Celeste Sipes has been working in retail/online retail for almost 20 years (nearly since the internet was invented!). Currently she is the owner of Thunderpants USA, a DTC apparel brand based in Portland, Or as well as an E-commerce business advisor at the OR Small Biz Development Center.
Diana Naramore is the CEO of Sip and Ship. Just as the name implies, Sip and Ship is a place where you can enjoy a cup of coffee and ship a package and surprisingly, accomplish so much more with greater speed, efficiency and care – such as selecting a card or gift, notarizing documents or shipping wine to a friend. With more than 30 years of business expertise, Diana is chief optimizer, she knows how to bring order to chaos and get things done. Before Sip and Ship, she put herself through college by attending night school while working two sales and customer service jobs – earning a double major in Business Administration and Management at the University of Phoenix. When she’s not pouring herself into Sip and Ship, Diana is giving back by volunteering, coaching, mentoring and supporting organizations that focus on empowering youth and women. She enjoys travel, daily walks with her business partner and husband, Stephen, and spending time with their three boys and bulldog Ruby.
Domonique’s bachelor’s degree in economics, entrepreneurship focused MBA, and her 15 years of experience working within the small business community, produce a solid, balanced foundation of academic knowledge and practical experience. Domonique uses this knowledge and experience to assist small businesses navigate the challenges posed when trying maintain bookkeeping, human resources, social media, marketing strategies, sales, and process improvement on a limited budget. Her strengths lie in tackling the complex problems small businesses face on a day-to-day basis. Growing businesses are her passion and she has helped businesses double the size of their staff, implement effective and aggressive marketing strategies, and win business plan competitions.
Erin Eggenburg is a maker, mender, and author and instructor who resides in Portland, OR. She is the owner of wrenbirdarts, a mending supply shop and upcycled hankie business, and author of The Mending Directory. Erin teaches a variety of visible mending and embroidery classes regularly. Learn more about her visible mending projects at wrenbirdarts.com.
Jennifer Ledrick is the founder and artist behind Jennifer Spring Ceramics. She has built a loyal fan base for her ceramics over the last seven years of business and learned more effective ways to sell her work. Jennifer started selling online with Etsy and sold over 2200 pieces before building her own web site. Jennifer has gradually built her Instagram following, which is now close to 98K followers. She has successfully built a demand for her work and now makes art that is rewarding and profitable. Previous to starting her own business, she worked for over 10 years in marketing and business development for branding and graphic design agencies in Seattle. In addition, she consulted with creative agencies to help them streamline their marketing efforts and build customers.
Kanda (they/she) is a lifelong crafter, birthworker and artist of many mediums. They started their business, Psychedelic Baddie by upcycling clothing with tie dyes during the pandemic. It has been a really large lesson in trusting the process and knowing that what happens will have its own unique beauty. Kanda is an advocate for racial equity, mental health, queer rights and fat liberation. Their hope is to create a brand that centers their values and promotes the lifting up of their various communities. Kanda is in the works of creating their first natural dye garden this year and is hopeful that it will expand their understanding of sustainability and dye.
Kristen is one of the organizers of UCU. She used to own a store in downtown Seattle and started working with UCU in 2008. Since UCU has grown it is her main focus. Not only is she often juggling many projects at once but manages to read a good amount of books, cook good food, work on her own business and relax. It’s not always easy but after doing this work for so long, being a part of various goals groups and accountability groups, she feels like she has a much better work/life balance.
Lindsey Ross has been organizing the Urban Craft Uprising since its early days in 2006, and craft show vending herself for just as long. She is also the owner of Yarnia, a custom yarn shop in Portland, which she ran as a brick & mortar shop for eight and a half years before transitioning to an online-only business out of her home. She loves finding ways for businesses to run more efficiently, and designing systems to make that happen. She also loves spreadsheets…A LOT. On her off hours you may catch her biking around town with her husband and a jambox, catching live local bluegrass, clocking her 10,000 steps with her pitbull Tucker, or knitting simultaneously with any other activity that doesn’t require both hands.
Lisa Solomon is a mixed media artist whose work has been exhibited and collected all over the world. She received her BA in art practice from UC Berkeley and her MFA from Mills College, and has been a professor in the Bay Area for 15+ years. As a Hapa [her mother is Japanese and her father is Jewish Caucasian] she is profoundly interested in personal identity, and all things chroma. Her work reflects this as well as an incredible love for textiles. She regularly uses “craft” materials and techniques in a “fine art” context. Another passion is bridging the gaps between being creative, living creatively, and making a living as a creative.
Lydia works full-time as a portrait photographer in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle. She lives with her husband, teenage daughter and a wealth of furry family members. She obtained a degree in commercial photography in the 90’s and has done one form of photography or another ever since. Aside from photography, her hobbies mostly involve roller skating, rabbits, holiday decorating, cross-stitch, all things 1960’s era, podcasts and David Bowie. This is her third year teaching/attending Camp Thundercraft and she could not be more excited
Melissa Galbraith is the fiber artist behind MCreativeJ. She was born and raised in the desert of Washington state, where her mother instilled a love of making things by hand at an early age. Drawing on her love of nature, Melissa creates whimsical and modern embroidery patterns and kits. She loves sharing how anyone can embroider. Melissa’s embroidery kits and patterns make it easy to learn a new craft for makers of all skill levels. She loves seeing makers fall in love with the needle arts and seeing that magical ah-ha moment of learning something new.
Sanae Ishida writes, draws, sews and takes photos almost every day. She lives with her husband and daughter in beautiful Seattle, WA. She is the author/illustrator of several book series including Little Kunoichi The Ninja Girl, Little Sumo and Sanae Ishida Sews (Sewing Happiness and Animal Friends to Sew). Find more of her work at SanaeIshida.com. Her next sewing book will be released in August of 2022 through Sasquatch Books.
Tiffany Ju started dyeing ombré tights on her kitchen stove and that turned out to be her first viral sensation. After 6 years of a successful handmade business, she started a new product line of manufactured goods that grew to a seven figure business in just 2 years. Tiffany is also a fiber artist and claims the superpower of seeing a trend coming from a mile away.
Treena has 20 years of experience in various industries, in a variety of roles – all with one goal in mind; disruptive innovation and continuous improvement. What that means, is up to interpretation. Armed with a BS in Supply Chain Management and Logistics from PSU, Treena found her niche working with start-ups and small businesses to build out and optimize unique supply chain operations.
Camp ThunderCraft wouldn’t be nearly as awesome without our generous sponsors! All these wonderful businesses are helping out in some way to make sure the weekend is super fantastic.
