Melinda Ligos, Editor in Chief, ASI magazines
Melinda Ligos is editor in chief of ASI’s seven magazines, which include Stitches, Wearables Business, Uniforms and Counselor. She is also editor of Successful Promotions. Immediately prior to joining ASI in January 2005, she spent 11 years with VNU Business Media in New York, where she served as editorial director of three magazines. Under her leadership, VNU received several awards and was honored with the Magazine of the Year distinction from the American Society of Business Publication Editors. In addition, she has also been a regular contributor to The New York Times' business section. Contact: mligos@asicentral.com

Joe Haley, Managing Editor 
Joe Haley, who’s managing editor of ASI’s seven magazines, is a 13-year veteran of the advertising specialty industry. He writes a wearables advice column for Counselor magazine and a humor column for Advantages. He also serves as the producer of and an on-air talent for ASI TV. In his spare time he coaches soccer and is on the PA state coaching staff. In 2000 it named him the PA soccer coach of the year. Contact: jhaley@asicentral.com

Katherine Schneider, Staff Writer
Katherine is a staff writer for Stitches, Wearables and Successful Promotions. Prior to coming to ASI, Katherine was an associate editor for a marketing publication, Garden Solutions, which served 100,000 readers nationwide. Before that, she was a reporter with The Express-Times, a daily newspaper based in Easton, PA. She is a 2001 graduate of Penn State University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and completed a minor in psychology. In her spare time, Katherine likes to garden, shop, read, and spend time with family and friends. Contact: kdschneider@asicentral.com

MIKE ANGEL is vice president of  marketing and U.S. sales for Melco in Denver. Specializing in business development, he has 11 years of industry experience and 19 years of sales and marketing techniques. He enjoys the Colorado lifestyle with his wife and two children.  

“The Internet is making the world smaller," Angel says. "I think taking advantage of the opportunity to communicate to a worldwide audience offers just as much advantage to small businesses if not more then large businesses and brands. It's our responsibility to seize this opportunity and help shape the future of the industry. ”

JERI LEE AUCLAIR owns and operates Phoenix-based Black Eagle Designs, a custom and stock digitizing company. She’s been digitizing for more than 11 years and she’s stepped out in the industry as a digitizing instructor, specializing in Tajima DG/ML by Pulse software. Her designs appear regularly in Stitches’ Stock Design Gallery.

“Finding niche markets will be the challenge – as new embroiderers join the industry, there’s more competition for the run-of-the-mill customer. Creating niche markets is necessary to set yourself apart from the pack,” Auclair says. “Thinking outside the box will bring in unexpected dollars while giving embroiderers an opportunity to do jobs that are fresh, new and exciting.”

PAT BALDES is the sole proprietor of Personalization Solutions Inc., a consulting firm based in Fair Haven, MI. With more than 20 years in the decorated apparel industry, Baldes has acquired not only a wide knowledge base but also a deep understanding of personalization options in most media applications. She’s a consultant at industry trade shows and special events for a select group of key industry companies. This exposure enables her to be on the leading edge of the latest technology and products available. Baldes strives to share this information with motivated business owners on an individual basis. She’s also involved in a series of education programs entitled “Dare to Be Different,” which is being offered to business owners who wish to explore the options available for expanding their business base and decorating options. Information and dates are available on her Web site. 

 JENNIFER COX is co-founder of Kent, OH-based National Network of Embroidery Professionals. She joined a sole proprietorship needle arts and embroidery business in 1991, which was then incorporated into Designs on You Inc. She handled all the outside sales, marketing and customer service for the family embroidery business.

“One of the surprise challenges for many embroiderers will be how much is involved in running a successful embroidery business,” Cox says. “Embroiderers who succeed spend as much time running their businesses as they do running their machines – and their growth and profits reflect that. Think of yourself as a business owner first, recognize that embroidery is your product and make your decisions from that perspective.”

 GINNY FINEBERG, president of Wildwood Crest, NJ-based Sandpiper Embroidery, started her shop on the porch of her house 25 years ago with a Meistergram machine. Sandpiper now has 22 heads, a wholesale and retail embroidery business, and a stock design and custom digitizing business.

“The huge number of home embroidery machines will continue to make up a small portion of the commercial embroidery business,” Fineberg says. “We need to be respectful of the fact that someone’s Aunt Marion made sweats for her nephew, the plumber, and at the same time, she can show a customer she can sew his Carhartt jackets – perhaps digitizing his logo for free.”

 STEVE FREEMAN is an industry consultant. Most recently he served as vice president of Super Embroidery and Screen Printing, based in Phoenix. He also owned and operated his own commercial embroidery business from 1989 to 2003, then lent his expertise at Carlsbad, CA-based Ashworth Inc. where he served as technical embroidery and digitizing manager.

JOANNA GRANT is the director of sales for Affinity Express, a Chicago-based international digitizing, document creation and multimedia services company, which is also a member affiliate with the Advertising Specialty Institute. Grant has been involved in the decorated apparel industry for more than 20 years.

“Garment manufacturers are constantly developing exciting new fabrics for their clothing lines,” Grant says. “These fabrics have more stretch, are more plush or exhibit other unique characteristics that make them challenging to embroider. It’ll be time consuming for embroiderers to learn to successfully decorate these unique fabrics, and it could be expensive if not done well. Careful training of staff, as always, is a key factor to an embroiderer’s success.”

WENDY GRAY is director of creative services for Avenel, NJ based Vantage Apparel. She’s been in the apparel business for more than 20 years has 15 years of embroidery experience at Vantage. In her position, she oversees product and decoration development, and creative graphic services.

“With such a variety of embellishment offerings in the retail market, it has become a challenge for embroiderers to keep up with the latest trends and techniques that they may be asked to replicate,” Gray says. “The challenge to embroiderers is being aware of the new looks in the market and educating themselves on how they’re accomplished.”

BRIAN GREUL is the founder and president of Houston-based Texas Shirt Co. Founded in 2002, Texas Shirt Co. provides embroidery and screen-printing decoration services to a wide range of U.S. and international clients.

“I think the largest challenge for embroiderers will continue to be operating competitively in the face of a shrinking global marketplace,” Greul says. “Competition from overseas is fiercer than ever. This means domestic embroiderers will need to continue to seek new ways to be efficient, fast, unique and deliver the utmost quality.”

 COLLEEN HARTIGAN is vice president of sales for Laconia, NH-based Madeira USA Ltd. For the past 23 years, she has worked in the embroidery industry for Madeira. Hartigan was appointed vice president of sales in 2007, director of sales in 2003 prior to that she served as manager of sales and customer service.

“The surprise challenge for embroiderers in 2008 may be adjusting to meet the demands of the retail apparel industry,” Hartigan says. “Because retailers are looking at smaller production, more styles and quicker turnarounds, efficient embroiderers could help bring work back to North America.”