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Helen Allen, 35
Director
Pulse/Ramsay Fairs
Helen Allen was destined for a life in the arts. At the tender age of 5, the precocious child proclaimed that she wanted to run the Metropolitan Museum of Art when she grew up. She worked at the museum through high school. Now the native New Yorker is making her imprint on the scene in a different way.
Two years ago, Ms. Allen created the Pulse contemporary art fairs: events designed for a younger generation to coincide with the higher-end Art Basel show in Miami and the Armory Show in New York. Last month, Pulse in Miami took in more than $10 million as numerous dealers sold out their inventory on the first day.
"It has become one of the must-see fairs," says Pavel Zoubok, a Chelsea gallery owner.
This isn't the first success story for Ms. Allen, who launched her career at Christie's in Rome and became one of four people chosen from 600 applicants for a special training program in New York.
She got her start in the thriving art fair scene five years ago, when Guy Ramsay asked her to bring his London-based Affordable Art Fair to Manhattan. The fair now boasts 15,000 visitors and more than $3.7 million in annual sales. Mr. Ramsay went on to back her other ventures, including Art 212, which debuted last fall.
Ms. Allen credits her mother with stoking her passion for the arts by taking her on weekly visits to the Met and numerous trips to museums abroad. Now Ms. Allen's 7-month-old daughter is a regular on the circuit.
"I take my daughter on all my business trips just like my mom took me," Ms. Allen says. "It gives you a better understanding of how the world really operates."