One of the things I love most about blogging is the connections that I’ve made over the years. Through my blog I have met some great people and have been blessed with some awesome opportunities. One of connections I’ve made is with Michiel Perry. Michiel is the founder of Black Southern Belle, a website and blog dedicated to featuring and promoting black, southern women who are business owners, entrepreneurs and creatives from across a variety of industries. Michiel found me through social media and I was honored to have been featured on the #BSB website in June of last year.
With the success of Black Southern Belle, Michiel wanted to extend her brand and develop a series of intimate events where creatives could come together for learning, inspiration and networking. She established the Black Southern Belle Collective with the mission to create a curated network of diverse Southern-based vendors who are interested in investing and supporting each other’s business success and providing unique opportunities for the Black Southern Belle consumer. Last week her mission came to life when she hosted the first Atlanta Tastemaker Summit and I was honored to be one of the featured presenters.
The Atlanta Tastemaker Summit was held in the designer workspace at AmericasMart Atlanta. Many of the talented business owners had their craft on display including gorgeous floral arrangements created by Renee from Lush Floral & Event Stylists.
Pure Leaf served as the Premier Sponsor for the event and treated us to their premium pure leaf ice teas.
Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles Magazine served as a Tastemaker Sponsor and had copies of the latest issue available for everyone to take.
We were also treated to delicious food throughout the day from local chefs and bakers Kardea’s Kusine, Gem of The South, Grey Ghost Bakery and Sage’s Larder.
It was an exciting day which included several presentations and panel discussions. I kicked things off with my presentation entitled Holiday Decorating For Lifestyle Branding. The focus of my workshop was to share tips on how to build and grow your creative business through holiday decorating services. I added some holiday cheer to the room and by creating a themed holiday vignette including a decorated tree and wrapped gifts.
David and Lance from Parker Kennedy Living shared the story behind their business and how they’ve developed it into a successful design and lifestyle brand. These two are just so charming and I learned a lot and am definitely inspired by their success.
Steve and Jill Mckenize, owners of the retail store and design business Steve Mckenzie’s showed us how to create chic and stylish tabletop arrangements with southern flair. If you haven’t visited their store yet, I highly recommend it because it’s filled with beautiful decor, gifts and Steve’s exclusive designs and fabrics.
The panel discussions focused on a variety of topics including working with brands, how to get local press and tips on how to build and market your business.
top photo: Mary Guerry–Charleston Area Convention & Visitors Bureau //Melanie Watts–Brand Marketing Director at Pepsico //Jewel Burks–Co-Founder # CEO of Paretic and Entrepreneur in Residence amor Diversity Markets @ Google
middle photo: Katie Kern-Marketing & PR Director @ Media Frenzy Global // Kimberly Sundt–Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles //Erika Ward–Erika Ward Interiors // Chandra Luckett–Former Weekend Executive Producer@ Fox 5 Atlanta //Gail Johnson–Gail Johnson Weddings
bottom photo: Erika Prevail–Owner of Charm Etiquette //Kardea Brown–Owner of Kardea’s Kusine //Michelle Bene–Owner of Bene Scarves // Tamara Eckles–Owner of Jem of The South
The day also included a tour of several design showrooms at AmericasMart. I snapped these beautiful tabletop displays in the Saro showroom (one of my favorite product lines).
I enjoyed every minute of the Atlanta Tastemaker Summit and have to thank Michiel Perry of Black Southern Belle Collective for including me in this wonderful and inspiring event.
The next Tastemaker Summit will take place in Charleston on Nov. 15th and 16th. You can find all the details here.
#BSB
I enjoyed this event. Great read – thanks for sharing!
you are a gem! thanks so much for inviting me to participate and the opportunity meet so many industry creatives.
Thank you for your support!
Excellent recap of last week’s event. I really loved your presentation last week as well! My mom and I love decorating for fall and Christmas. Happy to meet someone of like mind! 🙂
Thanks Tamara. I’m trying to work in out so I can attend the Charleston event. Look forward to seeing you then.
Shelly
Wonderful recap. I would love to attend one of these and will if she ever host in my area. Thanks for sharing.