DI Families: Meet the Dolloffs

Laura and Steven Dolloff are long-time Daniel Island residents who, recognizing a special need in the community for information about goings-on, created a unique and rapidly growing website - and now an app - that we know as InTown.com. At the same time, they also raised two children, Justin, a recent graduate of Bishop England, Erica, a rising junior at Bishop England -- and managed to walk the family dog, Graham, every day. We sat down with multi-tasker mom and Marketing Director, Laura, to learn more about the family business - as well as the business of being a family on the island.

Where are you from originally and why did you decide to make the Charleston area, specifically Daniel Island, your home?

Steven and I met in Boston. He became the Southeast sales rep for a retail distributor and I got a job teaching in Charlotte. But we fell in love with Charleston when we visited it. It’s coastal city, full of history, and it reminded us of our beloved Boston. We moved here 24 years ago. Initially, we bought a house in Folly Beach. After Justin was born, we moved to Mt. Pleasant, where Erica was born. We often visited friends who lived on Daniel Island. Everything seemed so Norman Rockwell-ish here, with kids riding their bikes everywhere. It was like an amazing world in its own little bubble. We decided to move to the island when the Daniel Island School opened; Erica was in 3rd grade and Justin was in 5th grade at the time.

Do you have a favorite place to hang out on the island?

We love the fact that Daniel Island is like a home away from home. It’s a small town inside a bigger city. You can go out and explore the world then come back to your safe little haven where you can go to restaurants and places where everyone knows your name. We go to Wasabi and Vespa and Orlando’s - both have the best pizza. Of course, I love Agave for Mexican food and Steven spends time with his tennis friends at the Daniel Island Grille. It’s also nice to have a breakfast place like Blondie’s and places like Subway where we can grab a quick bite.

How about off-island?

We love going to the beach at Isle of Palms and Sullivan's Island. We also love walking around downtown Charleston on Second Sundays, and going to places like Red’s on Shem Creek. There’s a little bit of everything nearby. Living on Daniel Island, you’re centrally located so it’s easy to go anywhere.

Do you ever take longer trips away from the area?

We love going anywhere there’s a beach, where you can dig your toes in the sand. But we also love to go skiing and snowboarding - and usually take a family trip every winter to New Hampshire.

You’ve lived on the island for quite a while. How have things changed? What changes would you like to see happen?

I miss having an ice-cream place like Moona-Lisa which we used to have on the island. I’d also like to see more restaurants and retail options and maybe even a movie theater. There was talk about building a waterfront district for shopping and dining on the island, with a ferry service that would take people back and forth to downtown Charleston. I’d like to see that happen. It would be a great opportunity to bring people who are not familiar with Daniel Island, say residents of downtown Charleston, over here to try our restaurants and shops, explore our wonderful walking trails, enjoy our Concerts in the Park - even browse our summer-time Farmers Market. We always talk about going off-island. I think it’s time we focused on bringing people on-island, too.

You’re in a great position, with InTown, to help get the word out that Daniel Island is a great place to visit.Can you tell us a little more?

There’s always so much to do, on and off the island. But how do you keep up with everything that’s going on? That’s one of the reasons that my husband and I came up with the idea for InTown. It’s a website - and now a phone app - that’s essentially a pocket guide to everything that’s going on in the Charleston area - every day. InTown started out four years ago as more of a discount site. But Steven and I discovered that, after hundreds of conversations with InTown users, people are more interested in learning about what’s going on. Now, you can search InTown for a place to take your husband on “date night” or a fun activity for your kids; You might find VIP passes to a tour of Daniel Island Homes today, free tickets to a concert downtown tomorrow, or learn about a special “two for one” promotion taking place next weekend at a new restaurant in Mt. Pleasant. Basically, we want people to get out and explore, to experience everything the Charleston area has to offer. Our goal is to help people “stay in the know” - to feel like a local - no matter whether they’re residents or simply visiting from out of town.

InTown also helps business owners in the community, right?

Absolutely. We used to have some wonderful small businesses here on the island that, sadly, had to close their doors because they didn’t have the voice to reach the customers they needed. But a strong community should be able to build strong businesses! Now, for less than a dollar a day - and at no cost for non-profits - businesses can rely on InTown as a way of reaching potential customers who are always super-busy and might otherwise miss out. Giving back to the community is what makes living “in town” so much better! If you have a small business, we would love to learn more about you. Please reach out to us, care of Laura@intown.com, or call (843) 200-1520, and see how your team can use our tools to connect with the community at large.

Running a business, no matter how rewarding, is hard work.  What keeps you going?

When you work at something that you are passionate about, it doesn’t seem like work at all. I know that’s true of my job at InTown. I often work 18-hour days, with lots of travel to meet with clients. Sure, I may get a little tired, but the time seems to fly by. I’m really having so much fun. I spend my days "bragging" about visiting amazing places and meeting fabulous people. It doesn't get better than that.

What three words would you use to describe your life on Daniel Island?

Charming. Quaint. But the best word to describe Daniel Island? Simply, it’s just home.