Episode 97: Reimagining High Point with Jane Dagmi

podcast

Show Notes:

Have you ever been to High Point Market? If you haven’t, you may be surprised to hear that High Point, North Carolina, is a vibrant city year-round if you know where to go. My next guest is here to share why coming to High Point off-Market will be valuable to your business.

Jane Dagmi is the managing director of High Point x Design (the “x” stands for “by.”), a non-profit organization that champions for High Point as a year-round destination for design, creativity, and innovation by uniting and promoting the city’s resource-rich ecosystem.

In this episode, we chat about how HPxD got started and how it has evolved over the past year and the goals for High Point Market. Jane also explains what High Point is like during the other 50 weeks of the year.

To learn more about High Point x Design, visit www.hpxd.org and follow on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/highpointxdesign/

Be sure to check out the Vacation Rental Design Summit (VRD Summit) April 19-21 in High Point, NC at https://hpxd.org/events/vacation-rental-design-summit/

Get more info about our year-long mentorship and coaching program: https://www.designedforthecreativemind.com/business-bakery

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About Michelle

Michelle Lynne began her interior design career after spending more than two decades working in Corporate America. She began in the home staging arena and has since built a successful, award-winning, full-service interior design firm, employing talented designers and serving clients across the country.

In the summer of 2018, Michelle began focusing on a big gap she saw missing in the interior design industry: teaching interior designers how to run the business of an interior design business. She now engages in private coaching and leads an in-depth, 12-month group coaching program, both options focus on teaching designers profitable processes, systems, strategies, and mindset needed to run a streamlined, profitable interior design firm.

Her motto is simple: we rise by lifting others.

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Transcript

Michelle Lynne: Welcome to Designed for the Creative Mind, a podcast for interior designers and creative entrepreneurs to run their business with purpose, efficiency, and passion. Because, while every design is different, the process should remain the same. Prepare yourself for some good conversations with amazing guests, a dash of Jesus and a touch of the woowoo, and probably a swear word or two. If you're ready to stop trading your time for money and enjoy your interior design business, you are in the right place. I'm your host, Michelle Lynne.

Michelle Lynne: Welcome back to the podcast, everybody. I'm Michelle Lynne, and I am here to welcome Jane Dagmi. She is the managing director of High Point x Design. Pretty straightforward, but that's a heck of a job. Welcome Jane, thanks so much for being here.

Jane Dagmi: Oh, thanks, Michelle. Thanks for having me.

Michelle Lynne: So let's dig in. First, what is High Point x Design? For our listeners who may not be familiar.

Jane Dagmi: So High Point x Design is an organization, we are a 501(c)3, so a nonprofit. We are an organization who has a vision for turning High Point into a year-round destination for design, creativity, and innovation.

Michelle Lynne: Oh, that's amazing. Yeah,

Jane Dagmi: it's a pretty big order. And it's something that a lot of people have kind of dreamed about in the past. But we feel like now is the time because the city is moving along with us. Like before, I think people thought about it, and the city wasn't there. But now we're kind of all moving forward. So that's who we are in a nutshell. And we're an organization that has memberships. So many of our members are, you know, amazing showrooms, some artists, some makers here in town, and everybody's got a showroom. Everybody that's a member has a place, a physical place, here in High Point.

Michelle Lynne: Oh, that's exciting. Now how did this idea start? Was it just people asking for it or the showrooms?

Jane Dagmi: Well, it was one of those pandemic great ideas, because and it kind of, I mean, I think its beginnings were out of an urgency. Market had been cancelled. And you know, we were all waiting to see if Market was going to be canceled. And there's a group of us here that live in High Point, like I moved here in 2019.

Michelle Lynne: Right before the world shut down.

Jane Dagmi: Before the world, yes. Bought a house in '18. And then when my baby graduated from college, I moved up to North Carolina.

Michelle Lynne: Oh exciting.

Jane Dagmi: Yeah, it's exciting. Every 17 years. I'm like, time to move.

Michelle Lynne: Get the itch.

Jane Dagmi: Yeah. So given that, so the pandemic is happening, High Point ends up postponing their Market. And there's all these people here that have these gorgeous showrooms, you know, there's money tied into real estate, and they're not opening them. And then you have designers who are, you know, they pause, they had that moment of oh, my goodness, and then all of a sudden, they were busier than ever, and that lasted for a good, good while. So we're like, we have to meet them where they are, you know, we have to be here for them. So we decided, let's pull together these showrooms, these people that want to be open. People don't want to shop in crowds, you know, let's just open up for them. So that's, I mean, it was just like, the need to open both on the manufacturer brand side and the designer side.

Michelle Lynne: That makes sense. Yeah. A solution born out of need.

Jane Dagmi: Yeah, I mean, it was cool. We used to meet, so we'd start meeting on Saturday mornings during the pandemic, and it was myself and my boyfriend Frank, who works for Oly Studio. It was Tom Verellen, Tom Van Dessel of Splashworks, Tom Conley from the Market Authority, and Dudley Moore, who is the Chairman of the Authority Board, who's a furniture designer here in town. It was Kathy Devereux, who's a marketing person, Rudi from Schwung was coming in from Poland or wherever he was, like, it was fruitful people that we'd meet around the table on Saturdays and talk about what are we going to do, you know, and then we got a name, and that really stuck. And we got a logo, which, if you've been around High Point, you can see our flags waving on the top of our buildings. So yeah, I mean, it was a really lovely progression, and it keeps on going.

Michelle Lynne: It's just taken off now. So prior to this, you were with the magazine.

Jane Dagmi: Yes.

Michelle Lynne: And I have one around here somewhere. What magazine were you in?

Jane Dagmi: Are you a subscriber?

Michelle Lynne: Yes, I am. I am and I have it sitting over here, and I can't, it's Designers Today?

Jane Dagmi: Yep.

Michelle Lynne: Yes, there we go. In fact, I think I just got one in today as a matter of fact.

Jane Dagmi: Oh, good.

Michelle Lynne: How did that work? Like, were you with the magazine when you move to High Point? Or how did this transition work, and why did you end up leaving the publishing world?

Jane Dagmi: Yeah, you know, so I loved, I loved being the editor of Designers Today. I had been in print a long time ago. So I've always wanted to do magazines, I got my start at Country Living Magazine. And then, I worked there for like 12 years. And then there was this big hiatus, and I had this urge to get back into print, like so badly. And so I heard about Designers Today, I was living in Florida. Anyway, I applied, I was persistent. It took me about six months to get the job offer. And then I got it. So they were, they're based in Greensboro. I said, I'll move when my daughter graduates. So that's what brought me up to the High Point area. Even though I have to say, I've been enamored with the city since I started to come here for Markets, you know?

Michelle Lynne: Right, it's something special.

Jane Dagmi: It's been in my head. Yeah. So did the magazine and I was editor for four years. It's funny, Michelle, like, I think about, I was there for two years pre-pandemic. And then two years during the pandemic. And I think the pandemic and just creating a magazine in a sort of silo.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah.

Jane Dagmi: I just felt like, I had done all I could really for the magazine, like, I had four amazing years. I really revitalized that magazine, which so many people had never heard of, never picked it up.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah.

Jane Dagmi: The company, when I was hired, they put a lot behind it in marketing, they upped the paper quality, we put art on our cover, we looked different than the magazines, and I just, we just created, in addition to creating a beautiful magazine, we created a community around it. And it was fantastic. And I just felt like at some point. I don't know if I can take this any further, you know?

Michelle Lynne: Go out on a high note.

Jane Dagmi: Yeah.

Michelle Lynne: Yes, I understand that.

Jane Dagmi: You got it.

Michelle Lynne: Makes sense.

Jane Dagmi: I had been in on the meetings, all the High Point x Design meetings because I'm a local here. And I really felt in my heart and in my gut that this was, this was a movement I wanted to get behind. And it was hard for me as an editor and a journalist who is supposed to be like neutral, to attach myself to a movement. And so I really had to leave there in order to do what I felt was my next calling, basically. And I think I love to create things and nurture things along and grow things. I grew the magazine over four years and now this needs my attention.

Michelle Lynne: You just have to follow your heart and your gut. I mean, I firmly believe you just have to stop and listen, and the signs are all out there telling you go left, go right, go forward, go backwards, whatever it takes.

Jane Dagmi: Yeah. And I had wanted to participate more in my community, but I couldn't. Or at least I couldn't figure out how to do that with the workload that I had at the magazine. I just couldn't figure it out.

Michelle Lynne: And you couldn't clone yourself.

Jane Dagmi: No.

Michelle Lynne: Someone hasn't come up with that technology yet.

Jane Dagmi: Yeah. Still thinking, when is that gonna happen? But at some point, I'll just be like, why would I even want a second one of me, but yeah. Yes, I just thought, here we go. I can work. This is going to help my community, the work that I do here. I'll get to participate more. So that's a big plus of what I'm doing right now.

Michelle Lynne: That's exciting. Yeah. And it just, it fulfills a purpose. And it gives you that flame to get up and get work done. I totally understand that. So how long has High Point x Design, how long has it been official and established?

Jane Dagmi: So I'm gonna say 2021, when we merged with the former High Point Showroom Association, because that's when we really kind of, you know, built up our entity. So that was in the winter of 2021, where we merged with them.

Michelle Lynne: So how is it evolved?

Jane Dagmi: How has it evolved? That's an interesting question. Because I'm in so deep to it, you know, so sometime, I'm like, you know, how has it evolved? What are the changes that I helped bring to it.

Michelle Lynne: I can totally understand that because you are so deep in it, it's hard to see out through the trees.

Jane Dagmi: So first of all, I want to say that change takes a while, you know, so it's not like, in an instant, we are just, you know, designers are crawling here, and design enthusiasts are crawling here. But I think how it's evolved is, well visibility for High Point x Design. So, you know, yes, our flags are out, but I feel like the city has acknowledged that we are a critical organization for moving High Point forward.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah.

Jane Dagmi: They have a big, like five-year plan and their goals, one of their big goals includes making High Point a world capital for art and design. And when the city council met recently, they said High Point x Design is one of those catalyst organizations basically, to take us there. So I think gaining the respect, and like, you know, we're like the little engine that could so that's what we're really, it's exciting. We've actually, this past week, we had a meeting with a lot of different players in the creative space here in town and seeing, what is our strategy for hitting that goal of art and design. I mean, we've got like, incredible antiques here, you know, like people have said, why can't High Point sort of be a round top in and of itself?

Michelle Lynne: Yeah.

Jane Dagmi: That's been something that people have talked about. I actually wrote a story last Market on the antique scene here, for Business of Home, which I really enjoyed writing. And then we have a lot of showrooms that are open every day. There are people working in their showroom, so designers can come here and do business, you know, and then some of those people are our members. And then there's plenty of people that are not our members yet, that are also open. So those are some of the things. I think the city really embracing HPxD is a major, major move forward for us.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah. I can't imagine why they wouldn't, unless they just didn't want to grow.

Jane Dagmi: Well, you know, it's, like this is a great thing. Like, we work very closely with High Point Market Authority, right? Like they support us. And in terms of like, partnering with us, like a vision investor with HPxD, and right now we're doing, we're gearing up for our first major event together, which is the Vacation Rental Design Summit.

Michelle Lynne: Yes, that's exciting.

Jane Dagmi: Which is exciting. But High Point Markets, you know, they have goals of bringing new buyers and the next generation of people to High Point and so do we, like we find that you know, there are the virgins, the High Point virgins who, for one excuse or another, they're a little intimidated to come to Market?

Michelle Lynne: Oh, I've been there. Yeah. I mean, I've been the intimidated one.

Jane Dagmi: Yeah, it's a lot, you know, to just like, step off a plane and just, you know, unless you're with a group of friends to come here. So we feel like HPxD, this sort of off-Market is a great time to engage with those people, like to plan some education, let them meander around town and kind of get the feel of it before they come back for like the main event. Right?

Michelle Lynne: Right.

Jane Dagmi: And the other thing that both HPxD and High Point Market are very passionate about is bringing university students here to town, because High Point is like the best design library, I mean, library slash laboratory.

Michelle Lynne: Yes. Yes, yes, yes.

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Michelle Lynne: So what is open? Like what, so do you have like five showrooms, 50 showrooms, like if I wanted to show up in between Market, what does that look like?

Jane Dagmi: Yeah, so our membership right now is in the low 40s. So out of our showrooms there are about a dozen that their doors are open. Meaning there's somebody working in there and you either ring the bell and they'll come and open the door for you.

Michelle Lynne: Right.

Jane Dagmi: And then there are the other people who are open by appointment. So say you want to bring a client next week, you know, and you're looking at Wednesday or Thursday. You know what you're looking for, you're looking for upholstery, or you're looking for lighting, you know, and you'll get on the phone and make a couple of calls and say, I'll be in town on Thursday. Can you meet me there around 11? And so maybe you're seeing three showrooms, you know? We have these events called Design Wednesdays. And it's a kind of leftover tradition from The Showroom Association, where the first Wednesday of most months, you come by and have all of our members be open. Maybe we'll have a little like, panel or a guest speaker or somebody will host a lunch. And the last Design Wednesday, well, I had my friend Jessica in from Houston, because we were doing things for the summit. And she was going around and working. But we, you know, some of our members, they had guests from Connecticut fly in.

Michelle Lynne: Huh.

Jane Dagmi: But that guest from Connecticut, they can come on a Design Wednesday, but they could come any day and talk to one of our members or talk to people that, I mean, there's other companies that, as I said, are not our members yet, that are open.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah.

Jane Dagmi: And there's great fabric resources, there are fabricators here, and makers and artists that once you sort of know who's here, you can make these plans. I can always assist and help if you tell me what you're looking for, like the HPxD concierge, and get you, you know, with a great, like a great plan for a day or an overnight.

Michelle Lynne: So that it's very productive.

Jane Dagmi: Yeah. And the thing is, like, when you come off-Market, and you meet, you know, say, Thomas Verellen at the Verellen Showroom, like, you know, you'll sit, you'll talk, he'll make you an espresso. It depends on the time of day, maybe kind of a really good Belgian beer, but it's like you just, you've had the time to really

Michelle Lynne: Yes. And so do they, because they're not putting out fires left and right during Market.

Jane Dagmi: Exactly.

Michelle Lynne: Oh, that's where good relationships are developed. That's fantastic.

Jane Dagmi: Yep. So there's some good things coming on the horizon, too.

Michelle Lynne: That sounds exciting. And I love the fact, because I'm here in Dallas, as you know, Market here is open all-year round. I've always wondered, like, why isn't High Point open? I mean, not to the same extent, I get it, the real estate and the staffing and all of those types of things. But what a fantastic resource. And it's so huge, you truly would be bringing people from literally around the globe. Just to have that access.

Jane Dagmi: You have an amazing design scene in Dallas.

Michelle Lynne: Yes, we're blessed.

Jane Dagmi: And we're both in the design district area, or whatever that area is called where all the fabric showrooms, you know, and the design, the Dallas Market Center, which has, you know, is open all the time, they've done a really great job. You know, I'd say, we need some more showrooms open. We need some more variety so people can really know that they're coming here, they can get everything from, you know, pretty much from A to Z. So, you know, we're really strong in rugs, we have like great rug vendors, we have great upholstery vendors, we have great lifestyle and some excellent lighting. But I think, you know, we could beef it up with the sort of accessories and art. And we've got great antique, you know, we've got great antiques.

Michelle Lynne: Yes, that would be, yeah, I think, you guys have it all. It's just like you guys getting the support behind you that you're working on. I love, love, love the fact that you've got this group who's just spearheading things. And with High Point Authority behind you and the city. That had to be just such a, let the floodgates open.

Jane Dagmi: Yeah, no, it's true, Michelle. Now is really the time, we feel like, you know, and then there's the hotels that are opening up, right? And, of course, they're not opening up tomorrow, but hopefully, one will open within the year. And then, you know, a few more restaurants, a couple of things happening downtown. We've gotten, I failed to mention like there's this whole area of town where, and I don't know if you're familiar with it, but it's like where Pandora's Manor and Red Egg and Chelsea on Green antiques it's the southwest area.

Michelle Lynne: Right, I can picture that.

Jane Dagmi: And there's an organization, it's kind of Green Street, Green Drive. And it's called the Southwest Renewal Foundation. And they're working on, like there are a lot of abandoned mills in that kind of stretch in that territory. So there are all these mill owners that are working on reinventing these properties.

Michelle Lynne: That is going to be badass.

Jane Dagmi: Yeah.

Michelle Lynne: Just the character.

Jane Dagmi: Yeah.

Michelle Lynne: Oh, how fun. Oh, how very fun.

Jane Dagmi: Yeah.

Michelle Lynne: So you had mentioned that if somebody had a question or they wanted to get out there or whatnot, that you kind of act as the concierge in a sense. What do you do day-to-day? It sounds like, and how many people are in the, like in the High Point x Design?

Jane Dagmi: Right. So I am the, basically it revolves around me, right?

Michelle Lynne: There you go.

Jane Dagmi: I am the person.

Michelle Lynne: We need to get you a crown or a tiara or something.

Jane Dagmi: Yeah, I should have worn it, yeah. I'm sure I have one somewhere, it's a little dusty. And then I have one amazing freelancer, Serena Martin, who helps with PR and events and logistics, she has been crucial with this Vacation Rental Design Summit, and she loves High Point. She moved here from Texas or California. And so anyway, so she's been great. I've known her for years. And then we have some volunteers who are our board members and committee members, which we're restructuring a little bit. May is sort of our, May will be our turnover of the board. So we'll have some new board members and some other ones that are leaving. So that's pretty much who we are right now.

Michelle Lynne: Wow.

Jane Dagmi: But we're working on a lot of things. Like I think our structure is going to change a little bit within this year, especially with what we're supposed to be doing with the city. So and then we just, we partner with like Visit High Point, which is our Convention and Visitor's Bureau. But, you know, people can always reach out to me either through the High Point x Design Instagram or through I mean, [email protected]. Like, I mean, I will help. Like, we had this, we had 30 SCAD students come here three days after Market in October.

Michelle Lynne: Ooh.

Jane Dagmi: And the goal was to show them an incredible time, right? Give them a really good time at Market. And what we did for them, which was a combination of visiting some showrooms, which they had never been to. Now we know designers go into showrooms all the time, but they don't go to showrooms.

Michelle Lynne: Oh, yeah. That is just so cool.

Jane Dagmi: So it was taking them to showrooms, going behind the scenes, we went to the Baker factory where they're doing their upholstery here in High Point. We went to Verellen's factory. We went to Davis Furniture. We went to see, there's a company here that does a veneer, like just veneer, and we went to another company that's doing resin casting. You know, we took them around so they could see the making side of High Point, the showroom side, and then meet a bunch of principals. Like, that kind of activity can be adopted to the designer too. When I was at Designers Today, we did these tours for designers, called The Designer Experience. And, you know, we had like 50, 60 designers that we'd take around, you know, go see Thayer Coggin, go listen to, you know, get a CEU on mid-century modern design, you know, have an amazing dinner with Universal Furniture, like these kind of group activities. So I can help one designer who's come into town and feels like, what should I do? Or if you're a group, and you want to plan something special, we can do it.

Michelle Lynne: That sounds amazing. And it truly is grassroots. And I think that a lot of our listeners can really appreciate that. Because so many of us have just bootstrapped our way into business. You've just started this, and it's changing, it's turning into this movement. How cool. What a great place to be in, Jane.

Jane Dagmi: Thank you. Yeah, it is cool. There's a lot of possibility and a lot of room for creativity.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah, absolutely. And just really, the impact that you will have on the design industry in five, seven, 10 years is going to be huge.

Jane Dagmi: And can I tell you one other thing that is exciting to me? So we have three audiences that we cater to. The designer, you know, and our brands are committed to protecting that relationship. And then we have the students, the university level students, and then we have community. And the community involves design enthusiasts who, we know how everybody, you know, discovered the power of design during the pandemic, right?

Michelle Lynne: Yeah.

Jane Dagmi: In their own sanctuary. So, you know, how can we create brand awareness amongst those enthusiasts, and somehow treat them to design and have them hear from designers who are so smart, and so clever, and just creative? Where's that sort of like, mix? Right? So what does that look like. And then also, our community as in like, our schools, like our young schools, like, let me tell you, this is what is so exciting, June 8th at COHAB Space, I don't know if you've ever been to COHAB. COHAB is hosting the fifth-grade dance of one of our elementary schools.

Michelle Lynne: Oh, my gosh.

Jane Dagmi: And actually, tomorrow, we have a school event there, where we're going to talk about, what can our industry do for these younger people? And, you know, getting into our industry, there are a lot of opportunities for jobs. You know, there are a lot of good jobs in industry. I'm sure you've heard that, you know, it's like, where's our next labor force coming from? Where's our talent pool coming from? So we're really committed to engaging with, beginning in elementary school. So I just, I cannot wait to be a chaperone for the fifth grade dance. And see their eyes open up when they walk into this incredible space that they've probably never been in before.

Michelle Lynne: No kidding. And it's going to start them dreaming about what they want to be when they grow up.

Jane Dagmi: Yep.

Michelle Lynne: Oh my gosh. Yes. And they don't have to be a designer, but they could be an artisan, or they could be any aspect of the industry. Oh, how cool is that?

Jane Dagmi: Yeah.

Michelle Lynne: That's really smart too, just to grab them while they're young before some other industry does.

Jane Dagmi: Yeah. I mean, we have beautiful spaces here, you know?

Michelle Lynne: Yes.

Jane Dagmi: And some people that are willing to just open up and say, you know, yes, we want to do this for the young people. So yeah, it's exciting.

Michelle Lynne: Oh, that's cool. Yeah. Because I can still think back when I was younger, just the way you feel about something, is what can really drive them forward into their decision making as they grow. That's pretty neat. Yeah.

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Michelle Lynne: Oh, Jane, I'm so excited. I love, love, love this. So High Point's a vibrant city year-round, you just have to know where to go.

Jane Dagmi: Yes, that's true. I mean, it looks, it looks dead, but it's really not.

Michelle Lynne: I think it's just because, you know, when we land, we just land right there in the hub of all the activity and don't make it out. I mean, we do make it out to the outer showrooms and stuff like that. But there's still more going on.

Jane Dagmi: There's a lot going on. Most of our members are actually in those outer showrooms, you know, we're a lot of the outliers. And Michelle, if there were like 100 people and, well, today we have pre-Market in town. So we're recording this during pre-Market, and I'll tell you there was a flurry of activity down Main Street and people walking on the street and in the parking lot on Commerce and Main was, one floor was totally full. There are people coming to pre-Market. But even if you got, you know, on any given day, if you have 100 people shopping here, you won't see them really, I mean,

Michelle Lynne: Yeah, cuz it's so gigantious. Is that a word? Gigantious?

Jane Dagmi: It is now.

Michelle Lynne: We just made it now. Yeah. High Point equals gigantious.

Jane Dagmi: Yeah, it's yeah, we're not quite a walking city. I mean, there's areas you can walk, but mostly, you know, off-Market, people are just driving because it's so easy to park.

Michelle Lynne: Oh yeah, that makes sense. Okay, so y'all if you're listening now, make your plans to go see High Point, outside of Market. It's not just when all the showrooms are open, you can get a lot done in between. Awesome.

Jane Dagmi: And you can make reservations, and you can park, and you can have good, easy conversations and hang out with us. It's good.

Michelle Lynne: And get the attention that you need to answer questions and stuff because it's just so frantic otherwise.

Jane Dagmi: Yep.

Michelle Lynne: I love that. Okay, well, I could easily sit here and pick your brain and get all this insight for the next 30 minutes. But I love to have a little bit of fun mixed with business. So this next little section, Jane, is going to be rapid fire Q&A. Dun dun dunn.

Jane Dagmi: Okay. I've heard some of your questions in other podcasts, because I've listened to a couple of my friends that you've had on.

Michelle Lynne: Then you know it's not too painless, or you know that it is painless. It's not too painful.

Jane Dagmi: Barely. Yes. Go ahead.

Michelle Lynne: Alright, let's start with an easy one. Especially since you love to write, I'm assuming you'd love to read. What is your favorite book?

Jane Dagmi: It's usually the one that I just finished. But one of my favorite books, and it's by an interior designer, is the Bald Mermaid by Sheila Bridges.

Michelle Lynne: Oh, I've never heard of that.

Jane Dagmi: So I actually I have it. Well, I just, I'll show it to you just, this is the cover. And what I love about it is that it's an actual novel, a nonfiction novel from a designer about her life about her, you know, she has alopecia. So she lost her hair, and about that whole journey, and she's just so forthcoming. And there's pictures and it's not just about her spaces, it's about her life. And she bared a lot. And I give her a lot of credit. And it was really well done. It's a great book.

Michelle Lynne: Oh, very cool. I'm gonna go check that out. Totally check that out. I love reading. That's one of my favorite questions from here because I get a list of books going. So fun. Okay. So if you could be remembered for one thing, what would it be?

Jane Dagmi: I think lending an ear, being there listening, listening and help nurturing people.

Michelle Lynne: And being available is what it sounds like.

Jane Dagmi: Yeah. Connecting.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah. Very cool. Okay. What scares the hell out of you?

Jane Dagmi: Um, gosh, sometimes just getting on the phone. And, you know, selling can be scary. Asking for money can be scary. It's something that I'm working on. And, you know, as being a nonprofit organization, you know, you got to ask for money.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah, a lot of it. That makes sense. Innie belly button, or outie?

Jane Dagmi: Innie.

Michelle Lynne: What is your favorite productivity hack?

Jane Dagmi: I'm not actually sure that I even know what that means, like productivity hack. What does that mean?

Michelle Lynne: Um, do you have a favorite program that makes you very productive? Do you have like, do you get up and meditate so that you're productive during the day?

Jane Dagmi: Okay. So, well, I stay up very late. And so what I do before I go to bed is I take a little index card. I have these mini-index cards, and I write down like, the first five or six things that I have to do the next morning. Because I never know what, I just, I have that little card and keep it in front of my computer. And that way, it's like, okay.

Michelle Lynne: That's your checklist.

Jane Dagmi: To get into the day.

Michelle Lynne: That's a good productivity hack. And because it's on a note card, it's not going to be unreasonably long, and then you feel like a big fat loser because you can't get it all done.

Jane Dagmi: Exactly. And I cross things off on my card, and sometimes I have the card from the day before if I didn't get through it, you know.

Michelle Lynne: There you go. That's cool. If you could have one superpower, Jane, what would it be?

Jane Dagmi: I am a total voyeur. So I don't really want to be a fly on the wall. But I guess invisibility. You know, look how people, I like to see how people live really, when they're not like on, you know?

Michelle Lynne: Oh, that's a good one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What is your favorite color, and what do you think it says about you?

Jane Dagmi: Hmm. I think I respond mostly to green and like, kind of like an olivey, avocado, warm green. And I'll just say it says, life and energy.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah, that's good. That's very good. And what is your biggest pet peeve?

Jane Dagmi: Well, I'm okay. I guess, typos. I make them too. But like,

Michelle Lynne: Well, look at the industry you just came out of?

Jane Dagmi: Yeah. I'm forgiving to a point. It really depends on the context for the typo. But I try and help people, like when I read somebody's website, and I do find these things, I'll usually email them and say, I know you didn't ask, but I think you'd want to know. It's like I can't help it.

Michelle Lynne: That's awesome. Well, hello, you were the editor.

Jane Dagmi: If you want me to read your website, I will.

Michelle Lynne: I know. We just got it redone, so yeah, maybe so. That's so fun. What about, okay, so what if somebody's texting and you've got the autocorrect?

Jane Dagmi: Oh, I think there should be a book of like the best, you know, the best unintentional autocorrects, like, how many times has the word tomorrow for me translated into Oreos, or, you know, it's so important to look at that. I mean, that's fun, you know, or scary what can happen, but yeah. I mean, typing doesn't, well I guess some typing does autocorrect, but it's more on the phone.

Michelle Lynne: It's mostly on the phone. Yeah, that's too funny. Okay.

Jane Dagmi: I'm forgiving with that, and I'll laugh it off.

Michelle Lynne: Okay, last one. Dinner with anybody, past or present, who would you invite?

Jane Dagmi: I hope, I hope that he would be a good dinner guest. I thought about this because I heard you ask somebody else, and I think I would want to have dinner with Andy Warhol.

Michelle Lynne: Interesting.

Jane Dagmi: Yeah, I just, I was fascinated with him as a kid. I grew up in a home of art. My parents actually, we have at, we, our collective family, we have a Grace Kelly Warhol limited edition. And I just, I've always been fascinated by pop art. And I just think, like, I'd like to hear what he would talk about. Yeah.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah. Just the character himself, I would imagine. Yeah. Well, thank you, Jane for being here. It's been such a pleasure to get to know a little bit more about you and High Point x Design. I think we need to get the word out.

Jane Dagmi: Well, thank you. I mean, it's really great to be here to be able to talk about HPxD. You know, we're fledgling still, but we're growing, and just High Point is a friendly city. And there's just we're, we can't wait to host people.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah, that's fantastic. Now, where can the audience connect with you? Where can they find you?

Jane Dagmi: It's easy, hpxd.org is our website. And then on Instagram, High Point by Design, @highpointxdesign. So the x stands for by.

Michelle Lynne: There you go. Yeah. And that's the by. That makes perfect sense. HPxD, High Point by Design. Very fun. Okay, y'all need to make sure that you get over there and figure this out, get over to High Point in between Markets. Market's fun, it's absolutely fun. It's exhausting. But it's definitely a resource outside of just those dates.

Jane Dagmi: Michelle, can I say one thing about why I know it's great to come here. This is why I know. So when we have designers coming in off-Market, they almost always say to me, how much do houses cost around here? Do you have a good realtor? And so when they say that, I know they're catching a vibe. They like it, you know, they know there's stuff here for them. And there's just a really good vibe here. So I'm always like, I get excited when people start asking about that.

Michelle Lynne: Absolutely. And hence your short-term rental summit.

Jane Dagmi: Full circle. Yeah.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah. Okay, so wait, tell us about that. Because this podcast is going to come out before Market in April.

Jane Dagmi: Oh, well, awesome. The Vacation Rental Design Summit. First time we've ever had it in High Point. And it is for interior designers that are working in the space but want to kind of level up what they're doing. For interior designers who are curious about it and want to know how to get into it. And we've got Realtors coming, and property managers, about 30 speakers. Two days.

Michelle Lynne: Wow.

Jane Dagmi: I know. It's gonna be a whirlwind. I mean, we are packing it in. It's education. It's great networking. Couple of little cocktail mixers, and yeah, fun people.

Michelle Lynne: And that's right before Market in April?

Jane Dagmi: April 20th and 21st at Congdon Yards, which is right on the, you know, it's right on English. It's like a two-minute walk to Market Square from there.

Michelle Lynne: Perfect. And that's on your website also?

Jane Dagmi: Yes, there's a tab for the Vacation Rental Design Summit. So thank you for asking.

Michelle Lynne: Absolutely. I'll make sure that your contact information is in our show notes as well, so that the listeners can just click on over and do their thing. So that would be super to get over there. And I'm sad to say I'm not making it to Market this spring. We had all sorts of fun plans for it. But life is just too busy right now. Now that I know that I can go off-Market though, ta-da, we might see you in between.

Jane Dagmi: Any time, any time.

Michelle Lynne: I love that. Okay. Yeah, my mind is already working on it. All right. So thank you, Jane, I will make sure all that is in our show notes.

Jane Dagmi: Thank you, Michelle.

Michelle Lynne: Oh my gosh, this has just been so much fun. So don't hang up when I'm done here. I'm just gonna hit pause. So for those of you who can benefit from even more resources surrounding the business of running your interior design business, join my growing community on Facebook's private group. It's called the Interior Designers Business Launchpad. I go live there once a week, do a little bit mini training. And that's also where we host our workshops five or six times a year. It's the Rolling in the Dough workshop, how to qualify, quote, and close high-end clients while you bake your profits into the project. And if you guys are getting any value whatsoever, even just a little bit from this podcast, please, wherever you're subscribing to it, leave us a review. It really does help. So thank you very much, and we'll see you next time.

Michelle Lynne: Hey, y'all. If you love the show and find it useful, I would really appreciate it if you would share with your friends and followers. And if you like what you're hearing, want to put a face with the name and get even more business advice, then join me in my Facebook group, the Interior Designers Business Launchpad. Yeah, I know it's Facebook, but just come on in for the training and then leave without scrolling your feed. It's fun. I promise you'll enjoy it. And finally, I hear it's good for business to get ratings on your podcast. So please drop yours on whatever platform you use to listen to this. We're all about community over competition, so let's work on elevating our industry, one designer at a time. See you next time.

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