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My successes.

Since its founding, Haven Art Group has grown substantially, opening offices in New York and Chicago.

What inspired you to start your business?

Drawing on her experience as a paintings specialist at Sotheby’s of London, a supervisor of appraisers at Chubb Insurance and director of the art services division of American International Group, where she advised on the management and protection of private art collections worth $10 million to $1.2 billion, Claire Marmion started her own business, Haven Art Group, in 2009. The purpose of the business is to provide art management services for high-net-worth individuals with major art collections and for internationally-known art collectors, as well as art claims services for major insurers.  Claire refers to herself as “a curator for hire”.

In October 2008, Claire came to SCORE seeking help in getting her business off the ground.  As Claire said, “I first stumbled onto Score completely by accident through a friend’s recommendation.  It was one of the most brilliant discoveries of my first year in business—a bright glow while wading through the slow and sticky tar that is building and then running your own office for the first time.”

To learn more about Claire’s business, see her website at http://www.havenartgroup.com

What's great about my mentor?

Her primary SCORE counsellor has been Mitchell Morris, with whom Claire has been working on a monthly basis.  According to Claire, “Mitch and the SCORE team were absolutely vital in keeping me focused, in providing tips for maintaining discipline and solving problems in bite-sized chunks—a business partner to brainstorm ideas with.  And it’s not over yet.  I hope I shall be sapping their energy for many prosperous business deals to come.”