Now Hear This — Exposing Our Secret Talents: Your Weekly Glimpse Into the PaperCity Dallas Office World

It’s a tradition around the PaperCity Dallas offices to hold an annual Halloween party. Ghosts and goblin shaped cookies and margaritas (hey, not everything must follow a spooky theme) are in abundance. At our recent gathering, it came to light that some of us have some hidden talents. Things that aren’t highlighted on our LinkedIn profiles.

That inspired this week’s Now Hear This PaperCity Dallas office question: What is your secret talent? Enjoy learning of some of the skills that we rarely get the occasion to show off.

Christina Geyer, Dallas Editor in Chief

My secret talents? Well, I do know how to tie a bow tie. That said, if I haven’t tied one in a while it takes me a quick few tries to get it exactly right. It’s a bit, as they say, like riding a bike. Tying a tie — and a bow tie — were two skills my father would not let me fly the coop without learning. (He also attempted to teach me how to change a tire — a skill I will never actually master, much to his dismay.)

As for far less chic secret talents, I am an expert at constructing IKEA furniture. Something about my uber-organized German roots must have me predisposed to being able to understand those Swedish, word-less instruction booklets with whimsical illustrations of genderless humans putting together furniture by the names of Ektorp and Morbylanga.

And how could I forget my most beloved secret talent: gardening! My apartment has an itty bitty patio and for the last two years I have begun cultivating a green thumb. This spring was my best patio garden yet. I planted basil that yielded enough greens for me to make dozens of jars worth of pesto all summer. My mint is practically taking over the place.

Somehow, I managed to keep four tomato plants thriving during the Texas summer. I have enough jalapeños and green bell peppers to keep a Tex-Mex restaurant fully stocked for at least a month. And, much to the delight of my family, I have revived an iris that started with a single plant my dad began growing when he was in his twenties.

Fun fact: Irises multiply if you care for them properly, so the single plant my dad grew now has offspring growing at my mom’s small farm in Oregon; at the house I grew up in California; at my grandmother’s house, also in La Canada; and now in a terra-cotta pot on my patio in Dallas. I was told to cherish the bulb when my mom sent it to me earlier this year — and I was also given very strict care instructions by my dad. This is possibly our most valuable family heirloom.

Lisa Collins Shaddock, Senior Editor

I wouldn’t quite call it a secret talent but most people don’t know that I play the piano. I have no improvisational abilities nor the attention span to be able to commit anything to memory, but if you put a sheet of music in front of me I can (for the most part) play it. My husband knows sitting down at the piano has always been a huge stress reliever for me so he sweetly got me an electric keyboard for my birthday a few years ago. It will do while I wait for my Bösendorfer.

Billy Fong, Culture and Style Editor

Honestly, it would be easier to create a list of skills that I seriously lack. When I try to arrange flowers or wrap a present it looks as if a serial killer was making the attempt. I can’t sing karaoke and I’m a horrible driver. Enough though about my shortcomings in life.

A secret talent is playing pool. Call me Billiards Billy. Get enough cocktails with rum as the key ingredient in me and I’m racking the balls and looking like a hustler.

Beyond that, another useless talent is knowing every bit of trivia around John Hughes and James Bond movies. Whether it be a question about Claire Standish’s outfit from The Breakfast Club or what car 007 drove in Diamonds are Forever, I’ve got the answer.

Hillery Stack, Dallas Publisher

OH, I love this question. Probably because I love my secret talent: I am a closet makeup artist. Well, I used to be. I fell in love with makeup when I was in ninth grade, having suffered from pneumonia and mono for three-plus months, I was embarrassed by my sickly appearance.

A friend of mine applied makeup, namely concealer, and I was amazed at how transformative and empowering my makeover was. Simple tricks that made me look and feel pretty again! That was all it took, I was hooked and became obsessed with all things beauty.

My mom took me to New York City on my 15th birthday for a day of pampering: lunch, shopping, haircut, a makeover at the Bobbi Brown counter at SAKS and then dinner and a show. I picked all the makeup artists brains and just started applying makeup on my friends for random parties, dance recitals etc..

That grew into a little side hustle I carried all the way through to post grad NYC living. I had a blast, and was so honored to be a part of some of my nearest and dearest friends major moments: engagement parties, rehearsal dinners, and weddings!

Linda Kenney, Account Manager

 My hidden talents….

1). I stand on my head. It is not easy for me; without yoga and my yoga teacher Thom Allen, I would not be able to do this. I am a coward when I have to raise my heart over my head: perhaps it’s a fear of falling and cracking my bing-bing.

2). I play the violin. This was not easy for me to learn; I am left-handed and my violin instructor Irvin Pinkofsky insisted that I learn right-handed, must be the reason I don’t know left from right.

3). I paint with watercolor and acrylics. This is something I love to do. My mind stops its chatter and I travel to new destinations while painting flowers.

4). I speak French; this is an ongoing process. It is enjoyable because my two friends and I meet with our tutor Heather Benedetto every Wednesday evening come rain or shine. Our French and our friendships flourish.

5). I babysit. Life has started anew since our grandson arrived. If Indy could speak, I think he would reveal that Bill and I are his favorite babysitters.

If you ever have something you want our team to address, shoot us your thoughts via social media or email (@papercitydallas on Instagram; facebook.com/papercitymagdallas on Facebook; or yours truly, billy@papercitymag.com). Or, better yet send a message to the office, handwritten on the Smythson stationery of your choice — and feel free to include a bottle of Veuve. Champagne really helps get the ideas flowing.

Look for the next installment of Now Hear This from Billy Fong next Thursday.