Emilie Marsh

I started an interview nearly a decade ago when Emilie and I were together in Paris. I have been reminded of my interview with Emilie several times over the past weeks therefore, I believe it is the perfect time to release this. Additionally, she recently celebrated a birthday. What tipped me over the edge is that one of my daughters was preparing for her French exam this week.

I didn’t know where to being looking for it, but I found a word file neatly stored away with her name on it. I love it when organization and tech go right! I am still looking for my audio/video recording, however.

Emilie is a lifelong friend. We met during preseason before freshman year of college. We attended Colgate University and played volleyball together. She is a beautiful woman with so much character and class.

We were easy friends.  We both loved art and food. She was French American. I took French in High School. We were both from the State of New York. We were both very leggy. We both played volleyball. We were two of the six incoming freshmen. 

I was so impressed with Emilie’s work ethic. She arrived to preseason with a fracture in her spine that would complicate her athletic career. She could have quit, but she did not. I am certain that she played through some pretty intense pain, but she saw her commitment through!

In the process, she showed us what commitment, dedication, and perseverance looked like. There were only four left in our class senior year. We exited with a bang! Back-to-back conference championships and our volleyball team was written into Colgate’s Athletic history as the first Women’s Varsity team to make it to the NCAA tournament.

Colgate patiriot league champs 1996

Off the court we enjoyed spending time together. She is a giver and knows how to create experiences! In addition to excellence, I believe creating experiences is a core value for her family. Emilie and her family welcomed me and Julia (another teammate) to her home in Manhattan during a college break.

Emilie was born and raised in Manhattan with her parents. Their apartment was beautifully decorated, the cuisine was the best of French, and the conversation was easy, yet thought provoking. It was a beautiful experience that added to the fabric of our friendship.

Emilie, Julia, and Autumn In NYC for Colgate Fall break

Although Emilie was raised in Manhattan, her mother was born and raised in France and Emilie spent a great deal of time in France and is fluent in the language. Fully utilizing her dual citizenship, Emilie moved to Paris shortly after graduation. I visited her in Paris with Tory just after college. 

Day one in london

Fast forward, Emilie is married to Andrew with two handsome boys: Henry and Miles who were 3 and 1 at the time. While she was currently living in London, England but had just moved from Paris, France earlier in the year. 

In the aftermath of our life event, Emilie invited me, Alivia, and Audrey out to visit with her and her family in Europe. It was such a beautiful time together. To see her as a stunning young mom married to a dashing British man and the mother of two handsome boys was incredible.

Her place was charming and spacious. We explored playgrounds and took walks through royal gardens and visited the gates of the royal Buckingham Palace. Days later we hopped on a Eurostar train from London to Paris with Emilie.

I was thrilled for the adventure, but my girls were not convinced. This meant leaving their new friends in London. They had such a great time with her children at the parks in London, they were reluctant to leave them behind.

Emilie set up us in the perfect Parisian Apartment in walking distance to the greatest offerings of Paris. We enjoyed wonderful meals and conversations at cafes and rooftops. Emilie and I walked along the Seine River that carves through the city and had great conversation while the children literally climbed the walls. What a brilliant design to incorporate this on the riverfront! Especially, since I had to keep reminding the girls that they could not jump into the Siene.

After we said our goodbyes in Paris, she put us on a train to the south of France where we slow rolled through the beautiful countryside. When we arrived in Nice, the apartment that she arranged was again perfectly located and absolutely gorgeous! Nice was a beautiful town that very walkable. Even the streets told a beautiful story.

Streets in nice

 The beach on the Mediterranean was our mainstay. The water was a perfect blue and the sun was perfect. We walked to the sea in the mornings and this was water that they could jump into.

We ate delicious French cuisine at night. One evening, I ordered mussels for myself, but Alivia and Audrey asked to try them and ate them all. I ordered a second dish so I could try some. We are at the same restaurant for the rest of our stay.

We have been chasing these perfect mussels since. Perhaps it is the sun and sand in Nice combined with the total experience that make it impossible to duplicate. Still, the memory plus mussels brings us close.

This part of the trip, while Emilie was not there with us, the experience she curated for us continued. It had Emilie written all over it. What an experience Emilie and her family provided for me and my girls from London to Paris and Nice! It was nothing short of incredible!

I remain grateful for our friendship. Emilie has left all sorts of imprints on my life. My children choosing French as their language of choice is an ode to Emilie.

Currently, Emilie lives in London with her family and is an executive at Jessica McCormack. She was born for success! Well done, Emilie!

Sharing our interview from 2017!

We are sitting in a restaurant in Paris sharing great Parisian eats, wine, and great conversation when she has agreed to be my first interview.

Are you living your dream?

“No, not yet.  I am building it”

 What motivates you?

“Professionally- creativity…approaching the unknown by the unseen”

“Emotionally- love and happiness.  Hearing the laughter of your children laugh about stupid things”

What is your story?

“I am still writing my story… I am only 22 ( laughter)”

She tells me that her father once said in his 70s “I still do not know what I am going to do next.”

“Getting older sucks.. In a way it is okay without knowing because you embrace time more.  You understand that time with friends and family is precious”

“You are okay with saying I don’t have time for that”

Life must dos?

Travel.  “It is important to be taken out of one’s comfort zone

Makes you focus on what you have.  When you are surrounded by it every day, you do not realized what you have”

What do you believe in?

 The three Fs

The gift of aging and sometimes we fine tune as we get older

1)     “Friendships.  On a smaller scale”

2)     “Family.  I now accept the sacrifices that come with it.  The romantic notions of family became more pragmatic”

3)     “Fun” she says with a twinkle in her eye lifting a glass of Bordeaux

More fun when you get older.  You are more self aware and you don’t give a “hoot.”

Inspiration?

It is everywhere.  People and surroudings.  Everything.  I can talk creatively about anything from cutlery to fashion shows to a beautiful landscape to a beautiful person.

Biggest Setback?

Not being confident enough.  Experience is the cure for that.  Learn to be patient

Best Book?

A Brave New World.  “Don’t conform”

(Met a hot guy from Paris to NY and he gave the book to her on the plane.)

Hardest Lesson?

“Several.  It is important to have them shape you.  I hope it is not yet to come but….

We want to be more interesting than we are.  But we are interesting”

Key to Success?

“Curiosity, creating and confidence… or the lack thereof”

“My sensitivity. My lack of confidence.”

“Quote – French the advantages of our disadvantages”

1)     “I have the ability to understand the other”

2)     Creative background.

Favorite dessert?

American- Mint Chocolate Chip Ice cream

French- polyglot fondant chocolate

Globe- Pastel de Nata (Portuguese dessert)

Interview:

Best yet!

Extra:

I look forward to reading this in 20 years… and saying eek!