ISS Fort Worth 2016 Show Directory - 21

ISS FORT WORTH 2016 Lee, and her brother Keith, exhibited at their first ISS Show and at their first Seminar, introduced the concept of Stock Designs. The same year, winning Stitches magazine's Grand Prize for the Balboa Stitch Designs, the Carosellis focused the industry's attention to the digitizer's responsibility to the industry by providing low stitch designs that ran well and looked beautiful! In the early 90's, believing that embroidery could be more than a cartoon, the Carosellis showed you can blend colors with the computerized embroidery machines. Winning Stitches Grand Prize again with a "Water Color Embroidery" of the Balboa Pavilion, and the next year with the Elvis Presley Stamp, history was made. In 2002, both Lee and her late brother Keith, were inducted into the Embroidery Hall of Fame for their "Excellence in Embroidery and the Quality of their Tutorials". More recently, Lee's digitizing classes have been instrumental is her being named one of the 20 most creative in our industry, and for the last four years, one of the 75 Most Influential. Her ability to think outside of the box, and to make digitizing and related subjects relevant and easy to understand, make her Seminars exciting. Marco Pena Business Development Manager, DecoNetwork Marco has over 17 years of experience in the decorated apparel industry ranging from graphic and embroidery design, software development, and e-commerce. Marco previously worked for a major embroidery machine brand as a field technician. He then moved to Wilcom where he worked as the National Sales Manager. Most recently Marco is working as the Business Development Manager for DecoNetwork, an international company that brings e-commerce and business solutions tailor made to the decorated apparel industry. It is this background and in-depth knowledge that give Marco unprecedented access to how some of the most successful businesses have become so profitable. As a national speaker Marco loves sharing these concepts with companies because he is very passionate about this industry and wants to be part of people's success. Passion is something you will see when you attend one of his classes because he takes a lot of pride in ensuring that all those that attend will leave with a deeper understanding and excitement. Matt Vassallo William Sween CEO/Owner, The Rhinestone World Education Manager, Brother International Matt Vassallo is the founder and CEO of The Rhinestone World, Inc. (TRW), an international distributor of apparel and decal related software, equipment, and supplies. While working as a full-time teacher, Matt launched his company out of a spare bedroom of his home in 2006 selling finished rhinestone and vinyl products. Through hard work and determination, Matt has grown TRW into the thriving business it is today. Well-acquainted with the difficulties of starting a business, Matt has developed a business model as a distributor dedicated to training and equipping those who are beginning just like he did. He is best known for his YouTube channel which boasts over 1,000 free videos aimed at helping business owners get started or grow in the apparel and decal industry. Matt continues to be devoted to teaching as the lead instructor and driving force behind The Rhinestone University and TRW-TV, both web-based training programs consisting primarily of live, interactive webinars. Matt is a cancer survivor, a coach and an ardent fan of baseball. He resides in Lakewood Ranch, FL with his wife and life-time business partner, Laureen, and his two children, Madison and Jaxson. For more info about Matt, visit www.therhinestoneworld.com or email info@therhinestoneworld.com William Sween graduated Frostburg State University with a Business Major and Computer Science Minor in 1983. From 1983 through 1996, William did micro-computer sales and consulting for Computerland and MicroAge. William switched from mainstream computing to selling Brother International industrial embroidery machines in 1996. Brother celebrated their 10 year anniversary of selling the GT garment printers in 2015 (the first GT-541s were sold in 2005). William has been focused on the GT products since their introduction in 2005. As the importance of "hands on" detailed demonstrations became clear, William built a transportable GT demonstration system. On-site demonstrations at hundreds of customer locations give William a unique insight into the wide range of uses for direct-to-garment (DTG) printing. Terry Combs Sales & Training, Equipment Zone Terry Combs is a 35+ year veteran of the garment printing industry, and has managed production shops large and small across the United States. He has written hundreds of management and technical articles for garment printing publications and spoken at industry events worldwide. He is currently in sales and training with Equipment Zone, Franklin Lakes, N.J., working from Scottsdale, Arizona. His recent books, Screen Printing: A Practical Guide, and Direct-to-Garment: A Practical Guide, are available on Amazon. Keep up with Terry's classes, blog posts, speaking engagements and other resources on his website: www.terrycombs.com www.ISSshows.com 21 http://www.therhinestoneworld.com http://www.terrycombs.com http://www.ISSshows.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ISS Fort Worth 2016 Show Directory