My earliest memory of print is sitting on the living room floor in my grandparents’ house, lifting colorful images with Silly Putty from the Sunday comics in the newspaper. I don’t remember how old I was the first time I was shown how to do it, and I didn’t know how it worked, but to this day, I remember how magical the experience was.
I spent most of my career on the customer side of print. Working my way up the ranks from Traffic Manager to Director of Production across 25 years in NYC ad agencies, I was part of incredible teams with incredibly talented people working on big brands and campaigns that won awards around the world.
When I was asked what I did for work, I condensed my response to something that would be universally understood and replied, “I bring ideas to life by transforming them into tangible materials.”
Since 2009, I’ve been on the industry side of the print equation, and my passion for print has expanded into providing printspiration and resources for print and marketing professionals around the world, creating content, developing educational and community initiatives like Project Peacock and International Print Day, and leading the team and mission for Girls Who Print.
Deborah Corn is the Intergalactic Ambassador to the Printerverse at Print Media Centr, a Print Buyerologist, international speaker and blogger, host of Podcasts From The Printerverse, President of Girls Who Print, cultivator of Print Production Professionals (the #1 print group on LinkedIn), the founder of #ProjectPeacock, a print customer educational program which has engaged with over 8000 print lovers through events and streaming video content on ProjectPeacock.TV, and the founder of International Print Day.
Through her work, Deborah provides printspiration and resources to print and marketing professionals around the world.
She is the recipient of several industry honors including the 2016 Girls Who Print Girlie Award, a member of the Graphic Communications Education Association (GCEA), and is on the Advisory Board for the Advertising Production Club of NYC, the Technical Advisory Committee for Lewis-Clark State College, and the CTE Advisory Committee for Five Keys Schools and Programs.
I didn’t set out to join the print industry—I stumbled into it. After years of backbreaking work in Chicago’s retail world, I sought a change. What I found was printing. And then, somewhere along the way, I found love—not the fleeting kind, but the enduring kind that shapes a life.
At first, I was a complete novice. CMYK might as well have been a secret code, and I had no idea how photographs turned into printed masterpieces. But I was hooked. I became a sponge, soaking up every bit of knowledge about presses, color spaces, and processes. The deeper I dove, the more I realized I wasn’t just learning a trade – I was becoming part of a community.
That community became my lifeline. I met incredible people: mentors who guided me, colleagues who challenged me, and friends who stood by me. These weren’t just professional connections; they were bonds that would last a lifetime. When I think about what my life might have been without print, I can’t imagine it. The thought feels empty -bleak.
Now, with more than three decades in this industry, my purpose is crystal clear: to champion print and the incredible people who make it thrive. As Vice President of Girls Who Print, I’m on a mission to empower women and inspire the next generation to see the potential of a career in print and graphic arts.
Every day, I get to work with individuals who share my vision of building a brighter, more inclusive future for this industry. It’s more than a job; it’s my calling.
Kelly Mallozzi is a sales coach, marketing consultant, speaker, blogger, and podcaster with 30 years of print obsession to brag about. Her mission is to help print companies drive sales and customer loyalty through content strategy and sales process optimization, all with an eye on culture, workforce development, and personal skills optimization.
In 2023, Kelly won the coveted Girls Who Print Girlie Award as recognition for her many efforts to support women in the print industry. She is a mentor to many sales stars and is devoted to helping to attract younger people to the print industry. She believes that truly great people never stop learning and that sales and marketing are the lifeblood of the growth of any print company.
Kelly grew up in Michigan, founded a roller derby league in Chicago, and is mother to TWO sets of twins under 15. She loves reading, hiking, movies and true crime podcasts, and is serving her second term as a Town Council Representative in Trumbull, CT.
A long time ago, in the Delaware Valley of Pennsylvania, I discovered the smell of print, the precision of design and layout, and the mechanics of typesetting. They were a logical compliment to my desire to write and tell stories. I was lucky to work on school newspapers, which gave me insights into both worlds. As time for college approached, journalism was my goal but typesetting is what funded my education. Learning a sellable skill from excellent teachers was a good plan.
College in New Mexico brought more opportunities to write, learn TV News, and explore new genres as I edited a local music magazine, car magazine, and worked on books for a contract archeology company. The experiences set me up for adventures working in Texas on oilfield equipment manuals, manuals for a gas station system, disaster recovery protocols, and material requirements planning systems. Then, I landed a dream job building training and user documentation for the insurance industry’s first Variable Data Print programs. I honed skills in composition languages, generalized markup languages, and user interface design!
All of this set me up to co-author books covering the growing area of online text composition and online information presentation and co-found a company to develop and market print language transform programs for enterprise clients. After selling that company, I worked in market research, building document strategies, and then helped launch high-speed inkjet presses at Kodak and HP.
I returned to market research until COVID hit, causing another re-invention as a consultant, strategist, and content creator for the print and enterprise communication industries, working with printers and the vendors who serve them!
The moral of the Pat McGrew story is to keep gathering skills, learning new technologies, taking the pulse of the market, and helping the next generation find their passion in print. These are the things that add value to my life as a Girl Who Prints!
Pat McGrew is dedicated to enhancing company performance. As the Managing Director of McGrewGroup, Inc. and the non-profit Girls Who Print, Inc., she leverages over 30 years of expertise in roles such as software CEO, marketer, analyst, industry evangelist, and consultant. Her work spans writing, speaking, and consulting on business effectiveness, strategy, workflow, and product/service optimization for both data-driven and static marketing, regulated communication, packaging, label, and commercial print across offset, inkjet, and toner technologies.
A champion of best practices, Pat is a seasoned speaker and facilitator, author of eight business books, and editor of A Guide to the Electronic Document Body of Knowledge. She regularly contributes to industry content, hosts #PrintSampleTV, and co-hosts #ThePrintReport podcast series on Podcasts from The Printerverse. Her accolades include the 2014 Girls Who Print Girlie Award, the 2016 Xplor Platte Lifetime Achievement Award, and the 2024 Inkish Honor. Pat holds several certifications, notably the Lifetime Master Electronic Document Professional by Xplor.
She is also the co-creator of The Print University (a licensable education program), Assessment in a Box, and The Content Funnel. Connect with Pat on LinkedIn for more insights and opportunities.
