The Insider: 7.15.15

Caleres (formerly Brown Shoe Company) and Saint Louis Fashion Fund have teamed up for the second year to present the Caleres Emerging Designer Award. Applications are currently available at saintlouisfashionfund.org, and six finalists will be announced at an August cocktail party in New York. The finalists will show their collections during Saint Louis Fashion Week in November, and the winner will receive $25,000, along with mentorship from industry professionals and production of an item from the winning collection.
Pictured: 2014 Caleres Emerging Designer Award winner Daniella Kallmeyer

Prints Charming Gallery owner Amy Miller received a special distinction from her sorority, Alpha Chi Omega. She was one of 18 women nationwide to be recognized as an inaugural Real. Strong. Women. of Distinction. Miller, a 1996 initiate of the Delta Chi Chapter at William Woods University, was chosen for her professional accomplishments as well as her philanthropy efforts. She donates all proceeds from sales of a children’s book she wrote and illustrated, God’s Words – A Child’s Bible Alphabet, to The Esther House and leads numerous community projects to strengthen her local neighborhood.

Dan Buck has launched his own business development company, Buck Innovation Group, which aims to help businesses and organizations reach their potential through new branding and strong communications platforms. Previously, Buck served as vice president of SSM Health Care Foundations, executive director of Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation and CEO of St. Patrick Center.

St. Louisans are getting their names on bookshelves around the country:
> Michael Byron Smith of Ballwin recently released The Power of Dadhood: How to Become the Father Your Child Needs, which addresses the challenges of fatherhood to help men avoid being distant and disconnected from their children. Smith is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and engineer, father of three and grandfather of four.
> Local filmmaker and author Jarod Powell’s debut novel, Boys in Gilded Cages, has been released in hardcover. The Kindle version reached No. 1 in its category on the amazon.com Best Sellers list. He is planning a nationwide book tour, including signings at local bookstores.
> Penny Schneithorst and Nikki Holder Mills celebrated the nationwide release of their four children’s books in the series, I Wake Up in the Morning and What Do I See … (pictured) with a party at The Ritz-Carlton. Schneithorst is a pediatric occupational therapist with four children, and Mills is an entrepreneur and mom of two.