2015 Wilsonart Essay Competition Winner, Rachel Knox
With my brain buzzing, shirt tucked, and my right palm embarrassingly covered in green
permanent marker from my late night design studio project, I left the house to meet my busy
mentor for the day. In the passenger seat, my mother’s black leather portfolio sat with scribbled
questions such as “why do you love this job?” and “what drew you to this
industry?”
My classmates had done this before. Last year, a few of them even landed mentorship
opportunities with designers and directors at some of Kansas City’s largest firms. When I opened
the letter designating my pairing, and read the words “carpet representative”, it wasn’t exactly
what I had in mind. But remembering what my professors had told me, that “every opportunity is a
good one”, I packed my bags and headed to the city for the weekend.
As a fourth year interior design student at Kansas State, I had met product representatives before,
but I had no idea what I was getting into that day. Michelle Griffith had asked me to meet her at a
business meeting at a flooring company that morning around 11am. When I walked in to the
conference room, Jim Wilkinson, a project manager, immediately gave me rave reviews of my
mentor whom I knew hardly anything about. Michelle greeted me with excited eyes and a firm
handshake. I then proceeded to take diligent notes of their meeting, and instead of brushing me
off, both of them happily answered my questions and allowed me to participate as if I were a real
designer. We discussed the importance of life cycle cost vs. list cost, business turnovers, and the
importance of educating new clients on the products they choose to install. I was most excited to
take back my knowledge of life cycle cost analyses to my classmates at KSU.
It was an empty, lunch-hour office by the time the three of us realized our conversation had gotten
carried away. Michelle being a busy saleswoman had a few meetings on the docket for the day
but had cleared her calendar for the next couple of hours just for us to get to know each other. We
hopped in the car and headed downtown, and she filled the drive with questions like “what do you
just absolutely love about design?” and “what are you passionate about?” – questions I knew, yet
wasn’t prepared to answer.
I finally gave her the deep-dish version of my story over a meal of fish tacos at lunch. How I began
coloring on the walls as soon as I could hold a crayon, took art class after art class and drew
skyscrapers instead of horses and dogs. How I toured my first design school at sixteen and cried
because I felt so at home. And how all of these experiences led me to my current success at KState, and are about to propel me into the working world.
Michelle treated me so well. She made me feel like we were just two friends catching up rather
than interviewing each other. She kept saying how “it’s all about people”, and if you can get to the
honest truth of a person and learn to support them both professionally and personally, you will
succeed at no matter what you do. I realized it’s not a business to business industry like I thought.
It’s an industry of friends who like to tackle problems creatively, and serve others through the
wonder of place.
We spent the next hour stocking carpet samples in the dusty basement library of a large KC firm
at which many of my classmates are competing for jobs. Michelle introduced me to two designers
who were as excited to see her as I would be to see my closest friends. “Anyone who’s cool with
Michelle is cool with us,” they’d say. My jaw was almost dropped before we even got to the
parking lot.
2015 Wilsonart Essay Competition Winner, Rachel Knox
Our last stop was a product presentation meeting at a smaller local firm. Michelle’s vibrant
personality was greeted warmly at the door and I got to help her explain Atlas’ new broadloom
and tile carpet solutions. While it wasn’t pitching a design concept for the next great architectural
wonder, the same level of interest was displayed.
I can’t quite sum into words the amount I learned that day simply through watching Michelle take
the stage. Her kind and charismatic demeanor was so impactful to me throughout the several
hours we spent zipping around town together. We talked more about my goals and dreams than
what she did for a living. She told me to go after the jobs I don’t think I’ll get. She showed me how
to make friends everywhere I go. And she taught me to be intentional, which has since been
immeasurably valuable to me. Whether my future holds selling carpet tile, or designing multimillion dollar buildings, this business is as much about relationships as it is design.
Next time someone asks me what I do, I’ll think of my time spent with Michelle and say, I’m in the
business of building relationships. And business is good.