MAR-APR 2023 Plano Magazine

THE GUIDE TO THE GOOD STUFF

In a busy real estate market like this one, finding someone who has a real estate license is easy. But finding an experienced, professional, in-touch agent you want to tell your friends and family about, is an altogether different story. We’ve been the No. 1 brand in both Plano and Collin County for many years running. And we got to be that way by consistently representing clients with excellence. Want the best by your side? Here they are.

Not Pictured: John Butcher, Nikki Butcher, Marty Flynn, Amel Mullican, Faruk Sabbagh

Letter from the editor.

Spring has sprung in Plano. Well. Almost. Despite winter storms and days where we experience all four seasons in one 24hour period, the weather is calming back down. Spring is a season of beauty. Later sunsets and warmer weather means we’re returning to our favorite patios.

While you’re out and about, you might as well swing by Happy Hour Hike on the first Thursday of the month at Legacy West.

Speaking of beauty, check out the floral wall at Darna Mediterranean Eatery, featured on page 23.

Stuck on staying indoors? On page 26, take a look at some of Plano’s interior designers who are keeping our city just as beautiful on the inside as the outside.

If their designs inspire your inner HGTV, the top realtors in our town on page 33 have you covered.

Alyssa High

A STYLE THAT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU

Every space in your home should be a reflection of you. From comfort and convenience to style and sophistication. That’s why the creative interior designers at NFM’s Design Gallery are here. We work with you every step of the way to bring your vision to life. Bringing you the latest styles and personalized service all at NFM’s Legendary Low Prices. We’re here to help you create a style that can only be described as “you.”

BRINGING ‘CONCIERGE’ SERVICE TO PAIN MANAGENT

Baylor Scott & White Health’s Back and Neck Center offer

Anyone who has experienced back or neck pain knows that the pain can be debilitating. Navigating appointments with specialists to determine cause and treatment options is painful in its own right: The process can be time-consuming and frustrating, adding insult to injury.

Not anymore.

“Baylor Scott & White Health’s Back and Neck Center provides a ‘concierge’ navigation service, an expedited and seamless pathway for those suffering from acute back and neck pain,” says Lori LeMay, director of neuroscience with the center.

Those with agonizing pain can contact the Back and Neck Center and, often within one business day, a nurse navigator will reach out to help. No referral or wait period is required, and primary care is promptly established.

“In traditional medical settings, sometimes a patient can wait four to six weeks to see a professional. We shepherd people through a managed process,” LeMay says.

Using a virtual visit, a nurse navigator determines the severity of an issue. If certain criteria are met, a patient quickly receives a telehealth appointment with an Advanced Practice Pro-

fessional, who establishes a care plan. Patients usually don’t even have to take off work.

This concierge process facilitates everything for patients, “quarterbacking” between sub-specialists such as behavioral health, rehab, pain management and orthopedic and neuro spine specialists.

Sometimes, physical therapy will rectify a problem. Other times, physical therapy with pain management directives is in order. Professionals with Baylor Scott & White Health’s Back and Neck Center exhaust conservative treatment options before recommending surgery.

The team includes RNs who work with patients as nurse navigators.

“We triage patients over the phone, provide an evaluation, and answer insurance and other questions in a very thorough manner,” Brandie Morris, RN says. “Then if the patient has a referral for a sub-specialist, we set up that appointment and follow up with them afterward. We guide them through the entire journey.”

Baylor Scott & White Health’s Back and Neck Center implements a multi-disciplinary approach to care,

which is highly beneficial from a patient’s perspective. The multi-care teamwork means there are many sets of eyes on each case.

“What stands out about this center is expedited care, assisting patients —— navigate the process, having a case coordinator involved in a course of treatment and making sure no one gets lost in the system,” Morris says.

“We ease patient’s minds and offer assurance the entire time.”

Don’t let back and neck pain debilitate you. Get relief now by calling the Baylor Scott & White Health Back and Neck Center at 844-279-3627 or 469-814-2225. BSWHealth.com or email BSWHbackandneckcenter@ BSWHealth.org.

Physicians provide clinical services as members of the medical staff at one of Baylor Scott & White Health’s subsidiary, community or affiliated medical centers and do not provide clinical services as employees or agents of Baylor Scott & White Health or those medical centers.

MAR 2

TEXAS INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION

THURSDAY, 7 P.M., LEGACY HALL, 7800 WINDROSE AVE., $25

RAISE A GLASS TO CELEBRATE EVERYTHING TEXAS WITH STONEY LARUE

MAR 3-19

STEEL MAGNOLIAS

WEEKENDS, THE ART CENTRE THEATRE, 1400 SUMMIT AVE., $18

HILARIOUS AND HEARTBREAKING STORY OF THE WOMEN AT TRUVY’S BEAUTY SALON

MAR 4

3-19

FESTIVAL OF COLORSHOLI MELA

SATURDAY, 10 A.M., SOUTHFORK RANCH, 3700 HOGGE DR., $15

AREA’S LARGEST COLOR PARTY FEATURING DJS, TRADITIONAL INDIAN DRUMS AND DANCE

MAR 10-19

EVITA WEEKENDS, WILLOW BEND CENTER OF THE ARTS, 6121 WEST PARK BLVD., $12

LEGENDARY TALE OF ARGENTINA’S CHAMPION TOLD BY NTPA ADULTS

MAR 11

SPRING INTO COLOR 5K AND 10K RELAY

SATURDAY, 8 A.M., OAK POINT RECREATION CENTER, 6000 JUPITER RD., $25

RUN OR WALK WITH A TEAM DRESSED UP IN YOUR FAVORITE DECADE DUDS

MARAPR16-1

SPIRIT LEVEL WEEKENDS, COX PLAYHOUSE, 1517 H AVE., $10 AN OTHERWORLDLY COMEDY BY ROVER DRAMAWERKS WITH A LITERAL GHOST WRITER

MAR 18

YOUNG ARTISTS AND SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE

SATURDAY, 8 P.M., CHRIST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH PLANO, 3101 COIT RD.,

PSO’S 40TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON INCLUDES THIS IMAGINATIVE BERLIOZ SYMPHONY

MARAPR 242

ROMEO & JULIET: THE PUPPET EDITION WEEKENDS, THE ART CENTRE THEATRE, 1400 SUMMIT AVE., $20 A NOT-SO-SERIOUS RETELLING OF OF A SHAKESPEARIAN CLASSIC

MAR 25

TEXAS FOREVER FEST

SATURDAY, 11 A.M., HAGGARD PARK, 901 EAST 15TH ST., FREE A PARTY JUST AS BIG AS TEXAS CELEBRATING DIVERSE OUR CULTURE AND SPIRIT

MARCH

APR 1

EASTER EGG HOUND HUNT 9 P.M., OAK POINT PARK AND NATURE PRESERVE, 5901 LOS RIOS BLVD., $5

EGG-CELLENT EVENT WITH DOGGIE-TREAT FILLED EASTER EGGS

APR 7-23

ALL SHOOK UP WEEKENDS, THE ART CENTRE THEATRE, 1400 SUMMIT AVE., $15

ELVIS MUSIC MEETS SHAKESPEARE’S TWELFTH NIGHT IN A SMALL MIDWESTERN TOWN

APR 14-23

APRIL

30

INDEPENDENCE PKWY., $12

1984 WEEKENDS, GENESIS CHILDREN’S THEATRE, 3100

AWARD-WINNING ADAPTATION OF GEORGE ORWELL’S TALE OF A DYSTOPIA

APR 15

PLANO CIVIC CHORUS 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

7:30 P.M., CHRIST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH PLANO, 3101 COIT RD., $25 COMMEMORATING PCC WITH A COMMISSIONED WORK BY BOB CHILCOTT

APR 15

BACK IN BLACK: THE AC/DC CONCERT EXPERIENCE

SATURDAY, 8 P.M., LEGACY HALL, 7800 WINDROSE AVE., $5

PREPARE TO BE THUNDERSTRUCK

APR -

MAY 287

PIRATES PAST NOON KIDS

WEEKENDS, GENESIS CHILDREN’S THEATRE, 3100 INDEPENDENCE PKWY., $12 JACK AND ANNIE OF THE THE MAGIC TREEHOUSE MEET PIRATES IN THE CARIBBEAN

APR 29

MAHLER SYMPHONY NO. 2, “RESURRECTION”

8 P.M., EISEMANN CENTER, 2351 PERFORMANCE DR., $37 AND UP

PSO’S COLLABORATES WITH THE PLANO CIVIC CHORUS AND THE IRVING CHORALE

APR 30

A NIGHT AT THE BALL

SUNDAY, 3 P.M., COURTYARD THEATER, 1509 H AVE. $12

PRINCES AND PRINCESSES ENJOY FAVORITE MOVIE MUSIC BY PSO WHILE LEARNING

APR 30 THE MAGIC OF ERIC EATON SUNDAY, 7 P.M., THE PLANO HOUSE OF COMEDY, 7301 LONE STAR DR., $24 QUICK WIT COMEDY AND MIND BLOWING MAGIC

WELCOME TO DIGNITY P ARK

Keith From hopes to turn a shed-building hobby into a solution for homeless people

story Ariel Wallace| photography Hunter Lacey

Keith From didn’t always have a passion for building tiny homes for for homeless people.

“I’m actually from a corporate background. I worked for an ad agency,” From says. “We were the agency of record for American Airlines, Subaru and Nationwide Insurance. We’re a multibillion-dollar firm.”

“My running joke during my tenure at the agency was ‘I’m going to quit and go build sheds,’” From says.

In 2010, he did just that, retiring early and leaving the advertising business.

After “naming all of the fish in the lake,” From says he decided to try something else. Since he loved building, he decided to create 8-foot-by-10-foot and 8-foot-by-12-foot sheds. Word got around about the great customer service and quality of From’s sheds.

For years, his shed business did well, but From says he felt as if God put a mission on his heart. That mission is Dignity Park.

“You know, it is in the conceptual stages. I built a website for it. We did renderings of what our vision was for Dignity Park,” From says. “This is the year that I want to make it happen. I need to make it happen.”

Texas is rated fourth among U.S. states as having the highest homeless population. The Texas homeless population is approximately 27,487 people, and the DFW homeless population is approximately 6,597 people.

From’s passion for building quality structures, his background in advertising and his growing concern for the

homeless population were driving forces behind the idea of Dignity Park.

“We know how to build; we can build a quality tiny house,” From says. “And thank you, Lord, that I’ve never been homeless. But I would think, the first thing that’s lost is one’s dignity, hence the name Dignity Park.”

Giving people dignity and stability is one of From’s main goals with Dignity Park.

“One of the biggest problems for the homeless is they don’t have an address so they can’t receive benefits anywhere,” From says. “Dignity Park will be able to give them an address to start receiving benefits and getting them back on their feet.”

In his mind, a full-sized Dignity Park would include about 100 units and a conference center with individual meeting rooms, an outside basketball court, a garden area, a parking lot and a laundry room.

The ideal 12-foot-by-16-foot individual tiny home would include a bed, closet and a full bathroom. A family tiny home would include one bedroom on each end, a living room in the middle and a full bathroom, he says.

A Dignity Park would be best placed near a bus line or some sort of public transportation, From says, so that residents could get to their jobs and to the grocery store.

At the moment, though, Dignity Park remains a dream: It’s just From and his small team of volunteers working on the idea. From is creating an Advisory Committee to help with project logistics and looking for organizations and people capable of running it.

“I don’t know the first thing about running a homeless facility,” From says. “OK, I do know how to build. My ideal situation is, we build it and then we turn it over to a city or a church to run the facility long term.”

Dignity Park isn’t the final solution to homelessness, From says. Instead, the project is a stepping stone to getting an individual into permanent housing.

“So let’s get people off the street, into Dignity Park, get them connected with social services, get them an income and help them get a job,” From says. “Once they get back on their feet, they can move out of Dignity Park

and into their own apartment. And let the next person come in.”

From is still looking for other community members and leaders to join his advisory committee to help Dignity Park answer the questions they have yet to discover.

It is his goal to have a large support team in the future full of social workers, those who are knowledgeable on the homelessness issues and willing to help.

“I’m not going to be asking for money, I’m going to be asking for advice, people who can come on board, and help us figure out where to get the money to do it,” From says.

“All this is still just conceptual, but we are trying to get together the people that we can actually sit, have a discussion with, and get the ideas rolling. Find the funding for Dignity Park.”

Ten years from now, From hopes to sees Dignity Parks planted throughout the U.S. as a safe haven for those who need housing.

“I’d like the first two or three to be here. I’d like to see Dignity Parks all over the U.S. doing what they’re intended to do. And that is to help the homeless out of the streets and then become self-sustained and on their own,” From says. “That’s the goal for Dignity Park.”

For information about Dignity Park, or to volunteer to help in the effort, visit www.dignitypark.com or search Dignity Park on Facebook. P

“Thank you, Lord, that I’ve never been homeless. But I would think, the first thing that’s lost is one’s dignity, hence the name Dignity Park.”

Best in Dra� Best in Dra�

story Alyssa High | photos Grant Stephens/BestDragShows.com

Drag is camp. Extravagance. Excitement. And party. It’s a festivity that combines music, dancing, lip syncing, makeup, costumes — and, sometimes, brunch.

Forget dinner and a show. On any given weekend, Dallas has a dozen drag brunches citywide. Rarely had these events made their way into the suburbs, until Best Drag Shows changed that, and made national news doing it.

When you walk into Plano’s Ebb & Flow for a show, you’ll likely hear Britney Spears, Rihanna, Sia, Cher, Ke$ha and other female musical powerhouses. Servers rush around with plates of brunch classics, such as bottles of champagne for mimosas, chicken and waffles and french-toast bread pudding.

Behind a sound booth made for the occasion, you’ll find Shane Allen, DJ and president of Best Drag Shows. Allen announces performers as they saunter out, each with distinct personas. For the uninitiated, it might seem an odd sight. But drag has been around for centuries.

“Honestly, it’s been around since before America has been around,” Serif, one of the performers, says. “Women weren’t allowed to be in theater, so men dressed in drag to perform for them.”

Today’s drag shows are characterized by extravagant displays of femininity in carefully crafted onstage personalities, often by the opposite sex. These characters typically lip sync to songs by female pop artists while dancing around the room in platform heels.

Performers don sparkles, sequins, fringe, exaggerated makeup, wigs, over-the-top jewelry and the highest of heels for the couple of hours that the brunch lasts. And wardrobe changes are not off the table.

Performers say it’s about empowerment.

“Serif, to me, is the embodiment of every woman I’ve ever looked up to in my entire life, whether that be the X-Men or my mom or Xena Warrior Princess or something like that, this is female power,” Serif says. “And that’s all I want to do is respect that and embody the women that I looked up to my entire life.”

For Serif, who grew up with a “super theatrical” mother, drag is an extension of the art that has always been a part of life.

“My mother ran a dance company, and seeing

women in cool costumes was part of my life every day,” Serif says. “It was taboo for me to be part of it, so this is me living my childhood dreams, getting to do the cute stuff that my sister got to do but I couldn’t.”

Serif sees the way some of us spend everyday life as a performance, a weeklong 9-5 show.

“Everyone’s doing drag … pretending to be a professional but we know we’re wild on the weekends,” Serif says.

“Other people’s drag is a butch man showing his muscles with a flannel shirt on, and other people’s drag is a librarian going to work and being proper,” Serif says. “We all perform in different ways. Drag is just living and expressing in different ways the emotions that we don’t normally get to do in our day-to-day.”

Drag, perhaps, is better known by its misconceptions. Many who have never attended perceive it to be an LGBTcentered event, overtly-sexual or something exclusively for the young.

During a recent show, one of the queens shouted, “Let’s hear it for the millennials!” only to be met by one “whoop” from the back of the crowd. A quick glance around shows that many in the crowd are 50plus. One regular patron is a 60-something straight woman named Becky.

According to Serif, there are straight people, fathers who have kids and moms among the drag queens.

“Drag is for all of us,” says Serif, who dreams of bringing the art to suburbs including The Colony, Plano, Frisco and Las Colinas, where this culture is misunderstood or inaccessible.

“It’s a world-renowned art form, so we want to bring it everywhere.”

Star Michaels, a trans woman who became a queen before transitioning, says the show helped her to see what life might be like, and the art of drag continues to provide personal fulfillment.

“Even still today, drag is something that combines a lot of my hobbies. It combines dancing, acting, wardrobe, fashion, makeup,” says Michaels, a professional makeup artist by trade. “This is not real life. This is fantasy. This is make believe. This is fun. This is camp. This is poking fun at things or maybe expressing a sexuality that people are too uptight to express themselves.”

In October, Best Drag Shows made national

The country’s most talked about show brings acting, makeup, music, dance and more to neighborhood restaurants

news when TV personality Sara Gonzales disguised herself to attend the show at Ebb & Flow. When one family brought their young daughter along to a show, she recorded it, starting an anti-drag campaign that brought protesters and death threats to Ebb & Flow and the Best Drag Shows queens. Now, the queens have police officers posted outside of the restaurant for their protection.

“To me, drag is love,” Best Drag Show president Shane Allen says. “In the aftermath [of shows] is this room full of love and acceptance for each other and for everyone there.”

Acceptance for the art is visible in every show. At one of Ebb & Flow’s first shows after the media incident, Barb Johanssen’s family came to watch.

Barb is a bit different from the other queens at Best Drag Shows. While drag traditionally plays on dramatized femininity, Barb’s characters are typically outlandish. Whether it be a trailer park mom or an elderly woman, she commits completely, aided by a purse full of props.

When she entered the room with Daisy Dukes and a cigarette in one hand, cheers came from one side of the room, where her family donned matching T-shirts in support of their loved one. Her mother cried as Barb gave the oddest drag performance of the morning.

“It was incredible,” says Sabrina Brackett, a 64-yearold woman who recently attended her first drag show. “It’s just the epitome of fun. You want to just let your thoughts go away and be in a different world? Come to a drag show.” P

“Drag is something that combines a lot of my hobbies. It combines dancing, acting, wardrobe, fashion, makeup.”

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EAT ALONG THE SILK ROAD

Darna brings together decor and dining with European, African and Middle Eastern influences

story Alyssa High | photography Kathy Tran

Spanish meat boards. European cheeses. French pastries. Italian and Turkish flatbreads. Greek souvlaki. Moroccan spices. Lebanese mezze.

Darna Mediterranean Eatery’s menu is a culinary introduction to countries with ties to the historic spice routes on the Silk Road.

Yaser Khalaf is a Palestinian born in Kuwait, spending much of his childhood traveling through Egypt, Lebanon, Greece, Spain, Italy and Southern France, where he found inspiration in each of the culture’s dishes.

Khalaf brought these dishes to Darna Mediterranean Eatery to share a bit of his travels with the people of Plano.

“The idea, for me, is to bring something really unique and special for people to come to,” Khalaf says.

It’s a concept “near and dear to his heart,” says co-founder Pat Garza, who met Khalaf while working on another concept. Their friendship was a bridge to creating a restaurant that serves as a gateway to a part of the world most don’t experience.

The menu boasts many shareable appetizers and several shareable entrees, something Khalaf says is indicative of the sharing culture he experienced in his travels across Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco and Europe.

“Everywhere I go, the eating was table-style, where Mom would bring the whole meal here,

and everybody would scoop a little bit of everything,” Khalaf says.

Each section of the restaurant highlights the cross-cultural experience.

To the left of the entrance is a Turkish coffee bar. To the right is a grab-and-go area perfect for lunches. In the middle, there’s seating for full-service lunch, dinner or brunch. In the back, you’ll find quick-service mezza, salad, kabob and sandwich stations.

The restaurant features open kitchens covered in bright white tiles, natural wood tones and a seasonal flower wall for Instagrammable seating.

“Instead of having authentic lanterns, we have modern chandeliers, but the design of the tiles comes from Morocco, the whites represent Casablanca or Southern Turkey,” Khalaf says.

While dining on a variety of cultural cuisines, you’ll hear music from nearly any genre, including jazz in the morning, popular favorites around lunch and European techno during dinner.

“You feel like you’re traveling and you’re really going to experience a journey into all senses, including music, food, drinks, market items,” Khalaf says. “It’s really bringing something beautiful into play.”

Darna Mediterranean Eatery, 7700 Windrose Ave. in Legacy West, Suite G-170, 469-825-4110, darnamarket.com.

Inside Design

THREE DESIGNERS MAKE PLANO BEAUTIFUL

story Alyssa High

BUILDING WITH DESIGN IN MIND

Memar Interiors is a one-stop shop for interior design and contracting

photography

Victoria Gomez

When Michael Memar moved to the United States to start his architectural career, he stumbled upon a problem. There seemed to beadisconnectbetweendesignersandcontractors, one that he says costs clients lots of money.

“They cannot really address it, and they blame it on each other, and they charge a lot for fixing their issues,” Memar says.

Memar found that designers and contractors seemed to be speaking different languages and often didn’t understand each other’s needs. Eager to be a solution, he went back to school and studied interior design, combining that experience with what he’d learned in his past job as a project manager at a real estate firm and his degree in architecture. He bulked up his resume by working with interior

designers in Dallas before opening his own business.

“Finally I decided to take off on my own and formed a company and started offering design-build service to my clients,” Memar says. “I learned to wear my designer hat and then also my contract hat pretty much from day one.”

By doing design and contracting himself, Memar is able to give an estimate to his clients from the beginning, starting with the design process and making each choice with the clients from start to finish.

After becoming comfortable with remodeling, Memar moved into new builds.

“When you do a remodel, you’re very limited in a small room and small areas, and generally you can’t change the whole house to the style you want,” Memar says. “Contemporary [design] is what I wanted, and Dallas was lacking that until the past five or 10 years.”

Rather than doing 10 or 20 projects a year, like he would in an interior design firm, Memar says he does one or two new-build homes per year.

“One of the reasons I formed my company and I offer this service to my clients is because I want my client to be involved in every step of the construction or remodeling of their project,” Memar says. “In the traditional method of construction, you have to go for minor changes they [the contractors] wanted to make just to make it look nicer than what the builders wanted because they always go for cheaper products. In my case, I allow my clients to be part of the design process.”

Memar Interiors opened in Plano in 2012 and has since won seven Houzz Awards, four Houzz Badges and was celebrated as Plano’s Innovative Design-Build Firm Best of Houzz 2018-2020 winner.

“When you design something, you put your heart and soul into it. When you sell it or when the project is finished, you look at it as one of your babies, so there’s a connection that every time you see that house you feel good about it.”

The Memar Interiors office is located at 1400 Preston Road and Memar can be reached at 972-665-9922.

FLOWER BOUQUET AND FENG SHUI

La Foofaraw combines floral design and interior design in an eclectic store

photography Victoria Gomez

On a corner building on East 15th downtown, you’ll find a quirky teal building with mosaic tiles and a neon sign reading off a peculiar name: La Foofaraw.

According to Merriam-Webster, foofaraw is frills and flashy finery. La Foofaraw embodies its definition. The store itself features eccentric objects to decorate a home or adorn a neck, including its own candle line, drinkware, jewelry and home decor.

But La Foofaraw is much more than a store.

“Our tagline is ‘I design for life and home,’” says owner Mona Crider. “So not only for your home — new lamps, new bedding or a new table top. We can provide all of that, but we also order special things.”

“I LIKE TO TRY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT BRINGS THEM JOY. I LIKE TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THEIR BOUNDARIES ARE, AND THEN I LIKE TO PUSH THEM OUTSIDE OF THAT BOX EVERY SO OFTEN.”

Crider runs the joint along with business partner Michael Hamilton. Crider brings decades of experience to their interior design services, while Hamilton’s floral designs elevate home decor and special events.

“It’s high design for home and life,” Crider says. “I like to think of it as though when we finish the job, it’s like we put the jewelry on the body. We put the jewelry on the house. We finish it off with accessories, the sparkle, the unexpected.”

Because of their unique combined skillset, La Foofaraw’s services change from day to day. From new builds to updating spaces, Crider mixes the old with the new to suit a client’s style.

“I like to try to figure out what brings them joy. I like to figure out what their boundaries are, and then I like to push them outside of that box every so often,” Crider says. “That is part of my job, I believe, to give them fresh ideas, but I want it to look like them.”

The owners’ eccentric taste isn’t all they’re known for. Their personalities fit the bill, and customer service tops every review.

“The last thing I want to do is something where somebody walks in your front door and stands in your entry and knows exactly what the back room looks like,” Crider says. “I want it to all flow and be coherent with each other. But I want there to be some elements of surprise and some unusual things that people would have never thought to put together.”

MEET D’KOR’S MOTHER-DAUGHTER DECORATING DUO

Danielle and Dee Frazier left the corporate world behind for interior design

More than 20 years ago, Dee Frazier quit her decades-long corporate career at Target to follow her dreams.

“This is kind of my second half of life because I worked in business before, but I have a degree in commercial art and graphic design,” Dee Frazier says.

“For years, everybody said, ‘You need to be designing and working with homes,’ and for years I would do that for neighbors and friends and family.”

Now, Dee Frazier leads D’KOR, an interior design firm serving the Dallas-Fort Worth area and Austin.

D’KOR is a full-service design firm that works with clients in the beginning stages of building a home, handles remodeling projects and provides custom furnishings.

Dee brought the business to the Plano area after living here briefly during a relocation for her husband’s job.

“It really lucked out because we really like the Dallas

area, and when it came up that we were coming back here, it felt like home,” Dee says.

She started the business out of her house but moved to a studio within nine months.

After running D’KOR for over 10 years, Dee is taking a step back and giving her daughter, Danielle, the reins. Though Danielle went through law school and established herself as an attorney in Missouri, she was destined to follow her mom’s footsteps.

“I found that I did not enjoy that line of work as much all through college and law school and even into my

photography courtesy of D’KOR

“IT ALLOWS US TO REALLY FLEX THOSE CREATIVE MUSCLES AND IT’S A NEW ADVENTURE EVERY DAY.”

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career,” Danielle says. “I had actually been helping her [Dee] in the summers in her studio and with her social media presence and really just found more inspiration in our line of work within the interior design world than I did working as an attorney.”

Danielle says many of the skills she learned as an attorney are transferable to her new career.

“Being able to use my creative side, which I wasn’t able to do as much as an attorney, was what really drew me to be able to join our business and really take it from there,” Danielle says.

Danielle took over D’KOR as CEO in 2022 after working as a principal designer with her mother for two years. Over the years, the pair’s projects have been featured in Luxe and ELLE Decor. Their Instagram account, @dkorhomeinteriors, displays their work over a variety of styles and in many locations, even nodding to inspiration from other designers.

The Instagram account also links to a blog that the designers have built over the years where they post some of their favorite projects, design tips and goings-on in the local interior design community.

“It allows us to really flex those creative muscles and it’s a new adventure every day,” Danielle says. “Our new challenges open up a wide range of new opportunities when you’re designing to what a client is wanting.” P

3012 E. Hebron Pkwy, Ste 110, Carrollton, TX

Traditional Family Practice For Over 32 Years

Strong interest in Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy as a Certified Biote Provider for over 8 years

Kenneth E. Baird, M.D.

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Cindy O’Gorman

Ebby Halliday, Realtors

Sharon Ketko

Sharon Ketko Realty

Feras Rachid

Opendoor Brokerage, LLC

Robert Moore Perry Homes Realty LLC

Paulette Greene

Ebby Halliday, Realtors

Jagjit Singh Jagjit Singh

L.J. Erickson

Duggan Realty Advisors L.L.C.

Melanie Robertson Robertson Realty, LLC

We’re lucky to live in one of the best cities in the U.S. (in our humble opinion), and that has a lot to do with the Realtors ® who champion our city and value our property. To recognize them, here are Plano Magazine’s 2022 Top Realtors in Plano.

Plano Magazine’s annual Top Realtor special section recognizes the Top 5% of all active neighborhood Realtors, determined by reported sales volume.*

TOP 25

Andrea Miller Keller Williams Realty DPR

Sophia Polk

Sophia Polk Realty

Michelle Campbell Coldwell Banker Realty Frisco

Jackie Dorbritz

Compass RE Texas, LLC

Christie Cannon Keller Williams Frisco Stars

Roxanne DeBerry Keller Williams Realty

Michelle Carr Berkshire HathawayHS PenFed TX

Kimberly Woodard

Ebby Halliday Realtors

Valerie Bracchi Compass RE Texas, LLC.

Parisa Bahmani

William Davis Realty

Maddie Bertrand

Robert Elliott and Associates

Nina Bhanot

Compass RE Texas, LLC

Shubhra Bhattacharya

RE/MAX DFW Associates

Emily Bogda

Ebby Halliday, Realtors

Mark Bradford Coldwell Banker Realty Plano

Rene Burchell

Coldwell Banker Apex, Realtors

John Butcher

Ebby Halliday, Realtors

Nikki Butcher

Ebby Halliday, Realtors

Jennifer Carlman Leising

Compass RE Texas, LLC

Joyce Lynn Chandler

Keller Williams Central

Jennifer Daniel Milligan

Keller Williams Realty

Dona Timm Coldwell Banker Realty Plano

Mary Alice Garrison

Allie Beth Allman & Assoc.

Ram Konara REKonnection, LLC

Russell Rhodes Berkshire HathawayHS PenFed TX

Ann O’Blenes RE/MAX Dallas Suburbs

Terri McCoy Keller Williams Realty

Suzanne Warner Compass RE Texas, LLC.

Donna Wilkerson Keller Williams Prosper Celina

Hunter Dehn

Hunter Dehn Realty

David Devout Redfin Corporation

James Duggan

Duggan Realty Advisors L.L.C.

Connie Durnal Redfin Corporation

Nadia Fakih

Compass RE Texas, LLC

Sarah Fakih

Compass RE Texas, LLC

Top Realtor list was compiled from data retrieved from the North Texas Real Estate Information System (NTREIS) reported volume for 2022 residential sales in Plano as of Jan. 02, 2023. Find out more about the list at planomagazine.com/plano-magazines-top-realtors-additional-information.

Jay Fang

U Property Management

Stacey Feltman

Ebby Halliday, Realtors

Marty Flynn

Ebby Halliday, Realtors

Colleen Frost

Colleen Frost Real Estate Serv

Hannah Gigley

RE/MAX Four Corners

Amanda Glass

Coldwell Banker Realty Plano

Tony Gu

Brilliant USA Real Estate LLC

Matt Haistings

Compass RE Texas, LLC

Jen Han

Jen Han, Realtors

Shannon Haury

Coldwell Banker Apex, Realtors

Pam Heinrich

Keller Williams Realty Allen

Frank Hwang

Marie & Marcus Group

Glee Jacobs

Ebby Halliday, Realtors

Eman Kandil

TruHome Real Estate

Lionel Kertz

Keller Williams Realty

Kim Kurak

SevenHaus Realty

Nora Kutob

Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s Int’l

Rebecca Lee

Monument Realty

Pam Lewis

Ebby Halliday, Realtors

Cynthia Li

Keller Williams Realty Allen

Michelle Lim

RE/MAX DFW Associates

Xiaojun Liu

U Property Management

Bardha Lloncari

Jessica Koltun Brokerage LLC

Christopher MacArthur

JPAR - Plano

David Maez II

Vivo Realty

Jack Mclemore Listing Results, LLC

Steve Metarelis

Offerpad Brokerage, LLC

Suzanne Carroll Mitchell

Keller Williams Realty

Jim Monroe

RE/MAX DFW Associates

Andrew Montoya

The Drew Company

Vickie Mox

RE/MAX Dallas Suburbs

Amel Mullican

Ebby Halliday, Realtors

Bilal Musavvir

TNG Realty

Harish Nehate

RE/MAX Town & Country

Katherine Niesman

Ebby Halliday, Realtors

Scott Nollner

Coldwell Banker Realty Frisco

Steve Obenshain

RE/MAX Dallas Suburbs

Liangcheng Pan Keller Williams Frisco Stars

Hector Pimentel

RE/MAX DFW Associates

Pogir Pogir

Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s Int’l

Racheal Potter Keller Williams Dallas Midtown

Beth Raines

Raines Realty

Mary Reeves

Ebby Halliday Realtors

Jan Richey

Keller Williams Realty

Katherine Roberts

Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s Int’l

David Robertson

Robertson Properties

Pamela Rosener

Coldwell Banker Apex, Realtors

Kerri Rushing

Grand Realty Services

Faruk Sabbagh

Ebby Halliday, Realtors

Kari Schuveiller

Keller Williams Realty DPR

Kristen Scott

Allie Beth Allman & Assoc.

Nisha Shah

Rain Realty, LLC

Efrem Silerio

Keller Williams Realty

Ann Sowieja

Monument Realty

Michelle Spooner

Keller Williams Realty Allen

Leonard Thomas

RE/MAX Premier

JD Tomlin

EXP Realty

Cindy Torgussen

Ebby Halliday, Realtors

Jacque Trulock

Keller Williams Realty

Uzziel Valdiviezo

Fife & Associates Realty, LLC

Barbara Van Poole

Keller Williams Realty DPR

Shelly Vaughan

Ebby Halliday Realtors

Fred Villa

RE/MAX DFW Associates

Cindy Vincent

RE/MAX Dallas Suburbs

Rachael Wang Redfin Corporation

Timothy Ward

Gold Star Liberty

Elizabeth Wisdom

Allie Beth Allman & Assoc.

Ying Xu RE/MAX Dallas Suburbs

Mila Yakhnis

Keller Williams Realty DPR

Guang Yang Kingfay, Inc.

Angel Young EXP Realty

Sally Zaharovitz

Fathom Realty

Born and raised “Plano Proud”, Amanda Glass has established herself as a Top Realtor, offering unparalleled knowledge and expertise of the Plano real estate market and beyond. Awarded the Coldwell Banker ® International President’s Elite status, Amanda has led her team, The Glass Group, to the top producing team in 2022 with Coldwell Banker Realty Plano. As a Global Luxury Property Specialist with a commitment to exceptional service, Amanda Glass will exceed your expectations and help you experience luxury living at its finest!

Meet Your Plano REALTOR Kerri Rushing

Kerri Rushing is the Broker/Owner of Grand Realty Services. Kerri founded the company in 2003 and is celebrating 20 years of success this year! She currently specializes in luxury residential and investment property. . She manages a team of 16 agents and staff members, and is a Top Producer in her own right having closed over $500 million in transactions. Kerri was born into the world of real estate, as the daughter of a residential/ commercial builder and architect. She has been around land, homes, design, and construction her entire life and it shows with her tremendous knowledge. Her market expertise and savvy business sense ensure that her clients find their dream homes while making sound investments. Real Estate is Kerri’s Love Language ... she treats clients like family and truly cares about the success of everyone she helps both during and after the transaction.

Kerri Rushing, Broker/Owner

C 469.233.8079

O 972.731.6913

5465 Legacy Dr., Suite 650

Plano, Texas 75024

GrandRealtyServices.net

4701 W. Parker Suite 650, Plano, TX 75093

MEET PLAN ’S R CK ’N’ R LL D C WITH AN UNUSUAL MUSICAL

Plastic surgeon Ron Friedman’s cleaVage musical brings humor to the practice

Ron Friedman isn’t a typical doctor. He spends his day working as a plastic surgeon and his nights writing a musical about breast implants, performing in one of his classic rock bands or doing woodworking projects.

“Of course, everybody thinks I’m crazy, but they’re used to me sort of saying outrageous things and having aspirations that are unrealistic. That’s nothing new for them,” Friedman says.

When Friedman was 8 years old, he took his first piano lesson. By the time he was 10, he started writing music and recording demo songs.

“At some point, I realized I was probably going to have to do something actually real for a living because living as a songwriter seemed tenuous at best,” Friedman says.

“I got sidetracked in college with medical school and plastic surgery, so I guess I’ve been sidetracked now for a good 40 years or so. Now I’m getting back to music again.”

This self-described hiatus from music briefly ended in 2006, when Friedman released Illusions , his first album. Proceeds from the album were donated to Smile Train, a nonprofit that provides surgery to children with cleft palates.

A little over a decade ago, Friedman attended a musical in Fair Park in Dallas with friends. At the end of the musical, one friend suggested that Friedman, as a plastic surgeon who writes music, should write a musical about plastic surgery.

Friedman went on to write two songs as a joke, he says, but didn’t know what to do with them. After seeing Hamilton (twice), the idea for cleaVage came to him, and Friedman decided to write a musical about breast implants and their history.

“Even though our musical is about breasts, it doesn’t offend anyone as far as I can tell, and a part of that is because I have a co-writer who is a woman,” Friedman says.

In addition to bringing in a female co-writer, Laura

Goodenow, Friedman cast a trans woman as the narrator, bringing together the topics covered with the territory: breast augmentation, breast implants, breast reconstruction and transgender surgery.

“Beyond that, there’s a message behind it,” Friedman says. “A message of celebrating people’s uniqueness and celebrating the ability to make your own decisions and decide what you want to do with your body or not do with your body.”

The musical is still in the table-reading stage, so for those looking to delve into comedy, history and all things breast tissue, there’s plenty of time to see it. The musical will have another table reading March 19 at 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (Want to attend? See sign-up information at the end of this article.) Also, a portion of the musical will be presented at a festival in July, followed by four to eight showings of the full musical in October.

Beyond the musical, as if Friedman couldn’t get more eclectic, those looking on his website might stumble upon his woodworking. Though woodworking is on the back burner as he focuses on the musical, Friedman has taken the art past a hobby.

“When I was in the seventh grade, I took a wood shop class that seemed like a random stupid thing, but I fell in love with doing it,” Friedman says. “I convinced my parents, and I don’t think they realized how dangerous it was, to get a band saw. I got a table saw, I got a chain saw, and I made all sorts of stuff and started selling things.”

Friedman has sold to friends, neighbors, galleries and completed several commissioned pieces throughout his plastic surgery practice.

“Woodworking is what brought me to plastic surgery,” Friedman says. “I want to do something creative. I want to bring something into the world that hasn’t been there before. Whether that’s a wood sculpture or a marble sculpture or a new song or surgery on a person, all of

story Alyssa High|photography Yuvie Styles

them involve creations, so to speak. And that’s what fascinates me.”

While watching NOVA as a child, a PBS documentarystyle science show, Friedman was introduced to Bert Brent, a plastic surgeon who pioneered ear reconstruction.

“When I watched the program, [I saw that] he was using the same woodworking tools that I used for woodworking because his background was as a wood worker,” Friedman says. “I asked my parents if I could go visit him — which they allowed me to do because my parents once again allowed me to buy chain saws — and I watched him operate for a couple of days, and I kind of went ‘You know what: I think this is what I want to do.’”

Now, Friedman is an accomplished plastic surgeon operating out of Plano since 1996. He has been named a Texas SuperDoctor by Monthly several times and has won awards from the Texas Society of Plastic Surgeons, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. Friedman is the director of the West Plano Plastic Surgery Center, where he performs a variety of procedures.

In his free time, if he finds any, you can find Friedman playing keyboard in one of the two bands: Sidegig (formerly known as Fourplay) and The Mazik Experience. The bands will be playing March 19 sometime between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. at the Dallas Kosher Chili Cookoff, right before the staged reading of cleaVage

Those wishing to attend the table reading of cleaVage can get more information on how to attend by filling out the contact form at cleavagethemusical.com/contact-1.

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I tried to look on the bright side When they took off my right side Cause my splenda is splendid And it blended right in Now my left breast is through I pray my cancer is too — Lyrics to “It’s My Choice”

I’m on a quest to make the perfect breast I cannot rest until I’ve made the perfect breast

If I should fail, my quest will be a bust

If I succeed, my quest will be a bigger bust — Lyrics to “The Quest”

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