As DASH Home + Kitchen stands on the eve of our second anniversary next week, I find myself especially reflective. We opened our doors just before the Fourth of July in 2024, and now, as America prepares to celebrate 250 years, I cannot help but think about my own American dream and the path that led me here through education, work, reinvention, and the courage to begin again.
I am the first woman in my family to graduate from college. I considered that opportunity a gift, and education gave me both purpose and direction. After graduation, I felt called to share that knowledge with others. I entered the professional world in the years following 9/11, when the economy was fragile and the fields of art and design were especially uncertain. Rather than see that moment only as a limitation, I chose to lead from a place of gratitude.
That choice quickly led me to teach in the North Carolina college system, where I spent nearly fifteen years helping students find their own design voices, career direction, and creative paths. I believed deeply then, as I do now, that education changes lives not just by preparing graduates for jobs, but by expanding what they believe is possible for themselves.
I taught through the recession of 2008 and through years of economic instability that deeply affected the creative fields. This was the jump start I needed to start grad school and to fund the way, I started my first business, House of Woodward, freelancing in product development, textiles, and high-level residential design. I continued to build that work as my husband, Mark, and I ebbed and flowed through the changing economy, including a temporary furlough from my job as a state employee.
Shortly before the pandemic, Mark and I relocated to Hickory for continued work in the furniture industry. Then, like so many others, our world changed with COVID. For the first time in my adult life, I found myself without the structure, identity, and purpose that had always come through work. That season was unsettling, but I know I was not alone. Many Americans were suddenly forced to pause and ask hard questions about what mattered most.
Still, I tried to frame that time through an optimist’s perspective. With so much communication shifting to Zoom, I was able to develop a global clientele in visual merchandising and design. During that season, I worked remotely in seven countries across four continents, something I may never have accomplished otherwise. But even with the success of my business, something was still missing.
Staying home brought me back to the kitchen. It rekindled my love of home, cooking, creativity, and meaningful projects. It was during this time that Mark and I began asking each other a simple but profound question: What has made us the happiest in life?
The answer was not complicated. It was friends, family, gathering, and celebrating everyday moments. We realized that, like many people, we had spent years dashing through life, building careers, meeting obligations, and perhaps taking for granted the very things that made life rich. When gathering was limited, we understood its value in a new way.
Out of that reflection, DASH was born. The name spoke to the pace of modern life, but it is also the name of our beloved Labradane (shown in picture). DASH became more than a store. It became a way to reconnect with the things we believed people were craving: home, hospitality, creativity, beauty, good food, and time spent together.
Over the past two years, DASH Home + Kitchen has become part of our own story of reinvention. The support of our community has been tremendous and deeply encouraging. That, to me, is profoundly American. I am grateful for Hickory, for our customers, for our team, and for the friends who have become part of this journey. I am grateful to be building something that reflects the spirit of Main Street America.
The American dream has never belonged to one kind of person or one kind of path. As I often reminded my students, sometimes your path is shaped by shifts in the economy, politics, and the changing landscape of America. Sometimes it looks like starting over in midlife after a season of uncertainty.
As America approaches 250 years, I hope we continue to believe in the power of small businesses, local communities, training, and personal reinvention. I share this story as a reminder that our dreams and our path does not have to be grand. Sometimes they begin quietly in the simplicity of home and in our kitchens. So, what makes you happy?