On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about building an audience with my guest, Amber Kemp-Gerstel of Damask Love. Amber was the keynote speaker at h+h americas 2024 in Chicago and this is a recording of her presentation.
Amber Kemp-Gerstel is a television host and founder and creative director of Damask Love, a creative lifestyle blog all about doable DIY. Amber has partnered with brands like Martha Stewart, Home Depot, The Container Store, Coca-Cola, and Canon and is the social media face of JOANN Fabric and Craft Stores. She has been featured on Huffington Post and Buzzfeed and in Better Homes and Gardens Magazine just to name a few.
Amber was a finalist in Season #1 of NBC’s Making It – a crafting competition show hosted by SNL’s Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman – otherwise known as Ron Swanson from Park’s and Recreation. Amber has a bachelor’s degree from Duke and PhD from Vanderbilt. You can also find Amber on Disney+ as the host of their original family crafting show Disney Family Sundays.
This episode is sponsored by Craftsy.
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In this keynote address, Amber begins with a very funny (and somewhat frightening) story of what happened when her Instagram account was hacked and held for ransom. She explains how that experience helped to solidify for her the importance of the online audience she’d built.
Amber traces the path of her career making DIY content for national brands and on television. She talks about a viral wreath DIY she created for JOANN and how she riffed on that idea over, and over, again creating a whole series of wreath projects for various holidays and seasons.
She talks about what it was like to be on the NBC show Making It. She also talks about being a mother and tells a very funny story about a magazine cover photoshoot that included her son.
We hope you enjoy this entertaining and enlightening talk by Amber!