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The Woman That Launched A Thousand Careers

Season #2 Episode #13

For the month of March, we are celebrating Women's History Month by featuring women who have made an impact and are pioneering in the field of the male-dominated industry of design. 

In this episode, Angela Yeh is joined by Vicki Matranga of International Housewares Association (IHA). Vicki created IHA's infamous Student Design Competition in 1993 which has launched thousands of careers and has had over 5,000 students participate since it began. 

Vicki shares with Angela several success stories of students who have competed in the competition and have now found themselves thriving in the design industry. She also talks about a couple pioneering women who has paved the way for women designers today.

Ever since Vicki was young, she had a fascination in not only design but also the history of it. Vicki is the author of America at Home: A Celebration of Twentieth-Century Housewares, a book published in 1997, which presented a unique cultural perspective on the evolution of household products in relation to lifestyles, women, technology, and retailing. She has written essays for historical encyclopedias and museum catalogues. She wrote sections of The Alliance of Art and Industry: Toledo Designs for a Modern America, published by the Toledo Museum of Art in 2002. She interpreted Chicago’s industrial design legacy for The Encyclopedia of Chicago, edited Design Chronicles, a 2005 book written by Carroll Gantz, and assisted in the development of the 2006 autobiography of designer Charles Harrison, A Life’s Design.

Vicki delivers lectures on housekeeping history to varied audiences, appears on television, and is often quoted in print media about consumer trends. She was also awarded by IDSA its honorary membership “in recognition and gratitude for special efforts to enhance the public’s appreciation of industrial design.”

Connect with Vicki:

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Learn more about Yeh IDeology at www.yehideology.com

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