Marlene received a BA in art and jewelry from Central Washington University and married jeweler Bill Richey soon after. They created what turned out to be an award-winning jewelry design firm with no idea of how to run a company. And that was the beginning of a long journey on learning the do's and don'ts, ups and downs, ins and outs of running a small art business.
During her 30+ year career in jewelry she has run a wholesale design business, a retail gallery, participated in hundreds of shows - craft and trade, indoors and out, juried and not juried, dreadful and successful. She traveled for a decade selling her jewelry in every nook and cranny of the US. She have served on numerous Boards of Directors (currently Society of North American Goldsmiths), consults with emerging and not-so-emerging artists both nationally and internationally, teaches seminars and classes (including at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC), gives speeches and participate on panels, writes articles for jewelry/craft publications including a regular column in Art Jewelry magazine called "Business Savvy" and has a book published by the MJSA Press on running a small jewelry design business called "Profiting by Design."
