New City, Lifelong Community

City: Dallas

Neighborhood: State Thomas

Company / Title: Loloi Rugs Principal & Pioneer Natural Resources Technology Project Coordinator

When did you move here? From where? 
2014; San Francisco & Oklahoma City

Where else have you lived?
San Francisco & Oklahoma City

What made you decide to Say Yes to Dallas?
The choice was made easy by both having family in Texas. Cyrus joined his growing family company that started in Dallas, Loloi Rugs. Also, Dallas has a rich culture filled with kind people, many of the people that we have met in Dallas will be lifelong relationships. Family, career, and friends have strongly sealed our choice of living in the heart of Texas.

How did you choose where to live in the Dallas Region?
State Thomas neighborhood has always been a gem to us in the hustle of Uptown, it’s brick-lined streets and neighborhood feel gave it just the right amount of charm to stake claim onto a townhome within. We love that the neighborhood is very walkable to many conveniences of a big city, like groceries, coffee shops- State Street Coffee in particular, and restaurants.

Where do you go and what do you do on the weekends or days off?
We spend much of our days off exploring new parts of the city. The growth of Dallas has been fun to experience, from walking trails to art hubs and beyond. Some of our favorites are Bishop Arts, Harwood district, Knox Henderson, and Downtown. Watching live sports downtown and exploring new restaurants are big highlights for us.

What is your passion, and how does Dallas help fulfill it?
Our passion lies in helping others and giving back to our community that gives so much to us. Some of our favorite organizations are tightly woven into Dallas making it easy for us to give back. Whether building for Habitat for Humanity, caring for the elderly with Senior Source, or watching our donations to Texas Scottish Rite be put toward a fantastic cause- giving back is imperative for making Dallas home.

Tell us about the work environment here.
There is a lot of friendly competitiveness when it comes to working in Dallas, many passionate and driven people work here. One of the first questions you may be asked when meeting a new person in the city is “what do you do for a living?” and that is not just a conversation starter- people here really like and want to know about your career interests.

What is your favorite restaurant in the region?
Yutaka Sushi Bistro in Uptown is our absolute favorite, even after traveling to Japan- Yutaka tops our list.

What is your favorite outdoor activity, and where is your favorite place to do it?
Our favorite activity is to walk the streets of Bishop Arts, especially during the early evening, they typically have outdoor artists. We love to shop local, stores like All Good Things, Set & Co, and Neighborhood make it very easy and fun to do so.

What is your favorite festival/event?
Dallas throws a pretty epic party in the form of Greenville’s Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, fantastic people watching and green beer- say no more.

Who is your local hero? Why?
Emmitt Smith, he is easy to spot even if you are not a Cowboys fan seeing as he has massive football-sized hands. Mr. Smith is a fantastic speaker, entrepreneur, and philanthropist that still lives in the Dallas area with his family.

Where do you feel you are nearest to your “tribe” in the Dallas Region?
At the Joule hotel, enjoying a cocktail and dreaming of the future.

Do you travel often? Is it easier or harder to do here?
We travel very frequently, for work and for play. Traveling out of Dallas is extremely easy, to be at either coast in roughly 4 hours is fantastic.