About » The CRAVE Team

Laura is president of Scholz Communications, a boutique firm that manages both traditional and new media campaigns for lifestyle and entertainment clients, many of whom are fellow female entrepreneurs. A resident of Atlanta’s Westside, Laura spends her spare time running marathons, writing, meeting new people and exploring the city’s foodie hot spots.

Pansy is excited to bring her networking skills and passion for creativity to CRAVE Austin. Her favorite quote is “Clothes won’t change the world, but the women who wear them will.”

Jennifer resides on the North Shore and spends her free time discovering and refurbishing flea market treasures to use as one of a kind props at her events and in her home. Most evenings she can be found out and about the city of Boston hunting for the greatest shopping, dining, and event spots.

Often Michele gets very excited about a particular idea or project and her dynamic personality allows creativity to flow while enhancing every discussion. Michele mixes style, grace and productivity into lives across Chicagoland, although she strongly believes you should be your own style icon. She loves to discover restaurants or cafés around the world, and can be found surfing travel websites on any given day.

Melanie brings positive energy and creativity to her work, with a great talent for keeping it all organized. She is passionate about volunteering and giving back, and loves to daydream about future travels or spend time curled up with a good book—when not chasing around her toddler daughter, that is. Melanie’s favorite city in the world is Chicago and she is always excited to connect with all of the amazing entreprenesses who also call Chicago home.

When she heard about the CRAVE company, Mia jumped at the chance to bring CRAVEguides to Denver.

Mia is a passionate advocate for animal rights and the environment, and is also an active member of the Northglenn Community Foundation as well as a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver.

Schooled in biology and graphic design, Lesleigh likes to take old things and make them look new again. When she grows up, she wants to own her own ranch which will double as a venue for amazing events and rustic weddings.

This busy wife and mother of a 3 year old owns her own event design business, Lux Event Design, where she is able to unleash her creativity. She now resides with her family in north Fort Worth.

Elisabeth is excited to launch CRAVE Las Vegas because of her passion for the vibrant female entrepreneurs who add depth, richness, and sophistication to “Sin City.”

After graduating from USC and working as a Hollywood marketing maven, Nicole used her expertise and innovative spirit to start her own company, Yellow Box Beauty. Her quest? Discovering better-than-the-rest, out-of-this-world beauty products that have yet to hit the “it” list.

With this business background, it’s no wonder she felt an immediate connection to CRAVE when she first saw it in Portland. With her trend-spotting eye and refined taste, Nicole made it her mission to track down all the cool, creative, inspirational women in her area. She is excited to discover and rediscover the unique businesses owned by fellow savvy entreprenesses.

Armed with an MBA, Kathy began changing the face of many “good old boy” companies with her energy and optimism. As a marketing and strategy project manager with Fortune 100 companies such as Hewlett Packard, James River, Kaiser Permanente and Wells Fargo, she continues to be a leader in developing valuable strategies and establishing systems for sustainable success. Kathy now works with companies big and small who need a freelance partner to help with strategy and trends in sales, marketing, buying and organizational development.

Her entrepreneurial spirit drove her to start a pop-up shop, Pickets, from 2003 to 2008—with hip, vintage-inspired home goods and clothing. Pickets was quickly voted in “Best of Shops” in Minneapolis and was featured on the cover of Country Home magazine. Kathy even had her own segment on HGTV! She had a blast melding her favorite pastime of discovering, then reimagining all things vintage with her love of design, and running her own business.

Danielle founded Curtain Up Events with the idea of injecting into the event industry a bit of the drama and artistry of theatre.not to mention its professional production techniques. Drawing upon her unconventional background, Danielle combines a diverse network of creative artists with the world of traditional events professionals to build an ever broader spectrum of talent with which to collaborate. Danielle is excited to continue forging unexpected connections with CRAVE and looks forward to establishing CRAVE NYC as the savvy businesswoman’s go-to resource for all that is authentically New York.

A seasoned communicator, Inna has extensive global contacts in the consumer products, beauty, travel and hospitality, media and entertainment, and lifestyle sectors.

In 2007, Inna founded AvantGarde Communications Group, a boutique communications firm that services big and small brands in everything from public relations, branding and marketing, to website design and copywriting. She is integrally involved with each and every client at AvantGarde Communications Group, and retains an active, hands-on approach in everything from the creation of a plan to the execution of an initiative.

Mai’s extensive background in business and event marketing for high-tech corporate, non-profit, professional athlete, and entertainment clients (including Adobe Systems, Microsoft, Symantec Corporation, Freddy Jones Foundation (NBA), Lorenzo Alexander ACES Foundation (NFL), Rose Haven, Cascadia Region Green Building Council, Portland Trail Blazers, Mike Scifres Foundation (NFL), John Legend, Carmelo Anthony (NBA), Diageo, The Roots, Nike, and Boost Mobile) will parlay as an integral role, as she leads CRAVEportland into its next exciting phase.

An active University of Portland Alum, Mai currently resides in her hometown of Portland, Oregon with her two dogs, Bella and Booker. She is a self-proclaimed fashion addict, internet junkie and aspiring knitter.

Christy is also an avid writer, focused on topics like career management, women/moms in the workplace, job search/career transition and office culture. She serves as a regular contributor and blogger on Tampa Bay’s Jobing.com, the online faith-based ministry YourCareerCalling.org, TheWorkAtHomeWoman.com and on her own site, HigherCallingCommunications.com.

As co-leader of the CRAVE Tampa Bay project, Christy is thrilled to help showcase Tampa Bay’s most successful and inspiring female business owners.

Nancy is active in the Tampa Bay community, serving on several boards and is particularly interested in issues surrounding diversity, culture, global sustainability, fashion and beauty. She is excited to be a co-city leader of CRAVE Tampa Bay and provide exposure to some of the Bay region’s savviest, entrepreneurial women.

With an experienced background in marketing and a passion for all things fashion and
food related, she has recently begun the journey of creating her own business. It was fate
that the opportunity to lead CRAVE Toronto was presented to her at the same time, and
she jumped at the chance to help grow a community of talented and motivated female
business owners.

Arpen’s promise is to continue to support women in Vancouver as she believes that together we can make a difference and truly make the world a better place, and she, too, is looking forward to paving her own path as a entrepreness in the near future! When she’s not answering to emails on her Blackberry or meeting with fabulous entreprenesses in Vancouver, you can find Arpen spotting the new and hottest destinations in the host city of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Prior to launching Evolution Consulting Group, Inc., Wendy was director of business development for National Geographic, and worked as an account manager at America Online (AOL). In her spare time, Wendy has also worked on numerous television productions taped in Washington, DC, including the Kennedy Center Honors and the 2009 Presidential Inauguration Lincoln Memorial Concert.

A Washington DC native, Wendy has a passion for helping female entrepreneurs grow and succeed. She loves experiencing spas, shopping, gourmet dining, traveling, and hosting events.