Ahlers Designs

Linked In is a great tool for business

Making lemons into gold

Entrepreneurial Badges for the girl scouts.

Entrepreneurship is the act of being an entrepreneur, which can be defined as "one who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods"

Some of you might have already heard of or experienced the Lemonade Stand Game. To experience what it would mean to be an entrepreneur and take on the challenge of being your own boss.

A friend asked me if I would meet with her daughter’s Girl Scout troop for their entrepreneurial badge. Being an entrepreneur and having been a girl scout myself I gladly agreed. The girls arrived at Ahlers Designs promptly and we began our journey into entrepreneurship and how it would apply to their lives and future plans.

I explained that an entrepreneur is someone that starts a company based on something that they love to do, or they have an innovative approach to some market that already exists, or have an idea for a new market.

We reviewed the ideas of focusing on your skills and customer service.To make is real for them I titled the session” How to run your lemonade stand.”We went around the room and I asked them what they loved to do.

Then we went around and I asked them had they ever had a lemonade stand and we started the discussion about what you need to run that “lemonade company”.  The first girl said you need lemons and sugar.  The next girl said, “ you need lemonade mix.”  That made my point. How you run your business, using different approaches, innovative solutions, that is what makes an entrepreneur.

After much discussion I went around the room and asked the girls to name their company. I told them, “ to make it happen you have to see it”. When the young lady that had said she like to write music said her company was gong to be called “Motivational Music” I got goose bumps.

We are all on our journey. We need to inspire and motivate our youth to dream and build a better world for all of us.

RI Food Fights, The great cup cake championship

 

Ahlers Designs was proud and inspired to be asked to make the awards for the premiere event of the RI Food Fights, The great cup cake championship. this event will take place today at The Spot Underground. I am looking forward to tasting the tasty treats. 

 

RI FOOD FIGHTS is excited to remind everyone that Save Chocolateville will be on hand with their incredible Garrison chocolate bars for sale. All proceeds go to children in need in Central Falls, RI. Thanks to Mike Ritz, founder of Save Chocolateville and our co-host and Andrew Shotts, owner of Garrison's and head juror in today's competition. — with Mike Ritz and Andrew Shotts.

 

 

 

Earth Day at Ahlers Designs

Ahlers Designs is excited to be working with environmentally conscious companies and organizations. We were recently commissioned to create awards for the New England Women in Energy & the Environment (NEWIEE) first annual awards Gala. The line up for the event was impressive, notable women from several facets of the sustainability spectrum accepted awards from the organization.The NEWIEE Awards Gala was held at the College Club of Boston, which is the oldest women's college club in the United States. The Club's Victorian brownstone was a beautiful place for the event to take place.  All of these women shared in common a passion for the environment, as innovators in their fields as professional women.

Our specialty at Ahlers Designs is creating custom gifts and awards that embody the spirit of the organization commissioning the piece. We do this, using materials relevant to the industry of customer. The awards designed for the NEWIEE event, do just that, the leaves represent new energy and growth. The award is constructed from natural and recycled materials. Ahlers Designs looks forward to incorporating new green technologies to add to the dynamism to the awards we create.  We are currently researching the use of solar energy elements to create

Ahlers Designs has been making awards out of reclaimed lumber for a number of years. Repurposing materials for a creative end is a passion of artist Gail Ahlers. We were recommended by one the award recipients, Karen L. Weber to be commissioned to make this year’s NEWIEE awards. We met Karen at the Boston Women’s Business Expo in early December of last year. Dr. Karen Weber is the executive director of Foundation for a Green Future, Inc. and the coordinator for Boston’s GreenFest, we look forward to joining her at GreenFest this year.

At Ahlers Designs we make awards that incorporate the fundamental attributes of the organization commissioning the work. Our work often includes elements directly relevant to the industry we are serving, this means our awards can have elements ranging from building materials, to plastic pellets. It gives us a creative edge that translates into a significant statement. 

Cherry Blossom Custom Gift

The celebration of the blossoming cherry blossom trees is a tradition started in Japan that has carried over to the U.S. as a celebration marking the beginning of spring. Historically, the first cherry blossom trees were brought over as a peace offering to the United States from Japan in 1912. While the timing of the annual cherry blossom festival is somewhat inopportune in the wake of current events, perhaps it provides the perfect silver lining in this challenging time. The effects of the catastrophe are being felt in the U.S. as well, and many organizations are rallying resources together to help turn the cherry blossom festivities into a fundraising opportunity for the relief efforts being made overseas.

Just five days after the earthquake in Japan, Gail Ahlers of Ahlers Designs had the opportunity to go to the Japanese Consulate with Bob Billington, Sunny Ng and Loius Yip. In honor of the meeting Gail was commissioned by Bob Billington to design a gift for Takeshi Hikihara to symbolize the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council’s solidarity and support during this international crisis. The case was accompanied by the following message:

This box combines wood, 24k gold leaf and recycled metal. Each flower is hand formed and painted to resemble a genuine cherry blossom. At the center of each handcrafted flower is a cultured pearl. The pearl represents the beauty that can manifest from difficult and irritating situations.

The gift was well received, reaffirming the fundamental belief at Ahlers Designs, that meaningful gifts matter. You can learn more about Ahlers Designs custom design work at  AhlersDesigns.com

The Valentine’s Day gift dilema

don't you just love valentine's day?

Ahlers Designs at the National Museum for Women in the Arts

One of twenty five women that was invited to participate in the show at the National Museum for Women in the Arts, called Celebrate the Season. I went down to Washington to get more exposure for Ahlers Designs, so that all the companies that I met with down there would know that we create custom gifts and awards, for corporations and individuals. While I was there I met a couple of other women who also have WBENC certified companies, which was fun and exciting. A funny thing that happened while I was down there, a man had purchased gifts for all of his staff. The next day he returned to do some more Holiday shopping with his wife. He pointed out the gifts he had purchased and his wife turned to him and said, " That's great, but doesn't that magnet look familiar?" It turns out that she had purchased the very same clip magnet at one of our stores in the area, Appalachian Spring.

Ahlers Designs featured as WBE of the month

http://www.mbeconnect.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=44:ahlers-designs

About Ahlers Designs

Ahlers Designs provides corporations and individuals with innovative gift solutions, offering high quality executive gifts and awards. Our pieces are designed by Gail Ahlers, a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, and are hand crafted in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. We work with you to create one-of-a-kind gifts or items in large quantity, taking into consideration your industry, lead time and budget to produce stunning results.

Ahlers Designs blends innovative and traditional techniques to produce artisan, functional pieces that make meaningful moments memorable.
In conjunction with custom work, Ahlers Designs offers a ready-to-order gift collection, encompassing a variety of themes. These products are easily personalized with engraving, custom cards and packaging. View our open gift collection at www.ahlersgifts.com

Whether your needs are for clients, employees, special events, or the people in your "C" suite, we look forward to being your one-stop source for all of your gift solutions.

Certifications

WBENC – The Center for Women & Enterprise

Custom Services:

• Annual Awards
• Employee Motivations
• Branding
• Anniversaries
• Golf Tournament Gifts
• Executive Gifts & Gifts for the "C" Suite
• Holiday Gifts
 

Major Clients
• Habitat for Humanity
• Lotus
• Raytheon
• Teknor Apex

Awards
Digital Growth Contest, co-sponsored by Cox Business and Ladies Who Launch

Gail on Rhode Bytes

Gail was recently on Rhode Bytes, a local reality comedy show that airs on NBC 10.