This episode of the Independent Thinking Podcast was recorded at the Nationwide Marketing Group (NMG) PrimeTime event and expo in Nashville (August 2025).

On this episode, NMG’s Director of Marketing Communications, Julie Manson, interviews Patricia Nielsen, VP of The Furniture Gallery in Maine. Highlights of the conversation include:

• Patricia’s experience on an NMG Regional Council
• Growing into the role of VP in the family business
• Advice for other independent retailers to maximize networking opportunities
• The Furniture Gallery’s expansion to a fourth location in Maine

 

WATCH this episode on YouTube.

 

Read the full transcript below.

Julie Manson (JM): Thank you so much for joining us, Patricia. We’re really excited to have you here. So how many PrimeTimes have you been to? I can’t imagine this is your first.  

Patricia Nielsen (PN): It is not my first. I don’t actually have the count of how many I’ve been to, but probably close to 10. 

JM: Okay. 

PN: Yeah. Somewhere around there. Sometimes I come alone and some of it just on the tailcoats of my father. So sometimes I come alone and sometimes I’m with him. 

JM: And what keeps you coming back to PrimeTime? 

PN: There’s a lot of benefit for us. There’s a lot of deals between the CashBack and the show specials that pays for the trip itself. 

JM: Perfect. Great. 

PN: Yeah. 

JM: And then you were at the main stage yesterday. 

PN: I was. Yeah. 

JM: And so, yeah, I just wanted to kind of get your take. We’ve talked a lot about leaning in, even when times are uncertain. Just wondering kind of in your, in the Furniture Gallery’s kind of journey, have there been times that you guys have placed some big bets, you know, when things, when the waters weren’t super smooth? 

PN: Yeah. So the speech was really relevant for us. Times are not that great right now. There is a lot of uncertainty and we are currently in the middle of opening up our fourth store. 

JM: Oh, wow. 

PN: Yep. And we will. We’re shooting for an October 1st open date. 

JM: Okay. 

PN: So it’s another 20,000 square feet that we’re adding and we’re taking a bet. 

JM: What are you most excited about for the new location? 

PN: I think it opens up another market for us. The state of Maine is very segregated, I guess you could say, as far as who the people are and what they’re looking for in product. 

JM: Okay. 

PN: So I think this opens up a whole different area of where we’re not accessing that sort of population as of right now. 

JM: So will the assortment be very different from the other locations? Like is it regional? 

PN: I don’t think it will be like too far out. 

JM: Okay. Perfect. And then managing multiple locations must have its challenges. 

PN: It does. It does. I live centrally located between our stores, so it is easier for me to access all the stores when necessary. It’s not like I’m too far away from any of them at a given time. 

JM: Now, how, when did you start your career? Because it’s obviously a multi-generational family business. So tell us about kind of your journey and how you, what you learned along the way that put you in a great position to be vice president. 

PN: Yeah. Great question. So obviously I’ve been involved in the company since I was a little girl. My dad used to dolly me around on the, with the dolly… now trucks. I would, I was on it. 

JM: Dolly as a verb. 

PN: Yes. 

JM: Okay. 

PN: Yes. So, I’ve been involved in the company my entire life. I did go to school to get my master’s degree. So I was actively, through my education, also working at the store. 

JM: Okay. 

PN: So it was really 2018, 2019 when I really started to become that management position and taking over more and more every year since. COVID obviously was very difficult for all of us. And I think that expedited my progress. 

JM: Yeah. 

PN: It forced us to step back and really evaluate where we wanted to be in the future. And it allowed my dad to step back a little bit more so through those years. So that was very helpful. And now we’re just more and more involved and he’s less and less involved. 

JM: So is there like a gentle ramp, on ramp and off ramp? 

PN: Yeah.  

JM: Which is great. Is it nice to watch him enjoying life outside of work? 

PN: Yes. It is. He’s enjoying, I call it partial retirement as a far. He’s not fully retired, but he’s on his way there. 

JM: And so what are those visioning sessions look like for you? You know, when you’re taking a look at, you know, what the future of The Furniture Gallery is going to look like, not just this year, but you know, a couple years out, are those conversations pretty organic? Are you having them like over the kitchen table or is this like… 

PN: We live and breathe our company. There’s no time off for us. So when we are eating dinner, like you said at the table, the conversation just never stops about business. So it has come pretty naturally the transition for us as he feels more comfortable in my abilities and I feel more comfortable with my abilities. I just, we just take over more and more. 

JM: And as that legacy kind of continues, you know, you always want to leave something better than how you found it. 

PN: Yeah. 

JM: What do you feel like your dad’s legacy is to the company? And then what do you hope yours will be, you know, as you continue your career? 

PN: Yeah. Well, he’s grown the company pretty substantially over the course of his lifetime. We were just a bunch of sleep shops and now we’ve grown to have larger locations to include furniture as well. And so obviously we’re not taking our foot off the gas with opening up that fourth location. So we’re just going to keep growing and doing our best. 

JM: That’s awesome. 

PN: Yeah. 

JM: That’s awesome. Did you have any learning sessions that you participated in yesterday or? 

PN: Being part of the council, it did take a lot of my time between the meetings and the council meetings and the region meetings. So I haven’t been able to attend as much of the Learning Academy as I would like. I did attend one yesterday, which was the sales training with avoiding the no. 

JM: Overcoming objection, something to that. We learn a lot from our peers. So is there anything that you took away from the council sessions that you’d like, that you’re thinking about applying in your everyday work? 

PN: I think just the natural conversation of the round tables really develops, even if it’s not the exact situation or exact method that they’re using that could apply to us, but just ideas that populate from the conversation more so than anything. 

JM: Like little thought starters.  

PN: That might not be relevant for us, but how can I tweak that to make it relevant? Is that for us? 

JM: Yep. 

PN: The round tables are my favorite part of the event, so definitely get a lot from it. 

JM: And how long have you been participating on the council then? 

PN: It’s been since two years, I’d say, since we really started to develop the councils. 

JM: Do you reach out to any of the people that you meet along the way then in those sessions? 

PN: Yeah. So the council stays in touch pretty frequently, at least once a month we’re on a call together and sometimes in between as well. My council leans into me a lot because I do a lot of the paperwork. I like to call it voluntold. They tell me to do things. 

JM: So you’re, by design, then you’re well aware of what’s going on at all times. 

PN: Yes. Which is nice too, because my dad knows a lot of the people in the industry and growing up I did meet a lot of the people, but now I’m starting to develop my own connections with people and being part of the council and being pushed into certain situations that maybe I wouldn’t necessarily do on my own without that has been really beneficial for me and my development and personal growth.  

JM: And when you look at that learning curve, because at least I always hope to be learning something new every day… you don’t ever want to have the same year twice… 

PN: Yes. 

JM: So as you were entering into this leadership role, where was the biggest growth curve for you? Was there anything that you weren’t expecting or that you found surprising or wish you knew coming into the role? 

PN: You know, that’s a great question. I haven’t really put too much thought into that. Honestly, I don’t personally think that there was a huge jump at any point. It’s just been slow and steady. 

JM: Gradual. That’s nice. 

PN: Yes, a little bit, constantly learning, constantly pushing for more and to be better. And there hasn’t been a huge, probably COVID just with the difference and it forcing me to take on a lot more than I was prepared for. But even that I don’t think was that much of a huge jump. 

JM: So if you had someone that didn’t have the advantage of being able to grow up in the business, you know, have an onsite at the dinner table mentor that you can kind of pick the brain of, what advice would you give to someone who’s new to the industry, maybe newer to leadership roles? What’s the best advice that you’ve received that you would pass along to somebody in that role? 

PN: I think the best advice I could give is don’t be afraid to ask the questions that you think might be stupid questions. I feel like speaking to my dad, it was easy for me to just blurt out all the dumb questions that I had. Oh, what is the difference between X, Y, Z, or you feel comfortable talking family to family and not being judged. 

And sometimes in a round table discussion with your peers, sometimes you hold back a little bit because you’re not sure how they’re going to react to your lack of education, if you want to call it that. But I think being involved and really pushing to communicate with other people and asking all those questions that you are thinking in your head, don’t be afraid to ask those questions. It really, it does make the world of a difference. 

JM: And then do you foster that culture then with your own team, is that ssomething? And how do you kind of, how does that play out for you as you’re onboarding new associates? 

PN: Yeah. I mean, this industry between furniture and bedding and appliances, it’s a whole different world than the rest of retail. And there’s a lot of people that, there’s a lot of terms. There’s a lot of unknown in this industry for people coming in from outside. Just ask the questions. There’s no need to be afraid of it. There’s so much that we’re still learning and people that have been in the industry 10 times longer than me that still are asking questions and learning and it’s always, always developing. 

JM: It’s awesome. 

PN: Yeah. 

JM: Awesome. Well, I’m super excited about the new location coming in. Are there any like last hurdles to clear before we open or any kind of? 

PN: We’re waiting on construction. 

JM: Okay. All right. That’s always, yes. 

PN: Yeah. So my dad’s initial goal was to be in the building in less than 30 days. 

JM: Oh, that’s ambitious. 

PN: Yeah. Which we could probably have handled, but waiting on construction is the slow part of the whole progress. 

JM: Well, I hope that goes swimmingly and that you’re in and continuing to grow. 

PN: Walls are being put up as we speak and I am trying not to freak out too much, hoping that they’re all going up in the right spot and having a lot of trust in my team is hard at first, but the progress is being made. We’re very excited. 

JM: Perfect. Thank you so much for spending this time with us. Is there any questions that you wish that I had asked that I didn’t ask? 

PN: I don’t think so. I think like you had said earlier and asked for advice, I think that the best advice I could give people is use this as a marketing tool. I mean, talk to everybody, connect and really ask every question you can to everybody you can talk to. There’s no wrong answer. There’s no wrong person to talk to. 

I know that the appliance world is not something that we’re involved in at all, but even talking to those people that are solely appliances, it doesn’t really matter. It’s helpful regardless. Making those connections and talking to different people is very beneficial in the long run. Nobody will regret talking too much. 

JM: Thank you so much for sharing your time with us. I hope we’ll have a great rest of the PrimeTime and best wishes. Great to meet you. 

PN: Thank you. Nice to meet you.