Expert Details

Handicraft Marketing, Handmade Product Development, Artisan and Microenterprise Development

ID: 729295 Maryland, USA

Request Expert

Expert, an arts and microenterprise development advocate, started her business in the classic entrepreneurial way: she saw a need others had overlooked, and she moved quickly and decisively to fill it. In 1982, a ceramic artist at a local craft show informed her about the lack of services and support for artisans desperately in need business education and assistance. Expert set out to learn more about artists’ and to discover a critical gap in business growth strategies such as access to market, marketing tools, cost of sale, wholesale markets and retail relationships. Expert uncovered a marketplace in need of handcraft quality, and thousands of artisans in need of business services, education and growth in the field microenterprise development.

Expert's company accomplishes it's mission through its trade show, two arts publications and its nonprofit trade association. The Buyers Market of American Craft (1982) is the nation’s largest wholesale craft trade show. Held biannually, the Buyers Market offers artists the opportunity to create long-term business relationships with more than 3,000 galleries, museum stores and luxury retailers. In 2010, the Buyers Market launched NICHE: The Show, a luxury goods and fine jewelry trade show, during jewelry week in Las Vegas.

NICHE magazine (1988) is a trade publication for craft retailers. AMERICANStyle magazine (1994) is the exclusive arts lifestyle publication for art enthusiasts, collectors and cultural travelers. The American Made Alliance (2005), advocates on behalf of the handmade movement to federal legislators and officials in an effort to create and enforce laws that promote, protect and preserve the American craft industry. In 2008, NICHE Marketplace, an online catalog of craft artists, debuted. Expert is a director at large of the Florida Craftsmen, Inc. She also serves at the North American Representative to the World Craft Council.


Education

Year Degree Subject Institution
Year: 1976 Degree: BS Subject: Liberal Arts, General Studies Institution: American Technological University (Central Texas University, University of Florida)

Work History

Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1981 to Present Employer: Undisclosed Title: President, Founder Department:
Responsibilities:
She leads a team of 25 arts administrators, editors, designers and creative problem solvers actively involved in the daily mentoring of artists throughout the United States and Canada.

Additional Experience

Expert Witness Experience
Testimony to congress, regarding Intellectual Property legislation.
Expert for US Chamber of Commerce to the Department of Commerce on Trade Show Management and International Markets

Career Accomplishments

Associations / Societies
Women Impacting Public Policy, Women's leadership Forum of the Democratic National Committee, American Made Alliance
Awards / Recognition
Craft Emergency Relief Fund, Craft Retailers Association for Tomorrow, US Chamber of Commerce Blue Ribbon Award, Top 100 Maryland Women, Top 100 Women Owned Businesses, Top Gifted Women in America.
Publications and Patents Summary
Best selling book, Crafting as a Business 1994, 1998. Publisher of AmericanStyle and Niche Magazines. Producer of PBS Documentary "Crafting An American Style."

Fields of Expertise

Request Expert

Dev Tool:

Request: expert/handicraft-marketing-handmade-product-development-artisan-and-microenterprise-development
Matched Rewrite Rule: expert/([^/]+)(?:/([0-9]+))?/?$
Matched Rewrite Query: experts=handicraft-marketing-handmade-product-development-artisan-and-microenterprise-development&page=
Loaded Template: single-experts.php