Ginger McCleskey is a Greeting-Card-and-Gift sales representative and industry consultant. She celebrated her 40th year in business in 2025.
Her passion for communication – in particular, facilitating communication between people – continues to fuel her love for greeting cards. Early on, she discovered that working with other small-business owners, such as artists/designers, and locally-owned retail stores, provided considerable satisfaction in our big-box world. She was approached early in her career by designers interested in developing and marketing their work on cards, and she discovered that she also enjoyed sharing what she knew about the card industry with newcomers.
The consultation portion of her business received a boost when friend and card designer Kate Harper asked if Ginger was interested in teaching a “Making and Marketing Greeting Cards” workshop that Kate had been offering at a local art store. Ginger attended one of Kate’s workshops and discovered that much of what Kate was teaching were things that Ginger covered in one-on-one consultations, but from the perspective of a card manufacturer. Not intimidated by the idea of public speaking, she found it an enjoyable and affordable way to share greeting-card-industry knowledge with small groups of designers. Consultations increased even further when Kate kindly dedicated her book Get Your Greeting Cards Into Stores, published in 2017, to Ginger.
In 2011, Ginger was invited to be a judge for the 24th Annual LOUIE Awards. Launched by the Greeting Card Association in 1988, the LOUIE awards recognize the most outstanding greeting cards, invitations and announcements marketed in the United States during the previous calendar year. Awards are presented during the NY NOW, held annually in New York City. It was a exciting and interesting experience, and a satisfying acknowledgment of her expertise from the industry.
Today, Ginger continues to pound the pavement, driving about 10,000 miles each year to meetings with customers all around the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Business travel takes her from Fort Bragg, in Mendocino County, south through San Francisco, Berkeley/Oakland, San Jose, Santa Cruz and Monterey, down to Big Sur. She also continues to consult with up-and-coming artists and designers on any and all greeting-card-related matters. She has been involved in the creation, development, and/or sales of hundreds of greeting card companies.