Big Picture - November/December 2019 - 7

BIG PICTURE WOMEN IN PRINT PANEL
After the breakfast, Palmer hosted a panel with three of the
2019 Women in Print Award winners: Tracy Hiner of Black
Crow Studios (blackcrowstudios.com, Long Beach, California), Tanya McNab of McNab Visual Strategies (mcnabvisual.
com, Belize City, Belize), and Susan Otterson from ABL
Imaging Group (ablimaging.ca, Calgary, Alberta, Canada).
Here are some notable quotes on a range of topics discussed,
including the winners' entry into digital printing, training
employees, mentoring, how to deal with sexism, and more.

"I took a bizarre path - I didn't even know this
industry existed."
- HINER, who started her business with $2000 to her name

On the topic of decision-making: "Don't ever tell
me we can't do it. Always have a solution."
- McNAB

"Someone told me the best thing to do is to make
a decision."
- OTTERSON

"Everyone can afford an entry-level printer. People
are pushing innovative ways to use these machines."
- HINER

"The biggest change is fabric. It's changing the
face of the industry."
- OTTERSON

"It helps motivate you and keep you on your game."
- McNAB, on doubters of her business based on her gender.

WOMEN IN PRINT AWARDS CEREMONY
To cap off the female-centric day,
Big Picture magazine hosted the
fourth-annual Women in Print
Awards ceremony at ST Media
Group's booth. Palmer recognized
the three winners in attendance,
and industry leaders, previous
Women in Print Award winners,
vendors, press, and analysts
enjoyed celebratory cocktails while
discussing women in print courtesy
of the awards sponsors: SGIA, SAi,
HP, Agfa Graphics, and Arlon.

BIGPICTURE.NET

The sold-out breakfast featured an interview with
teenaged, Miami-based fashion designer Ariel Swedroe and
Adrienne Palmer, editor-in-chief of Big Picture and Screen
Printing magazines and a Women in Print Alliance board
member. The two discussed Swedroe's remarkable journey
thus far, despite her youth. A brief film encapsulated her introduction to fashion and highlighted just some of the 800-plus
designs and prints she uses from her grandfather's art
collection. "I was always surrounded by art," Swedroe said.
Swedroe got her start in digital printing at 7 years old
and is now a junior at Design and Architecture Senior High
School, where she maintains a 4.0 GPA. Once her school day
ends, she heads to DesignLab Miami where she works on her
fashion line, Swedroe: Art to Wear by Ariel. Her "passion
for fashion" also is exemplified in her philanthropic work.
Swedroe has taught pregnant teens in Cartagena, Columbia,
to sew, teaches coding at CODeLLA and Pearl Girlz, and
plans to go to Africa in June 2020 for more of the same.
She uses 3D printers, laser cutters, and sublimation
printers for her fashion line, all supplied by DesignLab. She is
looking into recycled materials for upcoming designs and
feels they're vitally important to the future of the planet.
Swedroe credits her mentor, Angie Cohen, founder and
creative director, DesignLab, for aiding in her success thus
far, and hopes to continue her work at the London School of
Fashion after graduating high school.
Members of the Women in Print Alliance continued the
event by highlighting important issues in the workforce.
Kristin Lanzarone-Scribner, WrapStar Pro, spoke about
surviving crises and thriving thereafter. She offered five "key
ingredients" to help anyone get through a crisis:
1. Self love
2. Leading a healthy lifestyle
3. Separating personal from business
4. Setting goals and achieving them
5. Surrounding yourself with influential people.
Michelle White of Vycom Plastics discussed speaking
with confidence. She offered these six pointers to become a
more confident speaker:
1. Take your time
2. Don't qualify statements; be direct
3. Avoid apologizing
4. Avoid question statements (non-questions that have the
inflection of a question)
5. Don't discount your opinion
6. Be yourself - the most important of the six tips.
Tiffany Rader Spitzer of Roeder Industries and RedHeaded
Step Shirt Consulting Company offered myths about millennials
(she is one). Though some have not figured out what they want,
many like structure and transparency and are open to teaching.
They are the future of the workforce, she said.

Zund America's Heather Roden talked about knowing
your value. Noting that women still make only 77-90 cents on
the dollar compared to men, she offered this advice:
1. Accept a lesser role and work your tail off - though this
is becoming dated
2. Get out of your own way
3. Speak up aggressively
The presentation concluded with questions from the
audience and a "plea" by Palmer for companies to stop the
practice of hiring "booth babes" at tradeshows. "If your
machine needs a scantily clad or body-painted woman to
attract attention to it," Palmer said, "then it's probably not
good enough on its own."

http://www.blackcrowstudios.com http://www.ablimaging.ca http://www.BIGPICTURE.NET

Big Picture - November/December 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Big Picture - November/December 2019