I just followed my heart and let it take me on this amazing journey.
Sheree Ladove Funsch wears many hats. She’s the CEO of her company, La Dove, Inc., which is about ready to introduce a new high-end haircare product line. She’s a busy mother with two daughters, Samantha, 14, and Ashley, 8, and three step children, Dane, 21, Connor, 18, and Maclaine, 13. And because her business is here in Florida, and husband Daniel’s business is in New Jersey, she is back and forth between two homes. In addition, she’s the co-chair of the Lupus Foundation of America’s Butterfly Ball, to be held at Mar-a-Lago Feb. 27 and she hosted the pre-ball cocktail party in January. The goodie bag given to guests at the Butterfly Ball will contain her Label M, a line developed in London that was a sponsor of London Fashion Week. About her busy life, she said: “It’s been such an incredible adventure.”
Following her dreams is not altogether easy, she acknowledges.
“The children go to five different schools. Scheduling is definitely a challenge. I’m addicted to my calendar and my Blackberry.
“Time is so priceless — follow your dreams.”
Thinking back, she puts her dreams in perspective. “I was watching Connie Sellecca on TV when I was young. I remember thinking she is so beautiful. Now, she has been my friend for 16 years. It’s so bizarre to remember watching her and admiring her, and then doing a business deal with her and being her friend. It’s amazing. You can’t even imagine what you can accomplish or where your life will go.”
She’s working on another dream, too. “This sounds kind of crazy, but I’ve always wanted to build an amazing family compound in the Bahamas, so we purchased a property and we are starting to draw plans. That will be something that will make me very happy.”
— Christine Davis10 QuestionsQ. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A. I grew up in Palm Beach. Although I was an A student, school was not the biggest influence in my life. It did give me structure and goals to strive for. More importantly, growing up in Palm Beach, there was a lot of financial advantage and it always bothered me when young girls were more concerned about what designer labels for clothes, shoes, etc. they were buying to compete against each other. No consideration was made for how fortunate they were financially and how they could use some of those resources to truly help others less fortunate. I try to instill those values in my own two daughters.
Q. What professions have you worked in? What life accomplishments are you most proud of?
A. I was again very fortunate and grew up at my father’s company, La Dove Inc., a personal-care manufacturing company. I performed nearly every job from a very young age. Every summer, while my friends were at summer camp, I was filling bottles in the factory and developing new products in the laboratories.
I wanted to be a litigator and was on my way to Yale Law School after graduating from Rollins College in Winter Park, when my dad asked me to spend my last summer in the business. I had grown up in the business, and I thought, one more summer? Ugh. OK, fine. This summer changed my life. For the first time, we were launching a professional hair care line into the professional salon industry, and I became the liaison between our laboratory and the hairdressers. Hairdressers and chemists do not speak the same language, and there was a tremendous need for someone to get the two on the same page and create amazing products. This really intrigued me. I had a great time, and ended up not going to law school. Bed Head products were born! The rest, as they say, is history.
Although being a founding partner in Bed Head products at the age of 22 was an amazing accomplishment, selling it to Unilever last year was very rewarding. My greatest accomplishment was when I bought the company from my dad and his Wall Street partners nine years ago and became CEO.
Q. What is it about the Lupus Foundation that inspires you to become involved?
A. Anne Bright opened my eyes to lupus. She is an amazing woman. I've known her for a long time, since I grew up with her son. She is such a loving, caring, dear woman and when you know someone so amazing who’s touched by the disease, it touches your heart and you want to help. She is an inspiration to all.
Q. Tell us a little about your volunteer work. Why is it important to you?
A. I have been so blessed and I feel you need to give back when you are so blessed. The feeling it gives you to help people in need is like no other feeling of accomplishment.
When I visited a small village on a tiny out-island in Fiji last year. I was so moved by the beautiful people and so appalled by their devastating poverty. You might expect to see poverty like this in Africa, but it never crossed my mind that you would find it in the beautiful tropical paradise of Fiji. I actually spent months down there to help build a school for the children of the village and donated money for a desalination system so they would have clean water to drink.
Q. What advice do you have for a young person selecting a career today?
A. The only advice I have to give for young people is the same advice that I preach to my daughters: Follow your dreams. Do something that will truly make you happy everyday. Don't ever do anything purely for money or you will be miserable. If you love what you do, it will show. You will end up successful and money will come.
Q. How did you choose to make your home in Gulf Stream?
A. I chose to live in Gulf Stream because it is one of the few places left in South Florida that still has a small hometown feel.
Q. What is your favorite part about living in Gulf Stream?
A. You know your neighbors. You can take your children to the wonderful Gulf Stream School in a golf cart and it is so safe. I thought it would give my girls an idyllic childhood. We all just love it there!
Q. Who/what makes you laugh?
A. My two daughters — especially my little 8-year-old; she’s full of life and laughter — along with my husband make me laugh all the time. They all love to play practical jokes on me and we have such a fun happy house. I do believe laughter can get you through anything.
Q. If your life story were made into a movie, who would you want to play you?
A. I happen to be partial to Gwyneth Paltrow. Although she is very sophisticated, intelligent and well-traveled, she is also very accessible and grounded. These are qualities I admire.
Q. Do you have a favorite quote that inspires your decisions?
A. Follow your dreams.
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