Meet Kimberly Quinn of Kimi’s Carpets Plus

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Quinn.

Hi Kimberly, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself. 
Where I am today is nowhere near where I started. I was living in Florida, I was not working, I was going through a divorce, and I was somewhat lost. I reconnected with a longtime family friend, who now is my partner in everything. Within a year, I moved up here, I bought my father-in-law’s business, and got married. Mike and I started our new business basically with my Jeep Wrangler and a cargo trailer. Understand that this is a very male-dominated industry, one where women are not taken seriously. But I was determined. At first, it was just Mike and me. I knew nothing about this business. I have a broadcasting background; Michael taught me everything he could as fast as he could. We worked 7 days a week, 16 hours some days. Just to pay the rent and the bills. We never stopped giving up on our dream. I can remember splitting one dinner between the 2 of us. We sacrificed everything to get to where we are now. It took a few years, but we were able to open a 1200-square-foot showroom with all new samples to share with our family of clients. This, to us, was a huge step. We were scared we were not going to be able to pay the rent or our bills. We just never gave up on each other or on the business and finally in May of 2022, we opened our new showroom. Today, we are in a 4800 square foot showroom, and we have a staff. We are a member of the Shaw Flooring Network a member of Flooring Stores United; we bring CFI in to certify our installers; I am a proud member of the “Women In Flooring Business” network group, and we were honored to be a flooring provider for HGTV’s Love it or List it. We constantly reinvest in our staff and our community. Sponsor sports teams and events in the area. I felt lost before I came here. I found my home in this community, with my husband, with my staff. I am grateful that I have been blessed with the people around me who have helped us where we are today. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I probably could not list all the struggles; there have been just too many. One of the biggest that stuck out in the beginning was being a woman in this industry. That has been hard to navigate. I can remember when I would meet with clients, I would get questions like, “Is your husband coming?” or “Are you the receptionist?” The stigma that women are behind the desk in this industry just did not apply to me. I would go on jobsites when I could. I worked in our warehouses. I try to learn what my installers know, so if there is a problem, I can help fix it. I taught myself how to use our forklift. I had never been in the flooring industry before, and I just did not want it to be a job. But I knew nothing. I had to learn everything on my own. Michael helped when he could, but he was installing for us, and I had to do my part. Even to this day, women in this industry are not as respected as men. 

As you know, we’re big fans of Kimi’s Carpets Plus Inc. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about the brand?
Kimi’s is a family-oriented, woman and veteran-owned company. We are a customer service-driven full-service flooring store. We worked tirelessly to help our clients in any way we can. Their happiness is what drives us. We do almost anything to make them happy and leave their homes better than we saw it. I would say our specialty is our commitment to our clients and their families. We try to go above and beyond. We try to make sure they have a seamless experience from beginning to end and beyond. We are intrusive when we come in, we are in your home, tearing stuff out, making loads of noise all to help. 

We are a service-based business. Flooring stores are not all the same. It’s about service, the customer experience. We lay out our proposals, and they are transparent. We don’t hide anything in them. Yes, we may not be the cheapest; however, we invest in our staff and our installers, so the service and product we put out is better than what you would expect. We are the only ones who bring in The International Certified Flooring Installer Association and get them to certify not only our installers but our sales staff as well. 

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the COVID-19 crisis?
The pandemic taught me just how fast things can change. We went from full steam to silent. It was eerie. It was isolating. But I was never frightened about Covid; I knew with what I did for a living, I was going to get it. And I did, 4 times. Covid really didn’t change my life too much; however, Stage 3 Cancer did. In October of 2022, I was diagnosed with State 3 Colon Cancer. That was the wake-up call I got that most people got with the pandemic. It stopped me cold in my tracks, and medically, I had been through a great deal over the years and persevered. I have a 7-year-old, a husband, a business, a family. How on earth was I going to deal with all that and go through surgery and chemo. You just do. You find the strength. I found the strength, my husband. I found my reasons for living, my daughter, and I found my will to go on, my friends. And I found my support, My mother. She was there for 99% of it. She stood tall and strong right there through it all. As well as my mother-in-law, they all stepped up. It taught me that with the right support system and a positive attitude, anything at all is possible. All of that can be transformed into a work ethic, not being afraid of the unknown. A positive attitude and provide the best support system to my staff, my clients, and my installers all leads to a better outcome. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.carpetsplusnc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimiscarpetsplus/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarpetsPlusInc/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kimi’s-carpets-plus