Dianne Doughty: Dice Diva

Story by Deb Peterson | Photographed by Deb Peterson

Did you know that people first blew on dice because they were breathing life back into the animal bones from which the dice were made? Did you know that opposing sides of dice always equal seven?

Those are just two of the fun things Dianne Doughty can tell you about the myriad shapes, sizes, materials, and functions you will find in the great big world of dice. She has dice within dice, and dice with 10, 12, 20 sides! Who knew?

“At my very first trade show, a customer walked up and said, ‘I want 16mm blue dice with glow-in-the-dark pips, and on the one spot I want a crescent moon,'” Dianne remembers.

That was Dianne’s introduction to ordering custom dice for the many industries that use or sell dice: schools, novelty and souvenir shops, museums, aquariums, national parks, toy manufacturers, gift stores, Gen Con (the gigantic gaming community), even health care.

“Some retailers keep dice in the register for their best customers,” Dianne says. The customer gets whatever discount they roll.

By the way, pips are the dots on the dice that represent numbers. You can buy dice with pips that are aliens, mathematical functions, and words to

help teach language. You can buy pretty rhinestone pips. And yes, you can get pips that glow in the dark. You can even get rock/paper/scissor pips!

There are 1,200 different kinds of dice.

“Moose are the most popular,” Dianne says. “Anything moose sells.”

Surprisingly, Dianne’s largest market is for dice that teach math.

“Dice are helpful for visual and tactile learners,” she says. “And dice make learning fun.”

Young students identify dice with two pips, the number two, and the word two, and learn that they all represent the same number: 2.

Sixteen years ago, Dianne was a purchasing manager for an education company that bought dice for use in teaching math.

When she and husband Leo retired in the Twin Lakes Area, Dianne wasn’t quite ready to entirely give up working. She asked the dice company if they needed a trade show rep. Today, she still works about eight shows a year, all over the country.

“I needed something to do,” she says. “I wanted to create money of my own and see some wonderful places.”

She also created lasting friendships with women she sees at every show.

“I’ve known some of them for 25 years,” she says. “We’ve shared major life experiences together. We talk about business ideas. I learned how important it is to keep yourself open, to keep your network open. If there’s something you want to do, gather your support around you and do it.”

M! Dec 2011/Jan 2012