2024 Celebrities & Speakers

KEVIN O'CONNOR

Kevin O'Connor is the host of the Emmy Award-winning series, This Old House and Ask This Old House.  He has appeared on the two shows since 2003 and serves on the editorial board of This Old House magazine.  Kevin is also the host of This New House airing on the DIY Network and host of History Through Your House airing on the History Channel’s H2 network.

Kevin, along with his four brothers and two sisters, grew up on various job sites led by his father, a civil engineer. Years later he remains an avid home enthusiast. When Kevin, a lifelong fan of This Old House, and his wife, Kathleen, were renovating their 1892 Queen Anne Victorian they sent an e-mail seeking advice from the Ask This Old House experts. To their surprise and delight, the house call served as Kevin's first screen test to serve as the new host (the third host in the history of the pioneer home improvement series). 

Kevin received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the College of the Holy Cross in 1990 and a Master's of Business Administration degree from Boston University in 1999. Most recently Kevin worked for Bank of America as a Senior Vice President in the Commercial Real Estate Group and before that in the Sports Finance Group at Fleet Bank. Originally from New Jersey Kevin lives with his wife and three children in a home north of Boston.

PATRIC RICHARDSON THE LAUNDRY GUY 

Before there was a TV show, and before there was a book, Patric Richardson loved laundry.  When he was barely 3 years old, Santa brought him a toy washing machine, fueling a passion already inside him and presenting itself when he helped hang clothes on the clothesline or fold the sheets with his beloved Granny Dude.

As a child, he loved clothes, both wearing them and their care.  Voted best dressed in 8th grade and in high school, the path was set. He studied Merchandising Apparel and Textiles at the University of Kentucky then left for an incredible career in luxury fashion at McAlpins, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom.  Time in these legendary stores taught him 2 major lessons, that incredible clothes are fun, and that all clothing, regardless of price can be cared for at home.

Opening his designer vintage store, Mona Williams, in 2013 Patric embarked on the next step in his journey.  The store carried a small, but curated collection of fine laundry products, sparking the curiosity of the Minneapolis/St Paul community.  This curiosity only grew when the Twin Cities newspaper, the Star Tribune, featured Patric and his love of laundering everything, from cashmere sweaters to tailored suits at home.  This publicity completely changed his direction into the world of laundry and clothing care.

Patric started sharing his expertise at his much talked about, and often sold out, Laundry Camps, teaching people new and better ways to care for all of their apparel and home textiles.  These camps sparked a revolution, prompting a book Laundry Love, now in its fourth printing and a television show, The Laundry Guy on HGTV and Discovery+.  Patric has been featured in both local and national media including  Live with Kelly and Ryan, the Washington Post,  Better Homes and Gardens, Good Morning LA, the Wall Street Journal, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, The New York Times, WGN, Twin Cities Live, the Pioneer Press, GMA3, Martha Stewart Living, The Tamron Hall Show, and internationally with the BBC, The Globe and Mail and Die Welt. 

 Patric continues his love of laundry and home in St Paul MN with his partner and a very well cared for Lime tree.