Cathy Steel, a veteran B2B public relations specialist, has announced plans to retire effective March 28, wrapping up a 37-year career in the U.S. gift and home industry.
Steel began her career in 1988 at George Little Management, a large privately owned trade show management company. She developed a love for the exposition industry and forged relationships with buyers, suppliers, industry service providers and members of the media in the gift, stationery, tabletop, housewares, home textiles, home furnishings, apparel and hospitality industries.
She launched Steel Associates LLC as an independent PR agency in 2006, with GLM’s flagship New York International Gift Fair as her first client. Her roster expanded to include other trade shows as well as industry awards programs and B2B technology providers.
In 2012, International Market Centers (now ANDMORE) hired Steel to assist with 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.
“I never dreamed that my first job in 1988 would become a 30-plus-year career,” says Steel. “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’s industry passion extends to volunteer work, serving over 30 years on the board of Gift for Life, a volunteer-led fundraising organization, and as a founding member of WithIt (Women in the Home Industries Today). Steel will continue to serve as Gift for Life’s marketing and communications co-chair through the summer of 2025.
Outside of the industry, Steel is involved in community organizations in Greenwich, Connecticut. She is currently serving her fourth term on the town’s Representative Town Meeting, and she is a board member of the League of Women Voters of Greenwich, spearheading the league’s National Voter Registration Day efforts. She is also an active member on the planning committees for Planned Parenthood Southern New England’s Spring Luncheon Committee and Greenwich Alliance for Education’s annual Turkey Trot 5K fundraiser.
Steel and her husband of 24 years, Alan, who retires on March 31, plan to travel extensively and enjoy time with family and friends in retirement.
