CLARE MORA

Marketing and Business Development Manager, HOGLUND ART GLASS

Clare Mora has been working with Hoglund Art Glass for six years. She has a background in self-employment and the tourism industry and has exported New Zealand art and design to Europe and the US since 1993.

A New Zealander raised and educated in Germany, Clare says exporting gives her the opportunity to combine two passions - New Zealand applied art and the international market.

As part of the Hoglund Art Glass team, Clare has recently opened three Hoglund Art Glass Galleries - two in Australia and one in Auckland, which she owns. Two of these galleries are franchise businesses, which Clare sees as a suitable mode for Hoglund Art Glass's further expansion and in which she gained experience with the 'Bodyshop' in Germany. Over the past few years, Hoglund Art Glass also successfully became the official glassblowers for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and the America's Cup 2000 and 2003 Challenges. The build-up of a selective distribution network and export structure has been Clare's main involvement, together with the strengthening of the Hoglund Art Glass Brand.

The greatest challenge is the balancing of the high demands and complexities of an overseas market with the individuality of artists, New Zealand business style and an essentially hand-made product.