Interview with a Creative: Elizabeth Leslie Dotson
PART ONE
I’ve known Elizabeth for many years now and have loved watching her passion for food grow into a business.
Elizabeth is a native Memphis now living in Dickson, Tennessee. She is mom to three, wife, foodie, and new business owner. I’ve sat with her for our Interview with a Creative series to see where she gets all this food inspiration!
You can find her at
@boardable615 on Instagram and Facebook
AND SOOOOOON to a store in Dickson, TN (Part 2 coming!)
You just recently launched Boardable 615. Congrats! You have always had a love for food and you have always made delicious things for your family. What made you want to make these beautiful boards for others?
Food is such an emotional experience for myself and I wanted to share that experience with others. Eating is such a huge part of our lives and it connects us all. You can totally just slice up some meats and cheeses and put them on a plate to enjoy, but when it’s arranged artfully, it’s not as boring and becomes more of an emotional experience rather than a task of eating. The taste, the textures, the smells, the combos… no two bites are the same. It’s a new experience with each combination. For example, take a simple piece of cheese (maybe one you’ve eaten for years without any attachment or emotion) and create the most tantalizing experience by adding some spicy jalapeño jelly for sweet heat and a salty almond for crunch. Oh, it’s just making my heart skip a beat thinking about it. THAT’S what I want other people to experience!
What was the turning point in the "testing phase" when you said this could really be something more than for friends and family here and there?
The turning point really came after I started receiving more requests, from friends of friends, who wanted boards for more intimate events - Friday night date nights in (Covid), sending them as thank you gifts, delivering boards to funeral homes for grieving families which was opposite of the centerpieces I was used to creating.
You have now gone through all of the steps of getting a website, getting set up with the state as a business, and buying in bulk. What has been or is still the most challenging aspect of starting a business?
Oh geez... it’s all challenging. Luckily, I have an awesome group of people who have been able to hold my hand the entire time. But I think the most challenging part of starting Boardable 615 has been wearing all of the hats, essentially running the show. I do all the ordering, shopping, paper work, taxes, ideas, marketing, social media, deliveries, client consultation, and accounting. On top of being a mom to three, mostly darling, children.
Let's talk food. What is your favorite food and what's your favorite Boardable food? What should we be trying at home that we may not have eaten before?
Salty sweet combos are my JAM!!!! Oh I just swoon over them. Everyone who knows me, knows that I love blueberry cheddar on an Oreo or white chocolate pretzel (and I don’t ever like white chocolate). I’m also obsessed with blueberry goat cheese on a piece of Ghirardelli dark chocolate salted almond bark. That combo makes me weak in the knees. I’m sure lots of people grew up with pepper jelly on cream cheese but try that on something else like an aged white cheddar. Most grocery stores also offer variety packs of crackers which can be a total game changer when paired with different meats and cheeses.
What influences your inner foodie? It is particular chefs or shows or just the actual art of eating and making?
I feel like I was born into this. I once watched my dad dip a piece of shrimp into peanut butter and eat it. He stated, “Nope... that does NOT go together.” Another time, we were on vacation at a fancy restaurant (which was probably the only time as a child I ate somewhere fancy) and escargot was on the menu. My father insisted that we all try escargot 1) because we will never have the opportunity again, and 2) so that we could join the escargot club (which was a club he made up so that we would try it). And lastly, the big one, when I was 16, in 1999, the newly formed Tennessee Titans (Whoop whoop) made it to the Super Bowl. We are not sporty people at all, but my mother suggested we have a super bowl party for my older brother and all of his friends. We had a ton of food (cheese, crackers, sausage balls, dips, chips, veggie trays, fruit trays, doughnuts, pinwheels, you name it!). I will never forget how amazing it felt, to serve these hungry teenage boys. The spread was impressive, but it was the warmth around the table that made the lasting impression.
Tips for our readers?
If a combo sounds good, try it! You might be surprised what flavor combos you can come up with on your own.
