Meet the Editor

Editor’s Letter:
Editor's note

Contact Nicole Rollender, editor with success stories

Editor's Note

Between you and me, Elvis Presley is forever the King of Rock and Roll. I've been in that man's court since I was a kid, and I can lip-synch almost any one of his songs. (Have you ever searched on YouTube for Elvis' "Welcome to My World"? It's a sensual stunner.)

So, as we were choosing who to profile in our "20 Creative Thinkers" cover story about the industry's most innovative people – everyone on the list was nominated by our readers – I was thrilled to learn that Lee Caroselli, industry great and co-owner of Palm City, CA-based Balboa Threadworks, digitized the famed 1994 Elvis commemorative stamp with a jaw-dropping blending technique in about six hours, when the previous digitizers couldn't get it to work no matter how hard they tried. "We were able to do it with just six cones of thread," Caroselli says modestly. "The previous designs were scrapped because they needed 28 cones. It made it cost-prohibitive."

The 20 people we chose are all industry greats in their own right. You'll meet decorators, digitizers (like Caroselli), artists, machine techs, decorator salespeople, supplier reps and more, all of whom have interesting life stories that will inspire and delight you. Take Cory Dean, the recent college grad who asked his parents for a $25,000 loan, and now has a nearly $10 million a year digitizing business (seriously) and is planning to outfit his digs with Dale Chihuly's work. Or, Ted Stahl, head of an international family of nearly 20 businesses under parent company GroupeSTAHL, who actually finds the time to refurbish and race tugboats in-between inventing little things like Thermo-FILM (a lightweight polyurethane film for athletic jersey personalization) and Water-Jet technology for custom-cutting twill, among countless other innovations. We hope you're invigorated by reading our "20 Creative Thinkers" cover story.

And, you'll also notice that my editor's letter has a new design. That's because I want to include your feedback on current issues in this space. I'll be reaching out to you in the near future for your opinions. But, if you have something to say, don't be shy: I'm always waiting for your e-mails.

Nicole Rollender

nrollender@asicentral.com

We Asked You ...

Who do you think should be on Stitches' Creative Thinkers List? 

Lori Sacalis, Barron & Posternock LLP, Moorestown, NJ: 
"We'd highly recommend Geri Finio, owner of Moorestown, NJ-based Studio 187. It's such a pleasure to work with her. We've collaborated on several projects together, and the final result is always beautiful, professional, timely and a great value."

Aaron O. Gunderson, Vice President, Business Development, Pro Towels Etc. (asi/79750): 
"I'd like to nominate Dana Zezzo, vice president of sales for Pro Towels. He's a 20-plus year veteran of the promotional industry specializing in decorating, apparel, towels and social media. Dana's passion for our industry allows im to take his experiences in all facets of his career and blend them to help others, whether in decorating, sales strategies for suppliers, distributors and decorators or, most recently, social media. Dana's passion is evident whenever he speaks to groups on these subjects, but his respect for our business and ‘real-life' demeanor prove to be a recipe that people embrace."

Bonnie Landsberger, Moonlight Design, Cannon Falls, MN: "Neville Appanna, a 22-year digitizing veteran with E-Fect in Durban, South Africa, caters to embroiderers globally and has been a member of the online community for over a decade. A master at the craft, he's considered a ‘digitizer's digitizer' by many of his peers, referred for producing high quality fast and always generous with digitizing/embroidery advice; he has also created various online forums for different software packages. The special thing about Neville: He's always trying to decrease the distance between members of the global industry."