About us

Cator Sparks

Cator Sparks is Editor in Chief of TheManual.com. Previously Cator was covering menswear, grooming, lifestyle and design for The New York Times, Details, Vanity Fair.com, Style.com and The Huffington Post to name a few. Mr. Sparks splits his time between his apartment in Harlem and his home in downtown Charleston where he escapes with his Scottish Terrier for Southern sojourns and excellent cuisine. Recently Cator was commissioned a Colonel of Kentucky by Governor Steven L. Beshear and has requested all friends and family to call him ‘Colonel Cator’ from now on.

Amanda Gabriele

Amanda Gabriele is a contributor for TheManual.com. She is the former Managing Editor of FashionIndie.com where she spent four years covering fashion, beauty and dogmatic red carpet commentary. She can’t live without the three Bs – bourbon, barbecue and beards – and loves to cook in platforms. Amanda resides in Fort Greene, Brooklyn with her collection of vintage furs, but you can find her 24/7 @CrystlMeatballs.

Wine Awesomness

Wine Awesomeness is more than a company – it is a culture. As millennials, Luke Correale, Dale Slear, Brad Ball, and Logan Lee think differently. Thus, espousing a unique perspective on wine. The quartet’s mission is to redefine how current and future generations perceive and experience wine. Ball leads the wine curating team, and is one the youngest Advanced Sommeliers in the Southeast and one of less than 400 worldwide. In 2012, he joined forces with Slear, Lee, and Correale to launch the curated, culture driven wine eCommerce business that is getting national attention.

The WA crew challenges wine drinkers to be different, be adventurous and be confident, opposed to settling for that uninspired bottle of ‘critter wine’. Choose to learn about rock star wines by classic vintners or killer bottles by the winemakers who are writing wine’s next great chapter.

Jon Call

Jon Call is the Principal Designer at Mr Call Designs, which creates classically American, tailored interiors that are as functional as they are luxurious. Jon studied architecture in Seattle before moving to New York, where he worked for Diamond Barratta and Shawn Henderson. Jon created Mr Call Designs in 2012, and has recently been named one of the ten up and coming designers by House Beautiful.

Jodie Kharas

London-based style and culture writer Jodie Kharas contributes regular fashion features to the online platforms of POP and Dossier Journal, and has worked on print titles including Because, Glass and Velour. Her creative expertise stretches to trend forecasting and global research, creating tailored product updates, city guides and exhibition reviews in her role as Assistant Editor of Arts & Travel for market-leading fashion information service WGSN.

Kevin Posey

Born in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, at the eastern most tip of the state of Kentucky, Kevin’s love of music, fashion, and all things creative took him to New York City soon after his high school graduation. Working as a photographer’s assistant, DJ and fashion stylist, he soon found himself sought after by the music industry to help mold the images of up and comers as well as reboot icons in need of a freshening up. For over 20 years he has styled, done makeup for and cut the hair of Adele, Susan Boyle, Billy Joel, Sting, The Jonas Brothers and many more.

2010 found him with the unique opportunity to step into the role of artist management, having discovered Roméo Testa, a young LA based singer songwriter and getting Roméo personally signed by Ashley Newton (the President of Columbia Records) as well as surrounded by Adele’s A-list producers.

Kevin quickly became the talk of industry insiders as a one stop shop for anything and everything creative within the world of music. Kevin also manages Grammy nominated singer and international man of style Sam Sparro as well as Nomi Ruiz (Hercules & Love Affair and Jessica 6).

Through all these evolutionary phases of Kevin’s long career one constant has kept him relatively sane: his love of writing. Having written for underground fashion zine The Jaded Letter and music magazine MixMag he has also contributed to USWeekly and People.

Kevin resides in LA and obsesses a bit too much about the rise of the redneck as pop culture icons- seeing as how his hillbilly roots forged his existence- he is thrilled for his “people”.

Lindsay McCormack

Lindsay McCormack is a contributing writer to TheManual.com. Previously, Lindsay studied book and magazine publishing at the Columbia University Publishing Course. She has worked as an Editorial Assistant at Teen Voices Magazine, and was a contributing writer for Notes From the Edge, a student-run magazine at Harvard University. Lindsay currently lives in Boston, Massachusetts, where she can be found writing, gallivanting, and trying to master a handstand.

Manfredi Conti

Manfredi is an aspiring globetrotting gypsetter. This is not to be confused with a vagabond beach bum. Apart from contributing to the travel section of TheManual.com, he has also done some bits and bobs for Wallpaper.com and TheTravelCurator.com.

Marla Milling

Marla Hardee Milling is a full-time freelance writer living in a place often called the Paris of the South, Sante Fe of the East and Beer City U.S.A., but she just calls Asheville, N.C. home. She is a former news producer at WLOS-TV in Asheville and former Director of Communications at Mars Hill College in Mars Hill, N.C. More than 600 of her articles and essays have appeared in such publications as Luxury Living, American Style, NICHE, Charleston, Denver, WNC, Blue Ridge Country, Health, Redbook, Parenting, Pregnancy and many others. Follow her on Twitter @marlamilling

Matt Bell

Matt Bell is a men’s lifestyle writer. He’s been on it since 2004 when he got his start editing at Genre Magazine, spent four years on the style PR side at MAO PR and one writing the a travel blog about going his version of neo-primitive in Peru (hilarity, spirituality and bad skin ensued). Most recently he’s writing for Esquire.com, MensJournal.com, TheManual.com, Private Clubs Magazine and Essential Homme Magazine where he keeps an eye the latest guy appropriate face/body beauty and health treatments, going to far off places to find adventure or going through all clothing to do it all in. When he’s not at that, he’s usually reading fiction, National Geographic or thinking about the next plate of ceviche. Twitter and Instagram: @mrmattbell

Matt Domino

Matt Domino is a writer living in Brooklyn. His fiction has appeared in Slice and The Montreal Review, while his non-fiction has been featured on SLAM Online, The Nervous Breakdown, Cool Hunting, Bleacher Report and The Montreal Review. Matt also runs his own general interest blog called Puddles of Myself. He is a basketball aficionado and will never turn down a beer or a conversation about Gram Parsons or James Joyce.

Max Padilla

Max Padilla has been a writer and editor for over a decade for publications ranging from Rolling Stone to Martha Stewart Living. Most recently, Padilla wrote a weekly column and blogged for the Los Angeles Times Image section on men\’s style and grooming. He has also written on art for the Huffington Post and ForYourArt. An Aquarius who resides in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, Max enjoys hoppy beer, sushi, street tacos and bahn mi sandwiches. Twitter: @maxpadilla; Instagram: @maxp101; email: max@maxpadilla.com.

Noelia de la Cruz

Noelia de la Cruz is a contributing writer for The Manual. She was born and raised in Queens before she left to study journalism at Syracuse University. Noelia has written about a little bit of everything: upon her return to the city she worked at Money, New York magazine, Business Insider, and Parents.com. Now, in addition to writing men’s lifestyle, she also works as a communications assistant at HBO. She still lives in Queens and in her free time loves reading, writing, movies, shows, food, and exploring all the city has to offer. Find her on Twitter @noeliasophia!

Paul Dousset

Born and raised in New York City’s Gramercy Park. Graduated from New York University with a B.A. degree in Creative Writing and Literature. A love and passion for everything writing.

Has contributed to Urbandaddy NYC and GetKempt.com. Has written articles or Societe Perrier NYC covering nightlife and cocktail culture, as well as Guest of a Guest NYC.

Stefan Doyno

Stefan Doyno is a native New Yorker who grew up on the Upper East Side before moving to Westchester. He is a graduate of the University at Buffalo and is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He was a news producer and producer at his undergrad television station and has interned at ABC Eyewitness News in New York City, WKBW, and MTV where he wrote for the Newsroom Blog and Movies Blog. Stefan had a business column with AOL Patch and enjoys fine restaurants, 90\’s music and dry-humor. You can follow him on Twitter @thewritestefan

Tom Handley

Tom Handley\’s industry credits read like an issue of GQ or Vogue with key positions at companies ranging from Polo/Ralph Lauren to Badgley Mischka, and currently sits on the advisory boards for a few key men’s and tech brands.

In his current capacity as Professor of Marketing and Public Relations at Parsons The New School for Design, Tom is thrice nominated for the Distinguished Faculty of the Year.

Tom pairs his academic tenure, his 20+ years in the fashion industry with his focus for developing and mentoring the next generation of the fashion marketers and publicists. He consults with four New York based Public Relations firms, having developed their critical Summer Intern Programs.

An early adopter to social media, Tom consults for artists, interior designers, digital media companies and women\’s and menswear designers. Nothing makes @PRProfessor more elated, than to empower.