Galentines Gather for Sweet Celebration Benefiting Dec My Room

Galentines Gather for Sweet Celebration Benefiting Dec My Room

Kendall and Susan Plank, Noel Wise, Anna Osborn, Michelle Koskie

MORE THAN 140 lovely ladies showed up at Tootsies to shop, sip and celebrate Dec My Room, the local nonprofit responsible for personalizing and decorating hospital rooms for pediatric and young-adult patients.


Dec My Room founders, mother-daughter duo Susan and Kendall Plank, and event chairs Jennifer Cope and Marie Flanigan mingled with the "galentines" two days before V-Day. After early-morning browsing of pop-ups and trunk shows at Tootsies, the well-heeled crowd strutted over to PostScript HTX, awash in pink, as always.

Here, the ladies sat down for a beautiful luncheon. At each seat, guests found a butterfly, which was raised during the "paddles-up" portion of the day. Together with an exciting raffle, the event raised nearly $120,000 for Dec My Room.

Ally Shell and Nora Jarrard

Carson Sherman, Rebecca Thomas, Lauren Gray

Tori Kuykendall, Stacey Lindseth

Charlotte Martingano, Anna Osborne

Michelle Froehlich, Diane Nolen, Denise Tinkham, Fenche Shen

Cherie Lindley, Abby Vanegas

Melissa Sugulas, Estella Cockrell, Rebecca Thomas, Melissa Juneau , Traci Young

Donae Chramosta and Donna Lewis

Marie Flanigan and Jennifer Cope

Elizabeth Abraham , Sydney Goss, Laura Thompson

Kelli Tumey, Noel Wise

Elysa Nelson, Claire Jackson, Sylvie Kampshoff

Christina Green, Whitney Kuhn Lawson

Food

John Kuykendall, Showroom Manager, Sub-Zero, Wolf and Cove

How did you get to where you are today? Growing up I had envisioned myself as a news anchor, living in NY and enthusiastically saying into the camera “Good Morning America!”. To this day, I am still a news/political junkie. My mother owned fur salons so specialty retail, luxury retail was in my blood through the family business. Eventually, mom shuttered the stores and I was recruited to a large specialty retailer. Over the next 30 years, I was in commissioned sales on the sales floor, became a department manager, worked my way up to buyer and store manager. Although I never became a newscaster, I did live in NYC for a few years. But Texas is home and with aging grandparents, I felt the pull to come back to my roots. A headhunter approached me. I never envisioned myself in the high-end appliance market, but there are so many similarities. Clients want a memorable experience; whether shopping for diamonds and fur or remodeling their kitchen.

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How did you get to where you are today? My journey to where I am today is built on a foundation of hard work, dedication, and perseverance. Every step along the way, I faced obstacles, but I approached each one with determination and a “never give up” mindset. Instead of being discouraged by challenges, I used them as opportunities to grow and improve. Consistency was key—I committed to showing up and giving my best effort every day. I also learned not to take “no” as a final answer. Instead, I saw it as a chance to push harder, adapt, and find another way forward. It’s this combination of persistence, resilience, and unwavering focus that has brought me to where I am today.

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