The Mahjong Line founders reflect on five years of growth
A D Magazine profile revisits The Mahjong Line’s beginnings, the criticism of its early designs and the founders’ fifth-anniversary milestone in a changing American Mahjong market.
By MahjMedia
The Mahjong Line’s fifth-anniversary milestone provides the setting for a D Magazine profile of co-founders Kate LaGere and Annie O’Grady. Published February 19, 2026, the feature revisits the Dallas brand’s early years and its place in the American Mahjong business.
The account includes the criticism surrounding the company’s original tile designs and questions about cultural appropriation. It follows the founders’ experiences and sets their business story within the game’s longer cultural history.
For readers following Mahjong brands, the profile offers a retrospective on design, entrepreneurship and reception. The criticism and the founders’ responses remain attributed perspectives within the original reporting.
