A Day in the Life
Mike Petersen
Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at a thriving, multi-location home flooring, cabinetry and countertop company? To give you a peek behind the curtain, we sat down for a Q&A session with our very own Mike Petersen. From morning school drops to navigating multi-state operational calls, optimizing technology, and expanding our house brands, his day is a masterclass in balancing various tasks and communicating with all staff along the way. Here is what a typical “day in the life” looks like when you are responsible for keeping the engine of Quest Interiors running smoothly, efficiently, and compliantly.
Q: Let’s start at the very beginning. How does your day kick off before you even step foot into a Quest Interiors showroom?
A: My day starts exactly like it does for many of our clients: balancing family and work. Before the pull into a Quest Interiors parking lot, the dad hat is firmly in place. The morning routine is a flurry of breakfast, double-checking backpacks, and hitting the road to get my kids dropped off at school.
Honestly, that morning drive is one of my favorite parts of the day. It’s a bit of grounding family time before the workday sprint begins. Once the kids are safely through the school doors, my brain immediately switches gears into operational mode. By the time I pull into the office, I’ve already mapped out my high-priority targets for the day. Not to mention the phone calls, google messages, emails or text messages that I have already recieved because we have some staff that starts their day before 6 AM.
Q: To truly understand your day-to-day role, we have to look backward. You have an incredibly deep history with this company. How did your journey with Quest Interiors—back when it was FloorQuest—originally begin?
A: To say I’ve grown up with this company is an understatement! Before coming here, I was working at Twohig Flooring America. But shortly after FloorQuest first opened its doors, I made the jump and started working right in the warehouse.
Because I came in near the very beginning, I’ve had the unique privilege of wearing almost every single hat in the building over the last two decades. I didn’t just learn our business model from a textbook or a spreadsheet; I learned it by doing the physical work.
My Journey Through the Ranks:
Warehouse Ops ➔ Flooring Installer ➔ Sales Support & Office Training ➔ Project Estimator ➔ Manager ➔ Division Developer & Analyst
I started by loading trucks in the warehouse and eventually moved into installing flooring out in the field. From there, I transitioned into sales support—where I actually helped train the talented individual who serves as our current office manager today. I spent years bidding projects, calculating material takeoffs, and learning the financial DNA of commercial and residential jobs.
Later on, I helped lay the groundwork for our countertop fabrication division from the ground up. At one point, I completely oversaw our cabinetry operations, which included vetting and bringing on two of our most successful, foundational partnerships: the Bellmont Cabinet Co. line and the Yorktowne Cabinetry line.
Having that 360-degree view of our history—from a dusty warehouse floor to corporate product procurement—is what allows me to be an effective analyst today. I know exactly how a decision made at a desk affects an installer in the field or a designer in the showroom, because I’ve been in both of their shoes.
Q: Your title is Business & Compliance Analyst. For someone outside the industry, what does that actually mean?
A: It means no two days are ever the same! Essentially, my job is to look at Quest Interiors through two distinct lenses: efficiency (business analysis) and integrity (compliance).
On the business side, I look at our processes, our software platforms, our supply chain, and our marketing to figure out how we can serve our clients faster and better. On the compliance side, I ensure that our contracts, local operations, installation standards, and business practices meet the highest legal and professional benchmarks. I bridge the gap between corporate strategy, day-to-day retail operations, and legal box-checking.
Q: We hear you have a crucial daily checkpoint with someone down south. Tell us about your work with Terri Graf.
A: Yes! Distance means nothing when you have the right team. One of the absolute anchors of my daily routine is connecting with Terri Graf. Terri works remotely for us all the way from Tennessee, and she is an absolute powerhouse.
We usually connect mid-morning via phone to sync up on commercial projects and needs. Because she is remote, these intentional touchpoints are vital. Working with Terri is a great reminder of how modern technology allows Quest Interiors to pull in top-tier talent and collaborate seamlessly, no matter the geography.
Q: You operate out of a few different hubs. How do you divide your time and support the staff across our different locations like Waukesha and Oshkosh?
A: It’s a collaborative effort. While I might be physically based in one office on a given day, my responsibility extends heavily to supporting our team members on the ground in Waukesha and Oshkosh.
A major portion of my afternoon is often spent troubleshooting operational bottlenecks for them or reviewing regional performance data. If the Waukesha showroom needs a workflow update in our system, or if the Oshkosh team is dealing with a unique operational hurdle, I dive in to help. I view my role as a support system for our frontline staff. If I can make their software run faster, simplify their paperwork, or clear an administrative hurdle, they can focus entirely on what they do best: helping homeowners design beautiful spaces.
Q: Quest Interiors has been making waves with its proprietary product lines. What is your involvement with the house brands?
A: This is a massive area of focus for me right now and something I’m incredibly proud of. We’ve put a lot of energy into developing and refining our exclusive house brands: Inspired Flooring and Inspired Quartz.
My hands are all over these brands from a product management and compliance perspective. On any given day, I might be reviewing quality assurance reports for Inspired Flooring, checking supply chain logistics, or analyzing margin data for Inspired Quartz. We launched these brands to give our customers elite-level style and durability without the massive brand-name markup. Ensuring these products live up to the “Inspired” name while maintaining a healthy, compliant supply chain takes continuous monitoring, and it’s a big part of my daily analytical work.
Q: You aren’t just sitting behind a desk crunching numbers all day. How often do you get involved in the physical, technical side of local projects?
A: More often than you’d think! To be a good analyst, you can’t just look at spreadsheets; you have to understand the physical reality of the work. It’s not uncommon to find me out in the field or in the back tech spaces helping out with digital templating or space measurement technologies.
When our fabrication teams use laser templating for a complex Inspired Quartz countertop installation, that data has to flow perfectly into our operational software. If there’s a glitch or a way to optimize how we capture spatial dimensions digitally, I’m right there working with the tech. Getting my hands dirty with the actual measurement tools gives me the insights I need to streamline our ordering and installation pipelines.
Q: Marketing seems to be another area where you lean in. Can you tell us about “Quest Quick” and your work on social media?
A: Absolutely. A great business process doesn’t mean much if clients don’t know it exists. I collaborate closely with our marketing efforts to make sure our promotional promises align perfectly with our operational capabilities.
A perfect example of this is Quest Quick, our guaranteed two-week turnaround program for select flooring and countertop installations.
The Quest Quick Promise: From the moment a customer finalizes their selection of in-stock materials, we guarantee installation within 14 days.
My job was to help build the legal terms, verify the inventory pipelines, and ensure the logistics were airtight before we launched it. On the frontend, I help oversee how we push this out on Facebook and other social media platforms. I review our digital marketing analytics, engage with campaign performance data, and ensure our social media messaging accurately reflects the high standards and quick turnarounds we actually deliver on the showroom floor.
Q: To wrap things up, what is the most rewarding part of being a Business & Compliance Analyst at Quest Interiors?
A: The most rewarding part is seeing a complex plan come together to create a stress-free experience for a homeowner. When a customer in Oshkosh or Waukesha gets a flawless, beautiful kitchen layout completed ahead of schedule through Quest Quick, they don’t see the contract compliance work, the inventory syncs with Terri, or the software optimization that made it happen. And they shouldn’t have to!
Knowing that the behind-the-scenes systems I build and protect directly result in someone loving their home is incredibly fulfilling. I get to combine logic, law, technology, and creativity every single day, all while supporting an incredible team of professionals.
