NEWH - Summer 2017 - 32

Q&A

CHATTING WITH

Dina
Caruso
How did you become involved with NEWH?

I was a member of the Sunshine chapter early in my career. In 2005, I moved back to
Pittsburgh to start Caruso Design Group and had a difficult time finding locally represented
resources for my projects. Once the hotel boom started in Pittsburgh, local interior designers
who had never worked on a hotel or resort before started to work on hospitality projects
but did not have access to all of the resources. That's when I realized how much Western
Pennsylvania needed NEWH for resources and networking.
More than 20 years ago, I put myself through school and was very grateful for the
scholarships that helped me. At the same time that I started to ask about NEWH for
Pittsburgh, I was serving on the Interior Design Advisory Board at La Roche college. Raising
money for scholarships is one of the many things that we focused on as a board. I realized
that with the right team, it would be possible to do the same through NEWH, focusing on
students interested in hospitality.

Steering committee chair and
owner, Caruso Design Group

What has NEWH done for you, both personally and professionally?

At the beginning of my career, NEWH forced me out of my comfort zone; "networking" was a
scary word in my early 20s. NEWH helped me understand that networking is really just building
relationships. Many of my lifelong friends are NEWH members.

In your role as steering committee chair, what do you have planned for 2017?

I'm most looking forward to our first annual Scholarship Awards Gala. Joy Van De Velde
(membership) and Will Michael (chair-elect) have been working tirelessly on the organization of
the event. It is going to be a fun evening and we will get to award the first scholarships from the
Pittsburgh regional group.

What were some of the highlights of 2016?

In 2016, after only a year and a half from inception, we hosted a tradeshow at the convention
center. I am still amazed by that. We still receive positive feedback from the manufacturers and
attendees even though it has been a year since we did it. The tradeshow and associated panel
discussion catapulted our presence in Pittsburgh and helped the community see what we are all
about. Thanks to the group at NEWH for the heavy lifting!

Tell us a bit about your company and what's new.

I have always thought of CDG as a startup but recently realized that we are 12 years old,
give or take a couple of merger experiments. With that realization, we decided it was
time to really define who we are and what types of projects we want to take on. We are
rebranding ourselves as more of a boutique firm with a specialized focus, and we are
scheduled to roll that out this fall.

When you aren't working or at an NEWH event, where can we find you?

Depending on the season, I'm boating or on the back of my husband's motorcycle, or at home
with our silver lab puppy, Harley. ❙❘❚

32 www.newh.org

http://www.newh.org

NEWH - Summer 2017

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