The Creative Connection

Jo Packham has been a leading innovator in the creative industry for more than 30 years. A successful entrepreneur with her own
publishing company, Chapelle, Ltd., she currently partners with
Stampington & Company to produce two magazines WHERE WOMEN CREATE — Inspiring Work Spaces of Extraordinary Women, and WHERE WOMEN COOK — The Heart and Soul of Cooking. Jo has authored more than 40 arts and crafts titles, including her newest book Where Women Cook: Celebrate. She also now has her own
imprint with Sterling Publishing: CREATIVE CONNECTION PRESS which will work with such brands as MaryJanesFarm, Stampington, Tracy Porter, UpperCase, and others.

MaryJane Butters was instrumental in creating the present-day organic movement in America. She was chair of one of the first state-sanctioned organic advisory boards and is proud to say her first organic inspection certificate listed her as “grower #8.” Born to a large, self-sufficient family in Utah, she was raised on homegrown food and knew from the tender age of five that she would grow up to be an organic farmer. But her real passion is that of teacher. Featured in The New Yorker in 2004, a lengthy article stated, “MaryJane Butters, a natural teacher, has a gift for simplification, and makes it seem that everything she does is easy and attainable.” Those who’ve attended her non-profit Pay Dirt Farm School, now in its 14th year, all agree.

(more…)

Comfort and American style define the heart and soul of Nancy Soriano, whether she’s consulting with companies on their brand extensions, cooking Sunday dinner for her family, or pursuing her own creative projects. During her 10 years as editor in chief of Country Living magazine, Nancy redefined “country” to embrace casual, comfortable living as the core value of American style. She brought readers a fresh, updated look as she grew the magazine into a multiplatform brand that included book publishing, live consumer events (like the Country Living Fair), an online presence through countryliving.com, licensed products, broadcast media, and SIPs. She has always been passionate about creative women and women entrepreneurs and was the driving force behind the Country Living program of women entrepreneurs. Nancy’s understanding of comfort continues to be her filter for how America lives today. She is a lifestyle expert on Good Morning America, a design and home keeping expert on Martha Stewart Sirius Radio, and sought-after expert to discuss decorating, lifestyles, and the growth of women entrepreneurs. A longtime collector of all things vintage and handmade, Nancy loves traveling the country to attend the biggest and the “best” of the antique shows, flea markets, furniture shows, and craft fairs. She is known for her ability to scout out up-and-coming under-the-radar shops, artisan shows, occasional sales, and creative individuals. Nancy is currently the Publishing Director of Craft for F+W Media where she and her team are producing books and are working to build the distribution of craft content through emedia, ecommerce, online learning and community experience.

Leigh Standley is the artist, writer and owner of Curly Girl Design, Inc. In it’s seven years, Curly Girl Design and Leigh’s line of clever and colorful greeting cards and gift items have taken the industry by delightful storm. Focused on the magic of the small moments, her product peeks into the corners of life and taps into the hearts of all.Founded in 2003, the company began with just 12 greeting cards and grew steadily. Now with seven amazing full-time employees, it sells to more than 2300 shops nationwide and distributes to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. In 2008 Leigh began the process of licensing her art. Carefully choosing some of the most renowned and artist-driven companies to work with, her brand has expanded to include calendars, napkins, larger giftware items and a full line of holiday decor.
In 2005, Leigh was the recipient of her first LOUIE award for greeting card excellence and is nominated for 3 more in 2010. Her work and studio have been featured in creative publications like Where Women Create, Stationery Trends, Boho Magazine
Leigh believes firmly in the power of a creative community and the power of that community to unlock our truest selves. She is proudly “Living imperfectly with great delight.”
For more about Leigh and Curly Girl Design visit www.curlygirldesign.com

Kathy Cano-Murillo is a writer and artist. Since 1990, she has sold her handmade “Chicano Pop Art” crafts to hundreds of retailers including Bloomingdales, Target, and Hallmark. From 2000-2008, she wrote a weekly syndicated Arizona Republic newspaper column, and has authored seven books including Crafty Chica’s Art de la Soul and Crafty Chica’s Guide to Artful Sewing. In 2001, Kathy launched CraftyChica.com, a wildly popular web site to inspire women to brighten their lives with clever craft ideas. Her profiles include iTunes, HGTV, DIY Network, MyLifetime.com, The New York Times, USA Today, NPR and she has a Crafty Chica product line with iLoveToCreate, a Duncan Enterprises Company. When she isn’t creating or teaching, she writes novels. Her “Crafty Chica Novel” series include the critically-acclaimed Waking Up in the Land of Glitter and Miss Scarlet’s School of Patternless Sewing (Grand Central Publishing). Kathy lives in Phoenix, AZ, with her husband, two kids and five Chihuahuas. Her motto for life is “Crafts, drama and glitter!”

Laurie Crowell is founder and owner of Golden Fig Fine Foods Inc. The retail shop in St. Paul’s historic Crocus Hill is a locavores dream. The shelves are stocked with hundreds of exclusively Midwest produced items, and Laurie also manufactures a line of more than one hundred products under the Golden Fig name that are available at finer stores nationwide. With her retail shop, wholesale production facility, booth at the farmers market, regular television appearances, and a cookbook in the works, Crowell has maneuvered virtually every aspect of the food world, and loves working with others who are just starting their journey as entrepreneurs.

Elisa Camahort Page

Co-Founder and COO
Elisa Camahort Page co-founded BlogHer, Inc., in 2005 with Jory Des Jardins and Lisa Stone, and serves as the company’s COO. Elisa leads events, marketing, public relations and research for the company and with her leadership, the BlogHer conference business has grown from a single conference hosting 300 attendees in 2005, to five diverse events that will host over 4,000 attendees in 2011. With more than 3,000 attendees expected at this year’s annual conference alone, the flagship event is the largest conference for women social media leaders in the world and has been described as “ComicCon for women who blog” by Variety magazine. Elisa’s other major focus is to bring the story of BlogHer and the influence of the women in its community, to life via research, helping BlogHer’s customers glean critical insights about how women connect, share and behave online and off.  Elisa’s work leading BlogHer’s consumer insights team, as well as marketing and public relations, has resulted in coverage and profiles from many of the leading media outlets, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, Advertising Age, Forbes, Fast Company, CNN, The Today Show, the Wall Street Journal, and many more. Elisa is a frequent public speaker, bringing research data about women and online communities to life in recent keynotes at Marketing to Women, MediaBistro Circus, Fem 2.0, New Communications Forum, BlogPaws and WOMMA Marketing Summit and sessions at Web 2.0, SXSW Interactive and CES. Prior to co-founding BlogHer, Elisa ran a marketing consultancy, Worker Bees, which was among the first companies to integrate corporate marketing strategies into the social media environment. Before bringing her marketing expertise to the Internet industry, Elisa was a senior-level high-tech marketer, helping develop digital infrastructures for voice, video and data delivery. Her last corporate position was as Senior Director of Product Marketing at Terayon Communication Systems, where she managed a team of product managers and five product lines. Together, BlogHer co-founders Lisa, Elisa and Jory have been named among the most influential women in Web 2.0 and technology by Fast Company (2008, 2009 and 2010), Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year semi-finalists (2010) and among the seven most powerful people in new media by Forbes Magazine (2009). In 2011 they were jointly awarded the PepsiCo Women’s Inspiration Award and in 2008, the Anita Borg Institute Social Impact Award. Elisa has been honored as an NCWIT Hero. As the co-founder of a mission-based for-profit organization, Elisa is a founding Fellow of the Society for New Communications Research and serves on the Board of Directors of the 42nd Street Moon Theatre in San Francisco, the programming advisory committee for SXSW Interactive and the Board of Advisors of the Anita Borg Institute A native of the Bay Area, she lives in San Jose with her software developer husband.

Jory Des Jardins

Co-Founder and President of Strategic Alliances
Jory Des Jardins co-founded BlogHer, Inc. in 2005 with Elisa Camahort Page and Lisa Stone, and serves as the company’s President of Strategic Alliances and lead evangelist to top revenue partners. With Jory’s leadership, BlogHer has developed its own distinctive, brand of strategic partnership, helping to facilitate constructive dialogue between some of the world’s major brands and women who are social media leaders and their readers. Jory frequently gives private presentations and training sessions to Fortune 500 companies and their internal and external strategy teams, bringing community insights and case studies directly to companies and agencies that are navigating the social media space. Leveraging her prior experience in both print and online media, Jory works within brand teams to deconstruct media models and to develop messaging and campaigns that resonate with bloggers, blog readers and brands.

BlogHer’s integrated sponsorship model, which combines live events and media channels, has grown to revenue of eight figures trailing for the past two years, during which BlogHer, Inc. was named among the AlwaysOn OnMedia Top 100 for 2011 and Global 250 for 2010, and as one of America’s Most Promising Start-ups by BusinessWeek. BlogHer’s flagship site, BlogHer.com, was named one of the Top 100 Websites for Women by Forbes in 2010. Jory is BlogHer’s representative on the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Board of Directors, and serves on the advisory board of start-ups FeedBlitz and Juno Baby.   Jory also represents BlogHer at public speaking engagements, having keynoted such events as ad:tech Chicago and the Marketing to Moms Conference, and spoken on panels at events for the IAB, ANA, AMA and WOMMA and at Web 2.0, SXSW Interactive, BlogWorld Expo, the Monaco Media Forum, Girls in Tech and CES. Prior to co-founding BlogHer, Jory helped high-technology start-ups Pluck and Rojo develop the models to launch successful blog syndication initiatives and served as producer as Third Age transitioned from traditional web destination to a network of bloggers. Together, BlogHer co-founders Lisa, Elisa and Jory have been named among the most influential women in Web 2.0 and technology by Fast Company (2008, 2009 and 2010), Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year semi-finalists (2010) and among the seven most powerful people in new media by Forbes Magazine (2009). In 2011 they were jointly awarded the PepsiCo Women’s Inspiration Award and in 2008, the Anita Borg Institute Social Impact Award. Jory lives in the Bay Area with her husband Jesse and their baby daughter.

The BlogHer team will be featured in the Autumn 2011 issue of WHERE WOMEN CREATE and will be signing copies at the Autograph Party.

Christen Olivarez is Director of Publishing for Stampington & Company and Editor-in-Chief of Somerset Studio, Somerset Life, and Belle Armoire Jewelry. She leads a talented team of editors, designers and photographers and oversees the production of Stamping & Company’s 30+ magazine titles. She’s an avid reader, knitter, and art journaler and a supporter of the Slow Food movement. In her free time, you can find her curled up on the couch with yarn in hand, or out searching for the latest and greatest restaurants.
Christen will be featured in the Autumn 2011 issue of WHERE WOMEN COOK and will be signing copies at the Autograph Party.

Christine is a confirmed dabbler, and is now working under the title “at home expert.” After 10 years of retail merchandising and owning a vintage shop, Christine left the world of retail to focus on design. She has since worked with many home and shop owners, and as a designer for HGTV. Her own homes have been featured in Country Living magazine and on the DIY network show Sweat Equity. Always a big fan of reusing and recycling vintage objects, her time with the Creative Connection Event has also nurtured a newfound love of crafting. She spreads her love of pie baking and shares homemaking tips on her blog, Pies and Aprons.
Christine will be featured in the Autumn 2011 issue of WHERE WOMEN COOK and will be signing copies at the Autograph Party.

For the past 19 years as an interior designer, Julie Cove has been celebrated as the Martha Stewart of Victoria. As owner of one of the most-loved home decor stores on Vancouver Island, Julie has helped thousands discover how to create beautiful spaces. Julie loves sharing her knowledge of design and do-it-yourself creations, and has been a popular speaker and workshop leader on the West Coast for 20 years. Appearing as a regular design expert on TV, hosting her own radio show, Island Lifestyles, and writing for a variety of magazines as well as a blog, Julie has a unique gift as a teacher and instructor—inspiring her “students” to be creative, innovative, and to do it with passion! Julie’s design work has been featured in magazines, and she’s been the creative force behind several successful home tours and special events. Julie also has a passion for giving back. She uses her love of design and creativity as a way to raise thousands of dollars for community charity groups.

This award-winning designer is excited to take on her new passion: marrying beauty and creativity with healthy living. After a health crisis, Julie was forced to pour her creative energy into discovering everything she could about nutrition, exercise, and healthy living. She discovered an abundance of information on health, but a lack of innovative healthy recipes. Given her sincere appreciation for creativity and food, this inspired Julie to make healthy living more desirable, beautiful, and delicious to others. Her blog features health tips and delicious recipes, beautifully styled with her own vivid photography. Julie’s passion is to inspire a healthy lifestyle for everyone–especially busy crafting moms!
Julie will be featured in the Autumn 2011 issue of WHERE WOMEN COOK and will be signing copies at the Autograph Party.