Get to Know the DesignDash Team Through a Q&A at Our 2024 Holiday Party!

The holidays are a time for reflection, gratitude, and connection, and what better way to celebrate than by getting to know our team at DesignDash? This year at our 2024 staff holiday party, we shared laughs, memories, and a little insight into what makes our team special through a fun and heartfelt Q&A session. From cherished traditions and proudest achievements to future aspirations, we opened up about the moments that shaped our year and the dreams that will guide us into the next.

Holiday Party Q&A with the DesignDash Team

Question 1: What is your favorite holiday tradition?

Laura (DesignDash Co-Founder): We do Christmas Eve dinner at Caribou Club and the Elf-on-the-Shelf. We do that with the girls, and it’s hilarious because they get up to some mischief. We watch so many Christmas movies, too, like Die Hard. It is a hundred percent a Christmas movie. That new one that just came out—Spirited—is hilarious. So we watch that now. And my tree is already up! As soon as we got home from Thanksgiving, I was like, “tree,” and we’re Jewish, but we still do all of this stuff.

Melissa (DesignDash Co-Founder): We do so many. I don’t know which one’s my favorite. We always make cookies the night before. I love that I love decorating the tree. We always drink so much when we decorate the tree and watch football. I always watch It’s a Wonderful Life when I wrap presents. My Christmas movie every year is Trading Places; I watch it every year for Christmas.

Tori (DesignDash Social Media Director): I think mine is so generic, but I love reading The Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve before going to bed and then putting out the cookies for Santa and the carrots for the reindeer.

Elizabeth (DesignDash Editor-in-Chief): My mom and I always cook on Christmas Day, so we prep the roast together. And the other one is that my parents give me and my sister an ornament every year related to what’s going on in our lives. So we have all of those since we were infants, so we both look through those every year.

Question 2: What was your proudest professional achievement this year?

Laura: Making it through the year. This has been a tough year. Honestly. I’m proud that we’ve launched and produced nearly 40 episodes of the podcast this year—that’s a commitment we stuck with. Yesterday’s episode with Kara was especially great; she was amazing, and I loved having her on. I even told Melissa I want to hire her as my coach! Including her, we’ve now recorded 37 episodes.

Melissa: I will say that the clients we’ve brought in through marketing at LUDC have really saved us, revenue-wise. One came in through Instagram, I think, and another through the website. That was really exciting, especially since we had a rough summer. I was worried that the end of the year would be bad, but now it feels like the end of the year is saving the rest of the year because of these clients.

Tori: My proudest moment this year was joining the DesignDash team. I had been in my old job for over five years and knew I needed to make a change. Coming to work with you all has been such a wonderful experience. I’m really happy I made the leap because I genuinely enjoy what I’m doing now, and it’s working out so well. Finding this opportunity and being part of the team has been amazing. Thanks for having me, guys!

Elizabeth: My proudest achievements this year were the improvements in traffic and SEO. We survived so many Google updates, which was nerve-wracking, but we pulled through despite a few dips. On a personal note, this was the year I finally got all my business permits and licensing in place for my painting conservation studio here in town. I’ve had some great clients, and I’m hopeful it continues into next year, even though it’s an unpredictable kind of business. It’s been a rewarding but challenging year.

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Question 3: Which historical figure would you invite to a holiday party or dinner?

Laura: I think Jack Kerouac would be fascinating. His writing and the way his mind worked have always intrigued me. But if I had to pick a woman, I’d love to have dinner with Martha Stewart. I think she’d be so much fun—just the stories she could tell and her style.

Melissa: Oh, I’d love to have Esther Perel at my dinner party, but she’s very much alive and maybe not that much historical. I would probably do Betty White because she’s probably got the best stories. I can only imagine the humor and wisdom she’d bring to the table.

Tori: Julia Child. Maybe she would cook something delicious for Christmas, and just listening to her talk about her life and recipes would be incredible. She’d bring so much warmth to the holiday dinner.

Elizabeth: I’d choose Leonora Carrington, the surrealist artist. Her life was so bizarre and fascinating, and her artwork is stunning. I’d love to hear her perspective and stories. We have one of her sculptures, and it’s just the weirdest, most wonderful piece. She lived such an interesting life—definitely someone I’d want to sit down with.

Question 4: What brought you the most joy outside of work this year?

Laura: For me, it’s been travel. Like Melissa mentioned, it’s such a great way to reset and step away from everything. This year, it’s been all about beach vacations, which isn’t typical for me. In May, I went to Majorca—it was absolutely dreamy—and we just got back from Costa Rica, which was also incredible. I think being by the ocean has been transformative for me, especially since I live in the mountains and we’ve already had six feet of snow this season. The contrast has been amazing.

Melissa: When Luke and I went to that music festival in April, it was such a great reset for me. I had been feeling so stressed, like I was spiraling. I even went to the cardiologist trying to figure out what was going on with me because of all the stress. But being out in nature, seeing some of our favorite bands, and just spending time together—completely unreachable for five days—made such a difference. It completely reset me, and I’ve been a much happier person ever since.

Tori: You can probably guess, but my highlight this year was having Russell in January. Having a baby was such an incredible experience—watching Carter become a big brother and starting our journey as a family of four. It’s hard to believe it’s almost been a year since then. Definitely the biggest highlight of my year.

Elizabeth: This year, my parents and in-laws visited a lot more than usual, which was really nice. My in-laws are still here for another week, so it’s been a good chunk of time to spend together. My parents even came up last weekend to meet them, which was really special. It’s such a nice change since we’re kind of isolated out here, and it can be hard to get people to visit. My parents are a short 3-hour drive away, but my in-laws are coming all the way from Mexico City, so it’s been really meaningful to have everyone together.

Question 5: What personal creative project did you work on this year?

Laura: I don’t know that I’ve done a project, but I would say—you brought up Enneagram—I took a course on Enneagram. That’s been really interesting and insightful, especially making all my friends and family take it. So now I feel like I can completely analyze everyone in my life and understand where they’re coming from. That’s been cool. And then, I joined that women’s group, which is so far out of my comfort zone. But that was purely for me—like there is no business reason, there is no family reason. It is purely for me. So yeah, that’s been different.

Melissa: I started producing a podcast for two of my friends, which was really fun, but now they’re in a fallout. I was dealing with that yesterday. That’s been really good, although it’s on hiatus right now. And then getting my yoga certification, which I should have done in February. Just 200 hours is such a long time when you’re doing it part-time.

Tori: You know, I can’t say that I have one at this moment. I’ve been focused on figuring out work-life balance with the baby. Project Baby—yeah, that’s probably it. But you know what? That will be something I definitely need to do in the coming year, because I feel like I’ve really gotten the hang of things this year. So, next year will be more about me.

Elizabeth: It’s not really creative. I would love to say my conservation work, but I wouldn’t necessarily say that it’s creative—more investigative—because I can’t put myself into it. I have to follow all these ethical guidelines, so it’s not really creative. Laura asked if I started a journal this year. You know, I’m not a journaler, and I’m not a very reflective person. I’m kind of just a ‘go do it, don’t look back’ kind of person. I am a big checklister, though. They’re just strewn everywhere on my desk right now. And I’m the type of person who adds things I’ve already done to the list to feel better about it. Alright, I’m just putting “launching the conservation studio” because it did take some creative work to get it up and running. Project Conservation Studio for me and Project Baby for Tori!

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Question 6: How do you like to spend your downtime during the holiday season?

Laura: Reading. Melissa and I read very different things. I read a lot of smut. But I’m also reading On Our Best Behavior, which is really interesting. It’s about how the seven deadly sins were created to basically reinforce the patriarchy and keep women in their place. So I read books like Melissa… and then I read smut. There’s no in-between.

Melissa: Reading, no question. Yes, I know. I’m reading a book right now called Shock Doctrine, which is about how disastrous capitalism is.

Tori: I’m super cheesy classic Christmas—Hallmark movies and wrapping presents. I just love the cheesiness of it. Actually, my husband likes them too, which is just so funny. So we’ll pop on a Hallmark movie, turn on the fireplace, and do some Christmas wrapping. The movies are so bad, but they’re good. We turned on one with Chad Michael Murray in it, and it was all small-town vibes, but then all of a sudden, he was a stripper. It was such a shocker. I started off being like, ‘Oh, Chad Michael Murray, I used to love him growing up,’ but then I was like, ‘He looks kind of greasy and grimy now.’ It’s funny because his hair is so perfect, but it looks ridiculous. Another thing I like to put on is old episodes of Barefoot Contessa. I guess I’m all about cooking during the holiday season, but that show in the background while I’m doing things is just comforting. I just love her house, her kitchen, and her recipes. It’s so soothing.

Elizabeth: I like to listen to episode after episode of This American Life reruns. Something about Ira Glass’s voice is just very soothing. He has kind of an odd voice, but I just love it. I don’t know why. I could listen to him all day. And I love listening to the episodes from 1999 to the early 2000s—especially the political ones. It’s interesting to see how we’ve changed as a country. Even how differently people talk now, just a few years later.

Question 7: Did you try anything new this year that you ended up loving or hating?

Laura: This women’s group. It’s both love and hate. It’s not my personality, but I love that I’m trying it and meeting new people because the women in it are amazing. It’s just not really for me. But I like that I tried it.

Melissa: I did a lot of new stuff this year. One was the podcast—I thought I would hate it but ended up loving it. I also started therapy, and while I knew I would probably love it, it’s been great. Most recently, I started working with a personal trainer three times a week. I didn’t love it at first because asking for help is something I’ve always struggled with. I’ve always tried to do everything on my own, which is something I’m working on in therapy. Having someone there to guide me has been a really vulnerable experience but also a helpful one. It’s teaching me to ask for help, which is something I’ve been working on this year. Hyper-independence has been a learned behavior for me, and it’s caused burnout. My husband hates that I don’t ask for help because he’s there to support me, but it’s something I’m actively trying to improve.

Tori: I guess I’ll piggyback off of that. It’s not necessarily new, but I went back to barre classes. I took a pretty long hiatus from them, so it feels new in a way. Like you, Melissa, it just makes me feel so much better—physically and mentally. I’ve always liked going to workout classes where they tell you what to do because when I go to the gym on my own, I just don’t get the same results. Another thing I’m learning is to be okay with falling off for a bit. Life happens—we all got sick and traveled recently—so I haven’t gone in weeks, but I’m getting back into it now. That’s been a new mindset for me, accepting that it’s okay to pause and then restart without guilt. I’ve always been an all-or-nothing thinker, especially with working out. I used to think, ‘What’s the point if I’m not going consistently?’ But I’m starting to go with the flow more and give myself grace.

Elizabeth: Mine is a work-related one. I’d say our new interview series. I initially thought it was going to be a ton of extra work, and honestly, I don’t love pulling things out of other people. Interviewing isn’t something I naturally enjoy. But I thought it was needed for the site, so I bit the bullet. Surprisingly, it’s been really fun and interesting. I’ve gotten to talk to a lot of fascinating women, and it’s turned into something I truly enjoy. So, that’s one I thought I’d hate but ended up loving.

Question 8: What’s your go-to holiday indulgence (food, drink, activity, etc.)?

Laura: Mine is sweets. Oh, my gosh! So many sweets! Because we just get all these little treats at the office and at home. Our friends send us babkas every year, and that I love. I’m so excited when they send us a cinnamon and a chocolate babka, and you better believe I’m going to eat those. So, carbs and sweets.

Melissa: Day drinking, I guess. When my in-laws are in town, we wake up with champagne—everyone—because they’re big drinkers. I definitely don’t do that in my normal life, but we do that for Christmas every year that we’re with them.

Tori: I think mine food-wise is like charcuterie boards. I just love them, and at any holiday party, it’s out there. I love the cheese. I love everything about them, and you will just find me there with a little cocktail, like next to the cheese.

Elizabeth: So funny, because that is definitely mine, too, but it’s cheese and crackers at home instead of real meals.

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Question 9: What are you excited for in 2025 (RE: DesignDash)?

Laura: Our community. I’m so excited to launch our community and bring as many people into our fold as possible.

Melissa: I think it’s the in-person events that we’re going to be doing throughout the year to get people into the community, like going to High Point Market and Design Chicago. I really like getting to meet with people in person.

Tori: I would say doing some partnerships with people that have prominent followings on Instagram. I was kind of thinking about if we did a series or something, how I think that will really help our growth. So maybe fostering partnerships through social media.

Elizabeth: Mine is continuing the interview series and maybe expanding a little bit past designers. I’ve actually met some people in person who are fashion designers and pretty well-known chefs here, and they want to participate. So I think that would be cool to do.

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Question 10: Which moment this holiday season has made you feel especially grateful and why?

Laura: Family celebration. We just spent Thanksgiving with my side—my siblings, my dad, and my stepmom—and we never spend Thanksgiving with them. Like, we always do it with Michael’s family. So that was special to get to spend it with my dad. It was really nice. And we all stayed in the house together. So it was a lot of together… for better or for worse.

Melissa: I think for me it was decorating our tree this year because Hollis is three now, and so he was actually able to enjoy it and understand that, ‘Hey, something is happening.’ And so he helped me decorate the tree. And this is the first year we got a real tree. I’m hoping we didn’t get it too early. But, um, we got a real tree, and I do like the ‘junk tree,’ right? Like I take every single ornament that we’ve ever gotten—there’s no aesthetic. It’s just like joy exploded. I got some new ornaments for him that are like little excavators and trucks because he loves anything with wheels. Every time he comes in now, he just loves the tree. It’s so cute to see him light up. My oldest is 13 now, and she loves Christmas, but she doesn’t light up like he does. The magic is over. So it’s good to have a little one in the house who believes again.

Tori: I feel like for me, I can’t pinpoint what song it was, but some of just like the old classic Christmas songs that come on the radio. They’re so nostalgic, and it like makes me think about me growing up during Christmas time. Like it brings back all the Christmas memories, and then I feel grateful that, like, we’re, you know, continuing to do those with our family. I almost got like choked up during one Christmas song. I don’t know what it was—maybe the hormones or something—but reflecting, you know, you’re just like, ‘Wow, like Christmas is such a special time.’ You hold that with your family, and it like continues for all these years. Christmas or Hanukkah, you know, same thing.

Elizabeth: My parents came up last weekend, and they don’t do that very often. This was the first time that they really met my in-laws because we didn’t have a wedding. That was really nice, and they really got along. They had similar interests, so that was special because my parents are not super social people, and his parents are very social. So it was different, but it worked out. It was special to see them get along and to know that long term, that will be a pleasant experience.

Question 11: If you could gift yourself something intangible (e.g., more time, patience, joy), what would it be and why?

Laura: Time! There’s never enough of it.

Melissa: Gosh, I mean, yeah, time is one. But you had mentioned joy, Elizabeth. I think that’s it. Like just having a positive outlook every day, even with the mundane stuff. I really wish that I could do that. Cause then I could enjoy the time I actually have, you know? Instead of spending that time dreading it, or dreading what I’m doing, or getting to the next thing. I wish I was just more positive about everything. Like one thing that I say is ‘Oh, I have to. I have to. I have to.’ One thing I’m teaching myself to do is ‘I get to. I get to do this.’ You know, like I wish I could reframe everything. So instead of ‘I should be doing this,’ ‘I have to do this,’ or ‘I need to do this,’ it’s like, ‘I get to. I’m worth doing this,’ or whatever.

Tori: More—well, this might be tangible—but more hours in the day. I’m so just like tired at 9 pm, but there’s so much more to do. I just wish that there was a little more time.

Elizabeth: Maybe I would say patience then, because I’m not a very patient person, and I know that’s something I need to work on. I always feel like everyone should be going at the same pace that I am, and I get mad when they don’t. So I’ll put patience.

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Question 12: Which charity/organization would you want others to help you support this season?

Laura: For me, Girls Empowerment Network. I love their mission. I think they’re amazing. And I love that they focus on girls in middle school years because that’s such a hard time. It’s not easy. So I love their message and their vision. It’s just amazing.

Melissa: Well, I definitely have two in mind, which would be Magpies and Peacocks and The Women’s Home. The Women’s Home especially—they do excellent work here in Houston. And I think it’s so cool to see. It’s all voluntary. I’d asked if it was court-ordered, but it’s not. So these are women who know that they’re in a bad situation—they’re either struggling with homelessness, drug addiction, or mental illness, or all of the above. And they make the decision to seek out these services. It’s intense. I mean, it’s an intense 90-day program to start out. They do really, really good work, and all the people there are fantastic.

Tori: For me, CASA. Yeah, they do—you guys are all nodding, so you’re familiar with what they do. No summary needed for that one. They’re nationwide. Court Appointed Special Advocates.

Elizabeth: And then I would put the Alzheimer’s Association.

Question 13: What was your favorite DesignDash podcast episode from this year?

Laura: I think mine was the ‘How Do You Balance Kindness and Honesty in Leadership?’ Because we talk about that a lot, and I struggle with it.

Melissa: Yeah, I loved interviewing Jen White because I’ve been going back and forth with her on social media since the pandemic started. So it was so cool to kind of meet her in person. I really admire somebody who’s in a corporate job that’s fairly lucrative, but she desired to do this other thing, which is hard—creating content and documenting her life every single day. I watched her go from around 40,000 followers on TikTok—maybe not even that—to now she has like 150K plus. I like her as a person. She’s put in the hard work, so to hear her talk about that I thought was really cool.

Tori: I liked the one you guys did, ‘What Happens When You Feel Like Your Purpose Is Gone?’ I feel like you guys had a lot of great tidbits about how to navigate that and get back on track.

Elizabeth: Mine was definitely the Clinic Concierge one. Yeah, because we don’t have great healthcare here, and I was just thinking about how something like that would make such a big difference in rural areas if it could be made affordable.

Question 14: Which topics would you love for us to cover/explore on the site in 2025?

Laura: I’m along the same path. I think more about entrepreneurship to gain freedom of time. Maybe it is like a hyper-independence thing, but focusing more on women’s ability to support themselves and lift themselves up through owning their own businesses. And why the 9-to-5 corporate environment is broken.

Melissa: See, I’m always not the business-focused one, but I would really be interested to see how other women who are reaching middle age and are entrepreneurs are going against the grain—kind of going against the status quo. Like maybe someone who’s been in corporate her entire life and now she’s doing psychedelic therapy, or someone who’s made big pivots in their lives but is doing something they love. And we can make it design-adjacent. There’s something really inspiring about seeing somebody completely say, ‘Okay, that’s what’s expected of me, but I’m going to do the exact opposite.’

Tori: What about, especially since we’re focusing more on interior designers in 2025, something about getting started? Like once you decide this is what you’re gonna do, how do you kick it off? Maybe securing your first client or something. Or how to showcase your portfolio effectively to get more clients.

Elizabeth: This is also, I guess, technically interior design adjacent, but I always want to talk more about art collecting and caring for your art, too. I think it would be interesting to talk more from a designer’s perspective about how you source artwork, how you work with a client’s collection, things like that.

Question 15: Which book will you read on holiday break this year?

Laura: I’m going to read Verity by Colleen Hoover. I started it, but I don’t know if I can finish—she’s such a sniveling lead character! I thought, ‘Why don’t I like this?’ Everyone loves it, but I can’t get into it. So I think I’ll scratch that. Instead, I might read What Are You Doing With Your Life? It’s already on my Kindle.

Melissa: I’m reading a lot, so which one do we want to be public? I’m reading Telluria, which is like Russian fantasy, but it’s too much. The premise is cool: it’s a post-apocalyptic world where major superpowers destroy each other and create a feudal society. There’s this new drug, Tellurium, that you drill into the back of your head. If done right, you live in ecstasy for five days; if not, it’s fatal. But the book mostly focuses on Russia, and I’m not a huge fan of contemporary Russian literature except for Master and Margarita. So it was a bit of a disappointment. But I just bought The Vegetarian, and I’m excited for that one. I think it has more mass appeal.

Tori: I definitely need suggestions here. I love a good rom-com book. When I have a moment to enjoy myself, I just want to get lost in a great story. I’ll look up the A Court of Thorns and Roses series and Fourth Wing that Laura mentioned—fantasy romance might be fun. Melissa said she’d send me some recommendations, too, especially since Suzy reads those kinds of books.

Elizabeth: Your Brain on Art and Bright Objects.

Thanks for Joining Us!

As we wrap up another inspiring year, we’re so grateful for our community, our readers, and the shared passion that unites us all. From all of us at DesignDash, thank you for being part of our journey and for allowing us to be part of yours. We wish you a holiday season filled with joy, warmth, and meaningful moments. Here’s to a bright and creative new year ahead—happy holidays from our team to yours!