29 Jan Dallas Market & Sneak Peek 2015 (Intro)

Me taking a break in Dallas on Peacock Alley’s incredible cozy mohair throws.

Wow, what an exciting whirlwind it was going to Dallas this year. Not sure if you remember, but last January, I decided to get out of my comfort zone of creating luxury pillows and attend #SneakPeek2014 as a blogger (You can read about it HERE).  Boy, did that open up a whole new world to me! I had no idea that just a few weeks afterward, I’d be invited by the Goddess of Blog Tour’s herself, Veronika Miller, of Modenus to #BlogTourNYC for the experience of a lifetime. (There are many wonderful posts on my blog to read about blog tour in 2014).

It’s amazing, and I have learned first hand, what can happen for your small business and brand when you step outside your comfort zone.

Fast forward to January 2015, when I went up to Dallas this year for two reasons:

• as the owner and designer of Deborah Main Designs for The Total Home & Gift Market (a wholesale market to the trade only) because my luxury pillows are now represented by the Doris Sanders, LTD showroom on the 5th floor, AND
• as the blogger of The Pillow Goddess for #SneakPeek2015

I have met so many talented people from interior designers to brands in the past year, and this year at the showroom and #SneakPeek2015, that I feel incredibly blessed to have taken this leap of faith to learn more about the home and design industries and to make such wonderful friends.

And because it was SO amazing to be part of BOTH this year, I think I might start the new year out this way EVERY January!!

There is so much to share with you, I don’t even know where to start. Please follow my blog Pillow Goddess by subscribing HERE to keep up with it all. You’ll only receive two updates a week, as I’ll be sharing #TextureTuesdays every Tuesday, and on Thursdays, more in-depth coverage of products, people, and more.

To start off with, here are some highlights of the five days I was in Dallas with my beautiful sweet daughter Qin. (It’s so nice for my daughter to be old enough now to WANT to join me on my business trips. She was such a big help!)

A selfie of my 19 year old daughter, Qin, and I at Dallas Market getting some lunch.

The Doris Sanders LTD Showroom (531-WTC): (hours M-F, 10-5, all year long) Here’s a glimpse of my display area in this highly respected luxury showroom. It feels fantastic to be back and meet the new reps and get to work together on getting my line distributed to luxury boutique retailers in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Oklahoma, Arkansas and New Mexico. My whole display shelving and fireplace mantel was designed by the amazing Brandon Smith of D Coop Media. And with the help of Sue Wyll, owner of the showroom, it translated beautifully from the Atlanta market to Dallas.

One of our Limited Edition Redbrick Modern pillows displayed on linens by Home Source International.

Detail of Limited Edition Redbrick Modern pillow handcrafted from a gorgeous 1960’s textured long skirt. I’d give anything to have a whole bolt of this vintage fabric!

#SneakPeek2015: From 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Friday the 16th,  we enjoyed a full schedule seeing showrooms, learning more about Dwell with Dignity, listening to Jeff Lewis, and yes, meeting Donny Osmond (who just so happens to have a home line now: Donny Osmond Home).  More on all of this in coming blog posts.

Here’s the whole gang!! What a fun time we had!! Great to see old friends from last year’s sneak peek and make new ones this year.

From left to right back row: Kelley Copeland of The Hidden List, Katherine McCarthy of Front Porch Marketing, Chris Hite and his sister with Dallas Market Center, Kim Turner of Dwell with Dignity, Shelly Lloyd of LeDaire Design, La Toya Jones of Forever Royalty, Debbie and Donny Osmond of Donny Osmond Home, Deborah Main of Deborah Main Designs, Shay Geyer of IBB Design, Kristi Hopper of Kristi Hopper Designs, Jennifer  Peebles of Ritz-August and Amy Lee of House of Wentworth. (The front two young women to the left of Debbie Osmond I think are Monica Mathis and Rachel Alley; apologies if any errors).

Many thanks to the Host Committee, Kelley, Kim and Shay for coordinating such a wonderful #SneakPeek2015.  They promote it as a sneak peek “behind the scenes” and as a  “conversation starter” ,and it surely is both!

I look forward to sharing more fabulous details on design trends, Donny Osmond and more with you in the coming weeks, so please check back every Tuesday and Thursday.  Till then, enjoy the sun if you’re in Texas and on the west coast and the snow if you’re in the mid-west and east coast! XO PG

(Disclaimer; Pillow Goddess was not compensated for any information in this post. It is my own writing and photos.)