Reach for the stars. Shoot for the moon. People are told to look up and follow their dreams. But great things can also happen when you look down, at the floor.
In 1972, Carol and Bob Nance had three young children and were struggling financially in northwest Georgia. Carol was looking for a way to make some money.
CAPITALIZING ON CARPET
Turns out, the path to financial stability was right in front of her. And alongside her. And behind her. Carol lives in the carpet capital of the world. She’d see trucks hauling huge loads of carpet scraps to the dump. One day, the inspiration hit her. As she and Bob were driving, she saw yet another truck teeming with scraps. The “ding ding ding” moment. Carol told Bob she could make something pretty with those scraps.
Pretty soon, she was off and running. Well, walking. She started small, in a space that “wasn’t as good as a garage”. And shaped those scraps into rugs, with just a cutting knife and a table. And, with three small children to raise. The youngest was just six months old when Carol started. And they all grew. The children became teenagers. The rug orders kept coming. And coming. The business, now Nance Industries, went from that tiny table to six manufacturing plants. Carol says Nance Industries is the largest woman-owned flooring business in the United States, with a workforce that is more than 70 percent female.
None of it happened overnight. Carol was a woman in power in an industry long dominated by men. She never let that deter her, she says she simply couldn’t. “I just looked past it and kept on keeping on.” Carol knew she had to out-perform her male competitors – shipping a better product at a better price. And, she played “the game”. In the 1970’s, a woman couldn’t apply for a business loan or buy a building – so she and Bob teamed up when it was time to suit up and go to the bank. As Carol explains, “back then you just did what you had to do, you know? And didn’t let it affect you.”.
BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP WITH LOWE’S
Carol’s relationship with Lowe’s started around 1989 when she connected with a buyer at an Atlanta trade show. That buyer was also a woman, but at that point, gender didn’t matter. Carol just wanted to sell her product in Lowe’s stores.
That buyer was loyal to Carol, and Carol was loyal to Lowe’s.
As her flooring company grew, other companies called. But Carol stuck with Lowe’s. As she says, “we grew and we were good for Lowe’s. And Lowe’s was good for us.”. Carol, with Bob’s help, nurtured that relationship. The two personally attended every Lowe’s event and store grand opening they could. Even five or six in Dallas one weekend. The pomp and circumstance were outside, but the work, that was inside. Carol and Bob would stay behind and meet with the flooring associates. Teaching and training them, she says, to properly measure for rugs and carpets. Making the personal connections that would keep her business growing.
The strength and longevity of her relationship with Lowe’s also has a lot to do with former CEO Bob Tillman. Carol heard Tillman was renovating stores, making them more attractive, to attract more female customers. So, she wrote to him - asking, if he had the opportunity, would he support her woman-owned business in the future? That future is now, and the business relationship between the two companies is still going strong.
FOLLOWING YOUR DREAM
Carol’s advice for women who are starting their own journey – follow your dream. Simple enough. But there’s a second part, the straight-shooting truth that doesn’t make it on an inspirational mug or sign. The kind of truth you get from Carol Nance.
Know going in that it’s hard work. And no matter what, you’ve got to keep on. You can’t stop, you’ve got to keep on. The going’s going to get tough, but that’s when you really have to step up to the plate and get it done.
Carol is asked that advice question a lot. What she wishes more people would ask her about though, is her family. Her three children, nine grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Her pride and her joy. All hard workers, and high achievers. Her family, remember, is the reason she started Nance Industries – to provide for her children. And it’s a family company. It’s not uncommon to find a Nance or two or more working there on any given day.
Carol was at every ball game, every musical, every school event – also serving as PTA President. Never letting the family go “lacking”, as she puts it. And keeping everyone in church. Carol gives God credit for her success. Carol believes strongly in giving back to her community and is a founding partner in Gordon Gives, an organization created to help families in crisis in Gordon County, Georgia.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Nance Industries. Plans are underway for a big bash. Might a retirement party be coming, too? Not for Carol Nance. Slow down? Sure. Retire? No. She loves what she does. And she’s still working on her goal of leaving the world a better place.
