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| With this blog post, we’re introducing a new occasional series of posts that describe “a day in the life” of an Armstrong employee who has an impact on the type of floors and related products we offer you. Our first post was created by Sara Babinski, Principal Designer for Armstrong. |  |
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| 5:00 a.m. | Rise and shine. Check email, shower, and grab a cereal bar, blueberry pomegranate juice and fruit for breakfast. | |
| 6:45 | Hop in the car. Stop for the daily iced coffee. | |
| 7:00 | Work begins. Scan emails for importance and dive into my Google Alerts for: color trends, interior design trends and news on the world of hardwood. Review daily email from StyleSight, study more trends. | |
| 7:30 |
Review all emails coming in from China. (My morning is their evening.) Instant message comes through from the VP of hardwood and laminate: What are we doing in 2013? Is the pantry empty? My response: No, it is not empty! |
| 7:50 | Set up meeting with product management to review design plans for 2013. |
| 8:00 | Marketing just called: we need a display organized with new products for placement at retail. |
| 8:30 | Color trial material has arrived from the plant. Time to review the material against our standard in the light-controlled color booth. |
| 9:50 | Need to create a featured wing display of wood and laminate products for The Armstrong Avenue building, where all new products are featured for customers who visit the campus. Products need to be specified. Marketing will help coordinate with appropriate photography. |
| 11:30 |
The project manager for hardwood sends a message: Would you be able to head to the plant for color trials at the end of the month? And, oh, by the way, can you come up with 25 new color names? Sales is on the line: a customer is looking for an engineered hardwood product in a chocolate brown. What would you recommend? |
| 11:45 | Time for lunch – Chinese sounds good! |
| 12:00 | A call comes in at lunch: We have a customer at the Armstrong Avenue, and they need regional design information. How quickly can you get here? |
| 1:30 |
Back to my office. Facilities left a message: Sara, you have five large pallets of material in Shipping and Receiving. Where do you want them delivered? |
| 3:00 | Time to color match trim and moldings for the new hardwood products. |
| 4:00 | WebEx meeting with Armstrong Sales for the new laminate products.
Email from the Armstrong Flooring social media manager arrives: Will you have the blog post completed by the end of June? And, don’t forget, we still need your new Pinterest board! |
| 4:30 | Glance at tomorrow’s calendar and call it a day! |
Sara Babinski has worked with practically every type of flooring, and is currently the lead designer for our hardwood and laminate flooring products. She received a BFA in Illustration and Design from the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. Sara likes to blog about how nature influences design and new hardwood and laminate products. Born and raised in the beach community of Sagaponack, New York, she looks for inspiration in the textures and colors found in nature.