Kristen Rask
Kristen Rask has been craft show vending for 20 years, participating in everything from small house shows to large craft shows like UCU, Crafty Bastards, Maker Faire and more. She has also been organizing the Urban Craft Uprising for the past 9 years.
On her off time she enjoys reading books, thrift store shopping, cooking and crafting…obviously. She currently is most interested in making her own clothing.
Kristen Rask has been published 8 times with both F+W Publishing and Becker&Meyer which is a subdivision of Chronicle Books. You can find her books at local booksellers as well as Barnes & Noble, Costco, Sam’s Club, Aldi’s and more.
Lindsey Ross
A lifelong entrepreneur, Lindsey Ross has been organizing the Urban Craft Uprising for 12 years, and craft show vending for 13. She is also the owner of Yarnia, a custom yarn shop in Portland, which she recently transitioned from a brick & mortar 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.
Yuko Miki
Yuko Miki is a mixed-media artist, illustrator, and print-maker at her stationery business, Honeyberry Studios, in Seattle, WA. She grew up in Himeji, Japan surrounded by mountains and rice paddies. Yuko’s art is inspired by nature, animals, and small joys of every day.
Yuko came to the U.S. to study English in 1996. Although she was planning on going home after graduating from college, one thing led to another, she’s still here and loving it 22 years later.
Yuko left her 14+ year career in non-profit in 2015 to pursue her dream of becoming a full-time artist. Although running a small handmade business is not easy, Yuko enjoys the challenge and finds it rewarding to connect with people through her uplifting art.
When Yuko’s not working on her business, she enjoys reading, making pottery, and spending time with her husband, Dave.
Kim Werker
Sean Roberts
Sean Forest Roberts is owner of Forest Ceramic Company on Orcas Island, WA. With a degree in chemistry, he comes from a different background than most artists and businesspeople. Mostly self taught in ceramics, he created a large initial buzz on social media around his original process using colored porcelain. Over the last four years he has garnered a very large following on Instagram, and through practice and research understands how to use the app to gain following, market your brand, and promote sales.
Chris Guillot
Christine “Chris” Guillot is a seasoned retail executive with over 19 years of experience in the retailing and manufacturing of consumer goods. Her national career includes working with Nordstrom, Anthropologie, and the Green Inspired brand (designed and developed exclusively for Target). Chris has a comprehensive depth and breadth of experience that includes branding, product development, pricing, production, inventory control, account management, merchandising and visual display, and event planning for companies of all sizes and stages of growth.
In 2012 Chris founded Merchant Method, a boutique consulting agency specializing in teaching independent retailers and manufacturers the retail intelligence they need to navigate strategic growth. Her specialties include supporting change management through rapid growth, improving underperforming brands, and aligning disparate sale channel strategies.
Over the past six years Chris has supported many brick-and-mortar retailers and makers in the Pacific Northwest including Velouria, The Handmade Showroom, Ada’s Technical Books and Cafe, Rainbow Natural Remedies, Pretty Parlor, and Lika Love. She’s also supported local designers and makers including Steel Toe Studios, Silver + Salt, Rebekah J. Designs, and Twyla Dill.
As a consumer sector leader, Chris has been recently featured by Business Insider and NBC2 about the state of the retail industry in North America. She is also regularly interviewed by providers of retail software solutions including Shopify, Vend, CompliantIA, Stitch Labs, and Storefront. You can find a selection of free business resources at MerchantMethod.com.
Lydia Brewer
Lydia Brewer was born into the world of art after her graphic designer father refused to let her touch his Pentax K-1000. Being of a rebellious nature, she quickly found a way around that issue and has not put cameras down since.Robert Mahar
Robert Mahar is an artist, designer and maker. He develops and teaches imaginative crafts and clever do-it-yourself projects through high-quality video tutorials and in-person workshops and was a contestant on the inaugural season of NBC’s creative competition show Making It. The crafty content he develops and presents to his YouTube viewers, online audience and workshop attendees is often rooted in nostalgia. His talent for reinventing old-school crafts with a decidedly modern twist is evident in the gift line he continues to develop with Knock Knock and has gained him a loyal following.
With an education in studio arts and art history, he has worked in a variety of creative fields including 13 years as an appraiser of modern and contemporary art. When he’s not working in his downtown Los Angeles studio, Robert obsesses over vintage craft books and schemes ways to make it big as a doughnut connoisseur.