So, I did a thing.

My recent creative work is mainly for Pareti. While I did the creative work, this is also a story about inventing and creating a manufacturing company from start-up to international exporter. While my experiences are quite varied, design and communications have always been at the center, and in Pareti’s case, were the reason we were able to grow quickly within six  years. This is a testament to the power of marketing and communications!

From 2014-2020, my largely 2D experience turned to 3D: thanks to invention that became portable walls. As it turned out, the world needed these walls for museums, education, offices, homes, and trade shows. By early 2020 we were on track to proceed manufacturing portable walls for a major furniture retailer in stores in nearly every country – a sale that would quadruple our workforce and allow us to have some real fun with growth! We reorganized workflows. We began programming manufacturing models which encouraged self-management and productivity on every level, modelled after the programming industry. Our corporate culture is one of valued input from all levels of the team, and we each espouse a strong commitment to quality. From designer, to builders, to painters, to shipping and instalation teams, we build enduring products we can be proud of.

Teamwork is an advantage

Pareti’s success is the result of a great team. That’s not just a cliche – it’s a strategy. As a people manager I continuously request input in regard to product design and production methods, especially from our newest team members. Getting the opinions from those who are highly motivated to begin, yet have not yet learned our methods, has offered proven insights. This has helped us grow and become more efficient. While we take pride in our work, and take personal responsibility, ego is not a thing here. As a growing company, our biggest advantage has been new ideas.

However, using communications is really the secret to our success. Similar to car sales, our return orders are years apart. Most or our customers are first-timers, and most will not reorder within 15 years (the general lifespan of the product). The ease of positioning a product on the web, phone, social media, video, and the written word allowed us to successfully complete with companies which dominated this market for over 50 years. Our small size allowed us to introduce products very quickly, and our production methods offered a way to create custom products nearly as efficiently as mass-produced products.

StickerSkinz is a toy product which encourages kids to be creative with shapes, while repurposing packaging. After raising five kids I had an ephiphany about how much trash we generated. Having been a product and brand manager for a toy company, I felt we could have done more with packaging to create more play time.

The greatest concepts for toys are sacrificed due to minimum order requirements – largely because of tool and die and other investments to bank on a firm ROI. As a result, creative play scenarios are sacrificed – as well as learning opportunites for kids. The StickerSkinz concept  made use of the most expensive part of toy development (creating the 3D shapes) and offered extensive craft and play time.

Check out the video at right to learn about StickerSkinz.

Other past projects include packaging, advertising, children’s book illustration, content development and design for industrial B2B and retail customers.

I also wrote a book about how to move forward after widowhood, currently for sale on Amazon.com.

2012-2014

2007-2012

1998-2007