About Our Art Department

Michaela Potter

Meet our graphics guru, Michaela Potter, who brings her love of the laid-back beach culture to the designs of Trident General Store. Michaela has always loved surf culture and style, and upon seeing “Blue Crush”, decided to finally live out her dream of becoming a surfer chick. A week at surf camp in Costa Rica didn’t turn her into a pro, but it did make her less afraid of falling off the board (which happened more often than not). A born and bred Jersey girl, Michaela spent her childhood summers vacationing “Down the Shore” on Long Beach Island. The family-style and laid back feel of LBI is much different from the rest of the shore, and it’s for that reason it keeps calling her back year after year – so much so that she got married overlooking the waves in Surf City!

Michaela lives with her husband in the Chelsea area of New York City, where she is founder of the design and production services company, Wanderlust Productions. She is also co-founder and creative director of Briefcase to Backpack, a site that offers travel advice and inspiration to Corporate Americans planning a career break or sabbatical. Aside from her design work, the two things that Michaela is known for the most amongst friends and family are her love for photography and travel. In the past 15 years she has traveled to six continents and over 30 countries, documenting each journey through the lens of her camera. Though her passport has been collecting dust recently, Michaela loves inspiring others to travel as well as playing tourist in NYC.

Catherine Manzella

Our photographer, Catherine Manzella (her friends call her Cassie), is from sunny southern California. Growing up, she loved playing at Venice Beach and in high school she often found herself driving to El Porto and Point Dume in her 1969 VW bug packed full of friends and surfboards. Catherine frequently spent her days bumming around Butterfly Beach while attending photo school in Santa Barbara and she recalls fondly her post grad photo internship in Oahu. For four months it was just Catherine, her camera, and her beat up VW minivan on the North Shore.

You won’t find Catherine without her camera. She takes pictures everywhere she goes. She is the creative eye behind the lens of Trident General Store’s 2010 photo story. She loves sun kissed skin and the way the warmth of the sun’s rays makes everyone happy. Catherine lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two children and her dog Buddie. Her work can be found at www.catherinemanzella.com