SOUTHERN C SUMMIT – SEA ISLAND, GEORGIA

FEBRUARY 2019

Overview

The Summit is tailored to offer a community of passionate entrepreneurs, creatives and business owners an opportunity to connect and collaborate amongst top names in media, branding and blogging.

WHO CAN BENEFIT FROM ATTENDING THE SUMMIT?

The Summit is tailored to offer a community of passionate entrepreneurs, creatives and business owners an opportunity to connect and collaborate amongst top names in media, branding and blogging.

PAST TOPICS AND PRESENTERS

Past topics include social media strategy, branding and marketing, PR, working with influencers, best practices for websites and newsletters, entrepreneurial advice/tips/motivation, work-life balance, and partnerships and collaborations, among others.

The Summit has featured editors from Bake from Scratch, Better Homes & Gardens, Domino, Elle Decor, Garden & Gun, Real Simple, Southern Living and Traditional Home among others.

Past Summit attendees have heard from successful entrepreneurs like

  • Fine-art photographer and New York Times Best-Selling Author Gray Malin
  • Clothing designer and Tibi Founder Amy Smilovic
  • Artist and Hable Construction co-founder Susan Hable Smith
  • Event planner Tara Guérard
  • Founding editor of Martha Stewart Weddings and celebrations expert Darcy Miller
  • Culinary content creator Libbie Summers
  • Jewelry designers Lizzie Fortunato and Kathryn Fortunato
  • Digital influencers Chassity Evans of Look, Linger, Love and Mandy Kellogg Rye of Waiting on Martha

as well as key voices from companies such as Pinterest, One Kings Lane, Le Creuset, the Laundress, Jet Blue, One Love Organics, and St. Joe Club & Resorts.

WHAT THE SUMMIT INCLUDES

  • Access to the multi-day retreat in Sea Island, Georgia, at the Forbes Five-Star resort
  • Integrated networking opportunities with multiple curated sidewinder events including: cocktail parties, a luncheon presented by Sea Island, a Southern C Soirée at The Vine’s Greenhouse and a Beachside Brunch
  • Seasoned presenters providing tips & techniques in the following categories: Social Media Strategy, Brand Collaborations, Media, PR & Marketing, Business Entrepreneurship, Organization and Web Strategy
  • Small-group mentoring sessions
  • Recreational activities including: beach walks and good old toes-in-the-sand beach sitting

Limited to only 300 attendees, The Summit promises to again provide attendees valuable access to presenters on a wide range of compelling topics.

ADD-ON WORKSHOP OPTION (ADDITIONAL FEE)

We are presenting add-on workshops prior to the kick-off of the Summit on Wednesday, February 6 from 8:30 – 10:30 am at The Cloister. Attendees may choose ONE workshop for an additional fee. Limited seating for each and attendees must sign up when purchasing Summit tickets. More information coming soon!

Read more about each workshop here

 

Please see our Event FAQs for more.

Presenters

Brooke Bell of Hoffman Media, presenter at the 2018 Southern Coterie Summit in Sea Island, Georgia

Brooke Bell

Brooke Bell is Vice President Culinary and Custom Content at Birmingham, Alabama-based Hoffman Media, LLC, where she directly oversees the editorial teams of Taste of the South, Louisiana Cookin’, Cooking with Paula Deen, Bake from Scratch and Southern Cast Iron, along with all custom content. Brooke is also editor-in-chief of Cook: Real Food Every Day, which launched winter 2017. Her most recent cookbook, Cast-Iron Baking, was released in summer 2017. Additionally, Fall Baking, which was released in August of 2016, was named to Epicurious’ list of “30 Most Exciting Cookbooks of Summer” and was a “Number 1 New Release” on Amazon. Brooke is a member of the Southern Foodways Alliance and Les Dames d’Escoffier, where she serves as secretary for the Birmingham chapter.

Thomas Berolzheimer of Gal Meets Glam, presenter at the 2019 Southern C Summit

Thomas Berolzheimer

Thomas Berolzheimer began his career as a research assistant at an advertising analytics firm while attending college. After completing his MBA, Thomas worked as a business analyst at an advertising technology startup in San Francisco. During this time,Thomas was also working as co-owner and photographer for his wife Julia Engel’s fashion blog, Gal Meets Glam. Eventually, Thomas made the decision to leave his analyst position to devote his attention full-time to growing Gal Meets Glam. Since then Gal Meets Glam has moved beyond a fashion blog into a fashion brand that launched a successful clothing line, Gal Meets Glam Collection, in April 2018. Thomas serves as the Chief Financial Officer, responsible for long term growth strategies for both Gal Meets Glam, Inc. the blog and Gal Meets Glam Collection, LLC. He also continues to be the primary photographer, responsible for taking the images that have helped garner over one million Instagram followers and a loyal following of fans of Gal Meets Glam around the world.

Betsy Cribb, Style Director of Southern Living, presenter at The Southern C Summit

Betsy Cribb

Betsy Cribb is the style editor at Southern Living. Previously, she worked at Coastal Living, and she continues to contribute regularly to the magazine. A Charleston, South Carolina, native and Washington & Lee University graduate, Betsy now lives in Birmingham, Alabama, where she’s hopped on the “Roll Tide!” bandwagon and developed a deep love for Alabama white sauce.

Find out Four Things You Didn’t Know About Betsy!

Phyllis Hoffman Depiano of Hoffman Media, Presenter at the 2019 Southern C Summit

Phyllis Hoffman DePiano

A leading figure in the publishing industry, Phyllis Hoffman DePiano is the founder and chairman of the board of Hoffman Media. A native of Alabama, and a graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, she began her career as a Certified Public Accountant with a nationally known firm before founding, in 1983, a special-interest publication company now known as Hoffman Media. Phyllis is recognized industry-wide as a savvy businesswoman and talented entrepreneur. She serves as the creative engine of the company, which defines and celebrates the lifestyles of women through an ever-widening range of beautiful magazines, including TeaTime, Southern Lady, Victoria, and Taste of the South. In 2005, she partnered with restaurateur, author, and TV personality Paula Deen to create Cooking with Paula Deen, a lifestyle/cooking magazine that was the number one newsstand launch in its inaugural year. Since then, she founded The Cottage Journal in 2010 and Southern Home, Southern Cast Iron, Bake from Scratch, and Classic Sewing in 2015.

Julia Engel of Gal Meets Glam, presenter at the 2019 Southern C Summit

Julia Engel

An established influencer and tastemaker with an audience of over one million followers on Gal Meets Glam, Julia Engel’s understanding of the women’s fashion industry is uniquely multifaceted. Her seven-year career styling like-minded fashion and lifestyle brands left her desiring more from the women’s ready-to-wear market and existing fashion labels. She longed for a brand that would produce the type of dresses she wanted to wear and continued to dream up timeless and romantic, without being trendy or outdated. Unable to find one, she began laying the foundation for the brand that would ultimately encapsulate her love for the dress and further define her aesthetic style.

A dream now realized, Julia continues to propel the brand forward with a fresh design perspective, an unwavering dedication to quality and an eye for thoughtful details that elevate and set the brand apart.

Lydia Fenet, presenter at the 2019 Southern C Summit

Lydia Fenet

As Managing Director, Global Director of Strategic Partnerships at Christie’s, Lydia Fenet leads a global team forging significant collaborations with other luxury brands. Building on her fifteen-plus-year career at the historic auction house, Ms. Fenet pioneered the Strategic Partnerships program at Christie’s in 2010, leveraging skills sharpened both as Special Events Director from 2004-2010 and during her time on Christie’s Client Advisory team. Under Ms. Fenet’s purview, innovative brand partnerships have grown into a valuable marketing and business development platform for Christie’s and its partners, producing dynamic co-branded initiatives worldwide. These initiatives include major exhibitions, special events, and targeted digital activations.

Since leading her first auction in 2001, Ms. Fenet has become Christie’s Global Head of Benefit Auctioneering and the top performer in the field, raising hundreds of millions of dollars for some of the largest non-profit organizations around the world and training Christie’s new classes of charity auctioneers. Some of her recent auctions include The Clinton Foundation, AMFAR, Tipping Point, the Naples Winter Wine Festival and The Bob Woodruff Foundation. In 2014 partnered with Glenn Close and Robert DeNiro to launch the Bring Change To Mind auction benefiting mental health.

Ms. Fenet’s first book, The Most Powerful Woman in the Room is You, will be published by Simon & Schuster, in April 2019.

Ms. Fenet graduated with a Bachelors of Arts degree in both Art History and History from Sewanee – The University of the South. She currently resides in New York City with her husband and three children, Beatrice, Henry and Eloise.

Molly Fienning

Molly Fienning is a Co-Founder of Babiators, one of Forbes’ 100 Most Promising Companies and the leading sunglasses brand for babies & kids (with over 2.5 million pairs of shades sold to date). Babiators sunglasses retail in 3K+ doors and 45 countries, and have been featured in Vogue, the Ellen Degeneres Show, CNN Money, People Magazine, the Wall Street Journal and Inc Magazine. In 2018, Babiators also made its first corporate acquisition, purchasing The Brushies — the world’s first finger-puppet, silicone toothbrush for babies and kids, founded by two doctor moms.

In addition to Babiators, Molly has co-founded Lil Bit Lit — a modern publishing house that creates art-forward storybooks for kids and Red Clay Hot Sauce, a chef-driven Southern hot sauce company. Molly graduated from Harvard University with a BA in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science. She lives in Charleston with her husband Ted and their two sweet boys, Sawyer and Fox.

Mary Beth Greene

After more than 10 years in the wholesale industry as a sales rep and 2 years of designing and networking, mb greene was launched in 2015 by designer and visionary, Mary Beth Greene.

Mary Beth spent many late nights at the kitchen table with paper, tape, and scissors making “paper bags”. Simple, functional travel wares were the ultimate goal. Each piece is designed with great attention to detail and crafted with quality. mb greene is meant to be mixed, matched, and enjoyed.

Her love of color made it easy to brand the original collection using a solid palette and accents of turquoise on the logo tags and zippers. Turquoise is a happy and classic color that reminds her of the beautiful water along the Alabama gulf coast where she and her family call home.

mb greene is sold by over 700 retailers throughout the US, including the Neiman Marcus catalog and online monogram gift shop. The brand has been featured by Good Morning America, InStyle, LA Times, and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Visit mbgreene.com to learn more about the inspirational travel wares that are truly a “work of heART”. mb greene proudly supports the M. Bagwell Foundation in loving memory of Mary Beth’s sister, Mandy Bagwell. (4/10/75-7/16/14)

2019 Southern C Summit: Presenter Brian Hart Hoffman of Hoffman Media

Brian Hart Hoffman

Brian Hart Hoffman is President/Chief Creative Officer at Hoffman Media, LLC, where he oversees the editorial planning and brand direction for all publications, as well as the public relations and special events divisions. Since joining Hoffman Media, Brian has been the driving force behind the launch of The Cottage Journal, Bake from Scratch, Southern Cast Iron, and Southern Home. His special-event leadership with the company includes planning and executing major consumer events. Prior to joining the company in 2007, Hoffman worked in the airline industry, which allowed him to live in six cities throughout the United States. He has visited all 50 states.

In addition to his professional obligations, Hoffman serves with numerous charitable organizations including the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama, Junior Board and Executive Board; Alys Stephens Center, Junior Patrons Board; MS Society of Alabama, recipient of the MS Leadership Award; Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America; and the American Cancer Society.

The Southern Coterie: Summit Alums we Spied in November 2018 - 2019 Summit speaker Sean Low on Editor-at-Large

Sean Low

Sean Low is the Founder and President of The Business of Being Creative, a consulting firm focused on providing practical advice to those in the business of being creative. Prior to founding The Business of Being Creative in August 2009, Sean spent six years as the President of Preston Bailey Design, Inc. representing Preston in his business endeavors around the world.

Sean has a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania and, apart from working with amazing creative professionals, his business acumen is honed from his previous experience as a lawyer, investment banker, financial executive and small business owner.

Sean’s client list includes the who’s who of creative business – from designers (interior, graphic, event and fashion), photographers, florists, even Cordovans (shoemakers). Among interior designers, Sean’s client list includes, among others, Vicente Wolf, Nate Berkus, Sawyer Berson and Barry Dixon.

Sean is passionate about challenging creative businesses to be the best versions of themselves, helping them set the foundation for growth and development and working along side creative business owners to take their businesses as far as they want them to go.

Find out Four Things You Didn’t Know About Sean and read about Sean’s approach to managing creative businesses on his blog: www.thebusinessofbeingcreative.com.

Contact Information:
sean@thebusinessofbeingcreative.com

2019 Southern C Summit: Presenter Lydia Mansel of Draper James

Lydia Mansel

Lydia Mansel‘s expertise lies in audience development, story-telling, and creating a consistent message across platforms.

Currently the social media director at Reese Witherspoon’s Draper James, she resides in Charleston, South Carolina after spending the first four years of her career in New York City. She pairs her Virginia roots and background in online publishing—previously working both full-time and freelance positions at Garden & Gun Magazine, Elite Daily, Vogue, and Travel & Leisure—with her experience copy-writing and crafting digital stories in order to effectively communicate and deliver editorial and social content on a daily basis.

The Southern Coterie blog: "5 Confidence Boosters I Learned at the Summit" by Laura Mixon Camacho (photo: Kelli Boyd Photography for the 2018 Southern C Summit)

Elizabeth Mayhew

Elizabeth Mayhew is currently the Brand Editor for Reese Witherspoon’s Southern-inspired brand, Draper James, a contributing editor at NBC’s Today Show and a monthly columnist for The Washington Post. She also is the author of FLIP! for Decorating (Ballantine). She has worked for a number of publications including REAL SIMPLE, House Beautiful, Southern Living, and Woman’s Day. A native of Louisville, Kentucky and a graduate of Georgetown University, she now lives in New York City with her husband and two teenage kids.

Ellen McGauley of Veranda magazine, Presenter at the Southern C Summit (photo: Kristen Bailey Designs)

Ellen McGauley

Ellen McGauley is the deputy editor of Veranda, and previously, she led the homes department at Coastal Living magazine. In the nearly 15 years she’s spent in shelter magazines, Ellen has covered homes from the coast of Maine to the Caribbean, Santa Barbara to the southern tip of Spain, and interviewed design luminaries like Peter Dunham, Katie Ridder, Mark Sikes, and Ashley Whittaker.

Follow her on Instagram at @ellenmcgauley

Photo credit: Kristen Bailey Designs

Darcy Miller, presenter at The Southern C Summit

Darcy Miller

Author, illustrator, professional memory-keeper and self-professed confetti addict, when it comes to parties, there isn’t much that Darcy Miller won’t celebrate. Over the course of more than twenty years as the editorial director of Martha Stewart Weddings, and now as editor-at-large, Darcy has become a leading celebrations expert. She is the author and illustrator of CELEBRATE EVERYTHING! (William Morrow, 2016), her second book, in which she shares her tips, inspirations and favorite parties. She is also the author of OUR WEDDING SCRAPBOOK (William Morrow, 2004). Known for her ingenuity, creativity, and distinctive drawings, Darcy is committed to making life a celebration and is known for throwing a party you’ll never forget—and creative ways to document it so that you’ll remember it forever. Darcy believes in finding a reason to celebrate all of life’s moments, from the everyday to your biggest day. Though she’s worked on parties in every size, style and budget, her favorite fêtes are the ones she’s hosted for her husband and three daughters at home in New York City.

2019 Southern C Summit: Presenter Amy Mills of 17th Street BBQ

Amy Mills

Amy Mills was raised up on smoke, sauce, and Magic Dust®. Heiress to the 17th Street Barbecue empire, she’s the industry’s go-to girl for all things barbecue. Recipient of the coveted Barbecue Heroine prize, she leads 17th Street alongside her dad, Mike Mills. She also runs OnCue Consulting, the only barbecue business consultancy in the world, offering seminars and training in the culinary techniques behind great barbecue. She’s a featured judge on various barbecue shows such as CHOPPED, Best in Smoke, Kingsford Invitational, and Smoked, as well as co-star of the Mills family’s digital series, Praise the Lard.

Peace, Love, and Barbecue, co-authored with her dad, is considered a classic in the genre, was nominated for a James Beard Foundation award, and won the National Barbecue Association Award of Excellence. Their second book, Praise the Lard, was published in May 2017.

2019 Southern C Summit: Presenter Carrie More of Callie's Charleston Biscuits

Carrie Morey

Carrie Morey founded Callie’s Charleston Biscuits in 2005 with the goal of making the tender, buttery, made-by-hand biscuits of her mother accessible across the country. Touted by Saveur, Food & Wine, Southern Living, The New York Times and Oprah among others, Carrie and her small team of bakers are keeping the tradition of Southern biscuit making alive. Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit – grab-and-go biscuit eateries – are Carrie’s latest tasty endeavor with 3 locations in Charleston and Atlanta.

In addition, Carrie authored Callie’s Biscuits and Southern Traditions, a cookbook and narrative on entrepreneurship and life in the lowcountry. Morey has appeared live on the NBC Today Show, The Martha Stewart Show, Fox & Friends, The Hallmark Channel, Top Chef and QVC and has been profiled numerous times by The Food Network and Cooking Channel. Her handmade biscuits, pimento cheeses and other artisan goods have garnered 18 sofi awards from the Specialty Foods Association.

In addition to her role as owner at Callie’s Charleston Biscuits and Callie’s Hot Little Biscuits, Carrie operates an incubator, offering baking space along with mentoring to small artisan food businesses on location at Callie’s Charleston Biscuit’s bakery. She acts as a consultant to these entrepreneurs – helping them navigate everything from regulations to production and advising on marketing and growth strategies.

She is a guest lecturer at the College of Charleston School of Business where she has been a vital part of the curriculum – presenting the Entrepreneurship Class with a yearly project and valuable lessons from a successful and sustainable small business. She has also presented at the annual Southern Foodwriters Conference, Saveur Blog Awards, Les Dames D’Escoffier International Annual Conference and The Southern C Summit among others. Corporations, associations and individuals frequently call on Morey to for speaking engagements and “biscuit bootcamp” retreats.

Marysia Reeves, presenter at the 2019 Southern C Summit

Marysia Dobrzanska Reeves

Marysia Dobrzanska Reeves founded MARYSIA, the luxury womenswear brand in 2009. The Polish-born, former ballerina and longtime surfer spent most of her time wearing leotards and wetsuits. It wasn’t until she began to explore her interest in fashion that she discovered she could translate her early uniforms into a fresh, modern swim and effortless beachwear collection. Following her studies at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles and an internship with Milly in New York, Marysia launched her namesake brand out of Charleston, South Carolina. After a few years, the company relocated to New York to grow the business. Made from premium Italian fabrics, the swimwear is cut by hand in a couture factory. The brand’s aesthetics has attracted fans including Oscar winning actresses Lupita Nyong’o and Gwyneth Paltrow and global fashion influencers like Lauren Santo Domingo, Leandra Medine and Evangeline Smyrniotaki. While her scalloped edge swimwear has become her signature. Marysia continues to expand the brands offerings. With a focus on vacation wear, Marysia designs with travel in mind, creating collections a woman can wear from day to night. She is also constantly inspired by women who wear the collection and their appreciation for art, style, culture and adventure. Like them, Marysia wants her swim and off-duty resortwear to transport her to places she dreams of, from Harbour Island to Biarritz. The fashion industry has embraced the brand as well. Marysia won Charleston Fashion Week’s emerging Designer Competition in 2009 and was selected among the CFDA Fashion Fund’s top 20 in 2015. She has created exclusive capsule collections with brands including Jenni Kayne, Matchesfashion.com and Jonathan Cohen. The brand has been featured in leading fashion and lifestyle publications including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Architectural Digest, landing on covers of many of these publications over the years. It is globally sold in over 200 doors like Net-a-Porter, Lane Crawford and Collette. Marysia lives and works in Venice Beach, California with her husband Nathaniel, the company’s CFO and their two daughters.

2019 Southern C Summit: Presenter Melany Robinson of Polished Pig Media

Melany Robinson

Melany Robinson’s career path took a few twists and turns before bringing her to the world of public relations. A Southwest Virginia native, she received a degree in Biomedical Photography from Rochester Institute of Technology. Working for surgeons in the University of Chicago Department of Plastic Surgery doing inter-operative photography led to a healthcare marketing opportunity at LaRabida Children’s Hospital.

A relocation to Park City, UT spurred a career shift to film and sports, as Melany managed celebrity guests at the Sundance Film Festival and later executed events for the 2002 Winter Olympics and the CineVegas Film Festival. In 2003, the Southeast beckoned her to Charleston, SC, where she worked for the local Anheuser-Busch distributor, Pearlstine Distributors.

Ultimately, the hospitality and cuisine of the Lowcountry inspired her to pursue a career in hospitality public relations, and she joined Wagstaff Worldwide in 2005.

In early 2012, Melany founded Polished Pig Media and has never looked back. These days she is proud to call Birmingham, AL home. Through Polished Pig Media, she enjoys connecting likeminded people with common goals to create strategic and fruitful partnerships.

Adventurous and adaptable, Melany is just as happy on 5th Avenue in New York City as she is playing in the mountains with her husband and daughter. She is an active member of her community and is involved in the Birmingham Community Foundation and Les Dames d’Escoffier International. In her free time, you can find her working up a sweat doing a multitude of sports, and cheering on The Alabama Crimson Tide (Roll Tide!).

Stacy Smallwood of Hampden Clothing in Charleston, presents on converting social media to sales at the 2018 Southern C Summit in Sea Island, Georgia

Stacy Smallwood

Stacy Smallwood founded Hampden in 2007 as a style destination in Charleston that would allow women to fall in love with the most desired names in fashion, and to discover her favorite under-the-radar designers. Stacy travels to New York and London, Milan and Paris each season to stock her store with the best in established and emerging brands. An unerring eye for discovering the season’s most covetable pieces makes Stacy a respected resource for fashion insiders far and wide.

A graduate of Vanderbilt University, Stacy was accepted into the prestigious Neiman Marcus buying program in Dallas, TX where she worked as an assistant buyer & department manager. The retailing tenets she learned from the esteemed store lead her efforts at Hampden today. An elevated shopping experience, high-touch service and relationships – with customers, designers and employees– reign.

In addition to acting as owner and buyer for Hampden, Stacy signed on as the stylist for the female broadcasters at NBCSports and worked on a national TV show as the costume designer. She has appeared on the NBCs TODAY Show, online at Town & Country and The New York Times digital, and in the pages of Coastal Living, Southern Living, Vogue, and more.

Amy Flurry, workshop presenter at the 2019 Southern C Summit

Amy Flurry

Amy Flurry has two decades of editorial experience, conceiving story ideas, producing shoots and writing copy for magazines and online publications, including Country Living, InStyle, Refinery 29, Conde Nast Traveler, Better Homes & Gardens and Lucky magazine.

Inspired by this rich career in publishing, Amy authored Recipe for Press (Pitch Your Story and Create a Buzz, 2011) then took to the road, sharing her editorial insights with entrepreneurs. Recipe for Press (Designer Edition, 2018) is her newest book with the tools interior designers, architects, landscape planners and product designers need to take advantage of the new media opportunities available to creative professional.

Amy also applies her collective expertise in applying trend direction to product and brand development, working with companies to expand their marketing strategies and to connect businesses to the interior design trade.

Lauren Hopkins of LBH & Co. PR, Workshop Presenter and Mentor at the 2019 Southern C Summit

Lauren Hopkins + Kari Torstenson

With more than 20 years combined experience in lifestyle communications, Lauren and Kari partner with clients in the destination, design, and art industries, helping drive brand awareness and growth through effective brand management, thoughtful storytelling, and meaningful partnerships.

Attendees benefited from the duo’s experience promoting clients across a variety of industries, as well as their expertise in the fundamentals of making a great impression and building relationships on behalf of your brand.


MORE ABOUT LAUREN

As the principal of boutique public relations and communications firm LBH&Co., Lauren Hopkins is a passionate champion for her lifestyle clientele. Her clients are food lovers, fashion mavens, home accessories pioneers and travel destination experts. She’s not only proud of her clients and their work, she is also proud to call them friends.

Her days are filled with identifying newsworthy opportunities and brainstorming creative ways to share them with media, top bloggers, and like minded brands. Securing worthy collaborations and earned media opportunities is what makes her tick. The chase and development of new relationships thrills her.

With nearly a decade of experience and agency life behind her, running her own firm is both a blessing and a challenge. She’s grateful to do what she loves on the gorgeous St. Simons Island where she spends downtime enjoying her quaint town alongside her husband and children.

Kelli Boyd and Emily McCarthy, photo styling workshop presenters at the 2019 Southern C Summit

Emily McCarthy + Kelli Boyd

Kelli Boyd is a professional photographer with more than a decade of experience shooting commercial products, lifestyle content and events. Her lifestyle and event photography has been featured in numerous print and digital publications, and she is a regular commercial photographer for brands ranging from beauty products to digital influencers to interior spaces.

Emily McCarthy has been styling and designing products for retail since before the opening of her storefront Emily McCarthy Shoppe in 2016. Her extensive background combining brand design and retail marketing provides a unique perspective on the changing industry today.

Haile McCollum of Fontaine Maury, branding refresh workshop presenter at the 2019 Southern C Summit

Haile McCollum

Haile McCollum is the owner of Fontaine Maury, a brand strategy and design firm. Fontaine Maury develops, documents and extends brands through creative business strategies.

In addition to running her brand and design studio, Haile’s current passion project is being the Creative Director of Thom, a bi-annual arts and culture magazine. Weaving together the written word and stunning images, Thom expresses and promotes the abundance of creative thinking in Thomasville.

She has worked with artists and companies worldwide to license designs for consumer goods including: Disney, Susan Branch, Cathy Heck, Walmart, Target, Tiny Prints, Shutterfly and others. She was featured as a Country Living Woman Entrepreneur in 2007. Her work has been featured in Country Living, Southern Living, Real Simple, InStyle and O Magazine. She is a contributing artist in the book Crafting a Meaningful Home by Meg Mateo Ilasco and is honored to appear in the Country Living book The Mom’s Guide to Running a Business by Michelle Ribeiro.

Haile has a B.S. in Human Development from Vanderbilt University and an M.F.A. in Graphic design from The Savannah College of Art and Design. She lives in a historic house in Thomasville, Georgia with her husband, Ben, her 2 boys, Parker (12) and William (9) and their 2 Spaniels, Max.

The Southern Coterie: Summit Alums we Spied in September 2019 - Natasha Murphy featured in "Georgia Girls" article in Bulldawg Illustrated

Natasha Murphy

Natasha Murphy is the founder and principal developer of Nicely Built. She divides her working hours between working with clients to build beautiful, highly functional websites and expanding the menu of services offered by Nicely Built based on client needs and new technologies. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, shopping, drinking tea, cooking, and spending time outdoors.

Mandy Kellogg Rye of Waiting on Martha, Presenter at 2017 Southern Coterie Summit

Mandy Kellogg Rye

Waiting on Martha’s founder and curator, Mandy Kellogg Rye, lives by one mantra, “Life should be lived beautifully every single day.” Drawn to the “finer things” at an early age, her mother taught her how to appreciate beauty while her father how to create beauty.
A Michigan native, Mandy left the mitten behind and headed to Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois where she graduated with dreams of becoming a high-powered attorney. However, her dream quickly fell short when she realized law school wasn’t all about wearing a designer suit and winning arguments with loads of whit and banter. Law school wasn’t a complete bust though; it introduced her to Chicago, her first big city and one she still holds dear to her heart. A city that unknowingly became the backdrop, and beginning of Waiting On Martha.

A bracelet actually started it all. Well a bracelet, an obsession with food, an incessant need to throw a party whenever an opportunity presented itself, and an adoration for all things DIY. But back to the bracelet. One fateful day Mandy ventured into a Chicago bead store while a class was in session. Thinking that jewelry making would be a fun hobby, she began taking classes. To be clear, Mandy had no plans of it becoming anything more than a hobby. You know what they say about best laid plans…in 2011 Mandy opened an Etsy shop and officially launched her Waiting On Martha bracelet collection in April. The response was, and still is, quite overwhelming. Individuals not only loved the bracelets, but they wanted to know more about Mandy and her life. Enter Waiting On Martha The Blog.

As the ultimate creative and personal outlet for Mandy, Waiting On Martha The Blog focused simply on creating a beautiful everyday through fashion, food, décor, and DIY. As the reader’s grew so did the oh-so common question “where do I get that?” And thus, as Mandy puts it, “It only took one reader’s question to push me to indulge my dream of opening a boutique.” Waiting On Martha Home opened as an e-commerce boutique in July of 2012 and opened a brick and mortar location in Atlanta in 2015 (where Mandy now resides with her husband and Cavalier King Charles Addison).

Julianne Taylor + Lynai Jones + Kelly Shatat + Thomas Ard

Julianne Taylor, Founder + Creative Director of Taylor Burke Home and Julianne Taylor Style

Julianne’s namesake lifestyle brand is an offshoot of her work with product development at Taylor Burke Home, and she currently has multiple licensed collections under the Julianne Taylor Style brand. Julianne will share her learnings from negotiating multiple contracts and explain when it makes sense to create a personal brand outside of your company brand.

Lynai Jones, Owner of Mitchell Black

Lynai’s company has launched successful licensed wallpaper collections with Gray Malin and others and brings valuable insight on the necessary elements for a successful collaboration.

Kelly Shatat, Owner of Moon & Lola

Kelly’s company has worked with Emily McCarthy and Thimblepress to launch successful jewelry and lifestyle products. Kelly will share her learnings from these partnerships and her perspective on knowing when to license and when to private label.

Thomas “TomTom” Ard, Creative Director of Jayes Studio

TomTom has parlayed his hand painted designs into a successful licensed collection with Jayes Studio and collaborations with other brands. His pieces sold so well at Jayes that they brought him on board as Creative Director. TomTom will share his path of artist to entrepreneur and the pitfalls to avoid.

Agenda

WEDNESDAY

8:00 – 8:30 am: Registration for Workshop Attendees
8:30 – 10:30 am: Add-on Workshops (pre-paid and pre-registered attendees only)
10:00 am – noon: Swag Market and General Registration (drop in)
1:00 – 1:15 pm: Welcome
1:15 – 2:00 pm: Session 1
2:00 – 2:45 pm: Session 2
2:45 – 3:15 pm: Session 3 – Media Q&A
3:15 – 4:00 pm: Break – Meet the Artists
4:00 – 5:00 pm: Session 4 – Mentor Session
6:00 – 6:30 pm: Happy Hour in The Cloister lobby (cash champagne bar)
6:30 – 9:30 pm: Summit Boho Bash at The Vine’s Greenhouse

THURSDAY

9:00 – 9:40 am: Session 5
9:40 – 10:00 am: Session 6
10:00 – 10:30 am: Session 7 – Media Q+A
10:30 – 11:15 am: Session 8
11:15 am – 12:00 pm: Session 9
12:15 – 1:15 pm: Mentor Luncheon
1:30 – 2:00 pm: Session 10
2:00 – 2:45 pm: Session 11
2:45 – 3:30 pm: Session 12
3:30 – 4:00 pm: Session 13
4:00 – 6:00 pm: Sip, Shop + Socialize
6:00 – 9:30 pm: Dinner on your own
9:30 – 11:30 pm: Silent Disco in Mizner Ballroom

FRIDAY

10:00 am – noon: Brunch

Sponsors