CURATING BEAUTY AND CONNECTING WOMEN
Combining traits of creative tastemaker and corporate take-charge solutions finder I’m trailblazing a new path in my 2.0 of life. By commingling my favorite things – curating beauty, connecting women and writing.
Prior to opening my upscale lifestyle store 13 years ago, I held various high-level marketing and managing positions in style cities L.A., Atlanta, Miami, Chicago, and New York with companies such as Eastman Kodak, Tiffany & Co. and Cambridge Technology Partners.
An ardent advocate for women, children, food security and animal-related issues I continue to support many philanthropic endeavors in my home cities and abroad.
“Why Elizabeth by the Sea?”
Born in Upstate New York I had access to dense and never-ending woods, crystal clear lake water and the grand old mountains of the Adirondacks. But for me, the California shoreline was always calling, a distant dream of impossibility growing up 2,674 miles away.
I could taste the salty air and my high school friends grew tired of my talk about moving to California, in fun nicknamed me “Malibu Mary” (Mary is my first name).
To my great dismay, the geographical hop never transpired and I graduated from Ithaca College in the idyllic little town of Ithaca, New York on Cayuga Lake. Go Bombers!
My dreams of living by the sea never left me, I am drawn to the ever-changing appearance of the water, the tides at times angry and desperate or instantly appearing gentle, rolling onto the shore, a velvety dance.
Like the sea, change is inevitable, sometimes just scratching at the surface, other times knocking you over with a sledgehammer.
In my current state of life transitions, the latter definition of sledgehammer would be a more apt description.
Changing careers, children leaving the nest, friends leaving the earth, an aqueous pattern forming and reforming, defining the ebb and flow of tides and life.
Elizabeth by the Sea epitomizes and represents all that encompasses change and transitions in life- Reflecting in the rear-view mirror and looking ahead to new adventures.
I felt a gap in what material was available for women walking the same path. The need for topical stories, tips, and tribulations by and for authentic women struck a chord.
Many years since those “Malibu Mary” days my dream came true when in 2018 we became part-time residents of Laguna Beach, California. Yippee!
We now spend our time coast to coast with our home base smack dab in the center, in the heartland, Kansas City. The unique geographical arrangement allows me to be an observer of women from a wide and varied perspective.
Realizing we share so much common ground, not just in the U.S. but world-wide. Opportunity, equality, and safety.
Home to my family for the last 23 years, Kansas City a uniquely urban midwestern community, we have a beautiful blended family – four children, six grandchildren, one 93 -year old mom, and sadly only one dog.
Having left pieces of my heart in all the cities calling home, but none more than Kansas City – But the sea awaits as does my new adventure, Elizabeth by the Sea.
That’s me, with the “baby” Austin and my husband Bill of 25 years enjoying a beautiful moment in Laguna Beach.
“I could never stay long enough on the shore; the tang of the untainted, fresh, and free sea air was like a cool, quieting thought.”
Helen Keller
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Peaceful adventures to you always,
Beth
