Whom You Know: Product Alert Exclusive Interview with Jean Louise Lilly, the Voice of Votre Vu Sponsored by A. Marinelli Luxury Footwear and Your Back Office

Monday, November 7, 2011

Product Alert Exclusive Interview with Jean Louise Lilly, the Voice of Votre Vu Sponsored by A. Marinelli Luxury Footwear and Your Back Office

Jean Louise Lilly

A. Marinelli is focused on fine luxury footwear for women under its own name as well as the new hit line Au Naturel and the line Special Effects. The lines are influenced by the French Mediterranean in the spring and summer and the French Pyrenees in the fall and winter. Au Naturel features cane, wicker, stone-washed linen from Italy, sun-bleached canvas, natural bamboo, natural vaccetta Italian leathers, Italian technicians and designers comfort with style. Whom You Know has highly recommended these lines and you should know they are the brainchild of recent See Manhattan on Your Feet Feature Anthony Marinelli. Most of their products can be found on line at Zappos.com and EndlessShoe.com and in Manhattan they can be purchased at Monaco Shoes 1108 Lexington Avenue (Between 77th and 78th) 212 452 2010 in New York. Other key locations on the East Coast include: Via a Vis in Nantucket, 12th step in Stowe, Vermont, Cuoio in Boston, and Petunias in Martha's Vineyard. If you are looking for other locations, contact:amarinelli333@gmail.com. Not only does A. Marinelli make fabulous shoes, but they also run a unique business specializing in doing back room work. For other small businesses that do their own design and sales, A. Marinelli offers superior order entry, accounts receivable, warehousing, logistics and EVERYTHING ELSE!!!! For a tailored program of this nature contact: twilla.duncan@mac.com. A. Marinelli literally has your feet covered, and when it comes to your face, think Votre Vu.

Ever intermingling her French vocabulary with her English chatter, Jean Louise Lilly was a natural as the voice for Votre Vu, creating its brand essence, personality, and presence. All those delectable product names and descriptions came flowing from her Francophile lips with creative and whimsical fervor.

No doubt, she’s dreaming up the next round of Votre Vu products as you read … or sipping some SnapDragon, the beauty beverage that captures her essence. Come again? Well, the snapdragon blossom is often likened to a woman’s mouth or voice, and according to Jean Louise, she is legendary for the ease with which she hands out her opinions. What’s more, the hardy snapdragon will flourish in just about any type of soil – and like Jean Louise, make the best of wherever she lands.

Refusing to be more than just another pretty face, the marketing major from the University of Illinois spent the 10 years prior to Votre Vu in direct sales as an independent consultant and an overlapping 15 years as a commercial and residential interior designer. Through all this, she’s been highly promoted in her most treasured and lifelong career as adoring wife to college-sweetheart husband Patrick; mother lioness to children Peyton, Cameron, Greta, and Griffin; and “fun aunt” to 40 nieces and nephews.

To the observing eye, she makes it look très facile. That, mon chéri, is her gift. We’re just thankful she’s sharing it with us! Merci beaucoup, from Votre Vu! Peachy Deegan interviewed Jean Louise Lilly for Whom You Know.

Peachy Deegan: What is your first memory of France or French?
Jean Louise Lilly: I always adored Madeline and Babar children’s books as a young mademoiselle.

What makes Votre Vu unique in a market of beloved French products?
Votre Vu offers everyone the opportunity to enjoy small batched, hand crafted botanically driven French formulations at reasonable price points. No downtime traveling to the spa, extra expenses like tipping, parking…it is all delivered beautifully to your door.

What are your favorite French products outside of the beauty industry?
The delicious cuisine, I can afford that more readily than the couture fashions.

What or who has had the most influence on your pursuit of excellence?
My parents raised us to always be accountable for our actions and with the classic adage, If you are going to do anything, do it right.

What are you proudest of and why?
I am so proud to be a part of the a great group of people, creating a wonderful opportunity for others, and I also get to nuture my splendid family and charming friends.

What would you like to do professionally that you have not yet had the opportunity to do?
I would like to secretly give some “make-unders” to several prominent people. I would treat their overworked complexions with some TLC and help them naturally glow with health.

What is your favorite place to be in Manhattan?
The cozy, classic and chic Bemelmans's Bar at The Carlyle, experiencing the incredible talents of Nathan and Julie Gunn as they perform so beautifully. I love the old school glamour and the thought of what has happened there.

What is your favorite shop in Manhattan?
Just one? That is too hard. The MOMA shop, window shopping at Tiffany’s of course, sale shoe shopping at Bergdorf's (chatted with Carolina Herrera there!), and ABC Home and Carpet to inspire the interior design facet of my passions.

What is your favorite drink?
A naughty and nice deliciously iced SnapDragon Beautini of course!

What is the funniest thing that has ever happened to you at a cocktail party?
I do not Kiss n’ Tell, otherwise one is not invited back!

What is your favorite French restaurant in Manhattan?
An old standard in SoHo, Balthazar is my favorite because the “circus” is usually as tasty as the food. I like country French, simple bistro fare any day of the week.

Who would you like to be for a day and why?
What every American girl who is a Francophile at heart would love to be… Grace Kelly for a day, when she was filming To Catch A Thief all around Monaco and Nice with the handsome co-star, the beautiful clothes and stunning atmosphere. Heaven on Earth!

If you could have dinner with any person living or passed, who would it be and why?
Definitely it would be Julia Child. What an innovative, free thinking, barrier breaking, and fun loving human being that was so interesting on so many levels. Her great love of life, French food, her husband and her unflappable character…plus, she could whip up something delish and teach me a few new tricks in the kitchen.

What do you personally do or what have you done to give back to the world?
I think that acting in a positive and gracious manner, treating everyone with respect can do wonders for the global community, even if it is just one small step at a time. Just like in the movie Defending Your Life, it is what you do when no one is watching or awards you any merit that matters…

Other than Product Alert, what is your favorite Whom You Know column and what do you like about it?
I enjoy reading the Manhattan Tips very much. I have the pleasure of popping into town frequently from Chicago, and your tips help me spend my valued time here wisely.

Have you drank The Peachy Deegan yet and if not, why not?
I haven’t had the chance to celebrate in Peachy style yet while in the city…on my next trip, I promise!

What else should Whom You Know readers know about you?
I adore working at Votre Vu and feel so lucky to have the opportunity to be embraced by such a brilliant and fun loving community.

How would you like to be contacted by Whom You Know readers?
www.votrevu.com

Recent Testimonials by Brand Ambassadors on their Experience with Whom You Know

"I work with Peachy Deegan because she's prolific at what she does. She's a hard worker, she's thoughtful and she's tasteful at what she writes which is very important. Peachy gets the facts correct, and just that alone is worth its weight in gold."

-Edward Tricomi, Master Stylist and Owner of Warren-Tricomi
https://warrentricomi.com/

"No one has yet to express their taste for our cuisine better than Peachy Deegan on Whom You Know. Thank you for transforming our flavor into words, unlike any other before.
Sometimes WHOM YOU KNOW, really makes a difference and Ammos Estiatorio is grateful to know Peachy Deegan!"
-
Dimitris Nakos, Founder and Owner of
Ammos Estiatorio
https://ammosnewyork.com/

“Whom You Know has done an amazing job of featuring our company over many years [seven]. Peachy has worked tirelessly to create a well-curated selection of topics and brands that are clearly of relevance to her growing audience of readers. Her articles are filled with great insights based on first-hand experience. She does her research, knows her business and is a pleasure to work with!”

-David Sasuga, Owner of Fresh Origins Microgreens
www.FreshOrigins.com

"Peachy Deegan has the pulse of the nation and highlights exceptional opinion leaders in more than 23,000 inspiring and entertaining posts. Her 100,000 twitter followers are a true testimony to Peachy’s ability to inspire, motivate and entertain. She is a feminine force to be reckoned with and an exemplary example of an influential voice in today’s world."

-Mica Mosbacher, author of the new book The Hurricane Factor: Stormside Patriots and tv political commentator

"It was an honour to be chosen for Movers and Shakers by Peachy Deegan. The questions in the interview were intelligent and insightful and I thoroughly enjoyed answering them. The reaction to the interview has been overwhelmingly positive and has helped bring my art practice to a wider audience."
-Damien Flood, Internationally Acclaimed Artist
http://www.damienflood.ie/

"We were so fortunate to hit Peachy’s radar. Her review of our Warmies was spot-on and came at a great time in our company’s early history.
Peachy has such a strong relationship with her readers. She provides honest and real comments; she is truly a trusted source in a very large circle
of consumers."
-Scott Wehrs
President
Intelex U.S.A.
http://www.intelexusallc.com/

"We at Primola love working with Whom You Know and are proud to have been a highly-ranked Manhattan restaurant by Peachy Deegan since 2012, and are featured seasonally. We appreciate the fantastic work Peachy does highlighting our cuisine with her sublime writing style and the whole neighborhood of the Upper East side. Also, we are glad that she has started a Made in Italy column! If you have the opportunity to be considered for review, we'd highly recommend working with her."
-Giuliano Zuliani, Owner of Primola Restaurant
https://www.facebook.com/Primola-Canaletto-restaurants-NYC-135616799831091

"
Peachy Deegan is a gem. She is wonderful to feature our Irish brands in 'Whom You Know'! The articles are beautifully and passionately presented, bringing products and brands to life, making both relevant and fun for her many faithful followers to read. I am immensely proud for our hand-crafted products to be included in this venue!"

-
Bill Follett
President, Belleek Group North America
www.Belleek.com

"As you know from my past features, Peachy Deegan and I were in the same class at Boston College prior to either of us becoming entrepreneurs. When we played together on the BC Alumni softball team in Central Park years ago, she mentioned she could not find a great dentist in Manhattan and could often be found networking on her phone in the outfield hiding from the ball. She was my second patient ever in 2006 when I opened my dental practice; I was one of the first sponsors on Whom You Know and the first Mover and Shaker featured in 2009 and have worked with her continuously since. She's even talked her friends that are doctors into being my patients, and they subsequently send their hospital colleagues. I don't know anyone that is as great of a networker and writer as Peachy, nevermind that she is upstanding and always good for her word. Cosmopolitan Dental is so happy to be in the company of the caliber of major brands she works with today, and although she will tell you a million ways to get your teeth dirty between Peachy's Picks, Terrific Takeout and Peachy's Pantry, Peachy Deegan will tell you there is only one way to get your teeth clean!"
-Dr. Garo Nazarian, Founder and Owner of Cosmopolitan Dental
http://cosmopolitandental.com/