We were lucky to catch up with Ellie Huffman recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ellie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear your thoughts about family businesses.

Being a small business owner with my husband, it’s that life/work balance that’s a tough one at times. It’s one thing to become a successful business, however, when you are, people expect a lot from you. Owning your own business… you ARE the business. So when we are out at our kid’s baseball game, or out to eat with the family, people approach us. Normally, their first thing is… “I don’t want to talk business but…..” and then they proceed to say how they’ve been meaning to contact us about their floors LOL. We have two, I guess NOT so little anymore, kids that are full on in youth sports. Our son is now 14 and all about baseball. He eats, sleeps and breaths training for baseball, as well as Joe coaches and is very passionate about the sport. He even plays still at 43! Our daughter is a two-time national solo dance winner and is currently 10 and starting to branch out and try new sports. Me… I’m the mom who tries to hold it all together. Owning a business is one of the greatest adventures, and we focus on providing that small business feel to our customers, as well as donating money and time to our community. Finding that work/life balance is key. We want to continue to serve our community, all while providing our kids the best opportunities for them to grow in their true passions. Work hard, play hard, yet take care of yourselves. It’s a continual thing to work on.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

This is a great question. My husband Joe was born into the flooring world. His father owned the business which was previously Thoroughbred Carpets. Joe started by installing flooring for the business back in his 20s. When his father’s business partner passed, Joe stepped into the showroom and management side of the business until we bought it in 2016. We ran it under its previous name for a few years and then rebranded to Huffman Flooring Design Center when we purchased a new buidling and moved to it’s current location. At that time, I was a fulltime nurse but helped with the rebranding process. It was at that time I decided to take the leap to full time in the business. We both loved working together and found it was actually a positive thing for our relationship to work together. Stronger together, right? Once I jumped in full time, I immediately fell in love with the design process. I went back to school and studied interior design and started creating projects that extended past just flooring. Today I put together entire looks for my clients, whether its virtually or on site. I love helping make that design process a fun and hopefully less stressful time. I’m your design bestie I like to call myself. Someone who you can talk through your project with, ask questions and show you what works well in the space. I put together a mood board and provide my clients with links to purchase these products themselves. My clients get one on one time, yet get that satisfaction of putting together their own space and really making it their own. Joe and I also LOVE when we both get to walk into a client’s space and design together. Think HGTV only reality. LOL. We are there to help lead you to a floor, counter top, tile, window fashion or rug that truly fits your needs and give you a realistic timeframe expectation and a few pointers along the way.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

We are a family owned business that live and attends events in our community. Our main focus is not competing against any of our competition, its the service and attention to detail that we provide the moment you walk through our doors. We aren’t trying to sell you the flooring of the month just because it’s our sale, we are listening to what you actually need, what would work best for your subfloor and your home. We carry products that we’ve grown to trust. If something doesn’t perform well, we remove it and get only ones that do. We do truly care about your project and want to make sure the outcome is what is needed and the best for you. Being a small business, we aren’t an 800 number that you call and sit on hold for minutes to hours. You call our store and you get us. You get our time and our attention to things. Now of course, we also have our family time, so occasionally you will have to leave a message as we are out helping clients or being a family, but know we will get back to you.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My main goal as a designer is to bring joy to the design process. Be there for my clients as they bounce ideas off me. Be there if my client needs a recommendation on who should do the work. Sometimes my clients feel they either don’t know where to start or think they don’t have a design eye. The truth is, everyone does have a style. I just listen and try to bring that design style to light. My favorite part about my design process is having the design evolve. We start with a conversation, then I put together a look for the space, we have some more conversations about what they like/don’t like about the look, which eventually leads to the finished design. It’s so much fun walking someone through that. Afterall, it’s their home we are creating. I always want it to be a place that reflects their personality and style. A place they can’t wait to go home to.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.yourdesignbestie.com
• Instagram: @ellie.yourdesignbestie
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ellie.ramseth/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellie-huffman-a0a37618b
• Other: LTK
  liketk.it/51btu

Image Credits

The two pictures of me, the MC kitchen and the floral dining room as well as Joe and I picture were taken by Converse Candids Photography, Morgan Converse