Ellie Priester was recently promoted to the role of director of marketing for Shannon Specialty Floors, a leading producer of commercial resilient flooring. She joined the company in March of 2015 as public relations and communications manager, and during her time she has worn many hats and worked on a broad a broad group of initiatives including public relations, advertising, marketing, product development, budgeting and sales training. She most recently served as a member of the team who completed Shannon’s JUST and Living Product Challenge Labels. Before Shannon she worked in financial sales as well as financial public relations and internal communications.

We recently caught up with Priester to learn more about her growing role at Shannon.

FT:What is most exciting about your role at Shannon?

Priester: Teknoflor is at a pivotal position in its brand with an incredible momentum brewing, and Shannon Specialty Floors has more sales reach than ever before. Together, it’s an incredible recipe for industry innovation and disruption. I am thrilled to be able to translate the incredible work we’re doing through phases of re-branding and positioning. Truly, the most exciting part of my role is the support of my creativity and ideas from my peers and upper management. There have been few times I have been told “no” – it’s always “great... keep going. Push further. What’s next?” That in itself, I believe, shows the culture of our companies and the momentum we’re creating.

FT:What projects will you manage in your new role?

Priester:As director of marketing I will lead creative, branding and marketing initiatives for Shannon Specialty Floors and Teknoflor brands. This title brings an increase in responsibility of overall marketing budgets and initiatives, but also an increase in creative opportunity and a broader scope of product involvement and influence, which I am very much looking forward to.

FT:What projects are looking forward to for the remainder of 2018?

Priester:The momentum of Teknoflor has just begun. We have exciting products we’re working on and are thrilled to showcase them this year and in to 2019. Just last month we launched Naturescapes HPD, the first resilient flooring to be Petal Certified by the International Living Future Institute, at NeoCon—this was a highlight of our year and as a part of the LPC team, it is a highlight of my career thus far. We are also the first, and only, flooring supplier to have a JUST label under ILFI. We look forward to continuing our work with the International Living Future Institute and continuing our transparency and sustainability efforts.

FT:What should our readers keep on the lookout for from Shannon for the rest of this year?

Priester: 2018 and beyond will show Teknoflor’s and Shannon’s unwavering commitment to sustainability, transparency and high-performance, innovative flooring solutions. We’ve made a pretty big splash in the marketplace already with Naturescapes HPD, but we’re not done. We have a few things in the pipeline that people have been begging for, and we can’t wait to share them in a big way.

For more information, visit www.shannonspecialtyfloors.com.