Advance Your Art: From Artist to Creative Entrepreneur

MEET SANDI CURTIS: Dr. Sandi Curtis, MT-BC, MTA, is Professor Emeritus in the Music Therapy Program at Concordia University’s Creative Arts Therapies Department. She is an internationally trained music therapist with more than 30 years’ experience in clinical practice, education, and research. Dr. Curtis specializes in work with survivors of violence, with current research interests in Feminist Mu...

MEET MARANDA JOINER: Maranda Joiner is a Brand Strategist that helps entrepreneurs, creative, and business owners find their unique brand voice and connect it to their purpose so that they can make money. She is a Jackson, MS native, and worked as an on-air radio personality at  99JAMSWJMI  for almost fifteen years. For over six years she has curated and&nbs...

MEET BRANDI BERNOSKIE Brandi is a digital strategist, website developer, and founder of Alchemy+Aim and North Star Sites, companies that help entrepreneurs and business owners elevate their online presence and enhance their digital experience. She is an advocate for using technology in ways that humanize, connect and serve people as well as for asking deeper philosophical questions and teaching ot...

MEET ELIZABETH C. HAYNES: Elizabeth C. Haynes is an abuse and trauma survivor, a former yoga teacher, a rare disease sufferer, and a kindness warrior. She has a unique perspective on life. Born in Texas, Elizabeth grew up in the suburbs of Dallas and now resides north of the city next to a greenbelt full of birds and bugs (this makes her very happy). She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Literature...

MEET DANIELLE GLOSSER: Danielle Glosser is the Founder and Principal of Client Raiser, a business dedicated to helping artists to increase their client volume and the visibility of their art. Since 2014, she has worked with artists across the country in support of their professional goals. Danielle’s expertise in strategic planning, project management, research, writing, and networking comes from...

MEET AMY GORDON Amy Gordon is an independent Artist in Greensboro, North Carolina. She has a BS in Textile Design from NCSU and worked as a Menswear fashion designer in New York City for brands such as Geoffrey Beene, Oscar De La Rente, and Nautica. Her color theory studies in London and San Francisco and collaborations with WEST ELM gives her diversity that is uncommon. She most well known as one...

About Cherie Aimée Cherie Aimée is a World-Renowned Near-Death Survivor, Heart Tx Recipient, Transformational Leader & Global speaker exploring the intersection between advanced technology and humanity. She has spoken on stages around the world with some of the leading authors, artists, celebrities, journalists, thought leaders, billionaires, academics, surgeons, technologists, developers...

MEET HUGH BRYNE: HUGH G. BYRNE, Ph. D. is a senior teacher with the Insight Meditation Community of Washington (IMCW), and co-founder of the Mindfulness Training Institute of Washington. He has worked extensively in the fields of human rights and social justice and is committed to advocating the benefits of mindfulness and other contemplative practices to help relieve the suffering of the world. H...

MEET MARGIE WARRELL: Margie Warrell draws on her background in Fortune 500 business, coaching, and psychology to embolden people to lead themselves and others to better outcomes. Living on multiple continents around the world has made Margie a sought after expert by organizations from Salesforce, British Telecom, NASA, Morgan Stanley, UN Foundation, Johnston & Johnston, L’Oreal, Microsoft, SAP...

MEET MAREK ZMYSLOWSKI: Marek Zmysłowski is a Polish-born entrepreneur and executive, focused on online businesses in Frontier and Emerging Markets. He co-founded Jumia Travel – Africa’s Biggest Hotel Booking Portal listed on NYSE as part of Jumia Group and HotelOnline.co – a Travel Technology Company. In 2014, he was chosen as one of the Ten Most Important People in Tech by IT News Africa Magazine...

MEET GEORGE BIRRELL: After earning his master’s in taxation and scoring in the top 10% of his class on his CPA exam, George began his career in public accounting. 12 years in, he transitioned into controllership for an engineering firm. Even as his career evolved, as an innovator it was never far from George’s mind that when it came to consumer tax prep, there had to be a better way. When he found...

MEET ANNA RABORN: North Carolina native Anna Stephenson Raborn holds an undergraduate degree from Elon University and half a master's from Boston University. She performed opera, oratorio, and musical theatre across the US and Europe before settling into Boston's innovation ecosystem.  Anna is currently the Director of Business Development for Manifest Boston, and co-founder of Hopscotch Labs...

MEET EMPRESS: At just four-years-old, EMPRESS’s life was changed when her hands touched the black and white keys on a keyboard for the first time. Her love for music evolved into a career as a professional dancer, and she was one of the youngest members of the San Francisco Ballet. As her talents developed, EMPRESS moved to New York City where she performed on Broadway as the lead in the Tony Awar...

MEET KRISTEN SOETERS Formerly a classical ballerina, Kristen Elizabeth found her self stuck financially after 5yrs in the arts. Using the self-employed skills she developed as an artist she pivoted to emerge as a social entrepreneur and business mentor.  Always having a passion to create ripples of influence, Kristen was dissatisfied with her nonprofit classical ballet car...

MEET SIMON COCKING: Simon Cocking is Senior Editor at Irish Tech News, and freelances for the Sunday Business Post, The Irish Times, The Southern Star, and Dublin Globe among other publications. In 2016 he was been named on 3 lists of global influencers to follow for fintech, blockchain, and data security. He has been based in Ireland for 20 years. He has founded four companies and introduced...

MEET KATHERINE ZARTMAN: Former furniture executive, artist, mother of three, grandmother of six, great-grandmother of one.  Lavender Moon is my memoir, ending with the death of my mate, found late in life and taken too soon. I still grieve for him but realized over time that I am still alive and that I need to continue. I found the answer in words, love stories that give me comfort...

MEET DR. TWYLA DELL Twyla Dell, Ph. D., holds a degree in environmental studies and is a force to be reckoned with on changing from gasoline to electronic villages. Committed to raising awareness about the damage our gasoline consumption is having on planet Earth, Twyla reveals the truth about gasoline and its heavy dividend from burning it. Twyla spent her childhood on a farm in Oregon and her hi...

MEET AMANDA WEBSTER Amanda Webster is a fitness model and certified Mind Body Coach who overcame depression on her own terms after years of being guinea-pigged on anti-depressants, losing her parents and succumbing to addiction and self-harm led her to a ledge in a Canadian hotel room where she almost took her life. After a year and a half of self-discovery and making healthy changes in her life,...

MEET BAILIE SLEVIN BAILIE SLEVIN is the founder of Entertaining Finance, a financial advising firm designed to cater to the needs of people in the arts and entertainment fields. With 13 years of experience as a financial adviser and a hefty resume in theater, she is redefining planning for artists, entrepreneurs, and creatives nationwide. After working with the traditional suit and tie wearing fir...

MEET LAUREN VERMILLION Lauren Vermillion has a passion for leadership, learning, taking on challenges, and helping others. As a young athlete, she was always driven to succeed. After years of failure, she overcame obstacles and setbacks to achieve her life-long goal becoming a US Figure Skating double gold medalist. It was through this ultimate test of character, motivation, and faith that she lea...

MEET KATHRYN GOETZKE: Kathryn Goetzke is an entrepreneur, strategic consultant, and global depression advocate. She is the entrepreneur and innovator behind Mood-lites™, a brand that achieved over 35 million dollars in retail sales. As her role as Chief Mood Officer at  The Mood Factory , she is committed to getting people into the present moment through her new line of product based on how s...

MEET LYNNA REDHAWK Lynna Redhawk is an author, keynote speaker, corporate consultant and artist. She teaches a philosophy called  Vagare , which means “to wander” in Italian. Lynna believes in the power of process art and its ability to unlock out-of-the-box innovation, flashes of brilliance and moments of genius. With an energetic and dynamic speaking style, Lynna will inspire your audience...

MEET SHAYNA NORWOOD Shayna Norwood founded her company, Steel Petal Press in 2011 to share beauty and humor with the world through her collection of handmade stationery. She is a professionally trained visual artist with a BFA from San Francisco Art Institute and has been letterpress printing since 2004. Steel Petal Press has been featured in Proof to Product, Pop Sugar, BuzzFeed, Brit + Co, Refin...

MEET MARK SAMUEL: MARK SAMUEL is the CEO and Founder of IMPAQ, and the Author of B STATE: A New Roadmap for Bold Leadership, Brave Culture, and Breakthrough Results. His B STATE methodology represents a new paradigm and roadmap for rapidly transforming an organization’s business and culture at the same time. His specialty is getting alignment with Senior Leadership Teams and executing strategy thr...

MEET DEBRA WANGER Debra is a Certified Bulletproof Human Potential Coach, studying in a year-long program with the Bulletproof Human Potential Institute with Dave Asprey and Dr. Mark Atkinson. She was one of the first 50 coaches ever certified by that program. As a coach, Debra helps her clients focus on their goals, figure out an action plan to crush those goals, find and eliminate the obsta...