Join WIFVNE on The Grommet's Factory Floor to help us create a mentoring blueprint. Joanne Domeniconi, Co-founder and Chief Discovery Officer of The Grommet, kicks off the event, inviting us all to reflect on the power of mentoring. Then, let's start making plans. Attendees will circulate around the Factory Floor and meet industry pros. These thought leaders will share stories from their journeys and answer questions. Bring your business cards. Light refreshments served.
Joanne Domeniconi is the Co-founder and Chief Discovery Officer at The Grommet. Founded in 2008, The Grommet is a curated, online media platform for launching innovative consumer products created by Maker entrepreneurs.
At The Grommet, Joanne guides the Discovery of emerging consumer products in sixteen different industries including Gift, Consumer Electronics, Housewares, Hardware, Toy, Pet, Beauty, Fitness, Beauty, Outdoor and Apparel.
Joanne spent her early career at Stride Rite Corporation where she held Merchandising, Buying and Product Development roles during a 20 year career in footwear. She served as Vice President of Product Development for Keds, the sneaker company, before founding The Grommet.
In 2014, Joanne was invited to The White House to be recognized for The Grommet’s positive impact on the Maker Movement and the launch of The Grommet Wholesale. In 2015, she co-authored The Grommet’s ebook, Makers Who Made It, the story of 100 successful Maker businesses. Joanne is on the Board of Directors for the United Inventors Association and a graduate of Simmons College.
Thanks to our host: The Grommet
Our Mentoring Facilitators
A versatile creative with proven experience driving development and production of TV and multi-platform digital programming, Mary Agnes came up through unscripted TV development. She’s developed over 35 broadcast shows that have sold to 20+ networks including A&E, History, VH1, HGTV, Travel, Discovery, Animal Planet and also launched original series on youtube and IGTV. Mary ran development at Punched in the Head Productions and THIS OLD HOUSE. She was Director of Development at Powderhouse Productions for 8 years and got her start in devo at Scout Productions, right about when the first wave of QUEER EYE FOR THE STRAIGHT GUY exploded. Mary is currently developing TV shows for A&E Originals and a variety of freelance clients. Mary is also an Emmy-nominated Executive Producer/ Showrunner with over 120 broadcast episodes under her belt including the #2 and #3 instructional cooking programs on television: AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN and COOK’S COUNTRY and the History Channel special HIDDEN HISTORY IN YOUR HOUSE.
Heather Cassano is an independent documentary filmmaker based in Greater Boston. In 2018, Heather premiered her first feature-length documentary The Limits of My World to a packed cinema at the Independent Film Festival Boston. The film went on to screen at numerous festivals across the United States and internationally, winning three Best Documentary awards and a Jury Prize. Heather is now hard at work on her second feature-length documentary The Fate of Human Beings. The project was recently awarded a pre-production grant from the LEF Foundation's Moving Image Fund. When she's not making films Heather teaches documentary production at Emerson College and programs the short films for Salem Film Fest. She is also an active member of the Non-Fiction Cartel, a working group for emerging non-fiction filmmakers in Boston.
Ann Marie Charland is a Senior Producer/Head of Production for ECAST Productions. Ann Marie is a multiple Emmy award winner. She's produced hundreds of corporate videos, and her broadcast TV credits include and more.Live at the Oscars, Parade of the Tall Ships, Holiday Lights.
Julie Kahn is currently working as a Post Production editor for Masterpiece at WGBH in Boston. Before getting her dream job at Masterpiece in 2014, Julie was a freelance editor for 30 years working on national television programs for PBS, ABC, the Discovery Channel, Science Channel, ESPN, Lifetime, Animal Planet and more. Her portfolio includes several series, hour-long, and half-hour programs as well as documentaries and independent films. Nominated twice for an Emmy award for her editing work on the PBS series Zoom, Julie has also been a member of two teams that have earned New England Emmy Awards and a Peabody award. Julie is married and lives in Watertown and Brewster, Massachusetts. When she’s not in a dark editing suite she can be found traveling the world, walking Henley, her lab/aussie mix, or working hard on her golf and tennis games.
Kathleen O’Heron is CEO and Lead Editor at Jynx Productions, the company she co-founded in 2005 with her partner in life, Johannes Wiebus. Jynx Productions provides documentary-style content to an international array of broadcasters, ad agencies, and corporate clients. Every project they undertake harbors that little special something, that golden sliver hiding somewhere within. Kathleen uncovers, polishes, and makes every project stand out. Kathleen won the SBA 2019 Maine Exporter of the Year Award.
