Born in Lexington and raised in Somerset, Vallorie Henderson has created a blended career that includes the production of her own line of contemporary textile work as well as a variety of business development positions over the past 30 years. She holds a B.A. from Berea College and an M.F.A. from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She owns and actively markets Vallorie Henderson Textile Studio on both a national and international level. Her work is represented in multiple private and commercial collections.

Vallorie’s work in business development began in 1999 with the Kentucky Arts Council where she served as Business Development Director for over 10 years. Wanting to broaden her work with all entrepreneurs, Vallorie joined the staff of the Kentucky Small Business Development Center in Louisville in 2011. Always paying attention to trends and striving to make data driven decisions, Vallorie was encouraged to move to Berea in 2019 to lead the first SBDC that focuses on businesses within the tourism and creative sectors of the U.S. economy.

Vallorie has also worked closely with fair trade organizations around the globe to assist artisan entrepreneurs in launching and growing creative ventures that provide a living wage for the makers. She is a trained facilitator of Kauffman FastTrac and AIR Institute workshops which provide rural and under-resourced communities with programming that inspires new connections and ignites the creative economy.