how they're going to get their blanks and what, glue and Yuri formaldehydes.
Speaker B:They're going to use bonding, but cork together, they're just gonna have a different standard of business being.
Speaker A:Got it, got it, got it, got it.
Speaker A:Have you noticed a trend with carpet?
Speaker A:Is it still out or are you seeing people kind of bringing that back into their space?
Speaker B:I think it's coming back because vinyl got so expensive.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Also, vinyl did not perform the way that people wanted it to.
Speaker B:They wanted it to be bulletproof, and it was not.
Speaker B:It scratches just like wood.
Speaker B:And they made it harder and harder and harder to be debt resistant than the locking systems.
Speaker B:Broke.
Speaker A:Got it.
Speaker B:So then everybody's like, why is it your flooring in.
Speaker B:In the United States working?
Speaker B:I thought the United States didn't sell things that didn't perform.
Speaker B:And that category I just think was a little premature and didn't perform to people's standards.
Speaker B:So while in the last five years, carpet went way out of fashion.
Speaker B:Right, Covid.
Speaker B:But then also the performance brought it back.
Speaker B:So then they got to be the same price because vinyl went up and up and up in price because now they're trying to make it thicker so that the locking systems don't break.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:So every year there's a new generation of LVP that's trying to solve the problems of the last generation as far as short term disposable flooring.
Speaker B:It solved a lot of people.
Speaker B:You know, it saved you money.
Speaker B:You put it in lots of people and it was a floor.
Speaker B:But now, like, are you gonna do that again?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:So I think that's why carpets coming back in and there's just an undeniable coziness.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, I'm looking at it for a project and it's just like, there's just something about it.
Speaker A:And it's also just bringing back this nostalgia and yeah, it's just people want this cozy warmth feeling like all that white and gray.
Speaker B:Well, look, carbon's getting wild.
Speaker B:And the wool blends are what I'm really talking about.
Speaker B:Like, yes, I got tons of wool earth friendly for cheap.
Speaker B:No dice, no moth treatment.
Speaker B:Like, if you want to go green, you could go green.
Speaker B:But yeah, you want it for its performance and longevity.
Speaker B:Then you don't put, you know.
Speaker B:Well, wool generally won't be in a landfill for 30 years.
Speaker B:Wool last forever.
Speaker B:But if you get a wool blend, then you could get cut pile.
Speaker B:The old wools, the natural Ws are, are a lot of loops.
Speaker B:Got it.
Speaker B:Not as cozy sometimes, but you can get really cool patterns and.
Speaker B:But a big fluffy loop can be more expensive.
Speaker B:It's a lot of error.
Speaker B:Comb.
Speaker B:So the wool blends and they're, they take color so well.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker B:You get these wild splashes of color and like really definitive patterns.
Speaker B:And so, yeah, I think will is going to be really cool for.
Speaker B:For that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So rad.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:Are there any parts and pieces that I didn't highlight that you would like to share a bit more about what you guys do, your business offerings, any of those things that, I mean, I.
Speaker B:Really feel like you covered it.
Speaker B:My.
Speaker B:I love working residential.
Speaker B:I love working with designers like I will help people shop in whatever way makes the most sense for them.
Speaker B:I am a busy mom and if I was to purchase a floor, I would absolutely order samples to my home from a website.
Speaker B:I would industry partner with somebody that I trusted was editing what they told me and make a.
Speaker B:Help me make a good decision.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And give me price tiers and help me understand what it would be like for hard surface in bedrooms or soft surface in the bedrooms.
Speaker B:Hard surface in the main areas.
Speaker B:Like I want to see the bid different ways.
Speaker B:I want to talk to people who know what they're talking about and care.
Speaker B:I want, you know, like a short timeline so whatever that looks like for other people.
Speaker B:I have a prolific website.
Speaker B:Just I'm uploading inspo pages so that their own design aesthetic and be like, well, five white cabinets.
Speaker B:What, what different floor goes with that and dark cabinets.
Speaker B:You know, if I'm interested in exotic wood or a modern look.
Speaker B:So I have a lot of that stuff on my website@genevafloring.com and one of my interests is just providing value because I.
Speaker B:I'm so much information at this point.
Speaker B:So I am on YouTube and I have an Instagram Geneva flooring one and I'm just like creating all these videos and putting all this content the world.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Just trying to answer all the questions that people ask me all the time.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And yeah, I just let have conversations.
Speaker B:So I'm amazing.
Speaker B:Open to the relationships and the ideas and I love it.
Speaker A:Do you also have a newsletter?
Speaker A:Do you send out a newsletter?
Speaker B:I'm just starting it.
Speaker B:Charles, my new design liaison.
Speaker B:Um, he's so cool.
Speaker B:He's so authentic.
Speaker B:He really cares about this space and he's so likable.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:He is helping me getting some of all these ideas across the finish line.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:Amazing.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So any people that want to trade partner and want to explore different ways to work with us, like Charles is doing a lot of that for me and putting out newsletters.
Speaker B:So I am starting up the information and.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:I'm just, I'm a curious human.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:What's your sign?
Speaker B:Aquarius.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:All that air.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:It took me a very long time, but yeah, I'm interested in all of that too.
Speaker A:Amazing.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Just a curious human being.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:Well, once it's out or maybe your website or your newsletter is up, I'd love to maybe have you like guest, you know, article or do be a guest on my newsletter and get people to get on your newsletter so we can just like cross Pollinate and share.
Speaker B:Oh, I love this information.
Speaker B:Yeah, we put out two so far.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:And we're just trying to edit for, you know, the audience of, like, what's important.
Speaker B:Whether it's trade knowledge.
Speaker B:I think it's.
Speaker B:Everybody loves to see that we're training and that we're at these, you know, evolving.
Speaker B:But is that to the customer and how you help them home, or are we evolving as an industry or.
Speaker B:Everybody wants to know that my installation department is on, you know, current.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:And organized.
Speaker B:That's important for everybody because.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:After you've chosen your color and the day has come, you want the floor to go in in four days and be done.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:So it's really important to dial all that in.
Speaker B:So I don't know, my.
Speaker B:My newsletter is coming together and trying to be like, are we interested in the design aesthetic?
Speaker B:Are we interested in.
Speaker A:I think a bit of both that people love seeing inspiration photos and seeing, like, what does, you know, that flora look like installed?
Speaker A:Because so many people just can't see the vision.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, it's so hard to see just, you know, a small sample, you know, might be a few planks, but to see it in a grand scheme of things.
Speaker B:We had the opportunity to work on such cool projects.
Speaker B:Dude, we were just making.
Speaker B:Because I have a shop where we're custom making stuff because we have unfinished guys and just really wood connoisseurs, you know, guys that have been working with wood their whole lives.
Speaker B:So we created this awesome medallion for an elevator.
Speaker B:Yesterday I went on a job where we're refurbishing pine.
Speaker B:It's actually mixed with a.
Speaker B:And she set the Square nails herself 20 years ago.
Speaker B:She custom ordered it.
Speaker B:She's from New Jersey.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:She custom ordered it to look like the first post office in New Jersey because I don't know, I was like, dear Pro aesthetic did this whole farmhouse thing around.
Speaker B:Now, you know, it's beat up and we've got to like, recreate it and we're making it lighter and there's different chemicals that you could do to make that.
Speaker B:So I just did floating stairs last month and a herringbone floor.
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker B:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker B:So cool.
Speaker B:And like, you know, rad glass railing, man.
Speaker B:So that's what we all.
Speaker B:We're all love to see that kind of stuff too.
Speaker B:So I love to share that.
Speaker B:And we do post that on all of our socials and our blogs and our website and like, projects that we're working on.
Speaker B:This is what I'm talking about.
Speaker B:The sticks.
Speaker B:Sharing it sometimes becomes a whole another part.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:It's overwhelming, for sure.
Speaker A:But now you have Charles to help do all that.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:That's my.
Speaker B:There are other wonderful ladies and Charles in my showroom that will pour over these colors with you.
Speaker B:And I oversee everything just to make sure it goes to the.
Speaker B:Everybody gets the Geneva flooring experience.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:You love it so much.
Speaker A:Beautiful.
Speaker A:Well, thank you.
Speaker A:Well, you've shared all of your.
Speaker A:Your links.
Speaker A:I'm going to put those all in the show notes so it'll be super easy for anyone that's listening just to go in there and click so they can follow you on all those platforms.
Speaker A:Last question is, how do you stay grounded?
Speaker A:How do you keep centered?
Speaker A:You've got so many things going on and you're running a business and what do you do to.
Speaker A:For yourself to just.
Speaker B:I spend so much time reflecting and thinking about this for my health and to bring positive energy to my team and to not let things spiral and run away from me.
Speaker B:Number one, anchoring into exercise.
Speaker B:It's really hard in these periods of excitement for me to continue to choose that and to like.
Speaker B:It's hard to reconcile that with my kids because I often have to choose between breakfast with my kid or waking up early, giving up exercise, and so grappling that in my own brain.
Speaker B:But exercise is absolutely part of it.
Speaker B:And play.
Speaker B:I play.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:And everybody will take my time, including my children.
Speaker B:And there is nothing left for me.
Speaker B:And I need poolside.
Speaker B:I need new friends.
Speaker B:I need margaritas.
Speaker B:Sometimes I'm like in this shame spiral about email, you know?
Speaker B:Yeah, well, that's really.
Speaker B:It takes a lot of work to be a whole human being.
Speaker B:And the guys and I talk to this.
Speaker B:Them about this all the time.
Speaker B:I'm running to my family picnic and, you know, I've got things going on in jobs, and I drop everything.
Speaker B:And I'm like, I am their family.
Speaker B: going to the family picnic at: Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I'm like, you guys didn't have to do this.
Speaker B:I was hosting a.
Speaker B:A golf tournament for the business association that morning.
Speaker B:And I'm like, they're all golfing.
Speaker B:I'm all.
Speaker B:They're all.
Speaker B:No, I never went to one of those things, Lisa.
Speaker B:And it's true, though.
Speaker B:Like, guys don't make time for their health A lot.
Speaker B:Love don't make time further.
Speaker B:You know, every single kid performance, they don't make time for the play.
Speaker B:And then they go, oh, no, I didn't have time for it.
Speaker B:I'm.
Speaker B:Well, no wonder you don't have a friend, you know, So I.
Speaker B:I tell you, it takes just as much time as everything else is.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Trying to maintain the temple.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:I love that you do that.
Speaker A:I mean, I think that's a really important piece of just taking care of yourself and taking care of yourself.
Speaker A:The, you know, is also taking care of your business, and it is.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Nobody wants to be around a grumpy, stressed out, you know, person who, like, won't get out of their, you know, own cyclone.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And we have to get out, too, just to experience and to have inspiration and to come back refueled and refreshed and, like, wanting to try different things and connect with people.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:I threw a pool party for Mother's Day.
Speaker B:My family, like 50 people.
Speaker B:Aunts, uncles, cousins, kids, all this stuff.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I hosted Family Feud in my.
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker A:How fun.
Speaker B:Like on a mic, all Family Feud.
Speaker B:I came out feeling, like, so much more myself.
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh, that's amazing.
Speaker B:You know, nerding out about, you know, software and inventory and.
Speaker B:And specifics.
Speaker B:Like to let it all go and like to be on a megaphone.
Speaker B:It's balance.
Speaker A:I love that so much.
Speaker A:Well, thank you so, so, so much for being on and sharing your story and all the things that you do.
Speaker A:And I know that, yeah, everyone that's listening will definitely want to connect with you when they're shopping for flooring, if it's for their own space or a client.
Speaker A:And, you know, all those.
Speaker B:This is the new, coolest part about my life is to reach out and expand and meet and connect and learn.
Speaker B:And yeah, I've been doing flooring for a long time, so that's like, like, really accessible to me.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Really fun place to start sharing, providing value for other people.
Speaker B:And if I can make things easy for other people, because it's so easy.
Speaker B:To me, that's mutual, symbiotic.
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:The relationship pieces is so important.
Speaker A:It's just we've got people like you that are out learning and doing all the things, and then that knowledge just gets, you know, added to the services that we have to.
Speaker A:To offer.
Speaker A:So thank you.
Speaker B:You're wonderful.
