You know you can trust a girl who always keeps a bottle of something special in the fridge. Just as well, because today we are...
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She is omnipresent, bursting with energy. Sometimes supporting brands working towards their digital transformation, sometimes trying out the latest locations around the globe for her My Travel Dreams website. Recently, Marie Faure Ambroise has also broken into the tee-shirt market. With their messages and seventies fonts, they are a little reminiscent of those slightly old-fashioned ones gleaned during her travels. The same ones she loved to slip into her suitcase to make her loved ones smile or to enhance her outfits. A habit she also has when she decorates. All her finds are there. A wolf’s head, hunted down in the Moscow flea markets, surfing posters bought in Sri Lanka, a Balinese bedspread. Around the world in a few square metres! Collecting: a filial habit that Marie inherited from her parents, gallery owners in Uzès, and which she, in turn, is passing on to her children. Three little chicks whom she takes on each of her trips and from whom she is never parted. Nurturing their wonder, reinforcing their curiosity and promoting their openness to the world around them. By pushing the boundaries of what they know. And it doesn’t matter who thinks her children won’t remember anything from these multitudes of escapades. “I travel with them not to build memories for them, but to build their future,” she replies mischievously.
Marie, what do you do for a living?
I have a website, My Travel Dreams, about travels, family, changing destinations and secret spots around the world. But I also have a consulting agency with which I support brands in their digital transformation as well as a brand of t-shirts and three children!
What is your motto?
Trust firmly in your luck, cling to your happiness, and dare to take risks. By watching you, they will get used to the idea.
What is a typical day like, with three children and a thriving business?
None are typical, and that’s what I love so much. My daughter is very small, so I keep her with me. After I drop the boys off at school, I often go to a business breakfast. The joy of my job is meeting incredible people every day! Then I either have a series of meetings, or I go home to work. Since my last baby was born, I do everything on foot and I take her everywhere. In the afternoon, I’m often at the office, and I leave around 6pm for a yoga class. We go out a lot in the evenings. So I kiss my chicks, and I go off with my lover. I need this love-family-work-boyfriend mix to be happy.
What do you dream about?
A five-man world tour in a camper.
How would you define your decorative style?
I don’t have a style. I mix my travel finds (the wolf’s head from the Moscow flea markets, surfing posters bought in Sri Lanka or a Balinese bedspread) with iconic pieces like my Bertoia diamond armchairs, a Pipistrello or my Jacques Hitier desk. I had the chance to grow up in the midst of beautiful things. As collectors of Jean Prouvé and Charlotte Perriand, my parents are passionate about design. Today, my father has a gallery in Uzès where I love shopping.
What will be your next holiday destination?
For All Saints’ Day, I’m still undecided between Korea and Senegal. As for the boys, they dream of going to India or China.
Have you a good destination to pass on to us for a family holiday without spending a fortune and mixing culture and beauty?
I would say a country, Jordan. It’s so close to France and at the same time so exotic! It is a country full of history but with sublime landscapes, and all in a pocket handkerchief. In a five-day road trip, you can bathe in the Dead Sea, discover Petra on the back of a donkey, trek in the Wadi Rum and then finish with an amazing dive in the Red Sea. The must? In the middle of the trip, spend a magical night or two at Feynan.
How did the tee-shirt idea come to you?
I wanted to move into that market but, above all, to create my own brand. I’m crazy about old-fashioned tourist tee-shirts. I always bring them back from my travels and wear them with everything. I wanted to share that!
And how do you want to develop your brand now?
I dream of continuing to develop cool products to slip into suitcases and to build exciting collaborations with brands I love.
Can you give us your news for this new school year?
We are preparing new tee-shirts, and XXL bags but, above all, a very nice surprise for Christmas. I can’t say any more for the moment, but I can’t wait.
Have you any advice for busy mums who are coping with family life and full-time work?
It would be pretentious of me to give advice because I am a long way from the perfect family and education! I have just decided that I couldn’t fight on all fronts. So I have chosen my battles with my children. I don’t give in about screen time or politeness, but if they want to go to school in jogging-sandals or skip their bath, I let them do so.
Photography: Constance Gennari – Text: Caroline Balvay – Translation: TextMaster @thesocialitefamily
In collaboration with Studio Roméo
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