For National Women’s Small Business Month, co-owner Tracy McCullough, Theresa Hamilton, and Amanda Griffith share the careers, decisions, and daily work behind a business that carries their family’s name.
At McCullough’s Flooring, three women bring their own strengths to a business that carries their family’s name: Tracy McCullough, co-owner with her husband, Russell; Theresa Hamilton, Russell’s sister; and Amanda Griffith, their daughter.
As a sales consultant at McCullough’s Flooring for the past eight years, I’ve had the opportunity to see the work behind these roles firsthand. I wanted to tell this story because the women I work alongside each bring their own strengths, perspective, and care to what they do. National Women’s Small Business Month felt like the right time to hear from them and share more of their contributions.
From the beginning, Russell wanted to build a business the family could keep and grow together. When the opportunity arose to establish a store, Belleville felt like a natural choice. The community welcomed McCullough’s Flooring supported its growth and helped turn Russell’s vision into a reality.
That support has always meant a great deal to Russell. He takes pride in giving back to the Belleville community that has supported the business and the family over the years. Through their work, relationships, and commitment to the community, the women of McCullough’s Flooring continue to help carry that vision forward.
Their paths into flooring began in corporate offices and a classroom. What brought them here was different for each, but all three have found a place to put those skills to use and a personal stake in what comes next.
Finding a different kind of career
Tracy McCullough was the first woman to join Russell’s vision. Her own career had begun on a corporate business track. After being laid off twice because of corporate buyouts, she paused to reconsider her next step. She finished her associate degree and appreciated having more time with Amanda, who was deeply involved in figure skating.
She began pitching in at the flooring business and found that she loved it. Her accounting and payroll background also met a growing need.
For Theresa Hamilton, the memory of her brother’s ambition reaches back much further.
“Russell and I are 4 ½ years apart. I did not see him much as he was always working, usually multiple jobs. From an early age, he had the drive and ambition to do remarkable things with his life.”
Russell had learned installation from his father. The two installed flooring for companies including Sears, where Russell’s work eventually led to a contract managing installations for several stores in Illinois and Missouri. He hired more installers and secured a central warehouse for materials. That expansion led to the first retail location, and Russell eventually put down his installation tools to focus on sales and managing crews.
Tracy built the systems to support those projects. She typed proposals, ordered materials, handled billing and payroll, learned sales, and set up the first small showroom. She also created spreadsheet workflows to organize the business with the technology available to her at the time.
Today, she still watches over the full operation, supported by a team that allows her to devote more time to leadership and oversight. The career she found has brought a kind of satisfaction she had not anticipated.
“I love being woven into the fabric of the entire business rather than just being a small cog in a single department,” she says.
When the plan had to change
Over 35 years, growth has required difficult decisions as well as steady work.
One of the biggest challenges came shortly after Tracy and Russell bought their first building. Sears, then their primary source of income, announced it was leaving the flooring business.
“We were devastated, but we knew we had to pivot or sink,” Tracy recalls.
They increased their focus on retail sales and hired two salesmen who helped change the business’s direction. Later, moving into their current location brought another demanding stretch, one that required Tracy and Russell to lean heavily on each other.
Looking back, Tracy credits the people who stepped in when they were needed most.
Experience behind the numbers
For Theresa Hamilton, joining the business came at a crossroads of her own.
“I believe that becoming part of the business had to do with fate and luck. I worked in the corporate world for over 20 years, but I always thought it would be nice to be part of the ‘family’ business. My job at the time was relocating to Atlanta so I had to choose between moving my family out of state or finding a new job.”
“Russell and Tracy were so gracious, they immediately called and offered me a job. I knew they were only doing it out of the kindness of their hearts. While I was looking for a new job, I started to get really bored at home. Tracy asked me to come into the office a few days a week to help out. That quickly turned into a full-time job for which I am extremely grateful for.”
Her corporate career had prepared her for the financial responsibilities she would take on.
“My main responsibilities are payroll, accounting, taxes, and customer billing. All the fun number stuff,” she says. “Working for large corporations for 20 years allowed me the opportunity to gain experience in various aspects of business. I was always involved with Accounting, Payroll, Taxes, Treasury/Banking and Risk Management.”
“I most enjoy having a variety of job functions. I feel I have a close working relationship with all my co-workers.”
Ask her about working with her brother, sister-in-law, and niece, and she sees something distinct in each of them.
“Russell is a visionary. He has taught me to not be afraid to take chances in life. Tracy and I are very much alike as far as our strengths. We have a very similar working background. Amanda is an ambitious person. There has never been a project that she could not take on. She gives 100% all the time. I wish I had her energy.”
That connection extends to her coworkers, too.
“What I value most is working for a small company where the owners care about all of their employees. I really do feel like family with everyone, not just those that I am related to.”
Bringing the next generation’s perspective
Amanda spent 10 years teaching at Pontiac William Holliday before joining the business. Working with students and families developed skills she now uses in a different setting: communication, patience, organization, and adapting to individual needs.
Her responsibilities include marketing, customer communication, scheduling, employee management, installer coordination, and daily business decisions. Much of her work involves keeping information moving among the people involved in a flooring project.
“There’s so much that happens between someone choosing a floor and seeing it installed in their home,” she says.
Drawing on her years in the classroom, she has introduced ideas for clearer installation information, customer reminders, and marketing that helps people feel prepared.
She also understands why customers start their research online. For people balancing work, children, pets, and a budget, convenience matters. But she sees the showroom as a place where those ideas become more practical: customers can compare colors and textures in person and discuss how products will perform in their homes.
“There’s also comfort in knowing who you’re buying from and having someone you can call throughout the process,” Amanda says.
Working with her parents has also changed Amanda’s understanding of the effort she saw growing up. She now recognizes “the decisions, the problem-solving, and the care they put into customers and employees.”
A name they intend to stand behind
For Tracy McCullough, standing behind a project is especially important when something goes wrong. Her first priority is making sure customers know their concerns are taken seriously. She believes that commitment to their satisfaction has been central to the company’s longevity.
In the showroom, she wants customers to feel welcome and comfortable exploring their options.
“I hope it feels both informative and genuinely enjoyable. We’ve worked hard to create a warm, inviting, design-forward space with a broad enough range of options to fit every unique lifestyle and budget.”
She also encourages staff to purchase flooring for their own homes through the company, giving them firsthand experience with the products they recommend.
“When a salesperson has lived with a product in their own home, they can look a customer in the eye and give them genuine peace of mind. Choosing flooring is a huge investment, and people are often terrified of making a costly mistake. Knowing that an owner or team member chose that exact same material for their own family provides an extra layer of real-world confidence.”
Those relationships reach beyond the showroom. An entrepreneur at heart, Russell had the determination to build something of his own and the willingness to take risks to make it happen. He often credits people in the community with helping his vision for McCullough’s Flooring become a reality. Keeping the business in Belleville has always mattered to him because he wants to give back to the community that helped build it.
As Amanda takes on more responsibility, she hopes to strengthen communication, support employees, and improve the customer experience while preserving the personal service her parents established.
“Our family’s name is on the business, and that means something to me,” she says. “I want customers to feel taken care of and employees to know their work is appreciated.”
What began with Russell’s vision has grown through years of shared effort, the experience each family member brought, and the people who supported them along the way. Tracy, Theresa, and Amanda continue to help shape that story, each with her own strengths and a shared commitment to the business and the people it serves.
