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Contestant's Case to Win

This is based on the number of votes received and does not reflect the quality of the business or chances of winning.

Prior to running ARTWELOVE, I was senior partner at Ogilvy, a global advertising agency.

I was also an art collector, although one rather frustrated with the elitist aspect of the art world.

I began collecting in 1999, by spending my first bonus check on a limited-edition print by Takashi Murakimi. If you don’t know his work, it’s influenced by Japanese manga (comic books), a childhood obsession of mine.

By 2008, I resolved to make art more accessible, and artists more approachable, to everyone – regardless of budget.

Many of my friends and colleagues were less than supportive of my intention to mix motherhood and entrepreneurship. Impossible, many of them said.

So did some angel-investor and venture-capital firms. But as my mentor told me, “In life you have to chose between the illusion of safety (corporate life) or the illusion of freedom (entrepreneurial life).”

You know what I chose! And my experience so far has felt exhilarating and enlivening. In fact, the energy and excitement of creating, nurturing, and managing drove me to become more accomplished in all areas of my life.

There have been moments of doubt. Success stories -- such as Carley Roney from theknot.com and Heidi Messer -- from Linkshare.com are what keep me going.

If I’m lucky enough to win this competition, I’m going to put myself out there as proof that, yes, we can combine motherhood and entrepreneurship responsibly, effectively, and passionately.

Please join and support me by voting here: www.startupnation.com/leading-moms-in-business/contestant/8240/index.php

Merci!

Laurence Lafforgue
Director & Founder, ARTWELOVE
One Proud Mama of Paloma Sofia Otero

ABOUT ARTWELOVE:

ARTWELOVE online store offers exclusive, museum-quality art editions by leading contemporary artists, whose works can otherwise be found in top galleries, museums and private collections. Prints are priced affordably from $50 to $600.

ARTWELOVE learning community indexes important artworks, artists and art forms, and lets art lovers make art discoveries based on their personal tastes.

QUICK STATS:
Total unique users since launch: + 150,000
Average monthly visits: 15,000
Total members: 2,000
Number of artists, artworks and galleries indexed: + 2,000
Number of limited edition prints for sale on ARTWELOVE: +10,000

TO LEARN MORE:

Watch a 3-minute introduction video vimeo.com/10380062
Sign up to our mailing list to be the first to know about our new editions shop.artwelove.com/email/first-view
Twitter: twitter.com/artwelove
Tumblr: artwelove.tumblr.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ArtWeLove

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