Millie’s love for drawing and three-dimensional design led her to a major in Industrial Design at Philadelphia College of the Arts upon her graduation from Knox in 1987. After working briefly in Los Angeles as a free-lance designer, she returned home to Hong Kong in 1991 and took a position with a company that specialized in seasonal decorations. She eventually became head of their design department, learning much about product development and customer relations. In 1997, her mother passed away suddenly, leaving no one to manage her business Lolly Merchandizing Service LTD, which exported artificial flowers and seasonal decorations out of Hong Kong. To honor her mother, Mille took over the business, but repurposed it to focus solely on holiday decorations. Today, as CEO of her own company, Millie maintains offices in Hong Kong and showrooms in Shenzhen, China. She has thirty full-time employees, fifteen of which live in her complex in Shenzhen. She continues to take the lead in product design and works with over 500 Chinese factories to produce fanciful holiday decorations that are sold all over the world. The next time you pick up a holiday novelty from Bloomingdales or Home Goods, know that it may have been produced and exported by Millie Chan and Lolly Company Limited.
