Trust is a many-faceted emotion. It’s a byproduct of faith, and a cousin of results. It’s a triangle that has no real beginning - you need to just jump right in, which is what Jennifer Wylie and Sean Anderson did when their professional lives simultaneously became unstable. It was time to replace that third triangle wall.
Yet they had trust and faith in themselves. Jennifer had been an HR Director for a $6 billion, multi-brand,global fashion company. Her husband, Sean, was a project manager for a worldwide food delivery company, managing a $4 million food route in the city. They each commuted daily to Manhattan for their executive careers. Then one day (yes, in 2020), that came to a screeching halt for both of them. But they both knew that they were capable of delivering results. It would just take some small adjustments.
The “small adjustment” came in a way that neither one of them had any experience with. At all.
“I knew in my heart that this was the time to change things,” Jennifer says. “I knew I was ready to have more control over what happened to me, to us. So we decided to look into a business that we could build together.”
They ultimately found it in investing in a franchise that spoke to them, in an area that neither of them had any experience with whatsoever. They went into flooring.
Cue the “from the ground up” clichés.
They both went from successful lives lived on a global scale to something unproven and local as there could be. Now, they’ve built a flourishing flooring installation business with their Floor Coverings International franchise.
It was a new experience for them, but they had faith in themselves that this would be where they could thrive.
“My biggest fear was that I’d be lonely,” admits Jennifer. “I was with people all day long, talking all day. I thought I’d have no one to talk to. But it’s just the opposite. Stepping into this role, I’ve met so many people, gotten involved at the community level. I'm out networking all the time. I have met just the most amazing people, small business owners, nonprofits that I like to work with. My life is so much more enriched now by the extracurriculars that I do than it ever was holding a nine to five”
While Jennifer has thrown herself headlong into marketing their Floor Coverings International business, Sean has set his feet firmly into the products they offer. You’d never know that five short years ago, this was a whole new world for him.
“He’s educated himself about everything,” Jennifer boasts. “I'm always amazed when I hear him start talking to our vendors or the installers. I think, ‘I can't believe you know all of this.’ He’s completely memorized all of the data, all of the product information. He really has become the expert in all of this.”
One might even say she’s floored by how much he now knows about floors.
That’s what makes them such a good team. They each trust in the strengths each brings to the life that they’re reinventing.
“Our skill sets complement each other,” she says. “He does things that I don't want to do, and I do things that he doesn't want to do. That helps us to be able to do what we do together. And we really do a pretty good job of staying in our lanes and making it work that way.”
Sean concurs. “We complement each other well. We make up for each other‘s weaknesses and recognize each other‘s strengths.. She makes my job easier in that way and hopefully I’m doing the same for her because we can count on each other to stay in our lanes and reach our goals.”
And Jennifer has even found a surprise about working with her husband that she didn’t expect. “Since I’ve been working with him, I have to admit that I actually trust his judgment more. It took a little while because I have a really controlling personality. He’d probably tell you that that took about five years, but I’ll say that it only took me two.”
Sean has also found something in starting a business with his wife.
“Beyond the business side, she is the heart and soul of everything we do,” he confesses. “My amazing wife approaches every challenge with positivity, patience, and a genuine desire to help others. She balances the many responsibilities of running a business with grace, always keeping our family values at the center of our work. I’m incredibly grateful to build this company alongside her, and together we strive to create not just beautiful floors, but a business rooted in trust, hard work, and the love we share for what we do.”
That certainly sounds like pretty solid ground this husband and wife team are on.