When Sony Music Label Group executive vice president Lisa Ellis isn’t busy managing throngs of talented artists, you’ll likely find her jamming out with Lola and Gianni, two soulful Yorkies who have found perfect harmony accompanying mom to concerts, nightclubs, on vacation—and even on the job.. Ellis, who has worked side by side with R&B crooners Beyonce and John Legend, maintains a steady rhythm in life even with a demanding schedule by unwinding with her pooches after a hard day’s work.
Animal Fair spoke with Lisa Ellis about Lola and Gianni and how they bring her harmony throughout the day.
W: What’s difficult about your job?
L: I don’t know if there’s anything that’s difficult about it, as much as it is just managing expectations, managing people, managing tasks, trying to get everything done at one time. I think no matter what industry you’re in that seems to be the challenge: there’s not enough hours in the day.
W: What’s the secret? How do you stay happy even when you’re working like a dog?
L: My advice would be to find some balance in your life, to get a pet, particularly if one can be saved, that’s always nice, if you have kids they are great for kids, if you don’t, they are great companions. Just being an animal lover is a healthy thing in life. I’ve found in meeting people, people that are not animal lovers, they seem to have similar personality traits, and you know… they don’t seem to be the most loose and happy people, very serious uptight people, they haven’t balanced their lives, they usually seem to be the ones that don’t have animals, I don’t mean to stereotype people but..
W: Would you consider yourself a Yorkie person?
L: Yes. I have had several of the breed. I’ve had lots of pets growing up, they just kind of fit with me, size, personality, they’re not too neurotic or nuts, my dogs don’t bark a lot, they’re playful, never seem to be in a bad mood, they don’t cause trouble, they don’t chew things. Even as puppies they were easy to train, they don’t stink and they don’t shed. They’re pretty easy going as far as dogs go.
W: Why are Lola and Gianni so nice to come home to after working with musicians all day long?
L: They make you relax because even if you’ve had the worst day on the planet and everything went wrong, they don’t realize it. They love you and kiss you and they are just wonderful, they bring your mood up- they do funny things, they even the worst of worst of person and bring the best out of them. It’s really hard when you have this going on… to think about the bad things in life.
Lola and Gianni were mere pups when Ellis took them home, so they’ve learned the ropes of a fast-paced, celeb-studded lifestyle. The melodious mutts have rocked out to the live beats of John Legend and Destiny’s Child and chilled out with artists Nas and Maxwell, all while their mom worked like a dog to get where she is now: one of the youngest female execs in the music business.
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