Sarah Stroh: andDesign Editor lives in LA with her husband, two year old son and goldendoodle.
I received the title of andDesign Editor in 2010. Before 2010, I had been “unofficial” with the magazine since 2007. The Rug Industry was not on my horizon with a B.A. in English Literature and Political Science, HDIP in Business Management from UCD Ireland, and an MBA in International Business Management from Baruch, with a focus on family business.
I wanted to travel and consult for large corporations. But I am now passionately using my training to get Rug News andDesign to change and rebrand itself for the 21st century. It is a pleasure attending Interior Design Events, Trade Shows, Home Fashion events and niche markets.
Graham Stroh: Production Manager, Web Designer, Consultant lives in Washington, DC with his five year old daughter and three year old son.
Graham is the Production Manager and Associate Style Editor for the magazine. In addition Graham designed the website and is working on reformatting the layout of the magazine.
Leslie Stroh: Senior Editor, Publisher, Historian, Rug Consultant, lives in Morris, NY & NYC with his wife and 2 corgis.
In 1973, fresh out of Columbia Business School, Leslie joined the rug industry as President of The Fritz and LaRue Company — then almost bankrupt. He rebuilt it to the fifth largest importer of hand knotted rugs in five years. He says he had baptism by fire as all he knew about the industry was how to spell “rug.”
Learning the business meant a lot of traveling to retailers and manufacturers. On the weekends, he played rugby. After 5 years, he left the business to start Rug News.
From 1978-2012, Leslie was known for his ugly green blazer and bushy red/grey beard. People said they knew when Leslie was walking down the halls because you first heard his voice, and then saw his jacket.
For 30+ years, Leslie was the owner, the publisher, the editor and the chief writer. Now his children, Sarah and Graham have joined him as equal owners. Leslie’s beard has gone white and the green blazer is replaced by a green button down shirt. Leslie has also taken on the role of Rug Historian, Consultant, and Corporate Memory.
The business of rugs, and what they represent in the context of economic development and pre-industrial production, is his passion.
Kathleen Bingham Stroh: CEO & Back Office, lives in NYC & Morris, NY with her husband and 2 corgis.
After leaving FIND/SVP in 1995, which she founded and took public, she took an active role in running a business where she can’t fire the key employee. She runs the business, and attends trade shows. Kathleen also works at extracting Leslie’s forty years of knowledge from his head to transfer it to the Rug News andDesign team.
Mike Cohen: Consultant — Technical Manager, Proofreader, Corporate Ethicist, lives in Brooklyn, NY with his wife and two cats.
Mike joined the magazine back in 1997. His passion is sailing large antique schooners; he has been a US Coast Guard licensed Captain since the late ’80s. Graham met him back in 1994, when they both worked on the Schooner Pioneer at the South Street Seaport in NYC. Mike is a graduate of New York University.
Dasha Morgan: Designers’ Notebook and Collections Editor, US contact for CARE & FAIR, lives outside of Asheville, NC, with her three dachshunds.
Dasha joined the magazine in 1999. Her two passions are tennis and music. She belongs to two tennis leagues and is very involved in many aspects of the musical world, as she plays the piano and is currently on the Board of the Asheville Lyric Opera. Born into a North Carolina family of furniture manufacturers, Dasha and Kathleen’s families have known each other for three generations.
Dasha’s career over the years has taken many twists and turns, starting out by working with the designer Katya of Sweden in Boston, then later managing a furniture store outlet for her brother’s solid oak manufacturing company, David Morgan Ltd., in North Carolina. Due to the competition from China the business had to close, so she started teaching French in a charter school, (having learned French while living in Switzerland and Paris). Now she is primarily editing and writing. She really enjoys the opportunity to be able to see and become familiar with SO MANY incredibly beautiful works of art—rugs and carpets—and then meet dealers from all over the world, who have imported or produced these masterpieces.
Lina Talero: Lina began her Rug News andDesign career 2012 as a blogger at the Atlanta Market. She now anchors our Lifestyle coverage in-print and online.
Our Bloggers: We have a team of talented and dedicated bloggers who fan out to all the major shows in the US and report back live to the Walking The Market section of rugnewsanddesign.com.
The seven of us comprise the Rug News andDesign team. We are one of the many family businesses that make up part of the rug industry.
