Peterson pictured with her newly painted Power Drive, Rosie.
But then there’s Rosie, wood floor pro Jesika Peterson’s sparkly pink Power Drive that takes custom sanding machine designs to another level.
The unmistakably feminine design, which includes a picture of Rosie the Riveter flexing proudly on the front, started out as an inside joke between Peterson and her boss at Midland, Mich.-based Custom Hardwood Floors by Jeffries.
"I've always said to my boss, ‘I need a pink sander,’” Peterson says. The joke turned into a possibility when she brought it up with her Bona representative, Cody Francis, during the 2019 Bona Certified Craftsman Convention.
"We were just kind of joking around and I said, 'I really need a pink Power Drive,'" Peterson recalls. "And he's like, 'That's a great idea!' And we talked to a bunch of the other Bona reps and they were like 'Yes, that's an awesome idea! Women in the industry, you definitely deserve that.'"
Kalamazoo, Mich.-based PAW Harwood Flooring and Supplies, Peterson’s distributor, handled the paint job for the Power Drive, with Bona footing the bill. Peterson brought different pink color swatches to the folks at PAW before the painting commenced.
“I pointed out a couple of the colors that I liked and I said, ‘Whatever colors you think are good is good, but I want the sparkle pink,’” Peterson says. She chose her company’s first Power Drive, bought five years ago, for the makeover.
“We have three of them, so that one was a little sentimental because it was the first one,” Peterson says. The name ‘Rosie’ came during the painting process.
Peterson, who entered the hardwood flooring industry a little over six years ago after working in a wood mill, says Rosie has already started making waves locally and has been a big hit with clients. She hopes the machine will become a sparkling pink mascot for the business.
"I've brought it on a couple jobs and everybody loves it,” Peterson laughs. “The men customers get all excited to see it. It's kind of funny."
