Women's Month Community Spotlight: Elise Reichardt

[Ruggy-Joesten]

Earlier this week, we kicked off our Women’s Month spotlight series with our first feature on @Kayla_Jett_Taras — and today, we’re excited to share the next one!

Throughout March, we’ll continue highlighting some of the incredible women in the Coda community who are building thoughtful systems, solving real problems, and generously sharing what they’ve learned along the way.

Next up, we’re excited to introduce @Elise_Tarabiscode.com

Elise is a business solutions designer who discovered Coda while exploring tools such as Airtable and Notion and quickly realized its potential for building automated systems. In this spotlight, Elise shares the project she built to help a nonprofit streamline mentor matching, the Coda formulas that completely changed how she thinks about building, and why slowing down outside of work is just as important as moving fast while building.

Let’s get into it!

1. What drew you to Coda, and how has your use of it changed over time?

As a business solutions designer, I primarily used Airtable and Notion. I discovered Coda through conversations and encounters with people in the ecosystem. I started using it to run my own business because I was looking for something very flexible yet powerful for automation. Pretty quickly, I realized Coda could go much further than I expected, especially with formulas, buttons, and dashboards. Over time, I learned how to really unlock its full potential.

2. What’s a doc or project you’re really proud of that you built with Coda?

One project I’m particularly proud of is one I built for Proxité, a nonprofit that promotes equal opportunities by connecting mentors with young people who need support. Their matching process was previously very manual, time-consuming, and difficult to track across regions. We built a shared tool in Coda connected to Salesforce to standardize and professionalize the matching process. Now teams can easily filter by different criteria to find the right mentor for each mentee, saving time and improving consistency.

3. Was there a specific “aha” moment where Coda really clicked for you?

My “aha” moment was when I discovered action formulas in Coda: things like AddRow(), ModifyRows(), ForEach(), or functions like SetControlValue(). When I realized you could trigger actions, create loops, and control elements directly from formulas, it completely changed how I saw the tool. Suddenly, it felt like the possibilities were almost endless, and you could really start to play with logic and automation. It also addressed a lot of the frustration I had with other tools.

4. What’s a tool, habit, or ritual that keeps you grounded when things get overwhelming?

What really keeps me grounded is sports. I take group fitness classes about three times a week, and I love the energy, the music, and the sense of empowerment in those moments. It reconnects me with my body and helps me step away from work and the digital world for a while. Overall, it helps me stay healthy.

5. When you start building something new, are you more structure-first or chaos-first?

When I start building something new, I usually begin by exploring and testing ideas directly in Coda to validate a few assumptions. I actually enjoy that small phase of chaos where you try things and see what works. Once I better understand the problem, I focus on defining a clear structure and designing the system effectively. For me, having strong foundations is key. Once the structure is in place, we can iterate and improve things over time while keeping the system solid and sustainable.

6. What do you do outside of work that people might not expect?

Outside of work, I enjoy a pretty slow-paced life. I get around almost everywhere by bike, I love experimenting with vegetarian cooking, and I spend a lot of time walking in nature. I also enjoy getting my hands dirty with a bit of DIY or gardening.

7. If you could teach a 30-minute workshop or Ted Talk on anything (not work-related), what would it be?

I think I’d talk about the importance of slowing down in a fast-moving world. Technology helps us build amazing things and save time, but what really matters is how we choose to use that time. For me, it’s about creating space for a more intentional and balanced life.

8. Finish this sentence: “I build because ______.”

I build because good systems bring clarity. They reduce mental load, create structure, and free up time for what really matters. And I love helping my clients experience that too.

A big thank you to Elise for taking the time to share a bit about her work and the systems she’s building with Coda.

If you see her around the community, feel free to say hello or jump into the conversation. She’s doing some really thoughtful work and we’re lucky to have her here.

We’ll be sharing more spotlights throughout March, so keep an eye out as we continue highlighting some of the incredible women in the Coda community.

[Elise_Tarabiscode.com]

I’m honestly so happy (and honored!) to be mentioned here. Thank you so much, @Ruggy-Joesten .

Coda has been part of my daily life for more than 3 years now. What started as a tool I was curious about quickly became something much bigger. It’s now at the core of my work and the business I’ve built around designing systems for others.

It’s hard to imagine my work without it today.

I’m also incredibly excited about what’s coming next for Coda and Superhuman in the months ahead. It’s such an inspiring community to be part of.

Thanks again for the spotlight

[Robin_Myrtillum]

These are good to read, thanks.

It would be great if there was a question asking if the person being spotlighted has any cool coda “thing” they want to share … a doc, a tip, a formula (over and above the “what’s a doc you’re really proud of” question). So many builders come up with unique solutions to problems.

[Kayla_Taras3]

Fabulous @Elise_Tarabiscode.com !
Finally getting the hang of ForEach() was such a game changer for me, too. And ‘that small phase of chaos’ when you first start a new build - I love that, too. It’s one of the quickest ways to get me in a state of flow.

[Ruggy-Joesten]

That’s a great idea!

[Elise_Tarabiscode.com]

Good idea.

One tip that has helped me a lot when designing detail pages in Coda is to structure them almost like a mini-interface.

A few things I usually do:

• Put the primary field at the very top of the detail page.
Ideally a formula field, with a very explicit name so it’s clear what object you’re looking at (for example: Lead, Client, Project, etc.).

• Split the page into clear sections.
I usually separate them with dividers created using a formula field and the Rectangle() function. It makes the page much easier to scan.

• Add large section titles.
Using large text for each section (e.g. Lead Information, Qualification, Follow-up, etc.) really helps structure the page and improves readability.

It makes a big difference once your docs start getting complex

[Robin_Myrtillum]

Hey @Elise_Tarabiscode.com , that’s really great. I looked at your youtube channel earlier and although I don’t speak French I figured I might get some ideas just from looking at whatever you were sharing of your docs … the first thing I noticed and wondered was how you got the coloured divider!! … so thanks for answering that!

I’ve used formulas to display information in forms, but had forgotten about the Rectangle formula and probably wouldn’t have thought to use it that way. It’s a really nice way to divide up the data in the form.

I think this is the value of sharing this kind of information because there are an infinite number of interesting ways makers have made coda do particular things. And every little idea raises the tide, so to speak.

Thanks!

Robin