Leveraging the Internet to Grow Your Biz

hello salonistas!
we want to invite you to our event happening tomorrow night!
we are dubbing it
Leveraging the Internet to Grow Your Business!
and it will be a panel discussion with

Mitra Morgan of Joss and Main
Julie Richards of Shelter Interior Design
Marni Elyse Katz of Boston Home Boston Globe Magazine & Design Milk
Jennifer Hill of Jennifer Hill Design

we are hoping to get a stimulating discussion going with those of you whose businesses have been affected positively (or negatively) by the internet. the internet is the new wild west, and it is changing retail every day..why just last friday (black friday) records for online shopping sales were broken again. let us learn from one another by sharing our most recent experiences.

tuesday descember 13th
7pm at Joss and Main
177 Huntington ave.
24th floor
boston ma

please bring snacks to share with the group.
cannot wait to see you all.

please rsvp to mcrae2@aol.com

Building a Brand From the Inside Out

Ebony Snow Chafey, Owner of Snow and Graham Chicago (http://www.snowandgraham.com/), shares infinite entrepreneurial wisdom with the ladies of Design Salon
Ebony is heading to Boston to spend an evening sharing with the Salonistas. Ladies, turn off your computers, put away your swatches and color cards. This is an important night for anyone in the midst of brand building. Years ago, when Ebony began her stationery line, her business was a blank slate. Over time and lots of trial and error, Ebony's company has evolved and her brand has become the one that we know today.

"It's the entire experience", says Chafey. "It's not just what you see on the surface that makes my brand strong", she says, "it's everything that you don't see that supports the brand. Customer service and inventory management right through to the visible packaging. It's all guided by the same overriding principle at Snow and Graham... THAT'S what makes my brand strong".

When: October 18

Time: 7:00

Where: M. Flynn Studio

40 Waltham Street

RSVP: jill.palese@gmail.com

Bring wine and snacks to share with the group!

A Jeweled Life

An Evening with Kate Hines

Welcome to the Design Salon 2011-2012 season! There is no better way fall in step with the new season, than to connect with fellow creative women to discuss business, inspiration and JEWELRY.

Kate Hines (http://www.katehinesjewelry.com/) will join us on Tuesday, September 20th at 7pm at the fabulous showroom of Kate Maloney Interiors to share her infinite wisdom, style and experiences of her creative and fantastic collections.


I grew up on the coast of New England and spent summers rapt with the simple pleasures of looking. The tangles of seaweed. Rock and shell architecture. All those years of looking took voice in art school at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). It was a fantastic era for design and I interpreted the moment by launching a collection of innovative, large-scale jewelry made with roughly hewn metals and somber patinas. Everything was possible.
My icons were Miyake, Kawakubo and Yamamoto, whose designs were fierce and experimental. Retail buyers saw a similar spirit in my work and I shared floor space with my heroes in the finest American boutiques and department stores. Fashion editors featured the work in every top fashion magazine.

Fashion thrills because it is never still. Taste moderated expression and jewelry distilled to a smaller scale. In this new career phase, I began collaborating with top clothing catalogs to create private label jewelry lines to complete and distinguish their collections.
At KateHines.com, I have the freedom to ask, “What is timeless, what will endure, what do I want to offer to my customer?”

join us at 7pm
Tuesday September 20th 2011
at KMI Design
Stitch on Two showroom
2nd floor
875 Main St
Cambridge
02139
please bring snacks and drinks to share with the group and rsvp to
jillpalese@gmail.com

Decorate...with Holly Becker

Summertime is groovy, sand is between our toes...we are pondering how to create the perfect shade of blue to match the evening sky while sipping a cold Mojito.

If you are feeling like it quickly approaching go time again, that you'll need to pop into Anthrolopologie on Saturday, August 20th between 10:30 and 12:30 to see fellow Salonista Holly Becker (www.Decor8blog.com/about/) as she makes a stop off in Boston to promote her new book Decorate. Hope to see you there.... oh, and while you're up, could you bring me another Mojito...

Grand Opening Party!

The Cream Always Rises to the Top!

The Royal Wedding is long over, yet the Crown Jewel of Boston's Design Society, Cheryl Katz of C & J Katz http://www.candjkatz.com/ is gracefully enticing us with her strong design presence on a regular basis.

Beginning her career in fashion, Cheryl used her skill, intuition and help from a friend to pave her way though. Getting married to Architect, Jeffery Katz and insisting on a move to New York City as a freelance fashion stylist was the game changer. NYC was the perfect place for Cheryl to stretch her wings and realize all of her talents. She used her keen eye and great instinct to move easily from fashion design to interior design without reservation.

In 1984 C&J Katz Studio was born.

Boston's irristable pull of red brick charm and subtle sophistication brought the Cambridge girl, her designer husband and two children home. The rest is beautiful, well designed history.

Cheryl has a long and proliferic resume and it is difficult to identify her in a short paragraph. However, she is most notably is the designer who created the strong identity for the Barbara Lynch/Gruppo empire http://www.barbaralynch.com/. We all have enjoyed a drink or dinner at some of Boston's favorite establishments such as No. 9 Park http://www.no9park.com/, Sportello http://www.sportelloboston.com/, and Drink http://www.drinkfortpoint.com/.

This evening is sure to be an inspiring evening of discussion about design, career choices and the possiblity of change.

When: Tuesday, June 14th

Where: C & J Katz Studio

60 K Street

South Boston, MA

Time: 7:00

R.S.V.P.:Jill.Palese@gmail.com

**Please bring wine and snacks to share with the group!

Blogging for Bucks

Erica Tannen of The E-List shares her road trip from Fashion Industry Maven to "Belle of the Blog"

"Anyone in the fashion industry will tell you it's impossible to get out, but I finally did" says Erica Tannen. After 25 years of owning and buying for specialty retail companies, I launched the-e-list (http://www.the-e-list.com/). I have an eye for style, a strong opinion and a knack for knowing what's coming next. My friends think I'm a blabbermouth. Due to my inability to say no, I am a fanatic volunteer in my community, my daughter's school and my favorite art institution, the Florence Griswold Museum. In my spare time, I am a wife and mother of a teen-age daughter."

Sounds simple, Erica!

Design Salon is looking forward to Erica's story and how she turned a creative idea into an uber-$ucce$$ful business.

Ladies, if you are not a blogger and you don't care much about turning fantastic ideas into $ (yeah, right), then stop by to check out fellow salonista Mitra Morgan's sweet spot- Joss and Main (http://www.jossandmain.com/).

When: Wednesday, May 25

Time: 7:00 pm

Where: Joss and Main Showroom

177 Huntington Ave (overlooking Christian Science Center)

R.S.V.P.: jill.palese@gmail.com

Please bring wine and/or snacks to share with the group!

5 Under 40 - Overview | New England Home

Award winning "Salonistas"

Last month, New England Home chose outstanding local talents for the "5 Under 40" award. Happily, 3 of the 5 winners are current members of Design Salon. Here's to you, you talented and hard working ladies...

Kelly Harris Smith, www.filzfelt.com. Kelly is one of the founding members of Design Salon and on the planning board.

Rachel Rieder, www.rachelreider.com, interior designer.

Debra Folz, www.debrafolz.com, Furniture and Home design.

5 Under 40 - Overview New England Home: "New England Home's 5 Under 40 awards spotlight the hottest emerging talent in residential design in New England, including architecture, interiors, furniture, and home design products and accessories. Selected by an all-star committee of regional design leaders, 5 Under 40 winners are the people to watch, producing some of the most beautiful and innovative work available today."

Oh la la...

Stacey Santo is rocket-hot! As senior marketing executive and on the "starting team" of Boston based retailer Rue la la, she defines the word "multi tasker". Stacey and Rue have cooked up a blend of fashion/bargains/marketing/innovation/technology resulting in the perfect blend of pure and simple GENIUS!

Come hear how Stacey has managed to give retail giants a run for their money and how she has made bargain shopping uber hip! It's sure to be a la la lavish treat for us!

We will meet at one of our favorite cozy spots...Twelve Chairs Boston. http://www.twelvechairsboston.com/ .

When: Tuesday, April 5th

Time: 7:00

Where: Twelve Chairs319 A Street. Fort Point. Boston

R.S.V.P.- Jill.palese@gmail.com

Please bring snacks and wine to share with the group!

Living Life in the Fab Lane

Mother + Daughter = perfection

Forget romance for the month of February! Blood is thicker than water, especially when Barbara Goldberg, owner of Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Furniture store and her daughter, Jill Goldberg, owner of Hudson Boutique in the South End are involved. This dynamic duo has graciously set aside the evening of February 24th (YES, it's a Thursday) to host the ladies of Design Salon at Hudson. The will share their interesting stories about the retail and interior design business in Boston, what it is like to work as collaborators and competitors and how they have successfully navigated their way though the finicky world of retail and interior design in our beloved, buttoned up city.

Where: Hudson Boutique

312 Shawmut Avenue

When: Thursday, February 24, 2011

Time: 7:00

R.S.V.P.: Jill.palese@gmail.com

Limited to 25, so reserve early!

Please bring wine and snacks to share with the group.

Fabulous for the New Year Party! ***RESCHEDULED SNOW DATE IS TUESDAY, JAN. 25TH***

Happy New Year, Ladies!

A new year always brings endless opportunity for new beginnings, new ways of thinking, new designs and business ventures. For members of Design Salon, January also brings the chance to meet fabulous new designing women at our Meet and Greet Party!

Please join us on Tuesday, January 25th at 7:00 pm for a meet and greet party. Doris Yaffa, voted "Fast Lane Fabulous" by Boston Magazine's Best of Boston.com, will kick off the evening. Jessica de Guardiola, owner of 5s Public Relations firm http://www.5spr.com/ has generously offered to host the evening in her beautiful new studio.

Doris, an eighty-something public relations consultant for non-profit, has seen many interesting aspects in her career. Early on, Doris found herself working in fashion and eventually worked her way to Fashion Director for Saks Fifth Avenue. She was an insider in the glamorous high fashion world for quite a while. When she decided that fashion was not her passion anymore, she made major life and career changes that were brave and bold. Doris is inspirational, stylish, outspoken and timeless. www.boston.com/lifestyle/fashion/articles/2008/11/20/yaffe/

We will be mingling with Doris and fellow Design Salon members! Please be prepared with a topic that you would like to share. Since this is a party, please bring your favorite wine and snacks to share with the group! Looking forward to being inspired by all of you.

When: Tuesday, January 25th

Time: 7:00

Where: 5S

560 Harrison Ave Suite 508

Boston, MA

RSVP: Jill.palese@gmail.com

Studio Carta Grand Opening!

Taking it to the next level! If, when and how to grow your business from $100,000 to $1.5 Million

Ladies, don't miss this fabulous opportunity to hear from two design powerhouses, Ebony Snow Chafey and Suji Meswani who are happy to share their success stories with you.

Chicago based Ebony Snow Chafey of Snow and Graham www.snowandgraham.com and Philadelphia based Suji Meswani of Skeem Design www.skeemdesign.com will travel to Boston for an evening at one of our favorite meeting places, the luxurious Mohr and McPherson www.mohr-mcpherson.com. We will hear real life success stories about how these designers took their ideas, their talent and a (maybe?) a little bit of luck and grew it to what is now businesses with $1.5 M in sales. We hope it will inspire you to take it up a notch in your own design studios here in Boston!

Ebony Snow Chafey has been in business for 14 years and claims that "it is the relationships that I have developed with my customers and vendors that have allowed my company to be successful and to get through difficult economic times". Chafey says "I founded Snow and Graham straight out of art school (the School of the Art Institute of Chicago) where my focus was on sculpture in the metals foundry". She goes on to say that "I dabbled in print making. I stumbled upon a letterpress print shop here in Chicago and fell in love with the process- it made me want to draw. Along the way, I learned how to get a product produced, distributed and sold"! "It was a lot of trial and error and a little luck", she says. "Now, S&G is headed into it's 14th year, but I say it is the last 2 that really count".

Suji Meswani, founder and co-owner of Skeem Design founded the company in 2004. Inspired by travels to exotic locales such as India, Costa Rica and New Zealand, Skeem design developed a perfect wax formulation along with gorgeous scents, colors and packaging. "Everything can be a source of inspiration, whether an exotic locale, a piece of music, a show at a museum, fashion or antique textiles", says Suji. "The name Skeem?" Meswani says "is a play on words and the founder's scheme to break free from the corporate world".

When: Wednesday, November 3rd

Time: 7:00 pm
Place: Mohr and McPherson

460 Harrison Avenue

Boston, MA

Please bring wine and/or snacks to share with the group

***Come early, M&M is open until 7:00 pm. You can start your evening off with some lovely inspiration shopping at the store before the meeting.

RSVP: Jill.palese@gmail.com

Limited to 40 people, so please respond early.

What the Tweet?

Welcome to Fall 2010

The sad news is... summer is SO over! But not to fret, Design Salon Boston is gearing up for another great season of hot topics that are sure to keep your creative juices heated up. So I say, "Bring on those dreary fall New England days. Mother Nature, give us the best that you've got! We'll design the hell out of those cold, drafty rooms... all we need is a little color, some interesting patterns, beautiful textiles, fabulous lighting AND a bottle of red wine...voila!"

Please join us at 12 Chairs for an earnest discussion from two Stylish Tweeters who are enjoying great success.

Stacy Kunstel http://www.stacystyle.wordpress.com/, stylist, editor, writer and producer will be back for her second annual discussion about Twitter, Twittering, Tweeting. She will detail "Why to Tweet, how she started, what it has done for her, what she looks for in other tweeters and what makes it effective." Come prepared for an interactive discussion. If you are not yet a tweeter, sign up, bring your twitter name and get prepared to get connected....it only takes a short while.

Stacy is a constant traveler, finding houses and locations for magazines, which she then styles to produce beautiful photo shoots with some of the top interior photographers. As Homes Editor for New England Home magazine, New England Home Cape and Islands and New England Home Connecticut, and as a regional editor for Traditional Home, Better Homes & Gardens, Coundry Living, and Renovation Style, she writes, makes television appearances and works with interior designers and architects photograph their own work for books and portfolios.

Also, we will hear from Julieanne Covino of Jace Interiors http://www.jaceinteriors.com/ whose style blog is named CreateGirl http://www.creategirl.blogspot.com/. The blogger and Design Salon member Holly Becker of the popular blog Decor8 wrote a piece about Julieanne after she appeared in Daily Candy http://decor8blog.com/2006/10/03/meet-julieanne-of-jace-interiors-boston-ma-/. Julieane Covino has a wonderful sense of style that she generously shares with her blog and twitter followers and through her work at Jace Interiors. She offers her clients an approachable attitude toward design. The idea that owning a beautiful space is available to anyone's budget. Fine Design need NOT be intimidating.

Perhaps the best reason to step out of your door on October 5th is to check out the FABULOUS new Fort Point boutique, 12 Chairs. "Twelve Chairs is a home furnishings shop and interior design studio located in Boston's up-and-coming Fort Point neighborhood. The shop provides a well-edited, thoughtful, and beautiful collection of items that surpass the company's standards of sustainability, good stewardship, and just plain good looks. Twelve Chairs promotes the idea that beautiful design and respect of the planet and its people do not have to be mutually exclusive. To learn more check out http://www.twelvechairsboston.com/."

12 Chairs has generously offered to host Design Salon in their brand new space! Please bring snacks and White Wine only- no red please!

When: Tuesday, October 5th

Time: 7:00 pm

Where: 12 Chairs

319 A Street

Boston, MA 02210

R.S.V.P.- jill.palese@gmail.com