Marguerite Kisslring

Myself. That is the honest answer.

I did not grow up with a support system. My parents struggled to provide the emotional foundation that children need, and the verbal and emotional abuse I experienced at home meant I learned very early that if I was going to make it, it was going to be because I decided to. No one was going to do it for me.

I have spent my entire life being overlooked, passed over, and excluded by people who mistook my quietness for weakness or  assumed that not fitting into their circle meant I lacked the ability to do the job.. Every time a door was closed in my face, I went and learned something new. I kept building. I kept showing up. I now have a toolbox of skills at 44 that most people could not assemble in two lifetimes, and I built every single piece of it myself.

I also live with multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, and other chronic health conditions that have tried, more than once, to stop me completely. They have not. I have had to fight for my health, fight for my place, and fight for my own sense of worth in the absence of anyone telling me I had any. I am still here. I am still learning. I am still growing.

I never gave up on myself. In the absence of everything else, that turned out to be enough.

Keep going. That is where I always start.

Do not settle for a company that cannot see your value. Do not shrink yourself to fit into a space that was never built for you. Keep looking, keep applying, keep pushing until you find the place that recognizes what you bring. It exists. Do not stop until you find it.

And do not stop growing in the meantime. Learn everything that interests you, even when people tell you that you are doing too much or that you will never use half of it. I heard that my entire life. I now have a job that uses virtually everything I have ever learned, including things I picked up decades ago with no idea why. You never know what opportunity is waiting down the road that will finally let all of those pieces click together. The skills you collect today are never wasted. They are just waiting for the right moment.

Bet on yourself even when no one else does. Especially then.

Run! Jump right in!

People see the flooring industry as male dominated, but that is changing fast. There are so many talented, driven women joining the field, running companies, and helping to shape where this industry is going. Do not let the assumption that this is a man's world keep you from walking through the door.

I joined with zero knowledge of flooring. My entire frame of reference was playing The Sims and watching home decor shows. I genuinely thought I was going to sink. Months later I am still learning, and I suspect I will be learning for years to come. But here is what I found: people in this industry are willing to answer when you ask and willing to explain when you admit you do not know something. That honesty is not a weakness. It is exactly how you grow.

The flooring industry does not need you to arrive with all the answers. It just needs you to show up.

I came into this industry as an outsider, and I think that perspective is actually worth something.

Two things stand out to me. The first is the conversation around women in flooring. The industry has long been seen as a male dominated space, but that is shifting, and I think that shift is an enormous opportunity. Women are joining, leading, and changing the culture of this field in ways that are long overdue.

The second is harder to ignore. The average flooring installer is 54 years old. Young people are simply not entering the trades the way they once did, and the flooring industry is feeling that gap. It is one of the most pressing challenges the field faces right now because skilled installers are the backbone of everything we do. Finding ways to make the trades visible, appealing, and accessible to younger generations is not just an opportunity, it is a necessity.

Acceptance is at the top of the list and has been my entire life. Growing up with a mother who was a pastor in the United Church of Christ meant that taking people as they are, fully and without condition, was not just a value in our home. It was a way of life. That foundation was deepened by my time at Boston College, where a Jesuit education challenged me to think beyond myself, pursue truth honestly, and consider my responsibility to the world and the people in it. Those two influences together shaped the way I move through everything I do.

Honesty is a close second. I will always tell you the truth, even when it is uncomfortable. I spent years in environments where speaking up came at a personal cost, and I did it anyway. I do not know how to be any other way.

Growth matters deeply to me, both professionally and personally. I believe you owe it to yourself to keep learning, keep expanding, and keep becoming. I have lived that value in every chapter of my life.

Resilience is less a value and more just how I am built. Life has handed me plenty of reasons to stop. I never have.

And humor. I think humor is what makes all of the above survivable. If you cannot find something to laugh at in the middle of the hard stuff, the hard stuff wins. I refuse to let it.