Who is Lola Tillyaeva?
Lola Tillyaeva is a woman of who it can really be said that she’s “done it all.” She’s a philanthropist, successful entrepreneur, film producer, published author, founder of the Uzbek Federation of Gymnastics, former Uzbek ambassador to UNESCO, a master graduate in international law, doctor in psychology and finally, a mother of three beautiful children.
Though now based overseas, Lola Tillyaeva and her husband, businessman Timur Tillyaev, share a profound connection to their birth nation Uzbekistan. It is for this reason that they support several NGOs there. The longest running is the You Are Not Alone Foundation which they launched in 2002. Its mission is to help orphaned children receive a better chance in life. As the couple have said previously, “Education is at the heart of everything the You Are Not Alone foundation does.”
Among the couple’s other charitable organizations is the National Centre for the Social Adaptation of Children (NCSAC). Founded in 2004, it “provides medical and educational assistance to children with disabilities and works in close collaboration with the representative offices of UNICEF, UNESCO, UNDP and the EU in Uzbekistan.”
Longstanding commitment and environmental activism
In 2019, Lola Tillyaeva’s longstanding commitment to women empowerment was recognized by Fashion 4 Development. At the 9th Annual First Ladies luncheon, she took home the main prize for “empowerment and education of women and children.”
Environmental activism is another issue close to Lola’s heart. Inspired to do something about the growing threat posed by water scarcity, Lola Tillyaeva unveiled The Droplet in 2017. An eye-catching art installation standing 12 meters tall, it tours major European centres stimulating discussion and inspiring action. As Lola Tillyaeva says, “by engaging the participants through sound, smell and touch as well as visually, The Droplet naturally opens the way for discussions on water conservation and management.”
The Harmonist
This ecological sensitivity is also reflected in her perfume house, The Harmonist. She has set an industry standard for a reduced carbon footprint and sustainable operations. Though she doesn’t compromise on the standards she sets for the quality of her products, “recyclable materials are used at every possible touchpoint, from perfume bottles and deluxe packaging to the vegetal wax candles.”
She has also made the availability of refills a feature of her product line. This approach has proven a winner with The Harmonist being nominated twice in the recent Fragrance Foundation Awards. This is a remarkable achievement for Lola Tillyaeva and The Harmonist where they as a relative newcomer competed against some of the biggest names in the business such as Chanel, Gucci and Armani.
Be Your Own Harmonist
Lola Tillyaeva’s most recent project has been the publication of her self-care guide ‘Be Your Own Harmonist: Awakening Your Inner Wisdom for Physical, Mental and Emotional Wellbeing’. In this book, Lola reveals some of the approaches to life she employs to maintain a healthy life balance – what she calls “a merging of science and spirituality – a union Tillyaeva considers crucial to the future of human progress.” At its heart, the book is “an all-encompassing solution for unlocking your intuition and living to your greatest potential.” Not solely founded upon her deep and wide-ranging life experience, the work is also founded upon decades of research in science and spirituality.
