In Sydney, Dustin Hoffman’s wife revealed the secret to being in one of Hollywood’s most successful marriages is sticking together.
Sitting with Lisa Hoffman over green tea at Paddington’s Centennial Hotel, it is clear she is a wise, kind, insightful woman. She has to be, having been married to one of the world’s most famous actors for 35 years, and having had four children with him, and step-mother to two more. Theirs is one of Hollywood’s most successful marriages.
She speaks softly and calmly, only ever referring to Dustin as “my husband.” She is clearly a woman still in love, having solid family values, and happy in her own skin.
When the pair met 39 years ago, they quickly made the decision not only to be together, but to travel and stay together wherever Dustin’s work took him, not withstanding children, schedules, different countries and languages. Unlike many Hollywood couples who spend months apart during the various film schedules, they worked to keep it together and stay together – and it has worked.
“It was clear to both my husband and me that we had shared values from the start (of our relationship), and that we wanted to stay together as a family. When we met I was studying law and he was enormously supportive of my studies then. Now that I have my own business, he is again very, very supportive.”
“When my husband was filming Rain Man, the locations kept moving, so it was hectic, as my youngest was just 6 months old at the time,” she recalls. “Life was busy, as I had to get the kids into schools, find doctors, make new friends and find places to live (over and over again).”
Today she has her own business – after the sacrifices she made for her famous husband and family, she is having her time. “Raising children is a lot of work, and takes a lot of time, as any mother knows, and there wasn’t a lot of time for anything else for many years,” she says.
Once her youngest child was in College, Lisa created her own fragrance line, Lisa Hoffman, featuring unique jewellery pieces containing fragranced wooden balls which she sells on TVSN. “I made fragrances from five years of age, hen a relative gave me a fragrance making kit” she laughs. “It is my passion.”
Dealing with the stress of a large family and a successful husband, she says stress relief for her has always come from fragrance. “Stop and smell the roses is my mantra,” she says. “Fragrance transforms the spirit. It can lift you up, and it helps me be present.”
“I do pilates, swimming, cardio and strength training, and I found I didn’t want to wear the same fragrance to the gym or to workout that I put on in the morning. The beads were born out of necessity. ”
The tiny fragrance beads sit in unique jewellery pieces like bracelets and necklaces, which can be worn to enjoy beautiful cents, but taken off easily, removing the scent. A gift of some jewelled ear-rings from Dustin first gave her the idea to make something unique combining beads and jewellery. “TVSN provide some the opportunity to explain the product, and how it works, which I really enjoy.” I think we could all learn something from her about life, love and everything in-between, and meeting her was a privilege.
You can see Lisa’s fab jewellery at www.tvsn.com.au
