Brand Building Powerhouse, Mitra Morgan

This October, The Design Salon launches her new "season" with our scrappy-super-girl-powerhouse who knows exactly how to bring it.  Ladies, meet Mitra Morgan, Co-Founder and former Chief Curator of Joss & Main.  www.jossandmain.com ,THE leading flash sales site for housewares and  home decor. 

Starting with a mighty team of just 3 people, Joss & Main has grown to become a destination for all things home. Mitra, along with her power crew, built the empire that provides it's members with inspirational imagery, design ideas and products though flash sales and on-line sales.  

Mitra will share all of her experience in brand building and growing.  In particular, Mitra will focus on the early stages of the process, which she feels requires a scrappy approach to forging relationships and partnerships in order to blast the brand forward.  

If you are thinking of building and growing your brand or creating an empire, Mitra's knowledge will give you a great nudge to get you going.

***************************
Mitra is a graduate of the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and studied at the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts. She received her undergraduate degree from Bowdoin.  Before founding Joss & Main, Mitra founded Brooks Pond, a provider of high-end juvenile products.  Mitra's professional experience includes time as a management consultant for international corporate development work and running an international travel company.

When:  Tuesday, October 15

Where:  The Liberty Hotel at Clink***

Time:  7:00 pm

RSVP:  Jill.palese@gmail.com

***  Please bring cash! Clink's minimum requirement is 2 drinks per person or $30.00

Three Companies, One Night! Stationery Night

We have a panel of ladies from 3 amazing Boston-based stationery companies ready to share the ins and outs of owning a stationery business. Carrie + Laurie of Two Trick Pony , Shelley of Albertine Press and Deb + Kate of Smudge Ink. This is going to be an open panel, so bring your questions with you or e-mail them ahead of time.  

This event is Tuesday, June 25th @ 7:00

                    Where:  Hudson  http://hudsonboston.com/                     
                    12 Union Park
                    South End, Boston 
                    RSVP:  Jill.palese@gmail.com
                    Please bring wine or snacks to share with the group

Carrie and Laurie from Two Trick Pony

Two Trick Pony began in 2006 when friends Carrie Holmes and Laurie Johnston decided to create a new kind of eco-friendly stationery company. They recognized the growing interest in environmentally friendly and handmade products and were excited to be part of the movement to combine great modern design, quality craftsmanship and environmentally responsible business practices. Today, they have expanded that sense of responsibility to include a greater community, and a percentage of sales are donated to various non-profit organizations with the goals of spreading awareness and contributing financially to the advancement of causes close to the Ponies' hearts. Two Trick Pony has been featured in various magazines including The Knot Magazine, Stationery Trends and Country Living, popular blogs such as Design*Sponge, Paper Crave, and Style Me Pretty, as well as two books, Handmade Hellos and Today's Top Stationery Artists 2. 

http://www.twotrickpony.com/

Shelley from Albertine Press

From classic and elegant to witty and irreverent - Albertine Press is a Boston-area design and letterpress print shop run by Shelley Barandes, a sometime-architect who just loved paper more. What began as a custom design and print studio has grown to include a full collection of greeting cards, note sets, journals, coasters, calendars and more available at stationery stores and gift boutiques across the country. In addition, Albertine continues to work closely with individuals on custom printing projects including wedding invitations, business collateral and personal stationery as well as printing work for other designers.

http://albertinepress.com/

Kate and Deb from Smudge Ink

Founded in 2002, Smudge Ink is a Boston-based stationery company run by two women: Kate Saliba + Deb Bastien. Originally focused on bold, colorful letterpress-printed greeting cards and custom invitations, Smudge Ink's product line has expanded to include calendars, gift wrap, boxed notes, offset-printed greeting cards, notebooks and notepads, all of which reflect the same style and vibrancy Smudge Ink has become known for. Weddings by Smudge Ink is the custom wedding line where they work directly with clients to design and print their own unique invitations. 

http://smudgeink.com/

The Art of Business

Every woman at Design Salon has a passion for the creative arts.  Some of us have built mini-empires, others are in the process.  If you are one of those gals who is thinking, "Can I really turn my passion for @#%$^ into a @#$@#^  business?", then please join us tomorrow night to hear exactly how Lara Woolfson is doing it.  With a lens, an idea and a whole lot of smart planning, Lara is growing her Boston based business into exactly what she imagined on her idea wall.  And it's FUN!

Lara Woolfson is Co-owner and principal photographer at Studio Nouveau www.thestudionouveau.com , A creative photography studio specializing in weddings and boudoir. With a keen eye for color and composition, and a stickler for customer service, Lara has grown her business from a two woman home operation to an energized team of 6 photographers and a studio manager at their studio in Waltham.

Lara holds her MFA in visual Art from The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University. Her work has been published in numerous blogs and magazines including Style Me Pretty, Ruffled, Snippet & Ink, Boston Weddings Magazine, Seacoast Weddings Magazine, Bliss Celebrations, The Phoenix, and Conde Naste, to name a few.

Join Lara as she discusses how her business has grown, the lessons learned and the tricks that worked: from branding, to social media, networking, and wrapping your head around the transition from Fine Artist to "business woman".

When:  Wednesday, May 28

Where:  Twelve Chairs

319 A street

When:  7:00 

RSVP:  Jill.palese@gmail.com

Please bring wine and snacks to share with the group!  

The Business of Fashion with Sara Campbell

Fashion+Boston=Sara Campbell 

 Sara Campbell www.saracampbell.com is Boston's fashion leader in Boston.  A woman who has mixed her passion for clothing with a keen business sense, Sara has achieved what many only dream about:

1.  Build a Boston based fashion company
2.  Open a collection of beautiful stores in lovely locations
3.  Manufacture small production runs mainly out of the USA

As always, the ladies of Design Salon will have an opportunity to hear from the designer first hand about starting and running her business here in Boston.

Enjoy!

Sara Campbell is Founder and CEO of Sara Campbell LTD, a manufacturer and retailer of women’s apparel.  Sara holds a Bachelor of Arts & Science degree in Design from the University of California, Davis, and a Masters degree in Art Education from Lesley College.  During that time she mentored and pursued a Masters in Design & Textiles at Massachusetts College of Art and Design with late artist and educator Corita Kent.

Sara began her career in 1982 as a featured artist in a wearable art gallery and museum shows. This lead to the birth of a women artist mail order catalog, where Corita was an initiator, contributor, and partner on the project.  Sara's one-of-a-kind garments became a numbered, limited edition series.  

In 1985 she founded Sara Campbell LTD, where she designs, manufactures, and retails the brand of woman’s clothing, aptly called Sara Campbell.  In 2009 she completed the Harvard Business School Executive Education program, as a tool to help facilitate in the reinvention of the company. Today she delivers her unique, limited–production offerings through ten free standing Sara Campbell retail boutiques.

The company is built on a philosophy of giving back to the community, while creating and delivering not only a unique and beautiful product, but a transformational shopping experience in her boutiques.

Please join us!
When:  Tuesday, April 23
Time:  7:00
Where:  Sara Campbell Warehouse and Studio
46 Plympton Street
Boston's South End
R.S.V.P:  jill.palese@gmail.com

Better Your Brand: Sprucing up for Spring with Jessica Sutton

Dear Salonistas, 

Are these winter blues getting the best of you and your business?  Do you feel like your company image could use a lovely Fairy Godmother who could swoop in, wave her magic wand and make your image shiny and new?  Luckily, Jessica is just what you are looking for!  She will be at Design Salon to share some smart tips that will inspire a few little changes that can make all the difference for spring.  And couldn't we all use a new perspective?  

Hope to see you!

Jessica owns JSGD www.jessicasutton.com, a boutique creative agency located in Boston's Innovation District. Founded in 2008 with a desire to make good design accessible to everyone, she believes that design should be fun, personal and unique – with clients ranging from small business owners and internet startups to established companies alike.  Over the past five years, Jessica has worked closely with hundreds of business owners, walking them through the branding process and amassed a library of tips to help businesses not only keep their brand aesthetic organized but their work flow as well. She will delve into some key tips for getting your brand spruced up for spring, what steps you should have in place when getting ready to work with a designer, as well as an open forum for questions.

When:  Tuesday, March 26
Time:  7:00 
Where:  M. Flynn Design mflynnjewelry.com
40  Waltham Street
South End
RSVP:  Jill.palese@gmail.com
Please bring wine or snacks to share with the group!

He Said/She Said

A "How To" Guide to Sales featuring Erin Gates and her Husband Andrew

In honor of Valentine's Day, Design Salon has invited it's first male "guest star" to join his wife Erin Gates in order to throw down some good, old fashioned sales advice.  Erin, the founder of the uber-popular Boston based design blog Elements of Style www.elementsofstyle.com and Design Salon Member has some super anti-sales techniques (that obviously are working!), while Andrew will hit us with his smooth, seamless technique.  

"It’s bound to be an off the cuff, fun, open discussion about selling and being in business.  I really hope some of you will come and join the party!  I’d love to meet more of you and hope that we could help out in any way we can! Plus I can guarantee there will be a boatload of this on my part behind Andrew’s back"  -Erin

Please note, although Design Salon ALWAYS meets on Tuesdays at 7, note that we are meeting on MONDAY, Feb. 11th at 6:30 

When:  MONDAY, February 11th

Time:  6:30

Where:  Twelve Chairs  www.twelvechairsboston.com

319 A Street

RSVP:  Jill.palese@gmail.com

As usual, please bring wine and snacks to share with the group!  

XOXO

Marketing Night with Denise Korn of Korn Design

Design Salon is proud to host Denise Korn of Korn Design. (www.korndesign.com) Space is limited for this event, so please RSVP early and be prepared to walk away inspired and ready for the New Year!

Denise Korn, Principal of Korn Design, a nationally recognized brand strategy and design firm with offices in Boston and New York. Korn has worked with a wide range of clients including top-of-class developers, entrepreneurs, chefs, and institutional leaders, providing expert consultation on an equally wide range of assignments in the categories of leading hospitality, restaurants, luxury goods and ground-breaking strategic work. Clients include
The Blackstone Group / LXR Luxury Resorts, Daniel Boulud, Boston Ballet, Sage Restaurant Group, Harvard University, and Ritz Carlton Hotels.

Korn set up shop in Boston’s South End in 1992, after six years working as a designer, creative director and art director in New York City. Since opening her New York office in 2004,
Korn splits her time between Boston and New York and runs the company with her business partner, Javier Cortés. 

Korn Design’s work has been recognized with awards from AIGA’s National Competition, Graphis, Print Magazine, HOW, American Corporate Identity, International Logos & Trademarks, and the Strathmore Graphics Gallery. Korn Design was awarded a prestigious James Beard Foundation medal for design in 2009 and was again nominated in 2010. Her work has been honored by The Best of New England (B.O.N.E.) Design Competition and the C.A.S.E. Association with two Gold Awards. Korn Design was selected as one of the top ten young firms in the U.S. by HOW Magazine (1998) and as one of Boston’s 40 Under 40 Business Leaders by the Boston Business Journal. 

Actively involved in the political and civic life of greater Boston, In 2003, Korn founded
YOUTH DESIGN, a summer jobs program connecting talented urban high school students to career opportunities in design through professional mentorships; since its founding, the program has gained national attention and is expanding across the country. Korn recently wrote a book—10 Who Mentor—as an outcrop of her work with the New England Creative Economy Initiative and working with urban youth. She is also the recipient of two Sappi, Design That Matters Awards for this work in 2008 and 2010 and most recently was presented the Fellow Award from AIGA for her contributions as a design visionary and youth advocate.

Korn has served as the American Institute of Graphic Arts / Boston, Board Chair for Business Outreach, creating forums to connect business leaders and innovators to discuss the role of design communications and its value in smart business practices. Korn served a two-year term as Co-President of the New England Creative Economy Initiative. She currently sits on the Advisory Boards for AIGA/Boston, DIGMA Design Industry Group of Massachusetts, The Private Industry Council (PIC’s) Advisory Group, and on the Board of Kids Can Cook,
an inner-city, middle-school outreach program that uses cooking and the food arts to teach
life lessons.

Korn lives just blocks from her office in Boston’s South End with her husband and two children.

When:  Tuesday, Jan. 15

Time: 7:00 pm

Where:  Jill Rosenwald Studio

369 Congress Street, Boston

RSVP:  Jill.palese@gmail.com

Please bring wine and snacks to share with the group!

Design Salon Holiday Networking

Happy Holidays!  

Please put away last minute deadlines and stress to join the ladies of Design Salon at Twelve Chairs for a networking evening and some holiday cheer (and maybe some last minute shopping at one of our favorite boutiques!)  This is a great opportunity to share your business, your products and your ideas and conundrums with other creative ladies.  Feel free to bring samples, products, etc.  

   

When:  Tuesay, December 18th

Time:  7:00 pm

Where:  Twelve Chairs 

www.twelvechairsboston.com

319 A Street

Please bring wine and snacks to share! Oh, and bring a friend

 

Pintrest Anyone?

Jodi Vautrin, Pintrest

For designers, Pintrest is quickly becoming a better Social Media outlet than Facebook and Twitter ever could.  But, should you use it for your design business?  Do you need it?  

Meet Jodi Vautrin http://pintrest.com/jodi_vautrin/ Boston based blogger with 450,000!!!! Pintrest followers.  When you have a look at the smart content and crisp, stylish images on Jodi's  blog,  Ourhaus.blogspot.com, you can understand why her following is so great.  Jodi's "day job" as the Freelance Design Director focusing on UI + Interactive design.  Jodi also volunteers her time on the board of AIGA Boston as Vice President of Emerging Ideas and Events.   Because of her keen design eye along with the experience in the field, Jodi has exactly the right amount of inspiration and content to share with her vast followers.    

Come spend Tuesday night to find out WHO Jodi is, WHAT Pintrest does for her business, WHEN she decided to use Pintrest to enhance her business and WHY you should, too!  

When:  THIS Tuesday, November 27th
Where:  Twelve Chairs 
319 A Street
Seaport, Boston
RSVP:  Jill Palese
Please bring wine and snacks to share with the group!  

It Just FELT Right

How Kelly Smith and Traci Roloff Grew Their Business

Kelly Smith, Co-Founder of FilzFelt www.filzfelt.com has always been attracted to wool felt. Her career as a trained architect and later the founder of Etcetera Media, a German wool felt line of goods pointed Kelly in the direction of FilzFelt. Traci Roloff began her career in corporate interior design and historic preservation before making her way to Boston and partnering with Kelly to start FilzFelt.

In 2008, FilzFelt was born as a labor of love. Kelly andTraci poured hard work and passion into building an exceedingly high end textile company with exceptional customer service. FilzFelt sells German-milled 100% Wool Design Felt and their product offering includes floor coverings, wall panels and perforated panels. Their efforts did not go unnoticed. In late 2011, FilzFelt was acquired by textile and furniture giant Knoll www.knoll.com. Today, Kelly and Traci have executive roles at Knoll and continue to run the FilzFelt out of their Boston office.

Design Salon is especially proud of the FilzFelt team! Kelly is one of the Design Salon founding members and Traci has been a Salon member from the beginning. Please come out to share Kelly and Traci's success with Design Salon!

When: Tuesday October 30

Time: 7:00 pm

Where: Knoll Showroom

281 Summer Street (next to Papagayo)

RSVP: Jill.palese@gmail.com

Please bring wine (NO RED WINE PLEASE!) and snacks to share with the group!

Tiffani Faison: Sizzle and Shake It Till You Make It!

Boston is quickly becoming a mecca for fabulous female chefs and Restaurant owners. Tiffani Faison has not only joined the ranks, but has been crowned Queen Bee. It's her approach that makes us stand up and take notice. For anyone who has ever watched the reality show Top Chefs, you should be very familiar with this spicy redhead. Her path from the kitchen to top reality television star back to the kitchen has been brilliant! It's Tiffani's work ethic, passion for real down home cooking and sheer talent that has paved her way.

Last November 2011, Tiffani rolled her reality TV stardom into a successful little Boston gem...the Southern BBQ restaurant called Sweet Cheeks on Fenway Park. http://www.sweetcheeksq.com/ Now, the warm-hearted, super talented, hyper-competitive female chef has marketed herself all the way to the top of the food chain. Done, done and done!

Uh-huh.

When: Tuesday, September 18th

Time: 7:00

Where: Joss and Main

Address: 177 Huntington Ave

24th Floor

***call 603-714-5224 if you have trouble entering the building

RSVP: Jill.palese@gmail.com

Please bring wine and snacks to share with the group!

Business Building in the Fast Lane

Please join us on Tuesday, May 15th to take a journey with Kay McGowan as she is only months into the process of building her corporation through the Venture Capital Accelerator.   

Kay McGowan, one of the planning board members of Design Salon and 14 years as General Manager of the venerable Boston based Furniture Empire: Mohr and McPherson.  On December 30^th, quite like Alice in Wonderland, Kay packed up her well worn suitcase of experience and took that big, scary leap into “A Curated World” www.kaymcgowan.com.

Change is always difficult, especially when leaving a beloved career to go it alone.  Like Alice, it is the choice in pathways and whom you meet along the way that matter.  Kay’s Cheshire Cat, Queen of Hearts, and White rabbit happened to be her friends; most important being Owen Johnson, an MIT grad and founder of Beta Spring venture capital accellator.  Owen recognized Kay as a woman with a very big idea and the brainpower to go along with it.  Kay was scooped up and is being groomed at the incubator in Providence, RI as the CEO of a projected multi-million dollar Boston based corporation.    

In Kay’s new Wonderland, she has learned that although she doesn’t know everything about starting a projected $10 million empire, she is learning quickly.  These days, when Kay takes a peek into her looking glass, she certainly sees a bright and pathway into A Curated World. 

 Where:  Jill Rosenwald's Studio
369 Congress Street, 2nd Floor

When:  Tuesday, May 15th

Time:  7:00

R.S.V.P:  Jill.palese@gmail.com

Please bring food and snacks to share with the group. 

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice!

Jody Adams, Top Chef

Jody Adams, nationally renowned James Beard award-winning chef, hardly requires an introduction. Recently knocking it out of the park with Trade in Boston's historic Waterfront District, Years at the helm of a Rialto Restaurant, a venerable Cambridge institution in the Charles Hotel, Harvard Square, delightful to watch as a Top Chef Masters competitor and did she really cook for our President!
None of this is exactly why we ask Jody to speak.
Jody defined for herself expanded roles within and outside of her industry.
Child advocacy and hunger relief world-wide, Local farms and artisnal food producers, Partners in Health, Greater Boston Food Bank, Share our Strength, Pan-Mass Challenge
She invests in her tremendous talents, connects with community and figures out a how to spend time, resources, and energies on things that personally and socially matter outside of the walls of her own restaurants.
How does she make the key career decisions that allow for this influence and freedom to pursue personal goals and initiate and institute social change through both business and outside endeavors?
Our speakers are women who have made an impact in their fields, define their own success and have some wisdom or point of view to share. Jody embodies this spirit!

When: Tuesday, March 13th

Where: Twelve Chairs http://www.twelvechairsboston.com/

319 A Street, Boston

Time: 7:00

RSVP: Jill.palese@gmail.com

Please bring wine and snacks to share!

Thanks to the Lovely Ladies at Twelve Chairs for hosting us in their newly renovated space! You MUST stop in to check out their beautiful place.

PITCH and BITCH...how to successfully pitch your ideas!

An Evening with Amy Nobile: Author, Blogger and T.V. Producer

Have you ever wanted to PITCH your IDEAS and verbalize your creations BEFORE you invest countless hours and late nights...only to be told that your idea is a ridiculous, uninspired suck hole? (my 9 year old's favorite naughty swear word!)

On February 28th, Amy Nobile (http://www.reallygoodmom.com/) will inspire the Ladies of Design Salon with the brilliant gift of creative planning. The "Really good mom" designed a career path that began in a corporate New York City Public Relations firm. It was not by accident that Amy's creative ambitions has led her to authoring 3 bestselling books and making appearances on mainstream television talk shows. Stay tuned for Amy's reality television series, too.


After Amy married, moved to San Fransisco and started a family, she found the hidden supply closet of "dirty little secrets", that are discovered only when motherhood and marriage are set in motion. With with longtime friend, Trisha Ashworth, the women practically shouted the brutally honest, raw feelings that most women speak of only at a whisper.



The ladies combined their ambitions and talents to become the "Pitch and Bitch" queens by capitalizing on the idea of pitching their book ideas BEFORE putting pen to paper. Since the inception, Amy and Trisha have published 3 bestselling books: "I Was A Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids" (https://facebook.com/reallygoodmom), "Dirty Little Secrets From Otherwise Perfect Moms" and "I'd Trade My Husband for a Housekeeper".



Amy is currently working on a fourth book, along with some new facets of her brilliant career... Pitching and producing a reality based television series.


You can see Amy on The Today Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show (www.Oprah.com/oprahshow/Motherhood-Secrets/9) and Good Morning America.

Thanks to Stayci Fast for hosting Design Salon in her fabulous new studio! See Stayci's blog at www.Stay-Blog.com.

When: Tuesday, February 28th

Where: Stayci Fast's Studio

New England Home Staging www.NewEnglandStaging.com

369 Congress Street, South Boston Floor 2

Time: 7:00

RSVP: Jill.palese@gmail.com

Please bring wine or snacks to share with the group.

Delicious Design

Packaging -vs- Chocolate

Is it possible to create packaging that is more delicious than chocolate? Kathleen Fulton, the co-founder and Brand Manager for Taza Chocolate (http://www.tazachocolate.com/) has make it her life's work to find a way. Having studied art, design and architecture then going for her MBA, Kathleen gathered all of her tools in order to mix up a sweet success story. She is a firm believer that packaging, product and design account for 75% of her efforts, and why people pick Taza's product off the shelf. "Good design is critical to being able to engage the consumer". Apparently, her philosophy is paying off.

Salonistas will be treated to a conversation with Kathleen, and tour the Taza factory in Somerville. If we are extra good, maybe there will be a few "samples"!

When: Tuesday, January 31st
Where: Taza Chocolate
561 Windsor Street
Somerville, MA
617-284-2232
Time: 7:00
RSVP: Jill.Palese@gmail.com
Please bring wine and snacks to share with the group!