5 Stars: Falling for Mary Lou Quinlan's Solo Show....

Some news to share! Client Mary Lou Quinlan has done it again: her one woman, one act play based on her New York Times bestselling book, met critic raves this summer at the prestigious Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014.

Here, Mary Lou explores laughter and tears in love, in loss and in triumph. 

She says, "You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll want to call your mother."

"The God Box: A Daughter's Story," performed by Mary Lou and co-written with director Martha Wollner of New York City's critically acclaimed LAByrinth Theater Company, is an emotional rollercoaster of the heart. 

Best of all, the God Box project has helped communities near and far by raising over $250,000 for cancer, hospice, education, family and community causes. Now that's something to cheer about!

Whoo hoo, Mary Lou!

BRITISH THEATRE GUILD / 5 STAR REVIEW - "Based on her own New York Times bestseller, the production is a sweet tale, peppered with vignettes and meanders, which all add to flavour this sense of a life, and the people who touched it.

The titular God Box is a wicker container in which Quinlan's mother would drop scraps of paper with tiny prayers for her friends and family. It acts as a touching and unique focal point to the charity of the woman, and her deep kindness towards the people she knew. 

Charting the story of the death of both her parents, Quinlan manages to be comic, tragic and endearing by measure, all portrayed against a seguing projected display of photographs and imagery.

A truly beautiful play, with a heart full of love behind it."

Mary Lou Quinlan takes the page to the global stage!

When the book, The God Box: Sharing my mother's gift of faith, love and letting go, written by client Mary Lou Quinlan immediately became a New York Times bestseller, we had a feeling that its theatrical complement, The God Box, A Daughter's Story, would continue to gain momentum. And it has!

Mary Lou will be performing her solo show at the prestigious Festival Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland this summer from July 31 to August 25, 2014. Whoo hoo!

Buzz is building so if you find yourself hankering to go (and do bring hankies...), get tickets at the Fringe's online box office. It is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

Wondering what the fuss is all about? This.

An overachieving daughter, devastated after the sudden loss of her mother, makes a startling discovery: private boxes of notes to God written by the very hand that has slipped away. These secret petitions, scribbled on torn pages and Post-its, lure her onto an emotional rollercoaster, ricocheting from grief to laughter to the greatest human challenge: learning to let go. Based on her New York Times bestseller, The God Box, charismatic storyteller Mary Lou Quinlan shares her most personal journey yet. The solo show will make you laugh, cry and want to call your mother.

If you can't hop the pond, see clips + read more about the dynamic God Box project here. It has been quite a journey....and Mary Lou has many more miles to go.

(I'm thinkin' a made-for-tv movie...or Netflix special webcast...who's with me? Let's put that in the God Box!)

Learn more about Mary Lou here. She's one talented lady.

Oh goodie, beauty!

My latest global client project in partnership with Mary Lou Quinlan & Co began in late summer for AVON. Has been very exciting...! While confidential was, well, beautiful. 

Thank you, Parade!

Such happy news! 

Yesterday The God Box mobile app that I created as a companion for Mary Lou Quinlan's bestselling book, The God Box: Sharing my mother's gift of faith, love and letting go was featured in Parade + Parade.com. 

This mobile app was designed in collaboration with the Phillip Ting of Elephant Ideas & Design in San Francisco and Kathryn Whyte, an illustrator now living in Charleston. 

Here are few screen shots of this lovely, heartfelt app (even if I am biased). It's available for download at iTunes + free! Click here.

The app trailer - shot by Taproot Films out of Durham, North Carolina - is simply wonderful....Totally humanizes technology.

Click here.

So easy to deposit notes of love, worries, wishes, gratitude while on the go. For whenever, wherever and whoever needs a little bit of hope.  Save, email, post or tweet it.

So sweet....

Lissa


P.S. More about the multi-faceted God Box project can be found at theGodBoxproject.com.

Thank you, Forbes!

Recently, my client Mary Lou Quinlan, the New York Times bestselling author of The God Box as well as an internationally known authority on marketing to women, was asked by journalist Kathy Caprino to contribute to Forbes.com as a part of her series entitled "Entrepreneurial Women Rocking the World."

Mary Lou's article follow focuses on virtual global team building. As creative director and marketing strategist for the launch of the multi-dimensional brand the God Box project, including the hardcover keepsake book, performance, website, mobile app, series of short films, social media presence + more, my heartfelt gratitude to these talented ladies for including me within this article as well as touting virtual global team curation.

Handpicking a team that spans the globe, all companies should embrace new ways to work and ideate, just as forward thinking Mary Lou did.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kathycaprino/2012/06/21/staffing-2-0-top-5-lessons-in-building-a-virtual-global-team/

What an honor, thank you!

Hitting The New York Times best seller list...!

Congratulations to my fabulous client Mary Lou Quinlan for being selected for The New York Times best seller list for her new book, The God Box: Sharing my mother's gift of faith, love and letting go. It is such a beautiful story about legacy (read more here via reviews on Amazon). What an incredible honor and accomplishment, especially since the book has only been out for a few weeks...!

As creative director and marketing strategist for the God Box project (theGodBoxproject.com) including this book, I couldn't be more thrilled and more honored to collaborate with such a wonderful, dynamic, uber talented woman. Thank you, Mary Lou!

P.S. More soon about the newly launched The God Box mobile app on iTunes! Is really endearing....

An update about the amazing Mary Lou

Mary Lou Quinlan's The God Box: sharing my mother's gift of faith, love and letting go officially launched two weeks ago...And the book is flying off the shelves like hot cakes! Barnes and Noble has upped its order to include it in 700 stores. Amazon can't keep the book in stock. (It broke the Top 100 books at launch!) Even more, she has agreed to translate the book in Portugese and Korean...and we are discussing product development too. Is crazy amazing...But then again, I am not surprised. 

When Mary Lou and I met on November 13, 2011, it was destiny. And we both knew it was meant to be that we would find a way to work together. Not only am I Mary Lou's brand architect, I am her wingwoman, her confidant, her special friend. So much fabulousness has happened as a result of her big idea and our collaboration. She has given my the opportunity of a lifetime. I am incredibly touched + grateful....And now the whole World Wide Web knows of my gratitude and admiration for her. Thank you, Mary Lou!

One by one, my hope is that people will learn about her mother's Mary's practice of keeping a God Box. A place where she deposited her wishes, worries, prayers for others - even strangers. She kept 20 years of notes in not one but 10 God Boxes. It is such a story of hope, love, faith and legacy.

Even Reba is a fan! (And I have been liaising with Starstruck Entertainment...so cool...). And Liz Gilbert too. And Gail Sheehy...and more!

Read ALL about Mary Lou's special project here:  http://www.thegodboxproject.com

The God Box iPhone app will be out super soon too! Note writing on-the-go. If I do say so myself, it's fabulous, simple, chic and heartfelt.

And Mary Lou continues to bring the printed page to the stage with her one woman, one act play...that she wrote and performs. Watch out Broadway here she comes!

I am over the moon for the amazing Mary Lou. And I am excited for what's more in store....because I am certain that greater things are on the horizon. 

YAY!

Mary Lou Quinlan + the God Box project's first wave of press

SNEAK PEEK!

Hooray, Mary Lou Quinlan! The first wave of press has begun to hit for my client's latest book, The God Box: Sharing my mother's gift of faith, love and letting go. And well it should. Mary Lou is one unique woman: media personality, speaker, author, playwright, actor, branding expert on women + more.

A labor of love by all - and for good reason - to bring the God Box project to life. Along with robust content that we launched on theGodBoxproject.com plus an emergent social presence, there is still much much good stuff to come. Including a lovely little iPhone app! The God Box is destined to become a household name...and a practice.

Early praise has graciously come from:

• Elizabeth Gilbert, author Eat, Pray Love
• Reba, musician, author, actress
• Jeffrey Zaslow, coauthor of The Last Lecture
• Jim Lehrer of PBS fame
• Gail Sheehy, author of Passages in Caregiving
• Lee Woodruff, author of In An Instant about her journalist husband, Bob Woodruff

Such a touching story of mothers and daughters and love for family, friends and even strangers. Exciting to think of its far-reaching impact.

In fact, The God Box will be included in the VIP gift bags at the Academy of Country Music Awards this Sunday...where none other than Reba is the host.

Very cool.

(To read more about my professional experience,click here.)

(photo: sneak peek by Lissa Lowe)

Breaking news: the God Box project launches!

As brand architect for client Mary Lou Quinlan, a well-known author, speaker, and expert on women, I'm excited to announce the launch of the God Box project.

Mary Lou's latest venture is a labor of love for her. A labor of love for me....

(And a story for another day so keep checking back!)

A keepsake book, a series of short films, a one-act/one-woman play, a website, an upcoming iPhone app (+ more), the God Box project celebrates mothers and daughters, the bonds of family, and the permanence of love even after death.

Across media, Mary Lou tells the story of how her mother Mary would write down prayers and wishes for herself, family, and even strangers, tuck these petitions away in what she called her God Box, and then let her worries go. After her mom died, Mary Lou found not just one box but 10 boxes filled with hundreds of notes expressing Mary's love, faith and hope for others. An amazing discovery. A wonderful legacy.

Elizabeth Gilbert, Reba McEntire, Jeffrey Zaslow, Jim Lehrer and more have offered early praise for the book....but Community starts today. Click Facebook "like" button on the home page of the website or by "like" the Facebook page:

http://www.theGodBoxproject.com

http://www.facebook.com/theGodBoxproject

Easy peasy. Lemon squeezy.

You will also see that this lovely book with photography shot by award winning photographer Mark Laita is available for pre-order and will be available in stores as of mid-April, just in time for Mother's Day. A sneak peek + downloadable sample chapter is found here:

http://www.theGodBoxproject.com/book/

Spread the word. It takes a village....

And we sure want to reach out to all sorts of people of all sorts of faiths of all sorts of villages around the world.

(To read more about my professional experience,click here.)

Meet Mary Lou Quinlan

Meet Mary Lou Quinlan, my client extraordinaire!

Not only is Mary Lou, who has been called by the "Oprah of Madison Avenue" by the Wall Street Journal, a well-known marketing authority and thought leader on women, nationally known media personality, former judge on American Inventor, published author and regular contributor/columnist to various women's magazines, but also she is originator of the soon-to-launch brand called the God Box.

Lucky for me, I am her wing-woman on this fantastic journey. Created in memory of Mary Lou's mother, Mary Finlayson, this project of ours would make the heavens sing...it's that incredible. As Mary Lou's marketing strategist and creative director, I am collaborating with a virtual, global team of people to conceptualize, create and produce all things for the God Box:

~ hardcover gift book, The God Box, to be on bookshelves Mother's Day 2012

~ one-woman, one-act play, The God Box, written and performed by Mary Lou

~ series of short films

+ much, much more!

For a sneak peek, click here to the simple landing page for this project: theGodBoxproject.com

Incredibly exciting! Will report back soon....