TOP WOMEN OWNED BUSINESSES
$7 MILLION OR MORE Deb DeGraaf deGraaf interiors inc. president and owner
$7 MILLION OR MORE
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or Deb DeGraaf, owner and president of DeGraaf Interiors, a residential and commercial flooring and carpet business with three West Michigan locations, her education in the industry began at her father Daryll’s side. “I have been a part of DeGraaf Interiors for 15 years, ever since I began helping my father with paperwork shortly after he opened DeGraaf Interiors in 1993. After some time working in the industry, I began selling on the showroom floor and managing our sales staff. And when my father retired in 2006, I began purchasing the business and have been president ever since.” DeGraaf Interiors remains very much a family business, however. “As the majority owner of DeGraaf
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Interiors, I am proud to say that without the help of my business partner and brother, Dean DeGraaf, we would not be where we are today,” she said. “He provides a balance of skills and expertise that I alone could not. As a mother of two young children, there are days the business has to wait, and Dean, along with the rest of my team, allows me to do what I love most — be a mom.” That attitude also shapes DeGraaf’s management style. “The people that work alongside me in this business are my family at heart,” she said. “I create an environment at all three of our stores that is productive and yet fun. As long as you love what you do and who you work with, productivity and life are so much easier.”
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