Kathryn Goetzke White, age 36, is the entrepreneur and innovator behind Mood-lites™, a new category of lighting in the $5 billion dollar U.S. lighting marketplace.  Her mission for the Factory is to ‘Improve Moods’, and armed with an MBA in International Marketing, an undergraduate degree in Psychology, over fifteen years of experience with small and large, Fortune 100 companies, and as a Depression Survivor she aims to do just that..  In her capacity as president, CEO and founder, White oversees sales, marketing and operations for the Mood-factory.

Prior to founding her own company, White, a world traveler who has worked and studied across the world, was Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Compass Marketing. She guided Fortune 100 companies like The Gillette Company, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, General Mills, and others in development of Alternate Channels, leading revenue growth of over 400% for Compass Marketing. White also led the strategic planning and business development for Brazilian-based Seed Technology Solutions (SeedTS), a Sao Paulo based technology firm, with income rising over 200% and project acquisitions with Deutsche Bank.

White began her career with 3M Corporation where she worked as a Research Manager at their headquarters in Minneapolis. She moved on to develop her experience at American Express serving different capacities in New Products, Marketing, Research and Promotions. After spending four years at American Express she went on to learn the ropes of Advertising in the West, exploring the mountains, wildlife and adventurous outdoors along the way. White also has a Master of Business Administration degree in International Marketing Management and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, International Studies and Biology.

In addition to launching Mood-lites, White has also begun a non-profit organization for depression called iFred (the International Foundation for Research and Education on Depression – www.depression.org ) dedicated to encouraging research on depression and reducing the stigma associated with the disease. According to the World Health Organization, depression is going to be the 2nd leading killer worldwide by the year 2020.  Committed to donating her personal resources to philanthropic causes, White also served as a board member for the Watson Children’s Shelter, and on advisory boards and committees for the United Way, YWCA, the Breast Cancer Resource Guide, Sailing into the Arts, and a local Food Bank.

If color in pigment or other variations can help to alter moods, it is only logical that lighting can do the same.

Leatrice Eiseman is a color specialist who has been called "America’s color guru." She heads the Eiseman Center for Color Information and Training and is also executive director of the Pantone Color Institute and edits the Ezine on the Pantone website. Lee is the author of six books on color, among them, Colors For Your Every Mood (Capital Books, Sterling, VA), which was chosen as a Book of the Month Club selection and received an award from the Independent Publisher’s Association.  Lee was named in the group of 50 top style makers two years in a row (#17 the first year moving up to #13 this year) by Home Furnishings Now, the leading home furnishings trade publication. And recently Fortune Magazine featured her as one of the top decision makers.  Her academic background includes a degree in psychology from Antioch as well as advanced studies and a counseling specialist certificate from UCLA. She has studied both fashion and interior design and has taught in both areas.

Kirsten Straughan is a nutritionalist and serves as an advisor to the Factory.  She received her undergraduate degree in nutrition and completed her internship at Loyola University Chicago. She is a registered dietitian with a background that includes five years of clinical experience at Mercy Hospital and Medical Center in Chicago and four years of private practice nutritional counseling work, in addition to many nutritional educational experiences.

Scientists have been studying people’s moods for years and have concluded that color has much to do with how we feel … there are universal associations that hit home with just about everyone.

Rosemary Sadez Friedmann is a licensed interior designer and a professional member of the American Society of Interior Designers. Ms. Friedmann has been published in Barons Who’s Who in Interior Design, Who’s Who in US Executives and Who’s Who in the South West, and is regularly featured on HGTV.  Rosemary is also the author of the Mystery of Color.

Kate Smith  Kate's love of color began very early in life and she still recalls the thrill of getting a brand new big box crayons. But unlike most kids who would simply make pictures Kate would arrange the crayons into color families or color combinations and it was often quite a while before she would make a mark with one of the pristine sticks of wax.  Kate is a world renowned color expert working for corporate giants including American Greetings, American Online, Fruit of the Loom and Reebok and integrating colors into brand messaging.

Kate now owns a very successful color consulting company and is often a featured expert on shows including the CBS Sunday Morning and the Christopher Lowell show.  Kate is also the Chair of the Color Marketing Group Conference and shares her color expertise through her content rich website Sensational COLOR www.sensationalcolor.com and on her blogs Live In Full COLOR, and Sensational COLOR PRO.

Color is one of the nine basic Feng Shui cures used to bring any space into harmony and balance.

Heleni Koutsoyannis is a proactive and active, enthusiastic, self-motivated experienced Spa professional certified in Feng Shui, with more than eleven experience establishing successful product design and development of spas in five star hotels throughout the world.  Heleni has a degree in Architecture from the Universidad Central de Venezuela and advanced knowledge in Chromatherapy and Soundtherapy.  Heleni teaches on the benefits of incorporating colored light and sound into spa treatments and treatment rooms, long before it was introduced into the spa industry.

Susan Minamyer has a Masters degree in Psychology from Roosevelt University in Chicago and an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Beloit College.  She Magna Cum Laude and has conducted numerous psychological and behavioral research studies.  Susan is a world traveler, cultural explorer and English teacher.  She has edited multiple books and authored several papers articles on moods and sensory experiences. 

Denise Turner, ASID, CID, CMG  Denise is an internationally recognized Color Expert, Color & Design Tend Forecaster and founder of the Color Turners.  Her boundless passions for color and strong design industry experience have turned her into an unmistakable leader in her field. Ms. Turner is an authority on Chroma Therapy and Color Physiology. She has studied several energetic healing modalities, such as Aroma Therapy, Theta Healing, Pranic Healing, Feng Shui and Martial Arts. Through this amazing journey, she discovered her true passion of Chroma Therapy.

As an ASID national spokesperson, and member of the CMG Expert Speaker’s Bureau, Denise regularly appears on radio, television and in print. Her redesign of an ADA-compliant master bath won the HGTV Designer’s Challenge. She is also the Contributing Color & Design Trend Editor of idS Magazine, the official Magizine of ICIAD (International Council of Interior Architects & Designers) in Malaysia.

Denise is a CMG Chair Holder (Color Marketing Group), past ASID chapter president and UCLA graduate.   www.colorturners.com   denise@colorturners.com 

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