Entrepreneur Expose event: female entrepreneur keynote speaker - Katie Borghese

By Linda Wellbrock & Melissa Cloeter, Co-Fo... , The Star-Ledger - NJ.com (blog) - We're excited to announce that Katie Borghese of the Borghese cosmetic line and of Casa di Francesca will be an afternoon keynote speaker at our May 1st Entrepreneur Expose event at Dolce in Basking Ridge.  We are looking forward to having her there and wanted to give you a little background on this dynamic and creative lady.

Katie has long been a student and practitioner of art and home décor.  Growing up in Florida, Katie enjoyed working at her mother’s interior design firm, traveling to flea markets, antique stores and fabric showrooms in search of special items for clients’ homes.  Katie majored in Art History at Hollins University in Virginia, and studied abroad in Florence, Italy where a lifetime love of Italy ensued.  Upon graduation, Katie interned in New York City for Bunny Williams, one of the world’s leading design firms.  While in New York, Katie fell in love with Prince Scipione Borghese, to whom she married in the Borghese Chapel at Santa Maria Maggiore Church in Rome.  Today they have three beautiful children: Massimo, Francesca and Leonardo.

In November 2008, Katie launched her new fragrance line Casa di Francesca on Home Shopping Network.   Inspired by both the Borghese’s storied Italian lineage and Katie’s love of art and travel, Casa di Francesca brings Old World European excellence to homes through an array of Italian-made diffuser fragrances and hand crafted accessories.  Her current home fragrance product line includes drawer liners, fragrance sheets, room and linens sprays, sachets, scented stationary and diffusers.  She also offers a a decorative line of Murano glass decanters.  Each one is hand-made, signed and numbered, reflecting the frequent trips Katie makes to the Island of Murano off of Venice to hand select and design one-of-a-kind pieces for her line.