Good Neighbor Podcast: Cobb County

E27: A Flooring Entrepreneur's Journey from her Car to the Showroom

• Milli M. & Laura Mireles • Episode 27

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Dive into the fascinating world of flooring with Laura Mireles, the founder of Daniels Floors. In this engaging episode, we explore Laura's evolution from selling flooring samples out of her car to running a successful showroom. She shares valuable insights into the flooring industry, including common misconceptions and essential tips for choosing the right options tailored to your home’s needs. 

Laura emphasizes quality and value, explaining how luxury vinyl and laminate can rival traditional hardwood while meeting the unique demands of active households. Her dedication to personalized customer service shines through as she guides listeners in navigating their flooring choices, ensuring they align with their vision.

The conversation shifts to Laura's life outside of work, highlighting her journey as a single mother of four and the resilience she developed through personal challenges. Additionally, you will hear about how her team's commitment to exceptional service has built her business. Without them, there is no Daniels Floors.

Listeners will walk away with a deeper understanding of the flooring landscape, as well as practical advice on making informed choices for their homes. 

Join us as we celebrate the spirit of local business and discover what makes Daniels Floors not just another flooring company, but a trusted partner in homes across the community. Don’t forget to check out danielsfloors.com for further insights, and feel free to share your thoughts and experiences with us!

Speaker 1:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Millie M.

Speaker 2:

Hello everybody and welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. I am Millie M. Are you in need of a full-service flooring company? Well, one might be closer than you think. I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, laura Morelis of the Daniels Floors Company. How are you, ms Laura?

Speaker 3:

Doing great Millie. How about yourself?

Speaker 2:

Doing well. Thank you for asking. We're excited to learn all about you and your business. Tell us more about Daniels Floors.

Speaker 3:

Well, it's a business I founded in 2007. Started off just being installing and finishing After a while. You know, people wanted to do pre-finished floors, because installing an unfinished product and then sanding it and finishing it in someone's home can be disruptive to your life. You know, you've got to completely move out and it takes about a week. So when I started trying to help people find pre-finished floors, I noticed that the upscale places had flooring that was out of reach for the average homeowner, and then the stuff that you get at the big box stores and outlets and liquidators was not really the quality someone wanted in their home if they had an upscale home. So I started.

Speaker 3:

I went to a distributor. I started carrying around samples of a brand called Somerset, which was really well made but affordable, and since I didn't have any overhead, I was just selling the samples out of my car. You know it was. It's kind of like I don't know if you know anybody in the music industry who had, who used to sell the CDs out of their trunk something like that Same sort of feeling like here let me show you this and this and then put them back in the car and drive around. And then the distributor told me, you know you could get a better price on these if you had a showroom, and so it was something that I never considered and I started looking around and I found a little place in Sandy Springs off Dalrymple and I opened a small showroom and I really started researching and shopping around for the best brands that I could get for people in this area, and that's how I started really.

Speaker 2:

You are what we call a hustler. You went from your car to a whole showroom. So what are some myths or misconceptions about your industry or what you do?

Speaker 3:

Well, I think a lot of people. There's so much misinformation out on the web and that's one reason I go on Reddit and other forums and try to answer questions. Somebody will post a question help me with my hardwood problem and then you get 10 people with 10 different answers and opinions, so it's really hard to find good advice out there online. It's a good place to start, but then you really need to speak with someone like myself or you know, I do have some competent, some competitors that are also very good at what they do. But go to, like a professional flooring showroom and speak with someone who can advise you on the best type of flooring for you, because going and looking for the best flooring, that might not be the best flooring for you.

Speaker 3:

If you've got big dogs, four kids, I'm going to steer you toward a laminate or a luxury vinyl and you may say, oh, that's cheap. No, not anymore. The technology has improved so much that you can't tell the difference visually, but as far as the way it's going to hold up for an active family, but as far as the way it's going to hold up for an active family, that's the way to go If you're someone who is in your forever home and it's an upscale home, and you want to spend twelve, thirteen dollars a square foot on a floor that is just going to, you know, be perfect for your showcase of a home, then that's the best flooring for you.

Speaker 2:

I love that there is no one size fits all when it comes to flooring. Target customers and how do you attract them?

Speaker 3:

Okay, so, honestly, there are so many cheap flooring stores all around. I could stand in my parking lot and throw a stone and hit somebody selling floors for one, two, three dollars a square foot. The people that buy those floors are not our customers. Our customers are the ones who are willing to spend a little bit more but want a good value. So you're getting the best floor at the best price Mm-hmm.

Speaker 3:

But we do cater to the upscale consumer and that doesn't mean everything is going to cost a lot of money. That just means if you're getting a luxury vinyl floor, for example, we don't have something for 89 cents. Ours are more between three and four dollars a square foot. You know our floor finishes are going to be the most durable. You don't have any like two and $3 a square foot hardwoods. So we don't cater to house flippers or investors. We cater to people who, hey, this is my home, this is my personal investment and I want quality, but I don't want to spend a fortune on it. You know quality and value. So that's who we, that's who generally our customers are and how we get them, since we've been in business since 2007. It's pretty much all either repeat customers or referrals, direct referrals. People see our floors and like, oh my gosh, where'd you get that? And then that's how our name gets passed along.

Speaker 2:

That convergence of quality and value. And for most people, their home is their biggest investment, so they're going to want to put the best products in there. So let's talk about outside of work. What do you do for fun?

Speaker 3:

let's talk about outside of work. What do you do for fun Work? I mean, basically I like to go out to the country my stepfather has, or my adopted father has, some land up in Tennessee, so whenever I get a chance I like to go visit him. He's an older guy so you know I try to get as much time in to visit. We like to travel. I have one younger daughter who still lives with me and we like to travel. We go all out. So that's my guilty pleasure is just traveling, you know first class and staying in suites and just kind of seeing the world.

Speaker 2:

Yes, and they say that's part of where the tiny home craze came from, where people really wanted to pare down their day to day living expenses so they could go out when they traveled for sure. So let's switch gears a little bit. Can you describe a hardship or a life challenge that you overcame and how it made you stronger? Oof.

Speaker 3:

You know lots of them. One was so I married somebody whose wife was pregnant at the time and that I started seeing him. They were separated, so I raised that little girl and then the wife gave us another little girl and then two more little girls. Oh goodness, those four little girls whom I love, three of them are back with their biological mom.

Speaker 3:

But you know, my ex-husband left and so I was a single mom running a business and raising four little girls and it was an absolute struggle, not just financially, which it was, but just the logistics of it all Running a business and raising four kids and being at school events and being there for them, and they were all special needs. So it was challenging, but I was able to give them a good foundation and now they're older and able to take care of themselves better while they're back with their biological mom. So that was really challenging. I had them through COVID and since they're one of them was in special education and the others had other needs like they needed speech therapy and additional pullouts that they do and they weren't getting any of that and so that was a scary time.

Speaker 3:

So that was that was incredibly challenging and you know, you can ask any single parent who's doing it on their own when you don't have that partner, when a kid is sick, if you don't have that partner, to say I'll get it, you rest, you've got to work tomorrow. Or you know you've got something scheduled but you've got to go to a doctor's appointment with a kid or a dentist and it's just expensive, like feeding four kids is. It was a struggle, those years were hard, but you know, I think it's character building and when you go through that and it's finally behind you, there's just a sense of accomplishment and kind of a you know, we did it.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. You are such an overcomer to be able to take that on running a business alone, being a parent alone, but having the two together and the quarantine was rough on a lot of us for various reasons. So you should really feel proud of yourself and I'm sure you've made an indelible mark on those young ladies. So, laura, tell us our listeners one thing you would like for them to remember about Daniel's Floors.

Speaker 3:

One thing you could probably tell by our logo that it's very retro, very old-fashioned, and it's to capture that part of years ago when customer service was important. You'd pull into a gas station. Three guys would run out there washing your windows, checking your oil, pumping your gas. You're paying 25 cents a gallon and customer service was important and I feel like that's been lost in so many industries and so many businesses. You walk into places and they act like you're bothering them.

Speaker 3:

For me, the other difference in my business is it's more of a boutique business. It's really hands-on, like anybody can go in a store and kind of look and pick something out, but with an investment that's going to be thousands of dollars, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars, that's going to be thousands of dollars, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars. You really need that guidance. So that's what I provide is that one on one. You know, not just pick a color, because you wouldn't do that if you're buying a car. It's pick a color, pick a durability, you know, pick a width that's appropriate for your home. If you've got three foot wide hallways, you don't want a 10 inch plank floor.

Speaker 3:

You know all of these. I think all of these helpful kind of guidance that I give to people is what sets my business apart from, say, walking into a big box store and then picking something by a color that you like.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely Hands on customer service. I love to hear it. How can our listeners find out more?

Speaker 3:

Well, you can go to our website, which is danielsfloorscom. Daniels with an S, floors with an Scom. Also, I've got one of my daughters does my. I'll give her a shout out. Evelyn does my Instagram and social media. So now I've got a really good presence on that. And, you know, ask your neighbors. We've been doing floors in this area for a long time. Chances are we've done somebody's floor in your neighborhood. So, you know, just ask your neighbors if you like their floors. Who did their floors? Chances are we probably had a hand in it.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much, Ms Flora. You've been a delight and I really appreciate you being here with us. Good luck to you and your business moving forward.

Speaker 3:

Yes, ma'am, you too. Thank you very much for the opportunity for some exposure.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPCobbCountycom. That's GNPCobbCountycom, or call 470-470-4506.