About the Authors

Marion Witz, President of Elizabeth Grant International Inc, is based out of Toronto, Canada. Marion has authored, Stand Up and Talk to 1000 People (And Enjoy It!), helping readers empower their voice and strengthen their expression. In May 2006, Marion was selected by the City of Toronto to be a part of the city wide poster campaign, We Build This City, which recognized the experiences of Toronto's most talented and skilled business leaders. She is considered one of Canada’s top women entrepreneurs, having been recognized on the Profit W100’s ranking for last four consecutive years. Marion is Elizabeth Grant’s daughter-in-law.

Carol Krenz is a beauty, fashion, and entertainment writer. Her non-fiction books include Audrey: A Life in Pictures (a biography of Audrey Hepburn) and 100 Years of Hollywood: A Century of Movie Magic. She lives in Montreal and is currently at work on fiction. Carol is a long time admirer of Elizabeth Grant.

Excerpt

The Early Years:
Lessons in Self-Reliance

I was born in the early 1900’s in London, England. The world was turbulent at the beginning of the twentieth century, caught in the crumbling grasp of Europe’s royal dynasties. Revolt and rebellion whispered through political corridors and uncertainty defined the era. In Russia, the Romanov Tsar, Nicholas II, wielded iron power, and within Russia’s western provinces, known as the Pale of Settlement, persecution against Jews meant deadly pogroms—state-sanctioned, unprovoked attacks on lives and property. It was from this kind of assault that my mother, Alice, fled, along with her brother and two sisters. She had witnessed local brutality and had watched Cossacks burn her home to the ground.

Armed with considerable wits, she and her siblings headed to England. The rough voyage and subsequent entrance into London was similar to the experience of thousands of other refugees pouring into large cities in both Western Europe and North America. It was the age of the greatest population migration in history, marked by ever-increasing eruptions of war and the rise of new political movements.

In London, Yiddish-speaking organizations such as the Jewish Board of Deputies and the Zionist Federation stationed themselves at the piers, offering the new immigrants immediate help and information. When my mother arrived in London, she couldn’t speak a word of English. She had no money, no family, and no job. All she owned was what she was could carry and whatever her mother had sewn into her skirt.

Notorious for its Cockney inhabitants, its winding, narrow streets, and the salacious murders of Jack the Ripper, the East End became home to most of the new Jewish immigrants. Many took up the local needle trade, which had begun in the 1700s with Protestant Huguenots fleeing Catholic France. Traces of their elaborate couture shops and princely homes still dotted Brick Lane.

British society was in flux. Queen Victoria died in 1901, but the rigidity of social manners and mores—not to mention the elitist class system—was still very much in place. King Edward VII ushered in the brief Edwardian Age, a final and feeble nod to entrenched nineteenth-century values before the stirrings of modernity and the First World War in 1914 gave everyone—from the manor on down—a resounding shake, collapsing the rigid social structure of the British society. The war elevated the position of women in that women started to work in offices and munitions factories and do what was always termed “men’s work.” This was the true era of the emancipation of women. It was a time when women started to raise the bar for themselves, giving themselves a new sense of self-worth and a realization of what they were capable and able of achieving. The women in England threw off their Victorian ideals and started to create a new identity and a new place for themselves in society.

Reviews

"Grant’s story is inspirational to women the world over. My only complaint about this book, and it is a major one, is that it is not twice its size! Left wanting more, I read My Life – My Story in a day, used a couple of hankies to wipe the tears away paired with many outbursts of laughter, and enthusiastically passed it on to my mother for her to read as well. My Life – My Story is as inspiring a read as Elizabeth Grant is to watch. Perhaps it is time to make my face look as good as Grant's!"

Kindah Mardam Bey, Press Plus One

“I couldn’t put it down. This is not a book just for beauty junkies, but for any woman entrepreneur, or anyone who has faced adversity.  This book is on my must-read list. Put it on yours too.”

- Gracey Hitchcock, Dolce Dolce

“Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor, Barbara Walters and 30 Rock's Tracy Morgan are among celebrities who have written books perfect for holiday gifts. Here is a quick list of some books out this year as well as books worth revisiting from the past.”

(Elizabeth Grant My Life – My Story is included in the list of ten)

“Elizabeth Grant, who built a beauty empire with her own brand of skin care, has a memoir out this month. My Life, My Story tells of a girl from World War II England making it big.”

Cheryl Pruett, The Examiner

Book Club

If you’d like to host an event, a house party or a book c club meeting with Elizabeth Grant, please contact info@elizabethgrant.com

Discussion Questions:

1) What historical facts throughout the book were you surprised to learn? Anything about WWII and England at that time? About way of life and trends?

2) What are your impressions of Elizabeth’s mother? Do you think she handled her family well given her circumstances?

3) Do you agree with Elizabeth’s choice to leave home at such a young age? Do you think many of the difficult decisions that Elizabeth was forced to make at a young age gave her the tools to become the successful woman she is today?

4) Elizabeth worked a few jobs at the same time. Have you ever had to push yourself almost beyond your limits to achieve a dream?

5) What do you think of Elizabeth’s 5 principles that are her foundation for living? Do you have a list of plans that you choose to live by?

6) Elizabeth was a kindred spirit in Charles’ life and vice versa. What do you make of their friendship and how do they help each other?

7) What was it like to read a first hand account from Elizabeth on her life? Did it enhance the story? Does it make her story more realistic? Could you empathize with her experiences more?

8) Much of Elizabeth’s story takes place in the mid 1900’s when it was more difficult for women to make it in business on their own. Women were constricted by their family, social conventions, economy—do you think some of these issues still affect women in business today? Are there other issues at play now?

9) Due to some poor accounting on Sydney’s behalf, Elizabeth had to declare bankruptcy. How did Elizabeth find it within herself to handle this situation and not play the blame game? What got her through this period?

10) What do you think is the most important advice/ life lesson that Elizabeth offers to us in this book?

Lizzie’s Corner

If you have a question or a comment for Elizabeth, please email it to info@elizabethgrant.com and Elizabeth will respond here.