Our Faces of Dogwood Hill series continues today with our Operations Director, Kate King! Kate’s role is very similar to an air traffic controller… she keeps all of the various team members of Dixie on schedule and en route.
Born in Louisiana, raised in Texas, college in South Carolina, and currently residing in Alabama, Kate considers herself truly a daughter of the South! She is a type A personality from a family of very creative people. Kate has always seen the art of a handwritten note on beautiful stationery as her creative outlet. Dogwood Hills allows her to carry out her type A tendencies while watching beautiful art made into beautiful paper. Kate moved to Birmingham in 2013, where she lives with her husband, Stephen, their 2 young boys, and their dog. When she is not chasing her toddlers around, she loves reading, enjoying good food with friends, and getting back to Charleston any chance she can.
We cannot wait for you to read more about this important member of our Dogwood Hill family!
Our Q&A with Kate:
Hometown?
I was born in Alexandria, Louisiana, but we moved to Tyler, Texas, when I as 18 months old. So, I consider Tyler to be home.
Alma Mater?
College of Charleston. I truly don’t think there is a better college experience than living in Downtown Charleston. I decided to apply to the College of Charleston after a vacation there. My mom and I both commented how much we loved the city and my mom said, “Well, let’s see if there’s a college, you could live here for 4 years!” I’m still just as enchanted with the city now as I was then!
What was your very first job out of school?
My husband and I worked for a college ministry at the College of Charleston called Campus Outreach and I taught pre-school.
Favorite Dogwood Hill Product?
There are so many that I love. But I do have 4 of our notepads around the house and they definitely keep my life straight! I have been a compulsive list maker since high school, so I love to have one close at hand. I would say that my next go-to would be our thank you cards. Handwritten notes are my favorite, and if you don’t already send them, thank you notes are a great way to start incorporating them in your day-to-day life.
Favorite date night spot in Birmingham?
Our go to is Joe’s Italian in Alabaster, we love their tomato basil soup. It’s incredible! We recently went to The Essential for our 8th anniversary and it became a new favorite. The food is great, and for us the brick street felt like a tiny escape back to Charleston in the middle of downtown Birmingham.
Favorite Birmingham spot to hang out with your boys?
We love Wildflower Park in Hoover, it’s a great shaded park where we have spent many hours! We also got a membership to the McWane Science Center last Christmas (*gift idea if you need one*) and it has been amazing!
Favorite music to get you in the mood to work?
So, I really don’t have one thing I listen to. I bounce a little bit all over the place and I have several playlists on Spotify that I jump between depending on my mood. I do throw on Netflix in the background a lot. I like to put on shows that I’ve seen many times so that I don’t have to fully pay attention and still know what’s going on. So that usually means Gilmore Girls, The Office, Parks and Recreation, Criminal Minds or NCIS.
What does a day in life as Kate look like?
Oh man…that’s a loaded question. So, since I have a 3.5 year old and an almost 2 year old, my day starts pretty early. My Dogwood Hill day gets started once my husband leaves and takes the boys to daycare. After I pour a LARGE cup of coffee, I jump on email and making sure there’s nothing pressing. I field LOADS of emails and texts from Jennifer, Buddy for wholesale things, Kim (our customer service guru), the designers, our uploaders, and Casey for social media things. I even can be found helping ship things out. Most of the time I’m checking in with people and my trusty spreadsheets to make sure we are staying on track with all our deadlines from designs to orders. I always end my day checking orders and assigning them out to designers, so that they all have things to work on the next day when they sit down to work.
Since we all work at different times throughout the day, I do try to be available for emergencies or questions throughout the day as needed. Honestly, most of my day could be summed up by making sure everything is moving smoothly, and everyone has the information, and tools to focus on their tasks and do their jobs well. The way I see it, if I’m doing my job correctly, then everyone else is able to do their job better and more efficiently.
Favorite Instagram account (or accounts) to follow for inspiration?
I’m not going to lie; my favorite accounts are just those of my closest friends. Having moved from Texas to South Carolina and now to Alabama, it’s the best way to stay up to date on their lives. I’m someone who has always valued deep relationships, so moving has always been hard on me. So, I love getting to see pictures of how their lives are and connecting through it.
But as far as official accounts, my favorites right now are super practical or relatable ones, I think. (As a working mom with 2 toddlers, I need all the practicality and relatability I can get!) I love Things.I.Bought.And.Liked for product recommendations, she’s so real and honest. Naptime Kitchen has great recipes, my favorites are her daily green drink, her spaghetti sauce, and her honey ginger lemon water (I have been drinking it daily this winter). K8Smallthings has great beauty/hair tips but her stories are so funny and relatable, I really love her. And lastly HolyCityChic has great style and gives me the glimpses of Charleston that I miss.
If you could spend your perfect day anywhere in the world, where would you be and what would you do?
That’s so easy! Except it wouldn’t be a day, it would have to be like a month, to roam Italy, from Rome to Milan to Venice, but I would need extra time to sit and sip wine and soak in the beauty of the Italian Countryside.
Describe Dogwood Hill in three words or less:
Quality, fun, classy. That goes for our products and our team! 😉
