Diana graduated from the New York School of Interior Design in 1979. She has spent her entire career in the design field and visual communications. She started out as Design Director with Charles Hix Studios in Hickory, NC. She worked as a set designer and Design Manager for other studios until hired to become Advertising Director for Broyhill Furniture. Later in her career, Thomasville Furniture hired her to spearhead their national Marketing and Photography efforts. After leaving Thomasville in 2006, always wanting her own studio, she initiated the opening of Diana Parrish Design & Photography in January 2007. “I am a people person and enjoy being with family and my furry son, Bo.”

Melissa brings over twenty years of office management experience, specializing in data management and client relations. The photo studio business is new to her, but she has quickly applied her organizational and multi-tasking skills to this role. An unexpected surprise, when joining DPDP in Nov of 2020, was that she would fall in love with Photoshop! She quickly began taking classes on the side and learning the art of Photoshop, out of pure fascination. Sadly, she’s too busy as Production Manager to be able to do Photoshop as a profession, – but who knows what the future holds?! Melissa lives in the country and enjoys raising chickens as a hobby with her husband Gabe. (By the way, those are the nicest chicken houses any of us have ever seen!)

Charles received his BFA in Photography from East Tennessee State University in 1997 and came to North Carolina that same year. Charles has a great eye and extreme attention to detail. He works hard at not being too much of a perfectionist, but it comes in handy in this business. Charles has been with Diana for the last 12 years. He is avid runner and a bit of a health nut.

Alex graduated from Randolph Community College in 2003 with an Associate Degree in Photography, and has been shooting professionally ever since. He first fell in love with photography shooting black and white film, when he did all his own developing and printing back in the mid-’90s. “I have been working with Diana and the DP team for over 10 years now, where I really feel like I’m part of the family.”

Rachel attended Appalachian State University and obtained a BS degree in Interior Design. She works freelance with most of her time here at DP. Her favorite thing to do is just being with her husband, and her two sweet daughters Darby & Libby, in the sun and, on the water.

Sharon has been working in the design field for over 30 years and has worked with DP for over 11 years. She worked with several studios before joining Viewpoint as their first Design Director where she remained until moving to Nashville, TN, and turned freelance. Sharon’s interests outside of design are cooking and taking cross-country motorcycle trips with her husband.

Whitney comes to us as a graduate of the trade with a BS Degree in Interior Design from Appalachian State University and a minor in Marketing. She has exactly what it takes to be a part of the DP team. She is driven and energetic, full of great ideas, and has a tremendous work ethic, – most needed in this line of work! She has been in the big city of Atlanta over the past five years, – but decided to come back to North Carolina to join our company in a contract capacity. Outside of her work at DP, she loves hiking (really anything outdoors), road trips, and cooking. She is very happy to be back in NC in 2021 and closer to her family and long-time friends!

Adam found a passion for the furniture industry while working for Lexington Furniture and Thomasville Furniture. While at Thomasville, he worked with Diana on many projects and proved his loyalty by joining DP in 2016. In his spare time, Adam is very active with his children and the children in his community. 

Tim worked in the furniture industry for 25 years as an expert upholsterer and well-rounded “jack of all trades,” beginning his career in a large commercial photography studio. Coming on board in 2007, Tim always arrives 30 minutes early to get things started each day. His outside life? “I love to fish and spend time with my grandkids.”

Robbie began his career in the commercial photography studio business with Norling Studio in 1984. Robbie is a true artist when it comes to carpentry and is a master wood-worker with a designer’s eye. He has over 30 years of carpentry experience and was hired when Diana formed DP in January 2007. He loves spending time with family and doing volunteer work.

Eric has been working with the DPDP team for over seven years, but worked with Diana for over a decade, when she was a client and he was with a long standing agency and location business. Needless to say, he’s most experienced and brings with him a wealth of knowledge and expertise. Eric is a perfectionist in all he does. We call him a “Renaissance Man”, as he travels through Europe during his time off, is a gourmet cook, grows his own herbs, makes his own craft beer, and is an expert artist with oils and watercolors. His personal photography only adds to his arsenal of creative stash! How fortunate we are to have him in our midst!

Grip has been with the DPDP team since 2010, and his name is really “Grip”! He is a careful handler of our vehicles and the expensive furnishings we rent for our clients’ shoots. He often helps with painting sets, but is actually a painter of fine art; that is his passion. In 2019 he wrote his first novel and it was published. How fortunate we are to have a man of his talents among us!

Zach came to us from a client who had been working with him during showroom installations for High Point Furniture Markets, and has been with us on a regular basis for almost four years. He is a brainy guy with lots of physical strength as well, so it makes him an amazing key grip for any of our teams he is working with. He moves so fast, and never wastes a moment of time; as when he’s not “doing”, he is thinking! Zach has quickly become one of the most valuable of our grips here at DPDP. Outside of work, he enjoys doing anything outdoors, including hiking, fishing, camping, and spending time with his (young) family.

Affectionately called “Mello” by our team members, Melvin has been with DPDP for about three years. He has excelled here, since he walked in the door, having been a grip for other studios in our area. He loves the difference in our operation, so has become rather exclusive to our studio, and we are happy for it! He always stays a few steps ahead of the photographer he is working with, and the design team loves him, because of his pleasant “can-do” attitude. He always has a smile for everyone, and if there is a cloud in his sky- we would never know it, by his demeanor every day!

Debora has been styling and assisting for 15 years. She has a background in furniture manufacturing and fabrication before obtaining her Associates in Psychology. Deb is very active in her community, and you can often find her helping out the football and cheer teams around town. She is a Jane of all trades and loves the challenges that the studio life can bring.