Margarita Moldovan was raised in Atlanta and was given her first opportunities to perform at Cross Keys High School under the direction of James T McRaney and Janet Hirschberg, where she learned that performing is wonderful, but creating a show that transcends its components is hard, rewarding work.

Margarita holds a BA in Literature from GA State University and a MAT in Drama from SCAD. Her passion is teaching young people how valuable the “invisible” people are and watching as her students turn new skills into art. You may learn a bit more at www.performingartsnorth.org or “like” us on Facebook at Performing Arts North.

Performing Arts North is a not-for-profit 501c3 educational theater company with programs for children, teens and adults. Their mission is to provide a safe space where anyone in the community can come and exercise creativity, take creative risks, and learn from each other while fostering a sense of belonging and understanding of the arts. They believe that art is for everyone and everyone has something valuable to contribute.

From “saloon to salon,” BRÖÖ Haircare has taken the home-brewed remedy of the “beer hair” rinse, and raised the bar by creating a line of ultra-performing natural shampoos and conditioners, crafted from the “beauty in beer”.  With microbrewed beer as the #1 ingredient, BRÖÖ “pops the top” on the natural beauty industry.

Frustrated by the performance of the natural hair care products they were using, Brad and Sarah Pearsall were inspired to turn the natural hair care industry on its head, by the two things that surround them in Asheville, North Carolina, craft beer and the natural beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Taking a cue from their mothers (who had rinsed their hair with beer back in college for body and shine), Brad and Sarah set out on a journey to discover the natural beauty in beer.  Along the way, they succeeded in creating BRÖÖ, a line of ultra-performing, natural shampoos and conditioners that tap into the B vitamins, proteins, and minerals in microbrewed beer from Asheville.

Just voted “Breakthrough Company of 2013” in Delicious Living Magazine’s 2013 Beauty & Body Awards, BRÖÖ is now sold in the natural channel across most of the country, and Brad and Sarah have started spreading the “beer beauty” message into mainstream channels, as well.  Take a “sip” of BRÖÖ at broo.com, and learn why beer really does make you better looking!

Although they've only been on store shelves a little over a year, they just won the prestigious "Breakthrough Company of 2013 Award" in Delicious Living Magazine's 2013 Beauty & Body Awards.  Delicious Living, the leading consumer magazine in the natural products industry, with more than one million readers each month, picked BRÖÖ from hundreds of natural beauty products and brands to feature the industry’s most innovative and effective nontoxic products: http://deliciousliving.com/2013beautyawards.   They are so excited to be a part of Asheville's natural products sector, and are proud that Delicious Living magazine recognized an Asheville natural products company with this award.

Always artistic and entrepreneurial, Mattia Pace graduated from Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies with a degree in Economics. He worked briefly as a trade analyst and accountant before being bitten by the desire for a creative, hands on pursuit. Mattia joined Sausage World 3 years ago, taught himself charcuterie, and hasn’t looked back since.

Sausage World has been active since 1986. They specialize in producing artisanal sausages that celebrate the diversity of global cuisine and culture. Mostly wholesale producers, the door is always open to the public and their retail segment is growing daily. Sausage World sources their meat locally and use no MSG or preservatives in their products.

Ann Hite’s debut novel, Ghost On Black Mountain, not only became a Townsend Prize Finalist but won Georgia Author of the Year in 2012.

Her personal essays and short stories have been published in numerous national anthologies. The Storycatcher, her second Black Mountain novel, will be released by Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster on September 10th.  Lowcountry Spirit, an eBook novella, will be available from Pocket Star, also an imprint of Simon & Schuster, on August 13th.

Ann is an admitted book junkie with a library of over a thousand books. She lives in Smyrna, Georgia with her husband and daughter, where she allows her Appalachian characters to dictate their stories.

Roger Stix is the owner and Executive Producer of Atlanta Business Video.

Before founding Atlanta Business Video in 2008, Roger had been hard at work as an executive in the banking, electronics, and finance world for over 35 years. His foresight into the world of business and passion for video inspired the revelation that affordable web video was going to be an emerging need in the upcoming years.

Jeannie Dunn, herbalist and NC native, serves as director and owner of Red Moon Herbs. After 20 years, extracts are still made in the wise woman tradition using prolific, local plants harvested and processed fresh at the peak of their season.

Red Moon Herbs is a woman-owned herbal extracts company that focuses on prolific plants harvested at the peak of their season. Red Moon Herbs was founded by Corinna Wood, director of SE Women's Herbal Conference, and Jessica Godino, acupuncturist at Four Flames Healing. Studying under Susun Weed, renowned herbalist and author, Red Moon Herbs bases its principles and foundation on the Wise Woman Tradition. Now in business 20 years, Red Moon Herbs still makes herbal medicine in this method using fresh plants from local sources in small batches. Redmoonherbs.com

www.facebook.com/redmoonherbs
jeannie@redmoonherbs.com
www.redmoonherbs.com
888-929-0777

Since its inception, the Andrew Oswald Memorial Fund has been blessed with tremendous community support, enabling the following accomplishments:

• More than $20,000 in support of teen safe driving
• $44,000 for 11 Andrew Oswald Memorial Scholarships ($4,000 over 4 years to Georgia high school student-athletes playing lacrosse in college)
• Nearly 500 lacrosse equipment rental packages to encourage new players to try the sport without initial investment in equipment
• Grants of approximately $35,000 to support lacrosse programs and individuals across the Atlanta area

AJO4LAX encourages all lacrosse players to:

• PLAY LAX
• MAKE GOOD CHOICES and
• CELEBRATE LIFE

David Epstein's pas­sion for com­mu­nity and the well being of his neigh­bors spurred the vision of Atlanta Con­tact­Point (ACP), a non­profit orga­ni­za­tion estab­lished in 2012 to engage chil­dren and adults through the power of play and support and engage the community with wellness programs such as sports, fitness, nutrition, and social responsibility.

David, known affectionately as "Mr. David", is a preschool teacher and tennis coach who loves working with people of all ages.
He has been work­ing with chil­dren at his neigh­bor­hood preschool, as well as on the fields and courts for over 8 years. "Mr. David" runs sum­mer sports pro­grams in Atlanta and directs a ten­nis pro­gram in upstate NY for 7 weeks. He enjoys play­ing ten­nis, base­ball, and roller hockey.

“Mr. David” is a grad­u­ate of Lehigh Uni­ver­sity where he received a BS in Finance. He lived and worked in NYC for 3 years before mov­ing to Atlanta in 1995, which quickly became home.

Seeking a way to transport her senses to Italy and its unique and traditional food flavors, while being far away from her, Adriana Coppola founded  A&A Alta Cucina.

Adriana enjoys developing gourmet Italian foods using recipes and traditions from her family. They use only the freshest and finest ingredients, allowing them to offer the best tasting blending seasonings, infused oils, balsamic vinegars, pestos, tomato sauces and more that you will ever experience so now you can make traditional Italian dishes easily at your in just minutes in a Italian way!

A&A Alta Cucina is a family business that was born in the US in spring 2011. They specialize in Italian gourmet food products inspired by their Italian roots recipes and traditions. Products are ALL NATURAL, without any artificial flavor, color or preservative and they only use the freshest and finest ingredients allowing them to offer the best tasting and high quality blending seasonings, salts, infused extra virgin olive oils, balsamic vinegars, pestos, tomato sauces and more.

All products are HANDMADE and HAND PACKED in an artisan way using ecofriendly materials and produced in small batches, using old traditions that allow us to put in every single product made, the passion Italians have for their traditions and food.

You can find at www.altacucinaitalia.com more information regarding the company, their products and recipes that will inspire you while cooking with their products at home.

Chuck Blethen is President and COB of NCNPA – www.NCNaturalProducts.org. He is owner of Jewel of the Blue Ridge Vineyard in Marshall NC where he specializes in propagating and growing the cold-hardy Katuah Muscadine for sale to the nutraceutical industry – www.JeweloftheBlueRidge.com. Chuck is also VP Public Relations for the French Broad Vignerons LLC, an organization that promotes viticulture as a tool for economic development in the mountain counties of western North Carolina by providing education to the public about growing grapes, making wine, and all of the 150+ value added products that can come from using grapes as a raw material – www.FrenchBroadVignerons.org.

Sarah Oram has spent the past 30 years building and expanding various non-profit organizations around Asheville and beyond.  She sees great economic potential for Western North Carolina if the Blue Ridge Naturally seal can be successfully launched and hopes her experience in marketing great ideas will carry through.

The North Carolina Natural Products Association (NCNPA) was formed over 11 years ago as a 501c(3) non-profit organization dedicated to promotion of conserving, cultivating, sustainably harvesting, and processing North Carolina grown medicinal plants. NCNPA's mission is to establish North Carolina as a key global supplier of premium-quality raw materials and plant-based value added products such as natural medicines, organic products, functional foods, and personal care products.

The Blue Ridge Naturally seal program is designed to bring international and national attention to Western North Carolina’s emerging natural products industry.  The Blue Ridge Naturally seal on products emphasizes Western North Carolina’s superior quality in locally grown ingredients and finished natural products . It announces to potential customers an assured level of product safety, tested quality in addition to affiliation with Western North Carolina, a region of distinction in the natural products industry.
I am a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania MBA program.