Cathy Steel, a veteran B2B public relations specialist with a long-standing relationship with the High Point and Las Vegas markets, will retire effective March 28, wrapping a 37-year career in the U.S. gift and home industry.
According to a news release, Steel began her professional career in 1998 at George Little Management, a privately owned tradeshow management company, following graduation from George Washington University. At GLM, she developed lasting relationships throughout the exposition industry with buyers, suppliers, industry service providers and domestic and international media in the gift, stationery, tabletop, housewares, home textiles, home furnishings, apparel and hospitality sectors.
In 2006, Steel launched her own independent PR agency — Steel Associates LLC — with GLM’s flagship New York International Gift Fair as her first client. Her roster expanded to include other industry-leading tradeshows, annual industry awards programs and B2B technology providers. In 2012, International Market Centers (now Andmore) hired Steel to assist with its Las Vegas Market, which launched a 13-year partnership that included media relations for High Point Market, Atlanta Market, Apparel and Formal Markets in Atlanta and Las Vegas and JuniperMarket.com, the company’s B2B ecommerce platform.
“I never dreamed that my first job in 1988 would become a 30-plus-year,” Steel said. “I am so fortunate to have grown up in this industry, doing a job I love and surrounded by colleagues and friends who are like family. It’s bittersweet to be stepping away, but I’m looking forward to all that’s ahead.”
Steel also served more than 30 years on the board of Gift for Life, the industry’s longest-running, volunteer-led fundraising organization and as a founding member of WithIt. She will continue to serve as Gift for Life’s marketing/communications co-chair through the summer 2025 markets in Dallas, Atlanta, Las Vegas and New York City, the news release said.
