Levi Saunders
Content Creator | 6 months
Levi is a qualified school teacher turned entrepreneur.
His extensive experience in blue and white collar roles, such as mining and scaffolding, have equipped him to enter the business world with a complete understanding of how to serve, support and work with partners, clients and customers.
To grow a sustainable business, in both the bricks and mortar and online worlds, it is imperative to make life easy for people and offer a superior, scalable service. Levi elected to join Online Flooring Store team for these very reasons. The company aligns with his morals, values and purpose.
Levi's day-to-day role in the company is to assist with online operations and usability, oversee various social media accounts, and offer business support and advice where needed.
He has an aspiration for Online Flooring Store to be recognised as the leader in the flooring industry in Australia. With the team that Online Flooring Store has assembled, Levi is confident this will occur within the next 3-5 years.
Brad Russell
Co-Founder and Digital Marketing Manager | 6 months
Brad's probably the reason you landed on the Online Flooring Store website.
After taking Kitchen Warehouse from a startup to Australia’s largest online kitchenware retailer in just 5 years, Brad used his extensive online marketing skills for a number of personal ventures.
In 2017, Brad (together with Levi), launched a digital agency. He works with clients to improve their SEO, website design, social media marketing, paid search and other digital marketing strategies. Brad's primary focus is SEO, and his results in Australia are unparalleled.
Brad has also been a guest speaker at several Australian online marketing conferences, including the PeSA Internet Conference (now rebranded as Retail Global) and the Online Retailer.
In his spare time, Brad enjoys watching football, playing football, and talking about football. Raquel hates football, so this makes team meetings a little awkward.
Dean Billett
Resident Floor Expert | 6 months
Dean's our resident floor expert.
Having been in the industry for the past 31 years, he has a wealth of knowledge of all things flooring.
Dean started out as an apprentice carpet, timber and vinyl layer at the ripe old age of 17, before moving to cutting, pattern matching, and joining for a large flooring retail company. From there, he evolved to sales, and worked as a senior estimator for huge commercial projects; before finally co-owning and running his own retail store. He has overseen the training of 10 apprentices over the years and is extremely passionate about the industry.
Dean is FCIA (Floor Covering Institute Of Australia) licenced and has obtained the highest level of certification; a Certificate III in Flooring Technology (MSF30813) and Platinum Trade Card. He is also a member of the Australasian Timber Flooring Association (ATFA).
Dean plays a big role within the digital side of Online Flooring Store, but is also hands-on and loves to lay floors and record instructional videos for the website.
For installation advice, or help creating the perfect floor plan, there is no one better qualified in the industry. Dean is more than happy to take your calls and assist you.
Raquel Billett
Customer Service Specialist | 6 months
With her enthusiasm and fun energy, Raquel is renowned as the heart and soul of Online Flooring Store.
Coming from a background of retail and hospitality management, Raquel is the newest member of our team. Our husband and wife duo, Dean and Raquel, operate and run our retail store in Cleveland (Gold Coast).
Raquel is an organisational queen and has a love for all things interior design. She is one half of our social media presence, and will likely be the person you are chatting to via live chat, email or phone. Raquel is in charge of getting the orders to your door as trouble free and quickly as possible (so be nice to her!).
Our customers love dealing with Raquel, and often comment on how friendly and helpful she is. Her biggest focus within the company is customer satisfaction, and this is evident in her interactions with customers on a daily basis.
Clem Sturgess
Head of Flooring, Clem is our resident expert on hard flooring. Clem has been in the flooring industry for over 25 years. | 6 years 7 months
Clem's entry into the flooring industry was serendipitous. In 2000, a chance encounter led to a job offer with a local flooring retailer. Here, he immersed himself in all aspects of flooring and window coverings, eventually managing accounts for some of Queensland's largest builders. Clem discovered his passion for timber and laminate flooring, which steered his career towards wholesale representation.
After several years in this role, Clem received a unique opportunity with a company that had both a flooring and acoustic engineering division. He joined the acoustic division, tackling complex tasks like isolating swimming pools in high-rise buildings and reducing vibration noise from energy plant rooms in commercial buildings and hospitals. During this time, he collaborated closely with the flooring division as acoustic attenuation became increasingly important in multi-residential developments.
Clem later transitioned to the company's flooring division, where he worked extensively with timber, bamboo, and laminate flooring. He and a colleague persuaded the company's owner to invest in a new category of flooring: WPC hybrid. This role also brought him into contact with Dean, whom he assisted with acoustic issues.
In 2016, another chance meeting with the owner of Signature Floors led Clem to join the company and help launch their hard flooring division. Signature Floors pioneered the second generation of hybrid flooring, SPC hybrid, which has become hugely popular in Australia.
Recognising the evolving nature of the flooring industry, Clem and Dean frequently discussed its future. Their shared vision and friendship led Clem to join Online Flooring Store in 2020.
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