Mailroom to CPA: Getting My Start in the Carpet Business

August 12, 2008

Wow, thinking about being 18 and pursuing a career… now THAT takes me back a few years! As I mentioned in my last post, I knew I wanted to go into a business-related career as early as middle school. I must have gotten that mindset from my dad; he ran his own business for more than 30 years. He and his business partner had their own company selling carpet wholesale and retail for as long as I can remember. Alpha Carpets was incorporated in 1971. If he'll talk about it, I need to get the story of how he and my mom got their start in Dalton and the carpet business.

My first foray into the business world was at Aladdin Mills, a carpet and rug manufacturer, where I was employed for nearly 5 years. At age 23, when most of my high school friends had already finished college and were starting their careers, I started out at the lowest rung of the corporate ladder possible: in the mailroom.

At least by that time in my life I had started college! I finally chose Accounting as my career choice and was pursuing a 2-year Business Degree at the local college. My tenure at Aladdin included 2 ½ years in the Accounting Department.

Joe once asked me how I got into the carpet business. I tried as best I could to explain that in Dalton, GA, where I grew up, one can hardly escape it! In the 1990s, and for as far back as I can remember, Dalton was known as the Carpet Capital of the World. Not only was the city home to the 4 largest carpet manufacturers in the nation, maybe even the world – Shaw Industries, World Carpet, Aladdin Mills, and Queen Carpet -- but also it was home to hundreds of smaller manufacturers, distributors, and suppliers (one of those, of course, being Alpha Carpets).

Those manufacturers and distributors and suppliers needed office workers, shipping and receiving personnel, plant workers, computer programmers, accountants, mailroom personnel, administrative assistants, sales reps, purchasing agents…. So when one went to look for a job, the most promising places to apply for employment were—you guessed it – the carpet mills.

I recall having a very difficult time finding a simple office job after high school. I was one of the top grads of the county, with numerous business courses under my belt! Why was it so hard to find a decent job (in line with my abilities) after high school, in the booming city of Dalton? Joe had a suggestion. He said the “good ol’ boy mentality” was probably strongly at work, meaning it’s who you know.

He's probably right. You'd think that with all my dad's business contacts, I could have found a simple, entry-level, clerical job right out of high school, having a sturdy platform from which to begin building a career. And just think of how much my dad, with his years of experience, could have taught me about business!

Mom once asked him, "Why don't you let Melanie work at Alpha, since she's taken some accounting classes?" This was after I began college but before I'd started working at Aladdin. I don’t remember what he said, but you’d think he’d at least show me some stuff, teach me some basic business knowledge, so I could get some experience.

Ah, but 'twas not meant to be. My dad was of the “old school” and believed that kids were on their own once they reached their teens. He had no intentions of helping my siblings and myself make our way in this world.

He not only wouldn’t help any of us get along in life or decide what to do after high school, I’m sure that in particular he was ashamed of me. Maybe not ashamed, but for sure he had minimal respect for me. He didn’t even come to my high school graduation. Oh sure, I have a picture of myself with him & mom at graduation, but that was taken after the ceremony when he finally showed up. That’s OK; I got my own experience and I’m a CPA now. So there.