Alexis Scott had just begun her career as an artist's agent for an advertising photographer when she serendipitously found an opportunity to launch her own business: Upon inadvertently losing her address book, filled with the names and numbers of people she did business with on a daily basis, she learned the value of her contacts directory. She determined that if it were valuable to her, it would have value to others. With this idea in mind, Scott founded the Workbook, a directory of creative talent, on her kitchen table with an initial $7,000 investment. Today the Workbook has grown from a single product to become the premiere resource for the commercial arts industry and parent company of the Workbook creative directory and other product lines. Workbook has been a leading purveyor of graphic arts resources for more than 29 years. The company provides commercial artists - photographers, illustrators, designers and letterers - with print and online vehicles to promote their assignment business via Workbook Portfolios, Framed Art for Spaces (which promotes their fine art business) and workbook.com. Purchasers of art - such as art directors, graphic designers, corporate art departments and publications have access to samples of work from prominent illustrators, photographers and designers. Workbook Phonebook and Workbook Mailing Lists maintain a stringently verified online database of over 35,000 companies and nearly 60,000 individuals. As publisher and CEO, Scott manages day-to-day operations for the Workbook while also providing leadership in the commercial arts industry. She is an advocate for artists and photographers - frequently speaking out on their behalf at industry events such as the PhotoPlus Expos, the Illustration Conference and the New School in New York. Scott supports the industry by creating a business model that helps inspire users of art via print materials, directories and online tools as well as for commercial artists by creating vehicles to promote and market their assignment and fine art to purchasers of art. Scott has also been a member of the Board of Directors of AIGA (the American Institute of Graphic Arts) and was a past adviser to the Graphic Arts Council of the Los Angeles Museum of Art (LACMA). She has also supported the small business community and specifically women, as a member of the Board of Directors of Count Me In, a non-profit organization that provides micro loans to women-owned small businesses. She is also a member of the PLUS (Picture Licensing Universal System) initiative. In addition, her company provides corporate sponsorship for a number of organizations including APA (Advertising Photographers of America), ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers), Society of Illustrators, GAG (Graphic Artists Guild) and the IPA (Illustrators Partnership of America). Scott is a graduate of UCLA with a bachelor's degree in psychology. |