Aurelio Voltaire is the Goth Martha Stewart of the family business. The head of the family, the father of three, runs the family business with the assistance of three daughters. One of these, Rose, was recently voted the sexiest celebrity in the world by Vogue.
“She is the face of this business. She just seems to have that whole sultry air about her … we see this woman on TV, and it can’t be the same person who’s hanging out in the corner all day, trying to figure out how to make the perfect mac and cheese,” Voltaire told me.
“She is the face of this business. She just seems to have that whole sultry air about her … we see this woman on TV, and it can’t be the same person who’s hanging out in the corner all day, trying to figure out how to make the perfect mac and cheese.”
Voltaire is an unusual man. His business partner is his wife of 31 years, Elizabeth. They have three daughters, and they recently celebrated the 30-year marriage by having a wedding in Paris. Voltaire is also married to one of his daughters.
Voltaire has been around Martha Stewart for more than three decades, and he’s seen Stewart make many of her famous products. But, after being on vacation with Stewart and Elizabeth in France the past few months, Voltaire took my question to Stewart herself.
The two had a conversation last month about the future of the company, and it was a long, thoughtful one.
“I wish people understood the difference between what we do and what we say,” Voltaire said. “If you really knew what we do, you’d realize that we are a family, not a business. And we need to be respectful of that, that we don’t always agree with what her decisions are, but we know that when we see her in the media and we have that on our shoulders, we feel like we have the weight of the company on our shoulders.�