Lorna Donohoe is the senior vice president of worldwide retail marketing and merchandising for Playboy Enterprises, the famed media and lifestyle company. 

A native of Dublin, Donohoe studied at the College of Technology in Dublin and the University of Kinstanz in Germany before making the move to New York in 1995 after receiving a green card. 

Her mother Mena told RTE in Ireland that she was stunned when her daughter first told her that she was working for Hugh Hefner’s Playboy. 

“I started as an assistant and worked my way up really. It’s funny because when people find out I work for Playboy they always ask what Hef is like. It seems to be the question everyone wants to know,” she told the Evening Herald newspaper. 

“He’s one of those people that make you feel like you’re the only person in the room. He’s a real gentleman, he’s incredibly intelligent, and it always amazes me how he has his finger on the pulse of what’s happening in pop culture,” she added.  Donohoe, a resident of New York City, is a member of the Irish International Business Network. 

Being Irish, she says, “is what has made me who I am today — being able to persevere, rise to challenges and succeed while still maintaining strong ethics and a sense of humor. All part and parcel of being Irish!”

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