TalkingWithTami: Hello Lolita! I love your Lolita glasses, they are sooo much fun! How did you come up with the idea?

Thank you Tami! I came up with the idea on a girls’ night out in back in Memphis, Tennessee, actually. My girlfriends’ and I were at the Peabody hotel having a great time choosing martinis from a long list on the menu. We loved how each girl decided and matched her personality. It hit me then how fantastic a line of glasses would be.

TalkingWithTami: What’s a guilty pleasure of yours?

Well I have to say there’s nothing wrong with a little guilt! Makes life interesting. And I like saying that cause I love to indulge in cheese and chocolate and never want to give that up! And, wine goes with everything, without saying…

TalkingWithTami: Before you started Designs by Lolita, what was your career?

I would say my career was always creative, which fit we perfectly. I spent years in advertising and the beauty industry making me no stranger to marketing and design. I would have to say that my best experience came from my Sales Management experience with a licensee of Donna Karan and Christian Dior Perfumes. That is where I put my marketing hat on and learned about business and how to develop a product line from start to finish. (And being a big part of launching it.) Watch out, world, for all you ladies that have an idea and some good business experience!

TalkingWithTami: Give us the skinny on what a day is like in the “Lolita world”?

The skinny, Tami, is that it is one fast-paced day after another– and I love it. There are my creating and designing days mixed in with my travel days. I often get to meet Lolita customers or collectors that want to be consider my biggest fans! How can I not eat that up!? I love their energy. If I’m at trade shows or signing parties I get to hear their stories, their ideas and desires for more products and it is very valuable and enriching experience for me. I also have a great husband, Michael Healy who is a designer, two teenage girls… and a horse, a dog, and 2 cats. You can imagine, it’s a very busy life!

TalkingWithTami: You have two beautiful daughters. What words do you tell them about being a Womanpreneur?

My girls are lovely, smart and imaginative. I’m so lucky. I always encourage them to work hard (luck seems to follow hard workers!) because it will really pay off. I think girls need good female role models in their lives both personally and professionally. It’s important for them to see women in successful careers. I like to tell them that it makes good sense to dream. And better sense to go after that dream. My favorite quote right now is “When others say your goal is too risky, rise above the negativity,” Claire Cooke, novelist. That has and always will be my motto, and I have brought them up believing it. One wants to be a famous chef and the other a designer, and they want to run their own businesses.

www.designsbylolita.com

I’ve only been living in Atlanta for four years, so I dont know all the cool shopping spots yet. It’s so big and spread here, I’m still gtrying to find my way around. My girlfriend Tisha Deshields knows all the  places to shop! She is a girly girl like me and loves pink lol.

She always brags about this cute place called,“Swoozies“. I loved the name when she said it and I was curious to find out about it. Last year we finally took a trip to the store. When we pulled up at the store located in Norcross,Ga I started smiling!  It’s a unique gift shop full of colorful items! I was in girlie heaven!

Well, today we had our,” Swoozies run”  and boy did we have fun shopping. Come to find out, my girlfriend Tisha Deshields knows the owner and she is on the cover of the latest catalog! How Fab is that? Tisha looked so pretty on the cover too. Right now Swoozie’s is celebrating with their customers. So now you can shop and recieve 30% of your purchase for a limited time.

You know Halloween and Thanksgiving is right around the corner, so they have plenty of  paper items,napkins,hostess gifts for your parties.

The store also has football season items,time for friends items and accessories,young one gifts,tween items,stuffed animals,personalized placemats,cookies,lunch totes,and all sorts of goodies for the kids of all ages.

If you need to buy baby shower or wedding gifts, bridal gifts, invites,wine glasses,unique gifts, this is the place to go! I love going to this store because its always something new to see that is unique and different. When pick up a gift  at Swoozie’s, you will be the talk of the party when you hand over your gift!

Please stop into Swoozie’s, the store is popping up all over town and in other states too. Or you can shop online  at www.swoozies.com. Swoozie’s  is also on Facebook and Twitter too!