LILL's "Team Member of the Month"

Congrats to Kate G.! LILL's HQ Team Member of the Month for March.



Kate has done a fantastic job at running our LILL on Location Department since 2007. She actually began her run with LILL as a LILL on Location rep herself in 2005. She is best known for her witty sense of humor and outgoing yet relaxed personality. She is a great asset to the LILL team, always friendly, fun to be around, upbeat and organized. Kate is always coming up with creative ideas, like the Mommy bags for Mother’s Day! Constantly LILL minded you can count on Kate to bring up the most interesting statistics or articles about what’s going on in the world and how it can be used to advance and/or prepare us as a company. Relentless in her dedication to LILL, Kate is always going above and beyond for LILL on Location reps and customers. Kate not only does well in her own department but is continuously available to assistance other departments, offering whatever insight and direction she can.

Fun Fact: The above photo features Kate with her 2 pups, Olive and Grace. She occasionally brings them to the HQ office. We love their company and they make great office companions.

Let's get to know Kate a little more:

Where are you originally from? "I can claim to be from Nashville, TN since I was born there. My family moved up to IL when I was about 3 so I really grew up in Rockford, IL, but I migrated back down to the land of shorter - and warmer - winters for college and returned to Nashville after graduating. I’d been living happily in Music City (Viva NashVegas!) for almost a decade when LILL convinced me to make the move back up to IL."


How long have you been with LILL? "I started at LILL in the spring of 2005 as one of the LILL On Location Reps. I think my training group was maybe the third group to get started in the program. I moved up to Chicago in 2007 to work at HQ to oversee the further development of LILL’s rep program."


What’s your favorite LILL style? "Oh, it’s always so hard to pick just one! I love my DONNA for when I need to carry a bunch of stuff with me, my SOPHIE is fantastic for running around town on the weekends, and I have totally embraced the AUDREY/JANE concept. I now have 2 JANEs to interchange amongst my four AUDREYs. But... I think right now I am most excited about the BRIANNA. It officially debuts in May and is such a cute, perfect summer bag! I’ve already ordered one and have only 21 days left until it should be ready. Not that I’m counting or anything."


Top 3 fabric picks: "LILL has a ton of great spring and summer options right now so it may be tricky to narrow down to just three, but I’ll try.










Flower Press G is For Giraffe, Flower Press, Lemon Zebra (my BRIANNA is in this!)Lime Leaves and I like Tucan Leaves so much I may have to have the fabulous Jess Audey make me one of her dresses or a skirt out of it."


What do you love most about working for LILL? "Well, I get to play with handbags and fabrics all day so coming to work here full-time was somewhat like having the mother ship call me home. But, really, I think what makes working here so great is the people with whom I get to work. LILL is very lucky to have attracted some seriously cool people to work here. The three girls in my department are amazing – they make my job easier, better, and more entertaining every single day. My team of LILL reps are some of the most fun people I’ve ever had the chance to work with. I’m certain that if we all lived in the same city we’d all get together for drinks constantly. Actually, when I put it like that, it’s probably better for our health that we don’t all live in the same city!



Jen V., our founder and fearless leader, makes running a business seem largely effortless and like it’s the most fun she’s ever had. When you have that kind of attitude and outlook in charge of the whole show, it’s hard not to be happy where you are working.

In the end though I think it’s the general atmosphere of creativity and enthusiasm here that makes working at LILL the treat that it is. Because, when it comes down to it, making purses is fun. It’s not like we’re in the business of root canals or brain surgery. People come to our stores and our parties to have a good time and it’s nice to be able to be a part of that. I remember how thrilled I was when I received the first LILL bag I had designed (props to Becky F. for introducing me to LILL!) and I know our customers feel the same way when they get their bags in the mail."


Favorite musician, band or music genre: "Can I just rattle off a string of names here? Lloyd Cole, Dido, Emmylou Harris, Lyle Lovett, Belle & Sebastian, Kings of Leon, Johnny Cash, Dave Brubeck (few things better than a Sunday morning with some coffee and Dave Brubeck), Old 97s, Robbie Williams, Allison Krauss (have you heard the Allison Krauss and Robert Plant album? It’s so good.), REM, The Beautiful South, and I’ll round out the list with Elvis Costello."



If you were a mix of any 2 fictional characters, who would you be and why? "Elizabeth Bennett and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Elizabeth because she is possibly the cleverest and best of all romantic heroines ever and Buffy because she is the cleverest and best of all vampire slayers. When combined, I would not only get to be clever, I’d also get to be stylish, have quality time with Mr. Darcy and Spike and there would be my seriously impressive kick-boxing skills (helpful for slaying vampires or caddish Lieutenants)."



Where did you last go on vacation? "Vacation? Huh? Well, I did take a week off over Labor Day last August and drove down to Kentucky and Tennessee to visit family and friends. I made the trip to visit a dear friend whom I hadn’t seen in far too long and have the chance to meet her new baby. The visits were great and the drive was fantastic, too. It was nice to take a leisurely route across those two states and see some green hills and mountains again. Chicago is great, but IL is too flat."



Thanks, Kate! You are a joy to work with and truly bring a fun dynamic to our company.

-Lilly S.