If charity were a coin, Audrey Gruss could front its face. Twenty years ago, the flaxen-haired Palm Beacher and her husband launched the Audrey and Martin Gruss Foundation to support the arts, education and charities that tugged at their heartstrings. When her mother was diagnosed with clinical depression, Gruss, the former director of advertising and creative services worldwide for Elizabeth Arden, vowed to turn others’ unhappiness into hope. In 2006, one year after her mother’s death, she launched the Hope for Depression Research Foundation to raise funds for accelerated medical research. Eleven years later, Hope Fragrances was born. Suffused with the floral scents her mother favored, like lily of the valley and jasmine, 100 percent of the line’s net sales are donated to the non-profit. Today, Gruss is still an active board member of many prestigious charities and cultural organizations in Palm Beach and New York, including the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach, the Hospice Guild and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. But no matter how busy her schedule seems, Gruss still finds time for three of her favorite pastimes: gardening, seeing her seven step-grandchildren and playing with Ricky and Shelby, her feisty Welsh and Airedale terriers.
QUINTESSENTIAL COUTURIER Chanel
ACCESSORY ESSENTIAL A Loro Piana beige ostrich-skin handbag
WORTH THE SPLURGE A pair of Nicholas Varney black coral and diamond earrings
GASTRONOMIC GO-TO Sant Ambroeus
SPEED DIAL DISH Dover sole meunière at Chez Jean-Pierre
DRINK DUJOUR Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé Champagne
PRO BONO Decorating
WHAT’S PLAYING “Riviera,” a British TV series
WELL READ Kay Redfield Jamison’s “An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness”
GOOD VIBRATIONS Shawn Mendes and anything by Mozart
STRESS RELIEVER A massage at The Spa at The Breakers
PERFECT SATURDAY NIGHT A Netflix movie and dinner at home
PALM BEACH PICK The Society of the Four Arts and its wonderful programs
WEEKEND PASS Playing golf with my husband at Emerald Dunes Golf Club then enjoying lunch in the Clubhouse
NECESSARY THINGS Hope Fragrance purse spray and a miniature measuring tape with inches and centimeters
NATURAL TALENT Ballroom dancing
PERSONAL PASSION Great art and design in any medium
WISH LIST Playing golf in New Zealand
GREAT ESCAPE Our home in London for a complete change in atmosphere
TRY ONCE A philanthropic venture. Whether it’s a school bake sale or volunteering for a non-profit organization, it feels so good to give back
WORTH REPEATING “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” – Winston Churchill
TREASURED KEEPSAKE My Harry Winston diamond engagement ring
CARRY-ON CACHE Newspapers, glasses, a sweater and a makeup kit
BUCKET LIST A trip around the world NEXT GOAL To find a cure for depression SOMETHING SECRET I’m a good cook
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