Newell Turner is the editor in chief of the Hearst Design Group, where he is responsible for the collective editorial direction and content development for ELLE DECOR, House Beautiful, and VERANDA. In 2012, he implemented a new approach to magazine publishing in which each of the three magazines produces content with its own core team, as well as with enhanced shared departments, including photography, market, and features copy.
Previously, Newell was the editor in chief of House Beautiful magazine. He has reported on interior design, architecture, product design and the lifestyles of upscale consumers throughout his career in publishing. In January 2006, he joined the staff of House Beautiful as style director, moving into the editor in chief role in 2010.
In May 2002, he launched Hamptons Cottages & Gardens and, later, its sister publications: Palm Beach Cottages & Gardens and Connecticut Cottages & Gardens. Newell served as style editor at House & Garden in the late 1990s, where he covered home furnishings and design markets in the United States and Europe. He was also an editor at Metropolitan Home for 12 years, and for a short time served as style director of HomeStyle. He has had a variety of experiences in new media including Room12.com, a guide for hip urban travelers that he helped found and develop in 2002.
Newell holds a BA in Journalism and Southern Studies with advanced work specializing in magazine journalism and design from the University of Mississippi. He is a current member of the American Society of Magazine Editors. His charitable interests include The Smile Train, Aid to Artisans and CancerForward.
BARBARA BARRY
Barbara Barry is among the world’s most prominent and talented designers. Her name stands for a unique blend of sophistication and livability; her designs are classic, timeless and fluid. Hers is a look that speaks to the grace of form and simplicity of line. Her designs range from elegant interiors to an extensive portfolio of home furnishings.
Praise from her peers and the press has earned Barbara Barry a distinctive place in design. Her honors include Interior Design “Hall of Fame,” Architectural Digest list of “World’s 100 Best Designers,” House Beautiful “Giants of Design,” and “Designer of the Year” from Elle Décor International Design. Additionally, she has been awarded the ASID “Designer of Distinction,” “Designer of the Year” by Traditional Home and “Best in Residential Design” by Interiors Magazine.
This award-winning interior designer has created homes for many prominent American families. Her designs for commercial and private spaces are international in their scope and sophisticated in their mood. Her prestigious commissions range from restaurants and retail spaces to private estates, offices and yachts.
Barbara’s passion for beauty finds expression in many forms through partnerships with internationally renowned companies. Her signature designs for Ann Sacks Tile & Stone, Baker Furniture, Boyd Lighting, Hartmann Luggage, HBF Furniture, Henredon, Kallista, Kravet Fabrics, McGuire Furniture, Tufenkian Carpets, Visual Comfort and Wedgwood, as well as her signature bed and bath line Barbara Barry Dream, have been received with high acclaim. Barbara Barry collections are sold in fine stores throughout the world as well as Barbara Barry galleries in Bangkok, Singapore and Moscow. Barbara’s first book, Around Beauty (Rizzoli New York, 2012), debuts October 2012.
With a vision of infusing simple luxuries in the every day, Barbara Barry creates refined interiors, timeless furnishings and luxury products that inspire a life of beauty.
Windsor Smith, founder and creator of Windsor Smith Home, Inc. and Windsor Smith Home Collection is widely known as a design industry influencer. The award winning designer known for her elegant interiors infused with a modern sensibility is frequently featured in shelter magazines and is a favorite of design bloggers. Windsor has created beautifully layered homes for leaders in the entertainment and business worlds. Reflecting her client’s personalities, she creates gracious silhouettes that are mindful of their demanding lifestyles. Windsor’s design intuition comes not from external influences as you hear from so many designers, but rather from an organic internal instinct and desire to have a life filled with color, texture, style and purpose.
Windsor brings her unique sensibility to a signature collection of fabrics and rugs with Kravet. Windsor’s beautifully hand crafted line of furniture is offered exclusively through Windsor Smith Home Collection.
As a frequent guest speaker on design panels across the country, Windsor captivates varied audiences with her engaging candor and fresh approach to design.
Windsor resides in Brentwood, California and lives with her husband and two gorgeous tennis-playing teenage boys.
CHARLOTTE MOSS
Charlotte Moss is an icon of Southern warmth – hospitality, practicality and, of course, luxury.
Since opening her business in 1985, Charlotte has designed private residences and executive suites all over the United States and the Caribbean. In addition to designing interiors, Charlotte Moss’ career has included retail stores, celebrated for Charlotte’s unique blend of American, European and Classical influences.
Having launched her career on Wall Street, Charlotte has a keen sense for the shifting sands of change, amid all her decorating prowess. Widening her reach in recent years, Charlotte Moss, LLC now brings her signature Flair for Living to consumers worldwide with collections available under license. She has designed fabric and trim for Fabricut, carpeting, sisals and soon-to-be scenic mural wallpapers for Stark Carpet, china for Pickard, and fabrics and wall coverings for Brunschwig & Fils. Most recently, Charlotte has used her experience culled from twenty-five years of decorating couture homes to design a collection of furniture and upholstery with Century Furniture. Charlotte’s collection of framed decorative art for Soicher-Marin which launched at the High Point Market this Fall is based in-part on her own photography.
Charlotte’s blog, Tête-A-Tête, appears on her website, along with a photographic blog called C’est Inspiré. In addition, Charlotte reads a number of blogs on a regular basis.
Charlotte is a sought-after speaker, lecturing widely on all the arts of living, and has written eight books to date. Her most recent title, A Visual Life: Scrapbooks, Collages, and Inspirations, was just released. In addition to writing books, she is a Contributing Editor for The Wall Street Journal.
Charlotte’s work has been published in shelter magazines worldwide and she has received numerous awards, including The Timeless Design Award, given by the Royal Oak Foundation, Elle Décor’s VISION AWARD and Traditional Home magazine’s list of the worlds’ Top 20 interior designers. Last May, Charlotte was honored with the Circle of Excellence Award from the International Furnishings & Design Association (IFDA) for the field of interior design.
Charlotte considers her most important work to be her community service and philanthropy. She serves on the Boards of The Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello, The Couture Council of the Fashion Institute of Technology, The Bone Marrow Foundation and the Advisory Board of The New York School of Interior Design, where she received an Honorary Doctorate Degree. Charlotte is also a member of the Executive Cabinet of The Leaders of Design Council.
Charlotte was Design Co-Chair for the 2012 International Antiques Show in New York and is a Design Co-Chair for the 2012 Holiday House decorator showhouse, where she designed the master bedroom.
Mr. Appelbaum is a career entrepreneur who has founded a portfolio of high growth businesses in industries ranging from Design to dry cleaning. Over the past 20 years, Mr. Appelbaum co-founded several successful enterprises including Project Décor, Seamless Web, mdenergy, Cleaner Options, Blue Ribbon Partners, Zoots Delivery and AC Angel Fund.
Mr. Appelbaum is a co-founder of Project Décor. Project Décor is a creative, social design platform where users discover, interact with and ultimately buy products they love. Project Décor sits at the intersection of social commerce, creative design and content sharing. Project Décor also provides a marketplace for design professionals and influencers by creating a credible and scalable sales platform that extends their reach beyond their physical footprint. It is a monetization engine for the trade and design bloggers that literally converts content to commerce in an authentic and natural format. There are currently over 1500 Design Professionals and Influencers registered as part of PD’s Style Exchange Program.
Mr. Appelbaum is a co-founder of Seamless Web, now Seamless. Seamless offers a web-based system that allows businesses and individuals to order food and other services from local restaurants and caterers. The service streamlines billing and reimbursement processes, enhances expense control, and reduces administrative overhead, helping companies cut costs by as much as 30% annually. Seamless currently partners with 7,000 restaurants, serves over 3,500 companies, and has over 1,000,000 individual members in the US and London. Seamless has revenues of over $250 million annually and was sold to Aramark in April of 2006.
Mr. Appelbaum is the co-founder of mdenergy, an independent energy manager specializing in reducing energy costs for medium- to large-sized commercial and industrial businesses throughout the United States. Formed in February 2001, mdenergy is one of the largest independent energy firms managing more than 1,000 megawatts of electric demand in deregulated markets across the United States. mdenergy actively manages the purchase of over $500 million in annual electric consumption. mdenergy was sold to Enernoc (Nasdaq – ENOC) in October of 2007.
Mr. Appelbaum co-founded the delivery division for Zoots, a national dry cleaning company based in Boston, MA founded by Tom Stemberg, the Chairman and CEO of Staples. Mr. Appelbaum created, built and managed the $35 million Zoots Delivery Division serving over 400 communities and servicing over 50,000 customers. Zoots Delivery grew out of Cleaner Options which Appelbaum founded and Zoots acquired in May of 1999. Cleaner Options leverages under-capacity dry cleaners to bring home delivery to suburban bedroom communities. From 1995 through 1999, Cleaner Options acquired and maintained an active customer base of over 20,000 customers with annual revenues of over $20 million.
Mr. Appelbaum began his career as an attorney for Latham & Watkins. He received his law degree from New York University School of Law in 1991. He graduated summa cum laude from SUNY Binghamton in 1988. Mr. Appelbaum resides in Manhattan with his wife, Tracey and 2 children, Sam and Jamie. He serves on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of theJCCof Manhattan. Mr. Appelbaum is also an active Angel Investor and a member of New York Angels.
PETER SALLICK
Peter Sallick is a Managing Partner in Design Investors LLC. In this role, Peter blends his entrepreneurial and management success in the design industry with interests in art, fashion, and culture. Prior to founding Design Investors LLC, Peter was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for 13 years at Waterworks, the leading high-end brand for the bath. He is now back associated to Waterworks as CEO and a board member after a 3 year absence. He also currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Rose Tarlow Melrose House and Twill Textiles.
Under Peter’s leadership as CEO, Waterworks achieved excellence in product and merchandising, in design and innovation, and set a new standard for client service and overall experience in the design industry. Peter championed the development of hundreds of original products across 11 core categories, created a multi-channel distribution model unique in the design industry and established a global specialty supply chain. By establishing Waterworks as a closed loop of creative and business capabilities, Peter realized his vision for a highly differentiated design company. In 2005, Peter sold a majority interest in the business to a premier private equity firm.
Peter is the founder and co-host of the Design Leadership Summit, an annual gathering of the nation’s top architecture and interior design principals. This event features a variety of agenda topics including organizational development, brand and marketing strategy, and design economics with the overall objective of strengthening the design community.
Peter is also co-founder of Dering Hall, LLC, a new online marketplace that enables designers and other high end product creators to market and offer for sale their furniture, lighting, accessories, rugs and fabric. Dering Hall seeks to energize the design market by enhancing the visibility of hard to find design products in a cost effective and dynamic way.
Peter began his professional career as an analyst in Mergers and Acquisitions at First Boston Corporation and also served as an Associate for Good Capital, a private equity firm.
Peter received his B.A. with honors from Wesleyan University and his MBA from Harvard University. Peter has been an active member of the Young President’s Organization since 1997, and has been elected to leadership positions, including Education Chair and Chapter Chairman. He lives in Connecticut with his family.
JASON HARRIS
Founder & CEO of The Design Network
Jason Harris grew up in the epicenter of home furnishings: High Point, NC. A graduate of UNC Chapel Hill with a BA in Industrial Relations, Harris spent 18 years developing sales and marketing strategies for his family’s retail furniture business, Furnitureland South, the largest furniture store in the world. Having retailed over $2 Billion in home furnishings during that time–working with 1,500 vendors and 25,000 clients a year–Harris had an epiphany in early 2012 that changed his vision and purpose.
“As an industry, we aren’t reaching HER!”
Harris envisioned a new all-screens network for video entertainment, inspiration and instruction all about the HOME. The network would allow designers, architects, video producers, media, furniture purveyors and home enthusiasts to generate shows and video clips which would be indexed into an intelligent searchable library, available on demand, personalized to the user. As the content gained popularity, the content providers could become paid contributors, and home decor brands would have the opportunity to interact with a very targeted audience, even integrating products into the programming in a non-intrusive way.
The Design Network launched in early 2013, and Harris plans to spend the next year developing content and spreading the word about the world’s first crowd-sourced network all about the home. TDN begins as a website and, through an app, will next be available on Smart TVs.
Harris lectures to professional groups and college students across the country on business development, entrepreneurship and technology application. With a young family with 5 kids under 14, Harris enjoys family time, golf, running and traveling.
SUSANNA SALK
Susanna Salk grew up in Essex, Massachusetts and got her B.A. in English at Vassar College and then moved to Manhattan where she helped launch Elle Decor as Interior Design Manager. She later became a Contributing Editor.
In 2003, she joined House and Garden Magazine, where she was, until its closing, Special Projects Editor.
Today, Salk appears regularly on NBC’s “Today Show” to discuss design style for the home. She is also a Contributing Editor to 1stdibs.com, and ivillage.com.
Salk is the author of Assouline’s “A Privileged Life, Celebrating WASP Style,” as well as “Weekend Retreats” and the bestselling “Room for Children: Stylish Spaces for Sleep and Play,” (both by Rizzoli.) Her book “Home Sweet Home” (Rizzoli, Fall 2011) celebrates the international interiors shot by renowned photographer Oberto Gili.
Her latest book is, “Be Your Own Decorator: Taking Cues and Confidence from Today’s Leading Designers” (Rizzoli) a design book aiming to inspire and inform via her favorite rooms from the world’s top designers and tastemakers.
Salk’s next book (out April 2013 from Rizzoli) is the first pictorial book celebrating the iconic style of CZ Guest, the American author, columnist, horsewoman, fashion designer, muse and socialite. It will celebrate her iconic style in her homes, garden and fashion with insightful memories by many of the people who loved her and knew her best.
Salk lives in Connecticut with her husband and two boys.
BETH KIMLESS GREENE
Beth Kimless Greene joined Kravet more than 20 years ago to create an in-house marketing department. Over the last few years she directed the company’s success with responsibilities for all marketing and communication efforts including advertising, digital marketing, licensing, visual marketing and special events. She has led the company to an award winning print advertising campaign for the Kravet brand and has spearheaded special projects and events such as Blogfest that tap into the emerging media arena. She continues to be the voice of the Kravet Inc. organization and works diligently to keep the branding of Kravet, Lee Jofa and now Brunschwig and Fils consistent and top of mind to all designers and their clients.
Beth joined Kravet as Marketing Director after a five year tenure at Warwick Advertising where she was the Director of New Business and managed the Schumacher and Waverly accounts. Prior to that, she worked at Scali, McCabe, Sloves, Revlon Inc, and Bloomingdales.
Today, as Executive Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Branding, Beth has 18 capable marketing professionals working with her to make sure that Kravet Inc. brings to its customers the best and newest products and services in the design industry.
Jennifer Powell is Kravet’s Communications Manager. In this role, she oversees all social media strategy and execution, writes and edits copy for marketing collateral and brand communications, and assists with editorial PR and media planning for Kravet, Lee Jofa and Brunschwig & Fils.
Jennifer has been part of the Kravet team for more than three years, during which time the brand has catapulted to the forefront of the industry for its social media savvy. She travels throughout the country, hosting groups of designers and guiding them to better understanding of social media marketing. She has a passion for educating designers about the benefits of social media as well as a natural curiosity and intuitive understanding of the to-the-trade home furnishings industry.
She was born and raised inHigh Point,North Carolina, where she developed a love of furniture and design from an early age. She has a degree in public relations from the journalism school at UNC-Chapel Hill and worked previously at Focus Features and Ogilvy & Mather inNew Yorkand Raleigh-based PR firm Capstrat.
JENNY BRADLEY
Jenny Bradley has contributed to Traditional Home magazine since 2000, and now serves as the magazine’s senior design and lifestyle editor—sharing with readers beautiful interiors and designs that are both classic yet modern, sophisticated yet attainable.
She is also the editor of TRADhome, Traditional Home magazine’s digital spinoff that features 100% original content created for the internet-fluent generation of design lovers.
In her 10-plus years in publishing, Jenny has worked as a contributor for several other design publications, including British House & Garden and Better Homes & Gardens, exploring design trends and inspiring readers to reinterpret classic design in a thoroughly modern way.
Tobi Fairley creates interiors that are bright, bold and tailored. She works on the forefront of the New Traditional movement in residential design, and her vision for a given space is always grounded in an ethic of problem solving, the results of which are always beautiful as well as functional. This signature aesthetic earned her recognition as one of Traditional Home’s Top 20 Young Designers of 2009.
Tobi founded her design firm more than a decade ago, and her exquisite interiors span the US, from New York City and the Hamptons to Charleston and Los Angeles. Her award-winning designs for high-profile and celebrity clients have been featured on HGTV, and her work has been published on the cover of House Beautiful and showcased in the pages of Traditional Home,Better Homes and Gardens and Southern Living.
Tobi’s educational background combines foundational degrees in Interior Design and Accounting with an MBA from the prestigious Sam M. Walton College of Business, where she was recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year for 2009. This blend of expertise uniquely qualifies her as an industry leader in the business of Interior Design. Tobi shares the benefits of her knowledge and experience with other design professionals through an array of consulting services, information products, and on-site courses through Tobi Fairley Academy.
Always ready to embrace the latest in social media and internet technologies, Tobi emerged as a national presence by fully utilizing the capabilities of social media. Tobi’s Blog commands a sizeable online audience; currently read in more than 124 countries worldwide, it has been recognized by HGTV and by the Design Bloggers Conference as a key source for daily design inspiration. Tobi also writes a monthly design column, “Tobi’s Tips,” for AY magazine, a blog column for At Home in Arkansas magazine called “Color Confidential,” and she is a regular contributor to Williams Sonoma’s “Designer Marketplace.” Also spurred by her innovative spirit, Tobi’s e-design service—InBox Interiors—allows D.I.Y. clients to achieve the “Tobi look” for a fraction of the cost of her full-service designs.
Tobi Fairley Home, a collection of fabrics, pillows and lighting designed by Tobi, debuted as part of Hickory Chair’s Centennial Furniture Collection in the Fall of 2011. Her furnishings and fabric designs are every bit as bold and fresh as the spaces for which she has been acclaimed. As with all of her ventures, she infuses the merchandising market with a new and vibrant energy; and, as always, Tobi is driven to find the needs of her customers and provide them with optimum design solutions.
EVAN DAWSON
Evan Dawson is the Managing Editor and Finger Lakes Editor of the New York Cork Report, the two-time winner of the award for Best Single-Subject Wine Blog. He writes several pieces weekly for NYCR. His day job is morning anchor of 13 WHAM News This Morning in Rochester, NY, broadcasting on the ABC affiliate (as well as the local CW channel). His on-air duties also include reporting on politics and public policy.
Evan has always gravitated toward long-form writing.
His first attempt at a book was historical fiction, a never-finished novel ambitiously launched in the seventh grade about the explorers Lewis and Clark. His second attempt did indeed see completion, if not publication; Domedwellers was a co-authored work of science fiction and ostensible humor that covered 284 single-spaced notebook pages, written by hand before Evan completed high school. It remains slumbering in a desk drawer somewhere.
Narrative non-fiction, an ideal outlet for storytellers, has inspired Evan. Moved by essays from the likes of such outstanding writers as David Rakoff and Michael Pollan, Evan saw a way to combine that form with the research-based narrative non-fiction as demonstrated by Benjamin Wallace and Mike Steinberger. The result, Summer in a Glass, is Evan’s debut effort. Readers will find that it subtly tips the cap in the direction of writers like Terry Theise, Matt Kramer, Neal Rosenthal, James Molesworth, and more.
Evan lives in Rochester with his wife Morgan, a professional photographer whose work appears inSummer in a Glass and also on www.morgandawson.com. He relishes communicating with readers. You can reach Evan at info@evandawsonwrites.com. You can also follow him on Twitter@evandawson. And you’ll find his work in a variety of other sources, including the online wine magazine Palate Press. Check out the blog section of this website for some of his favorites and some of his most recent pieces.
RICHARD AUFFREY
Richard Auffrey is a life-long resident of Massachusetts, a licensed attorney, and has been involved in food and wine writing for over seven years. Beside his food, wine, saké & spirits blog, The Passionate Foodie, he also has written a food & wine column for the Stoneham Sun newspaper. In addition, he has been published in other periodicals, including the Boston Scene magazine, North End Scene magazine, and the Valley Patriot newspaper. Plus, he has been a freelance contributor to the Medford Patch and Melrose Patch.
Richard is a Certified Spanish Wine Educator, having also visited Spain three times, including the Canary Islands, Sherry region, Madrid, Barcelona, San Sebastian, Rioja region, Priorat region and more.
In addition, he is a Certified Sake Professional and currently teaches sake education classes, holds sake tastings and dinners, and is available for hire for all types of sake events.
Last but not least, he is a Certified Wine Location Specialist, which concentrates on the Champagne and Port regions, especially on terroir issues. Thus, he can lead classes, tastings, dinners and more on Champagne and Port.
LAURIE MARCH
As the host and creative force behind The House Counselor on HGTVRemodels.com, Laurie March is known for her approach to remodeling, which focuses on managing both the emotional and the tactical parts of a project.
A third generation remodeler, Laurie’s own passion for home improvement and remodeling was unearthed while remodeling her own 1920’s Spanish style home. In 2005 Laurie founded Improvemental, a project management and design firm that has become a recognized fixture in the Los Angeles remodeling scene – completing over 50 homes for a highly discerning who’s who of writers, producers, and executives in LA.
She has been acknowledged as ‘40 under 40’ in Residential Remodeling by Professional Remodeler Magazine, and has been featured on Wake Up With Al Roker and in Lucky Magazine, Design*Sponge and USA Today.
Laurie is also a Maryland native, former NFL mascot for the Baltimore Ravens, Wheel of Fortune winner and more recently, host of “Good to Know” forCookingChanneltv.com.
LESLIE CAROTHERS
Leslie Carothers (known on Twitter as @tkpleslie) is the founder and CEO of The Kaleidoscope Partnership , an 11 year old international social media agency for furniture and interior design brands. Leslie has over 31 years of experience in the furniture and design industry and spent the first 20 years of her career as an interior designer. Some of her past social media clients have included Cargill Corporation’s BioH Polyols division, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, World Market Center Las Vegas, The New Traditionalists, Better Homes and Gardens magazine and current clients include the corporate headquarters of The Curtain Exchange – a national luxury window treatment franchise and Olioboard –a fast growing global social commerce site with 2D and 3D visualization tools. She micro-blogs as@tkpleslie and founded the Twitter chat, #GetPublished which brings together design editors, authors and the design community to create dialogue and opportunities. For the past 11 years , she has been a frequent national and international speaker at major furniture and design industry trade shows and events and keynoted the first Social Media Symposium held at High Point University.
She’s been widely interviewed and is also a guest author for many industry publications including Furniture Today magazine, Retailer NOW magazine and for the past 9 years has been the writer of the *Retail Ideas* blog for Furniture Today.com –publishers of the leading international furniture industry trade news magazine.
Leslie served a 3 year term as a volunteer on the board of Women In The Home Industries –WITHIT – where she twice chaired the major yearly fundraiser –WITHIT’s Leadership Development Conference – and served as VP of National Membership.
In 2009, Leslie was awarded WITHIT’s President’s Award for her service to the organization and to the furniture and interior design industry.
Cliff Sirlin is one of the Co-Founders of Project Décor. Project Décor is the shelter category’s most advanced technology platform that allows users to discover, interact and buy products they love. Project Décor sits at the intersection of social commerce, creative design and content sharing. There are currently over 1500 Design Professionals and Influencers registered as part of Project Decor’s Style Exchange Program.
Mr. Sirlin is a career entrepreneur who has founded and operates a portfolio of high growth businesses. Over the past 20 years, Mr. Sirlin has co-founded several successful enterprises including mdenergy, Aegis Fuel, Cleaner Options, Blue Ribbon Partners, Zoots Delivery, and AC Angel Fund.
Prior to founding ProjectDecor, Mr. Sirlin served as the CEO and co-founder of mdenergy. Formed in February 2001, mdenergy was one of the largest independent energy management firms in the United States managing more than 1,200 megawatts of electric demand. mdenergy clients included Disney, Barclays Capital, Barclays, ESPN, The McGraw Hill Companies, Tishman-Speyer, Vornado Realty Trust, The New York Times, and Whole Foods. Mdenergy was acquired by EnerNOC, a publicly-traded energy services firm based in Boston, Massachusetts in September 2007.
Prior to founding mdenergy, Mr. Sirlin served as Vice President of Delivery for Zoots, a national dry cleaning company based in Boston, MA founded by Tom Stemberg, the Chairman and CEO of Staples. Prior to joining Zoots, Mr. Sirlin was the co-founder and President of Cleaner Options. Before starting Cleaner Options, Mr. Sirlin co founded Madison’s, a Manhattan based telemarketing company specializing in selling services to multi-family apartment complexes and office buildings.
Mr. Sirlin received his law degree from New York University School of Law in 1992. While at NYU, Mr. Sirlin also studied at the Stern School of Business. He earned his undergraduate degree in History from Colgate University in 1989. Mr. Sirlin accomplishments have been profiled by CNBC; Inc. Magazine; Success Magazine; Crain’s Business and numerous other periodicals. Mr. Sirlin resides in Westport, CT, with wife Sue and their two children, Grant and Kayla. Additionally, Mr. Sirlin is a frequent lecturer at the NYU Stern School of Business.
BILL PRYOR
Bill Pryor is the founder of Spynergy and the Director of Spynergy Consulting. Over the past 7 years, Bill Pryor and his partner and sister have successfully launched and operated a family of unique indoor cycling studios — and also helped others launch theirs. These are small businesses that are fun….and profitable. Here is a place for studio starters, and studio owners, to learn, to share and to connect. In addition to running their own studios, Spynergy Consulting provides business planning, start-up, operational and marketing services to entrepreneurs and small business owners. Visit their studios near Boston and Chicago, and learn more atwww.spynergyconsulting.com.
JENNIFER MEHDITASH
Jennifer is an interior designer in New York, with a career that started in London and then Portugal, and takes great pleasure in sharing her passion for Art & Design through her blog “Dec-a-Porter”. Since she moved to NY, and through the use of Social Media Jennifer has been included as one of the coveted Style Spotters for High Point Market, part of Brizo Fashion Week, a Curator for the Joss & Main flash in 2012.
She also was featured on the Nate Berkus Show, HGTV.com, on the New England Home Magazine blog, and most recently she was included as part of BlogTour London.
When she is not sharing her finds online, you can find Jennifer speaking at events, from High Point Market to Fordham University, or as part of panels for ASID and the IIDA, with discussions from her everyday inspiration to how to kick start your interior design business, with anyone that cares to listen! For more on Jennifer, see her LinkedIn page.
Amy works as a pharmacist in Dallas, TX. She is the pharmacy manager, a preceptor, and the Director of the Outpatient Pharmacy Residency Program for a major health care system in the DFW Metroplex.
AMY LEE
Amy’s passion for design prompted her to launch her design blog, House of Wentworth, in 2010. Through her blog and social media engagement came features on other blogs such as Layla Grace Backroom Blog and Nest Design Studio, as well as a feature in the 2nd edition of Baby Lifestyles e-magazine. The online Houzz community also voted Amy’s work Best of Houzz in 2012.
Through her desire to design product came Amy’s latest collaboration with Plexi-Craft of New York. 2013 brings the launch of several of her acrylic chair designs for Plexi-Craft. In her downtime, Amy enjoys spending time with her husband, Robb, and daughter Pearson.
PATTI AUSTIN
Grammy winner Patti Austin crosses all musical genres, has made 17 solo albums, and has performed her award-nominated hit songs on the GRAMMYS® and the Oscars. As a performer, songwriter and vocalist she has had a star-studded career that began at the age of four, making her one of the most beloved artists the world over and a mainstay on the Billboard Jazz Albums charts. Patti’s extraordinary career continues to cross over boundaries and reach new heights.
Patti has had a life-long interest in design. Patti Austin is currently being mentored by Boston’s prestigious design community as she realizes one of her dreams of becoming an interior designer. Patti attributes much of her musical success to her mentors, most notably the close guidance of her godparents Quincy Jones and Dinah Washington. Because of how important mentoring has been to Patti throughout her life, she co-founded the Over My Shoulder Foundation.
The Over My Shoulder Foundation (OMSF) is a non-profit organization founded by Patti Austin and Dawn Carroll to promote mentoring and Mentorology through music and design. The Over My Shoulder Foundation hails Mentorology, the art and science of mentoring, as the number-one priority as they move forward producing live events which bring together industry leaders in order to pay tribute to great mentors and put the spotlight on the importance of mentoring.
DAWN CARROLL
Dawn Carroll has dedicated a large part of the past 4 years to starting the Over My Shoulder Foundation (OMSF) and promoting the idea of Mentorology – the art and science of mentoring. In fact, her passion for Designing the Next Generation has driven Dawn to draw on all her resources to create the dynamic media-driven non-profit organization that exists to further the concept and application of mentoring.
Dawn has carved out OMSF’s niche in the mentoring world while managing an award worthy design career at CUMAR Marble & Granite, which is currently in its 8th generation of leadership in stone sourcing and fabrication in Everett, MA. Dawn writes, “What do you see that I can be” when considering the similarities of an empty room and an individual who needs a mentor in her article about “Designing the Next Generation”.
For more information about the Over My Shoulder Foundation, visit overmyshoulderfoundation.org or contact Dawn Carroll, Co-Founder and Executive Director, by calling (617) 510-2620 or emailing carrollco2@comcast.net.
ADAM JAPKO
Adam Japko is the President of DesignSherpa, a revolutionary internet marketing service for the home design and remodeling industry from Network Communications, Inc., the parent company of the country’s largest group of regional home design media brands includingNew England Home, Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles, At Home in Arkansas, Seattle Homes & Lifestyles,Kansas City Home & Garden, Mountain Living, St. Louis Homes & Lifestyles, Colorado Homes & Lifestyles and more. DesignSherpa provides a turn key solution to building and managing a social media marketing program for design professionals, retailers, showrooms, and luxury home service providers. DesignSherpa takes the risk and complexity out of social media marketing, creating a new kind of Internet Marketing presence for your home design business. We will improve your visibility on Google, increase your web traffic, enhance your connection with consumers and other design professionals, and turbo-charge your referral network.
The explosion of social media tools and networks, like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, create a unique opportunity for design professionals, retailers, showrooms, and other luxury home design businesses to get active on the web, by providing interesting content relevant to consumers and the trade who are seeking ideas or resources while they plan enhanced residential living environments. Social media tools help you get involved in the process that starts with inspiration and culminates in selecting products and resources, creating an active and engaged online community around your business when your prospects are most active.
Network Communications and its home design media brands recognize the incredible potential of social media marketing to improve your bottom line. We also understand the time and technology challenges that social media marketing presents to busy design professionals.
Stacy Kunstel, a.k.a. StacyStyle, is a stylist, editor, and writer whose work regularly appears in Traditional Home, Better Homes & Gardens, Country Living, New England Home, and more than a dozen other national publications. A former editor at Southern Accents and Southern Living before turning to the world of freelance, she now works with the nation’s top interiors photographers and has created more than 30 cover stories in the past seven years. When she’s not traveling five days a week to find and style gorgeous houses, she’s appearing on the New England Cable News show Dream Home or working with interior designers and architects photograph their own work for books and portfolios. In 2010 Stacy co-founded and launched the lifestyle brand Dunes and Duchess.
Clinton Smith is the editorial director of Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles, the city’s only monthly home and garden magazine. Under his leadership, the title has garnered numerous awards and accolades, including a Gold GAMMA for Best Design from the Magazine Association of the Southeast. In 2006, he was personally awarded the Media Award from the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Georgia Chapter. Smith is currently the youngest member of the Advisory Board of the Department of Journalism at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), his alma mater. He is on the board of directors of the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA) and is a member of the Institute of Classical Architecture and Classical America, as well as the Atlanta Press Club.
Kyle Hoepner’s engagement with architecture and interiors began at age twelve, when he sketched his first notebook of house plans—a series of suburban ranch designs that would now embarrass him greatly. Presently editor-in-chief of New England Home magazine, Kyle has worked in magazine publishing for over twenty-five years, starting as a typesetter for high-end publications such as The Atlantic Monthly and later as a designer and art director for numerous business, financial, and computing titles such as Fidelity Focus, Inc. Technology, MIT Sloan Management Review, and Better Software. An invitation to join the founding team of New England Home in 2005 provided a welcome opportunity to reconnect professionally with his long-held passions for home and product design. For the past five years he has helped guide the magazine as it rapidly became the preeminent home-design title in the Northeast.
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